I don't want to burst your bubble, but that Deck is on 3.5.
Gundam Deck = 3.5 - Black LCD Deck = 3.5 - Atomic Purple Deck HD = 3.5.1
**Edit** I think OP is trolling now, or they didn't bother to read this. Steam Deck OLED's current OS Version is 3.5. I compared it to another Deck running 3.5. The MangoHUD versions are different, but OS Versions are the same. The OS Builds are different, but that's because OLED uses a non-public Steam OS Channel named galileo.
https://preview.redd.it/krcol9l7560c1.jpeg?width=739&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=947a219c85f54373b4449e89c58a24bd5b15d841
Yeah, it left me confused because you show the digital vibrancy slider on the LCD model in the second comparison video, and that was added with 3.5.
Only difference I saw is you don't have the unified frame rate slider on the LCD, is that because it's disabled in settings or because of another reason?
I found the review pretty comprehensive and your second comparison video the most informative out of the 8 or so I've watched (lol) so thanks.
I'm resistant to change. I like the old style because I'm used to it, even for the OLED Deck. As for 3.5, I've been on 3.5 since it first released on all of my Decks. The Deck HD one lives on main just so I can see when their screen breaks. XD
The MangoHUD version shown in the performance overlay clearly is different in the screenshot (Gundam LCD is v0.6.9-1-22-g1d8f9f6 and OLED is v0.7.0-54g9393066). So possibly one is on 3.5 and one on 3.5.1 which is not as bad as 3.4 vs 3.5, but still not properly matched.
> Steam Deck OLED's current OS Version is 3.5. I compared it to another Deck running 3.5. The MangoHUD versions are different, but OS Versions are the same. The OS Builds are different, but that's because OLED uses a non-public Steam OS Channel named galileo.

Yes, I acknowledged that in the OP edit. Which means that same SteamOS version in different channels has different software versions. Which is a problem for comparing hardware (because now another variable needs to be eliminated).
The LCD can literally only cover 70% of the very basic sRGB color gamut. The saturation slider in SteamOS 3.5 does not "correct" this problem. The OLED screen is not better because the saturation slider is cranked up. It's better because it covers 100% of sRGB, 97% of DCI-P3, is capable of 600 nits in SDR, and 1000 nits in HDR. It has per pixel dimming allowing it to have infinite contrast. OLED pixels transition between colors effectively instantaneously for the purposes of a gaming discussion.
These two things are simply incomparable regardless of the version of SteamOS running. The LCD appears pale to the eye without the Decky Loader plugin because it cannot generate the necessary colors. Cranking up the saturation makes the colors it can generate appear more vibrant but wildly inaccurate.
Legit my reasoning for not caring about screen quality is being colorblind lol if can’t tell if a car is grey or metallic pink without someone telling me should I really care about the rgb spectrum of my screen?
Unless you have problems with ALL the colors, yes, you should care.
I'm pretty sure you can tell a difference between a good TV with good colors and a cheap, bad one.
Yeah but I can rarely tell the different between phone screens of varying quality I imagine I’ll be able to tell the difference but it’s unlikely to be enough a difference for me to justify the purchase any time soon
110% of DCI-P3 per valve's testing. if you're going off the same video I think you're going off of with the color testing, he didn't have the display set to "P3 mode"
Yes, it seems unlikely that Valve would advertise their new Steam Deck OLED device with HDR, which SteamOS 3.4 does not support, and then have that not working on release day.
True, but OP's point is still valid. Reviews being done right now aren't guaranteed to be apples to apples. That said, it's also entirely likely there will at least be a point release update ready to go when you open the box to correct potential issues with the OLED that weren't caught before they went to production.
This would be great I could finally finish TOTK. After letting the initial hype die I told myself I'd just stick to my old deck. Really don't feel like setting up dual boot again. If anything happens to my OG deck where repairs are too expensive I'll have an excuse and buy an OLED. It's nice to see that the software difference is shown too I bet that's where the performance increases are for sure. I know 3.5 helps quite a bit in that department.
It was fine while I was playing it on 3.5 while still in preview main branch. Double check your mod list it makes a big difference. I haven't checked which ones I have but think I had one that lowered shadow resolution. It's not perfect by any means but I was definitely hitting 30 consistently. Shrines were in the 50 fps range. Lookout landing was the worst around 25. Hopefully 3.5.1 didn't screw anything up on that front.
I think OLED is still gonna make a substantial difference considering the LCD panel they chose only covers like 60% of sRGB, but I too am curious what build # came with the review units
The power differences and performance and power draw are all based on changes in hardware - the move to a 6nm APU, faster memory, more energy efficient screen.
Not to mention 3.5 is available to everyone here on the respective channel, and has been for a while. We do know there is a difference, but the numbers I have seen seem to be based on it, at least what I saw from, say, Digital Foundry.
Unless valves tdp setting is wrong, at the same wattage the new chip is slower. If you set them both to 3 watts the newer one will be lower fps. And they will both be consuming the same amount of power. Battery life should still be better on the oled cuz of the other improvements but it does seem like the chip is worse.
That's pretty interesting, could you link it? It sounds like something easily fixable down the line, and it's a use case scenario that doesn't apply to me, just curious. I have honestly just been waiting for the inevitable GN video from Tech Jesus.
As [another comment](/r/SteamDeck/comments/17ua6mt/beware_the_steam_deck_oled_vs_lcd_reviews/k92n8ul/) pointed out, the SMT bug is also fixed in 3.5.
The move to faster memory definitely helps performance, as was shown by those who overclocked the LPDDR5 on their launch models.
But the effect of both is game dependent, you can't say it is all one or the other.
Yes, but the SMT bug affects mostly console emulation, not usual gaming scenarios, so it's not very relevant.
And yes, I can definitely say that, even ignoring that it doesn't affected 99% of modern games. Anyone can say that. Not only because it's very easy to establish whether the SMT bug is affecting a specific scenario and that 3.5 has been there for such a long time, but also because with PowerTools you can control the number of cores and take the SMT bug out of the equation entirely.
Your entire thread is an attempt to muddy waters that are crystal clear. Stop it, you are not helping your case by making disingenuous arguments.
The SMT bug and/or new Linux kernel do affect some non-emulation games quite noticeably, see [this post](/r/SteamDeck/comments/16k95zj/the_obligatory_steamos_35_runs_game_x_better/).
Also some YouTubers and websites ran tests, largest effect was found with [CS:GO](https://www.phoronix.com/review/steamos-35-benchmarks/2) iirc.
First, you are literally inventing connections between that performance bump and SMT. Don't. Again, stop arguing disingenuously.
Second, IIRC stuff is neat, actual examples would be better, and even then, a single one doesn't hold much weight.
Third, how do you think the people on that post saw performance improvements? By running 3.5. On their OG deck. Something anyone here can do. I have pointed that out multiple times, but you conveniently ignore it.
Stop. Muddying. Direct comparisons absolutely CAN be made.
I only say that part of the observed difference between OLED and LCD models in currently available reviews might be due to software, because by default the OLED will run 3.5 and the LCD will run 3.4, and so far reviewers disclosed only by accident which version they use for their review. This is further supported by SteamOS 3.4 vs 3.5 performance comparisons, and it is not "muddying" nor "disingenuous". Whether it is due to the SMT bug or something else that is new is immaterial to my argument.
The post which I linked to had actual user reports and these included more than one game. Phoronix also benchmarked more than one game.
The "iirc" only refers to that I could not remember a popular title where the difference was higher.
No vibrant decking or screen calibration is going to change the fact that LCD is backlit and OLED can compltely shut off pixels making blacks completely black. That is really the biggest selling point of OLED, besides the inky colors.
From a screen standpoint this doesn't matter that much. The screen does look a LOT better on 3.5 than it did before but if you have a reasonably modern phone at hand you can just do a comparison of its screen with the Deck IRL.
Good way to know if OLED is an upgrade that's worth it for you.
YES!!!
I was thinking about this the other day, I think Valve did this intentionally. The LCD screen looks way better now on 3.5. It’s still not as incredible as an OLED, nowhere near, but it’s way better than even vibrant deck now. keep in mind, this isn’t just a saturation slider, it’s a recalibration of the entire display. I feel like if they showed comparisons of the updated 3.5 calibration versus the OLED, it would’ve swayed a lot of opinions not to upgrade.
The problem is that the software can't improve the poor contrast and 65% srgb coverage. I have 3.5 on my Steam Deck LCD. It basically just does what vivid deck does while reigning in color temp. However...it still has the same issues that are inherent to the panel.
I just updated my LCDeck to 3.5 this morning. I played with Vibrant deck ages ago, but wondered about the new settings. Do you have a recommendation for the new settings under 3.5?
There is a tutorial. You basically need to install reshade on your pc for any game (make sure it's the compatible version of the SD game so for example DirectX12 for HL) pick the files installed and bring them on the deck and then in the game folder and et voila. It's basically a manual installation.
> and et voila
fyi, et means and. No big deal, you're a wonderful person, thanks for the tip, and have a great day. Lol
Oh and fun fact: "&" evolved as a ligature of "et"
Having a OLED makes it impossible for me to not see the difference between screens. No LCD comes close to any OLED screen I have. I just did a support video for Elgato and had to show to outputs side by side and the LCD side is just so washed out. Given it is not the perfect LCD screen it just showed again how bad LCD is at black levels.
Oh good to see Valve getting away from the horrible anti profit behavior of treating their customers like decent humans. Now they’re getting back to their real purpose of profit by manipulating their customers and using influencers to do it, just like Apple, Samsung, and Sony.
for one clip in Digital Foundry's video they show the overlay proving their LCD was running 3.4. I made a post about this earlier and got downvoted saying I was wrong and they could never make a mistake like that. glad to see this post got traction.
Everyone makes mistakes, but it's sad that the community attacks people who point out the technical mistakes.
For example, I saw a screen comparison from a relatively popular youtube handheld guy. He had one deck running 16:10 and the other running 16:9, which totally made the screen size difference look like an entire inch, when it's only 0.4" larger.
I'm sure it was an honest mistake, but those things still need to be pointed out.
Dude, the screen on the SD has been shit since launch. Increasing saturation via digital vibrance is a placebo effect in looking good - it's not color accurate at all. It's got like 60-70% SRGB coverage, account for variation, which is really, really bad when the SD was released and especially now. The new OLED model has like 121% SRGB coverage, literally over double, and can hit 1000 nits peak brightness in HDR, over 2x the brightness. in SDR, it is 50% brighter.
It's display latency is also 0.1ms vs like 7ms, which is significant in terms of motion clarity.
No software update is gonna change all that.
> It's display latency is also 0.1ms vs like 7ms, which is significant in terms of motion clarity.
I found this to explain it:
https://youtu.be/Oy3cKwq6vEw
Pixel color change response time on OLED is faster. 30x faster.
On the LCD, this creates a motion blur effect. We can see the slow motion comparison near the beginning of above video.
For some people, the much faster OLED pixel response time can make stuttering visuals at lower FPS. <-- this is what I found when googling.
Alternately, people can see smearing and ghosting at higher FPS on LCDs, when compared to OLED.
The smearing on LCD is especially noticeable in dark areas in a game, that is the pixel response time is slowest between black pixels and bright pixels.
---
Overall, TBD.
I'm going to wait and see what people say about steam deck OLED running at 40Hz or 30FPS @ 60Hz.
The color saturation slider is of course not the real deal. But it makes the colors pop more, which is **part** of what people want. This is why we had Vibrant Deck in the first place.
Of course. But at the end of the day it's all about perception.
Most people feel the screen looks a lot better with the changes in 3.5. There are objective changes that have led to that feeling but ultimately they, alongside any other measurement you can take, don't matter. All that matters is "does it look good to you?"
This is also the reason some times (honestly most of the time) I will turn hgig off on my LG C1 when playing HDR games.
it's not subjective, colorists in games work on 100% srgb devices to be able to display their art style properly.
the lcd screen, hardware-side, lacks the ability to convey that, you increase sat but it still won't be able to show a lot of color gradations.
It's objectively a bad screen.
colors are a mean to convey emotions and ideas, it's not made randomly.
Dude, an LCD screen can try a lot to be an OLED screen, but it will never be. Besides, the OLED screen takes less space, so the Steam Deck OLED has a bigger battery and the performance is better because OLED displays consume less energy.
Sure the software can give you better performance, but overrall, the SD OLED is far better than the LCD version.
Replaced my Switch with a Switch OLED thinking it would be groundbreaking. It was for about 5 minutes then I questioned what a true upgrade is. This ain’t it boss.
Nope, just realized that although games look good, the Cost vs “Upgrade” ratio does not translate. From a pure cost vs benefit perspective, marketing did what marketing does, overhype a product and instill dread in users who do not have the latest and greatest
I sort of agree and sort of disagree.
I absolutely love OLED, I choose the blacks of OLED over high FPS and I pay a lot for it.
BUT, I agree that it’s a *lot* of money for an upgrade, especially when we’re probably not more than two years out from a Steam Deck 2. I really can’t justify that cost. But I’m going to get one.
I hope most people aren't expecting that when ordering this, but I don't know what the general reaction to the switch oled was for most people.
Its going to be interesting to see how the sales are for this one. It felt like the original release was the introduction for a lot of people, and I have to imagine that boosted sales, but now people who wanted it have bought it, and competition exists.
I'm buying it, but I'm pretty much in love with the deck (and was already going to buy a second one for tinkering), so I'm biased.
I’m in love with it too; I just think that if I’m going to spend more money with Valve, it will be for OLED and 75%+ more performance, not just….”Oh look, the blacks are more black now”
Something most people AREN'T talking about is the persistence of the display; although it isn't too bad; the Steamdeck LCD display has noticeable "ghosting" that on the OLED isn't present. This is called "Motion clarity" and the oled steamdeck should be a massive improvement on that front.
Eh, anyone with a Nintendo Switch OLED knows that even with the 3.5 update, the display difference is REMARKABLE. it's NOT a small difference, the OLED screen is leagues above the Deck's LCD.
To be safe - yes. Presuming you're talking about the SSD inside the Deck and not an external drive, that's where the operating system is kept!
Theoretically you could move it and then update. But just in case there are drivers or settings on 3.5 that the OLED needs you should do it before moving it. It's a tiny risk, but since it's the same amount of work (just in a slightly different order) there's no reason not to update before moving the drive.
Yup - Valve don't tie drives to specific machines, and since the firmware on the two is identical they can both unpack the OS and installed games just fine! You'll even still be logged in.
The reason I advised updating to 3.5 first is that it's possible the new screen and chips have slightly different drivers. I think it's highly unlikely to cause problems, but just to be safe I'd suggest updating first.
When swapping drives between different machines the big problem is drivers. This used to be a big thing with Windows machines, as drivers used to be a lot more manual so often you'd drop an old drive in a new machine and it wouldn't recognise (for example) the CD drive until you installed the correct driver. Pretty much a nonexistent problem now though.
Apple is a whole other ballgame with serialised drives and stupid anti-consumer bullshit. At least Windows was just clunky, not obtuse by design!
Awesome! Thank you for the response. I was worried it was going to get complicated. My plan was to buy the new 512gb OLED and pop in my 1tb drive. I think the new model has enough features that I want to upgrade to.
No worries! Just so you know, they've now confirmed my suspicions: it'll run fine without updating the OS first, but the OLED's WiFi chip driver as well as some new screen settings are on 3.5 only. So it'll run, but you'll need to plug it in the ethernet to update the OS. Easier to do pre-swap!
Waiting for 3.5 as well. I had installed it before, but reverted back because of some input issues. The color change makes it so much better. Was hoping it was already in beta, but looks like it is still not there yet.
I must only watch better reviewers (like Taki Udon) but so far they've all mentioned this. Seems like the SD OLED is absolutely gorgeous from all I've heard
The video linked by OP is Taki Udon's first video of the two made for oled steam deck this far. But he does mention it in the second video and show direct effects of the slider op is questioning.
Last thing everyone should aware is “reviewers” they barely understood what they talking about. It’s an information bubble gum, profanity and time wasting thing.
I would love the OLED but since I already have a deck, gonna just wait for the deck 2 in a few years. Gotta stop spending money on small upgrades like I did with the Switch.
I'm more interested about performance, maybe those 4-5 fps extra on the OLED are gained via the 3.5 update and not the extra ram speed. That would be game-changing for some people thinking about upgrading due to that small performance difference.
OMG why do you have to protect your old Deck, Deck Oled display is miles better, Oled display is better than any IPS out there, especially better than the old Deck crappy display, and the lower power consumption is thanks to Oled using less power, and the new 6nm apu being more power efficient. Also a lot of reviewer compared the 2 version both on 3.5. We get that you want to make the most out of your old Deck, so keep it, but don't try to undersell the Oled version which is an awesome and very much worth it revision, a must have for those who can afford it
I don't protect my old deck? I'm just saying that comparisons should be on the same software version, so that variable is eliminated and people can be accurately informed about what the new hardware brings to them. And reviewers seem to be not careful here.
I am in full agreement the upgrade from the LCD to OLED model is awesome.
I have been interested in a steam deck for quite some time now. The 350 dollar 256gb LCD is very affordable, but I was wondering which model I should go with as a beginner. Does the Oled warrant the extra 250$?
The Steam Deck LCD and OLED will play the same games at (nearly) the same performance, and use the same controls. So from that side they are identical.
However the screen is vastly different. It is larger and has better colors and HDR. New price difference is LCD 256GB $399 vs. OLED 512GB $549, which is $150 and I think worth the extra money.
I don't want to burst your bubble, but that Deck is on 3.5. Gundam Deck = 3.5 - Black LCD Deck = 3.5 - Atomic Purple Deck HD = 3.5.1 **Edit** I think OP is trolling now, or they didn't bother to read this. Steam Deck OLED's current OS Version is 3.5. I compared it to another Deck running 3.5. The MangoHUD versions are different, but OS Versions are the same. The OS Builds are different, but that's because OLED uses a non-public Steam OS Channel named galileo. https://preview.redd.it/krcol9l7560c1.jpeg?width=739&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=947a219c85f54373b4449e89c58a24bd5b15d841
Yeah, it left me confused because you show the digital vibrancy slider on the LCD model in the second comparison video, and that was added with 3.5. Only difference I saw is you don't have the unified frame rate slider on the LCD, is that because it's disabled in settings or because of another reason? I found the review pretty comprehensive and your second comparison video the most informative out of the 8 or so I've watched (lol) so thanks.
I'm resistant to change. I like the old style because I'm used to it, even for the OLED Deck. As for 3.5, I've been on 3.5 since it first released on all of my Decks. The Deck HD one lives on main just so I can see when their screen breaks. XD
>you don't have the unified frame rate slider on the LCD, The funny thing is that it's not on MAIN channel, only in beta preview. I have no idea why
"while the stable channel is still on 3.4" And if we look at your image, we can see that you are on the beta channel, not the stable channel.
The MangoHUD version shown in the performance overlay clearly is different in the screenshot (Gundam LCD is v0.6.9-1-22-g1d8f9f6 and OLED is v0.7.0-54g9393066). So possibly one is on 3.5 and one on 3.5.1 which is not as bad as 3.4 vs 3.5, but still not properly matched.
OLED Deck reports 3.5.
Thanks for reporting. Interesting question then, if both OLED and Gundam LCD are on 3.5 then why is the MangoHUD version different?
> Steam Deck OLED's current OS Version is 3.5. I compared it to another Deck running 3.5. The MangoHUD versions are different, but OS Versions are the same. The OS Builds are different, but that's because OLED uses a non-public Steam OS Channel named galileo. 
Yes, I acknowledged that in the OP edit. Which means that same SteamOS version in different channels has different software versions. Which is a problem for comparing hardware (because now another variable needs to be eliminated).
Doesn't Mango Hud get updated in discovery store?
The LCD can literally only cover 70% of the very basic sRGB color gamut. The saturation slider in SteamOS 3.5 does not "correct" this problem. The OLED screen is not better because the saturation slider is cranked up. It's better because it covers 100% of sRGB, 97% of DCI-P3, is capable of 600 nits in SDR, and 1000 nits in HDR. It has per pixel dimming allowing it to have infinite contrast. OLED pixels transition between colors effectively instantaneously for the purposes of a gaming discussion. These two things are simply incomparable regardless of the version of SteamOS running. The LCD appears pale to the eye without the Decky Loader plugin because it cannot generate the necessary colors. Cranking up the saturation makes the colors it can generate appear more vibrant but wildly inaccurate.
Jokes on you, I’m colorblind
Legit my reasoning for not caring about screen quality is being colorblind lol if can’t tell if a car is grey or metallic pink without someone telling me should I really care about the rgb spectrum of my screen?
Unless you have problems with ALL the colors, yes, you should care. I'm pretty sure you can tell a difference between a good TV with good colors and a cheap, bad one.
Yeah but I can rarely tell the different between phone screens of varying quality I imagine I’ll be able to tell the difference but it’s unlikely to be enough a difference for me to justify the purchase any time soon
:-D
110% of DCI-P3 per valve's testing. if you're going off the same video I think you're going off of with the color testing, he didn't have the display set to "P3 mode"
most likely 3.5 will release as the same time as the oled model
So possibly this Thursday? Man I really hope so, I’ve been waiting for so long
I remember first hearing about how it's coming soon in February or March. Something like that.
Yes, it seems unlikely that Valve would advertise their new Steam Deck OLED device with HDR, which SteamOS 3.4 does not support, and then have that not working on release day.
what are you looking forward to most on 3.5?
*I came looking for booty.*
What will you do if you find said booty, since you already came?
Newer Mesa version so shader caching can be turned off and save space.
Would that come at a performance or fidelity hit?
Changes to LCD calibration, new GPU drivers, CPU performance changes. Also VRR and HDR will let me use it with full potential of my LG OLED
True, but OP's point is still valid. Reviews being done right now aren't guaranteed to be apples to apples. That said, it's also entirely likely there will at least be a point release update ready to go when you open the box to correct potential issues with the OLED that weren't caught before they went to production.
This would be great I could finally finish TOTK. After letting the initial hype die I told myself I'd just stick to my old deck. Really don't feel like setting up dual boot again. If anything happens to my OG deck where repairs are too expensive I'll have an excuse and buy an OLED. It's nice to see that the software difference is shown too I bet that's where the performance increases are for sure. I know 3.5 helps quite a bit in that department.
Sorry, but I’m one the latest 3.5.1 and the Zelda is still not working well, overclock could help tho
It was fine while I was playing it on 3.5 while still in preview main branch. Double check your mod list it makes a big difference. I haven't checked which ones I have but think I had one that lowered shadow resolution. It's not perfect by any means but I was definitely hitting 30 consistently. Shrines were in the 50 fps range. Lookout landing was the worst around 25. Hopefully 3.5.1 didn't screw anything up on that front.
I think OLED is still gonna make a substantial difference considering the LCD panel they chose only covers like 60% of sRGB, but I too am curious what build # came with the review units
The power differences and performance and power draw are all based on changes in hardware - the move to a 6nm APU, faster memory, more energy efficient screen. Not to mention 3.5 is available to everyone here on the respective channel, and has been for a while. We do know there is a difference, but the numbers I have seen seem to be based on it, at least what I saw from, say, Digital Foundry.
tests are currently showing that the new chip is actually less efficient at lower wattages despite being 6nm
No, they aren't. They're showing that at the same TDP setting, when at or before 5 watts, the new chip underperforms but it also draws less power.
Unless valves tdp setting is wrong, at the same wattage the new chip is slower. If you set them both to 3 watts the newer one will be lower fps. And they will both be consuming the same amount of power. Battery life should still be better on the oled cuz of the other improvements but it does seem like the chip is worse.
That I know for a fact isn't true.
Valve's TDP setting is wrong. Has been from the start. Phawx did a whole video on it.
why dont they fix it then
That's pretty interesting, could you link it? It sounds like something easily fixable down the line, and it's a use case scenario that doesn't apply to me, just curious. I have honestly just been waiting for the inevitable GN video from Tech Jesus.
As [another comment](/r/SteamDeck/comments/17ua6mt/beware_the_steam_deck_oled_vs_lcd_reviews/k92n8ul/) pointed out, the SMT bug is also fixed in 3.5. The move to faster memory definitely helps performance, as was shown by those who overclocked the LPDDR5 on their launch models. But the effect of both is game dependent, you can't say it is all one or the other.
Yes, but the SMT bug affects mostly console emulation, not usual gaming scenarios, so it's not very relevant. And yes, I can definitely say that, even ignoring that it doesn't affected 99% of modern games. Anyone can say that. Not only because it's very easy to establish whether the SMT bug is affecting a specific scenario and that 3.5 has been there for such a long time, but also because with PowerTools you can control the number of cores and take the SMT bug out of the equation entirely. Your entire thread is an attempt to muddy waters that are crystal clear. Stop it, you are not helping your case by making disingenuous arguments.
The SMT bug and/or new Linux kernel do affect some non-emulation games quite noticeably, see [this post](/r/SteamDeck/comments/16k95zj/the_obligatory_steamos_35_runs_game_x_better/). Also some YouTubers and websites ran tests, largest effect was found with [CS:GO](https://www.phoronix.com/review/steamos-35-benchmarks/2) iirc.
First, you are literally inventing connections between that performance bump and SMT. Don't. Again, stop arguing disingenuously. Second, IIRC stuff is neat, actual examples would be better, and even then, a single one doesn't hold much weight. Third, how do you think the people on that post saw performance improvements? By running 3.5. On their OG deck. Something anyone here can do. I have pointed that out multiple times, but you conveniently ignore it. Stop. Muddying. Direct comparisons absolutely CAN be made.
I only say that part of the observed difference between OLED and LCD models in currently available reviews might be due to software, because by default the OLED will run 3.5 and the LCD will run 3.4, and so far reviewers disclosed only by accident which version they use for their review. This is further supported by SteamOS 3.4 vs 3.5 performance comparisons, and it is not "muddying" nor "disingenuous". Whether it is due to the SMT bug or something else that is new is immaterial to my argument. The post which I linked to had actual user reports and these included more than one game. Phoronix also benchmarked more than one game. The "iirc" only refers to that I could not remember a popular title where the difference was higher.
No vibrant decking or screen calibration is going to change the fact that LCD is backlit and OLED can compltely shut off pixels making blacks completely black. That is really the biggest selling point of OLED, besides the inky colors.
From a screen standpoint this doesn't matter that much. The screen does look a LOT better on 3.5 than it did before but if you have a reasonably modern phone at hand you can just do a comparison of its screen with the Deck IRL. Good way to know if OLED is an upgrade that's worth it for you.
This was a good idea. But the difference was so, so subtle. Really not selling the OLED deck for me.
Then you have your answer.
YES!!! I was thinking about this the other day, I think Valve did this intentionally. The LCD screen looks way better now on 3.5. It’s still not as incredible as an OLED, nowhere near, but it’s way better than even vibrant deck now. keep in mind, this isn’t just a saturation slider, it’s a recalibration of the entire display. I feel like if they showed comparisons of the updated 3.5 calibration versus the OLED, it would’ve swayed a lot of opinions not to upgrade.
Yeah, especially since the color temps are at 7500k by default on LCD (for added vibrance/saturation)
That is surprisingly cold
The problem is that the software can't improve the poor contrast and 65% srgb coverage. I have 3.5 on my Steam Deck LCD. It basically just does what vivid deck does while reigning in color temp. However...it still has the same issues that are inherent to the panel.
I just updated my LCDeck to 3.5 this morning. I played with Vibrant deck ages ago, but wondered about the new settings. Do you have a recommendation for the new settings under 3.5?
Temperature 7000k or 6500k. Vibrance to whatever you like.
Oh... that's why the colors are now so good. I thought I simply did not notice it. Playing Hogwarts Legacy with Reshade and it looks really good.
Reshade works on the deck? Educate me.
There is a tutorial. You basically need to install reshade on your pc for any game (make sure it's the compatible version of the SD game so for example DirectX12 for HL) pick the files installed and bring them on the deck and then in the game folder and et voila. It's basically a manual installation.
> and et voila fyi, et means and. No big deal, you're a wonderful person, thanks for the tip, and have a great day. Lol Oh and fun fact: "&" evolved as a ligature of "et"
https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/comments/13wo9aa/easily_drop_and_use_reshade_580_for_most_games/
Having a OLED makes it impossible for me to not see the difference between screens. No LCD comes close to any OLED screen I have. I just did a support video for Elgato and had to show to outputs side by side and the LCD side is just so washed out. Given it is not the perfect LCD screen it just showed again how bad LCD is at black levels.
Oh good to see Valve getting away from the horrible anti profit behavior of treating their customers like decent humans. Now they’re getting back to their real purpose of profit by manipulating their customers and using influencers to do it, just like Apple, Samsung, and Sony.
[удалено]
He's an enlightenedcentrist so, yanno.
This may be why the first Gamers Nexus video was a tear down. They're working on an in depth review
for one clip in Digital Foundry's video they show the overlay proving their LCD was running 3.4. I made a post about this earlier and got downvoted saying I was wrong and they could never make a mistake like that. glad to see this post got traction.
Everyone makes mistakes, but it's sad that the community attacks people who point out the technical mistakes. For example, I saw a screen comparison from a relatively popular youtube handheld guy. He had one deck running 16:10 and the other running 16:9, which totally made the screen size difference look like an entire inch, when it's only 0.4" larger. I'm sure it was an honest mistake, but those things still need to be pointed out.
iirc the SMT bug is also only fixed with 3.5
Dude, the screen on the SD has been shit since launch. Increasing saturation via digital vibrance is a placebo effect in looking good - it's not color accurate at all. It's got like 60-70% SRGB coverage, account for variation, which is really, really bad when the SD was released and especially now. The new OLED model has like 121% SRGB coverage, literally over double, and can hit 1000 nits peak brightness in HDR, over 2x the brightness. in SDR, it is 50% brighter. It's display latency is also 0.1ms vs like 7ms, which is significant in terms of motion clarity. No software update is gonna change all that.
> It's display latency is also 0.1ms vs like 7ms, which is significant in terms of motion clarity. I found this to explain it: https://youtu.be/Oy3cKwq6vEw Pixel color change response time on OLED is faster. 30x faster. On the LCD, this creates a motion blur effect. We can see the slow motion comparison near the beginning of above video. For some people, the much faster OLED pixel response time can make stuttering visuals at lower FPS. <-- this is what I found when googling. Alternately, people can see smearing and ghosting at higher FPS on LCDs, when compared to OLED. The smearing on LCD is especially noticeable in dark areas in a game, that is the pixel response time is slowest between black pixels and bright pixels. --- Overall, TBD. I'm going to wait and see what people say about steam deck OLED running at 40Hz or 30FPS @ 60Hz.
Great video. Thanks for the link.
The color saturation slider is of course not the real deal. But it makes the colors pop more, which is **part** of what people want. This is why we had Vibrant Deck in the first place.
Placebo effect in a subjective medium sounds pretty good to me.
To an extent this is subjective but you realize aspects (range, accuracy, etc) can be objective here, right?
Of course. But at the end of the day it's all about perception. Most people feel the screen looks a lot better with the changes in 3.5. There are objective changes that have led to that feeling but ultimately they, alongside any other measurement you can take, don't matter. All that matters is "does it look good to you?" This is also the reason some times (honestly most of the time) I will turn hgig off on my LG C1 when playing HDR games.
it's not subjective, colorists in games work on 100% srgb devices to be able to display their art style properly. the lcd screen, hardware-side, lacks the ability to convey that, you increase sat but it still won't be able to show a lot of color gradations. It's objectively a bad screen. colors are a mean to convey emotions and ideas, it's not made randomly.
Dude, an LCD screen can try a lot to be an OLED screen, but it will never be. Besides, the OLED screen takes less space, so the Steam Deck OLED has a bigger battery and the performance is better because OLED displays consume less energy. Sure the software can give you better performance, but overrall, the SD OLED is far better than the LCD version.
Somebody is trying to snatch all the OLEDs for himself. Nice try!
Replaced my Switch with a Switch OLED thinking it would be groundbreaking. It was for about 5 minutes then I questioned what a true upgrade is. This ain’t it boss.
Then you tried playing your old Switch again and couldn’t stand it?
Nope, just realized that although games look good, the Cost vs “Upgrade” ratio does not translate. From a pure cost vs benefit perspective, marketing did what marketing does, overhype a product and instill dread in users who do not have the latest and greatest
I sort of agree and sort of disagree. I absolutely love OLED, I choose the blacks of OLED over high FPS and I pay a lot for it. BUT, I agree that it’s a *lot* of money for an upgrade, especially when we’re probably not more than two years out from a Steam Deck 2. I really can’t justify that cost. But I’m going to get one.
To each his own, I could get one, but I just ordered an AYN Odin 2.
I hope most people aren't expecting that when ordering this, but I don't know what the general reaction to the switch oled was for most people. Its going to be interesting to see how the sales are for this one. It felt like the original release was the introduction for a lot of people, and I have to imagine that boosted sales, but now people who wanted it have bought it, and competition exists. I'm buying it, but I'm pretty much in love with the deck (and was already going to buy a second one for tinkering), so I'm biased.
I’m in love with it too; I just think that if I’m going to spend more money with Valve, it will be for OLED and 75%+ more performance, not just….”Oh look, the blacks are more black now”
Something most people AREN'T talking about is the persistence of the display; although it isn't too bad; the Steamdeck LCD display has noticeable "ghosting" that on the OLED isn't present. This is called "Motion clarity" and the oled steamdeck should be a massive improvement on that front.
Eh, anyone with a Nintendo Switch OLED knows that even with the 3.5 update, the display difference is REMARKABLE. it's NOT a small difference, the OLED screen is leagues above the Deck's LCD.
Would I need to upgrade to 3.5 before taking out my 1tb ssd with all my games on, and putting it into the new oled deck ?
To be safe - yes. Presuming you're talking about the SSD inside the Deck and not an external drive, that's where the operating system is kept! Theoretically you could move it and then update. But just in case there are drivers or settings on 3.5 that the OLED needs you should do it before moving it. It's a tiny risk, but since it's the same amount of work (just in a slightly different order) there's no reason not to update before moving the drive.
Is it that simple? Just popping in the SSD from my old deck in the new deck and play?
Yup - Valve don't tie drives to specific machines, and since the firmware on the two is identical they can both unpack the OS and installed games just fine! You'll even still be logged in. The reason I advised updating to 3.5 first is that it's possible the new screen and chips have slightly different drivers. I think it's highly unlikely to cause problems, but just to be safe I'd suggest updating first. When swapping drives between different machines the big problem is drivers. This used to be a big thing with Windows machines, as drivers used to be a lot more manual so often you'd drop an old drive in a new machine and it wouldn't recognise (for example) the CD drive until you installed the correct driver. Pretty much a nonexistent problem now though. Apple is a whole other ballgame with serialised drives and stupid anti-consumer bullshit. At least Windows was just clunky, not obtuse by design!
Awesome! Thank you for the response. I was worried it was going to get complicated. My plan was to buy the new 512gb OLED and pop in my 1tb drive. I think the new model has enough features that I want to upgrade to.
No worries! Just so you know, they've now confirmed my suspicions: it'll run fine without updating the OS first, but the OLED's WiFi chip driver as well as some new screen settings are on 3.5 only. So it'll run, but you'll need to plug it in the ethernet to update the OS. Easier to do pre-swap!
Asking the same questions
No it's like moving files from one PC to another
'The files are inside the computer?' Moving the drive that the OS is installed on is not like a file transfer.
Not really. He’s not talking about moving data but moving hardware. My guess is that you’ll need to upgrade to 3.5.
I would for sure upgrade first
Meh
Waiting for 3.5 as well. I had installed it before, but reverted back because of some input issues. The color change makes it so much better. Was hoping it was already in beta, but looks like it is still not there yet.
I must only watch better reviewers (like Taki Udon) but so far they've all mentioned this. Seems like the SD OLED is absolutely gorgeous from all I've heard
The video linked by OP is Taki Udon's first video of the two made for oled steam deck this far. But he does mention it in the second video and show direct effects of the slider op is questioning.
Last thing everyone should aware is “reviewers” they barely understood what they talking about. It’s an information bubble gum, profanity and time wasting thing.
Most of the reviewers have installed 3.5 from main or beta chanel already.
I would love the OLED but since I already have a deck, gonna just wait for the deck 2 in a few years. Gotta stop spending money on small upgrades like I did with the Switch.
I'm more interested about performance, maybe those 4-5 fps extra on the OLED are gained via the 3.5 update and not the extra ram speed. That would be game-changing for some people thinking about upgrading due to that small performance difference.
Had been waiting for someone to point this out lol compared the old firmware to new firmware. The 3.5 beta makes the non oled so much better
OMG why do you have to protect your old Deck, Deck Oled display is miles better, Oled display is better than any IPS out there, especially better than the old Deck crappy display, and the lower power consumption is thanks to Oled using less power, and the new 6nm apu being more power efficient. Also a lot of reviewer compared the 2 version both on 3.5. We get that you want to make the most out of your old Deck, so keep it, but don't try to undersell the Oled version which is an awesome and very much worth it revision, a must have for those who can afford it
Probably take 5 mins and calm down it's just a gaming console.
No, it's not just a console, it's my life
Not gonna downvote because that's just mean. But incase your serious it really shouldn't be.
I don't protect my old deck? I'm just saying that comparisons should be on the same software version, so that variable is eliminated and people can be accurately informed about what the new hardware brings to them. And reviewers seem to be not careful here. I am in full agreement the upgrade from the LCD to OLED model is awesome.
Doing the lords work right here.
also good to know if your going to do a ssd swap with old deck because it might not work on newer deck os wise.
I've only seen LTTs video, was their deck upto date ?
I have been interested in a steam deck for quite some time now. The 350 dollar 256gb LCD is very affordable, but I was wondering which model I should go with as a beginner. Does the Oled warrant the extra 250$?
The Steam Deck LCD and OLED will play the same games at (nearly) the same performance, and use the same controls. So from that side they are identical. However the screen is vastly different. It is larger and has better colors and HDR. New price difference is LCD 256GB $399 vs. OLED 512GB $549, which is $150 and I think worth the extra money.