Really enjoyed watching Oliver come into his own on the channel in terms of production quality, style, and confidence. He fits in perfectly right along the rest of the bespoke staff. Great addition to the team.
I personally think the future should be 1600p. So integer scaling for games that can only hit 800p and still be able to have great image quality for streaming and low power games.
I bought the Deck HD during the initial production run when the OLED hadn’t been announced. Going forward, I agree that the OLED is the better option when buying a new one. It’s too bad that an OLED can’t be swapped into the LCD models.
@@mechanicalmonk2020 Maybe with a Deck 2, Valve could bump up the screen to 1200p or 1600p, being as it should have a lot more power, and 1080p is a possibility but I think that would be overkill for a portable device and would kill most of the performance upgrade the hardware offers, but maybe higher resolution whiles rendering the game at a lower resolution and upscaling to the higher resolution could offer better image quality results, whiles not being a burden on the hardware being it's rendering at 800p.
@@Marauder-q2vI'd imagine so. The brightness of the panel has a negligible effect on power draw but the lcd in general pulls about 3w at the 800p base. I imagine at 1200p the increased pixel density might massively increase power draw.
@@KrakenGameReviews power consumption is mentioned in the video, and DeckHD clocked lower power consumption, though difficult to say for sure based on single unit comparison
The fact that a screen replacement is even an option is amazing and shows how open the Software and Hardware is. I hope Valve keeps this around in future Products, because its so extremely rare in the hardware industry.
@@djtomoy Yep, you need official support from Valve at a software level and an easier approach to installing the hardware for it to be really useful. For most useful, it will be messy to replace the screen, as well as constantly having to update the software to support the screen. But if Valve are more open to third party support at a software level, I suspect there would be a market for that and it would make the Deck more flexible, especially with a Deck 2 if they redesign it so you can plug in, plug out the screen, battery, storage and maybe even memory, it would offer more value and flexibility for the ones that want to upgrade in some areas, say 32GB of memory over 16GB. But the only way I see it being practical is if Valve are willing to support third party options at a software level so it just works, it would likely be a curated list of hardware support but that would be fine.
@djtomoy Ofcourse, it's just like a regular PC. Valve doesn't have to specifically support whatever third-party stuff is happening, as it isn't even in their financial interest to do so.
Got my Steam Deck OLED on the way. Honestly so excited! I havent had a handheld in years and have wanted an OLED deck from the start so hyped to get one. A dream device for retro gaming imo
You'll love it. I had a LCD Steam Deck for the last year or so and loved it, got the OLED Steam Deck for Christmas from my girlfriend and I love it even more, it rarely leaves my hands now. When I first seen the announcment for the OLED version I wanted it so bad, then I heard all the upgrades and side grades they also gave it on top of the OLED screen then I was drooling. lol
I recently got one and I really love it. Such an incredible piece of technology. It's the handheld gaming PC I've long dreamed of, but its ease of use is surprisingly console-like.
@@redcrimson1028 Then buy a game you like. It's all about the games mainly anyway, so long as the screen looks decent the device don't really matter. So how can 1 device be more fun then another if they all have more or less the same games to play?
@@randysalsman6992 Yep, I don't understand that comment either. It's all down how boring the game is that you are playing at the end of the day. Since the game is exactly the same as it is on a full blown console or PC. Well at least gameplay and story wise. I guess that the visual quality and game immersion isn't quite as good on a handhelds smaller display than it is on a larger display, but I don't really find it that much of distraction or an issue. Especially after I've been playing the game for a few minutes and have become accustomed to that smaller display, the games slightly lower visual quality and have become more immersed into the game. It would be like saying that a game is more boring on the PS4, than it is on a PS5.
Although I guess it's a better option if you already have a steam deck, than replacing it with a new one. Although an OLED replacement screen might be pretty cool.
@@cromefire_I gave my lcd deck to my oldest son…and it’s still awesome. I couldn’t resist that OLED 1tb model tho. Funny out of my switch OLED and this one…I prefer my lcd vita over my OLED model.
I have both the DeckHD and OLED and I use my DeckHD more often due to streaming from my game server to the device. Its a huge difference in visual clarity and doesn't sacrifice any issues with performance and battery life due to my use case. I havent touched my OLED in months and typically will only use it if traveling.
I don’t really think recommending the deck HD is advisable under any circumstance. The fact it breaks with every firmware update and is contingent upon continued support (which is just not something that often happens for boutique products), I don’t see it as a good choice.
@@pobbityboppity1110 agree. I love tech, but I am so done with fiddling with oddities. All for a reduction in performance. I’m a bit of a graphics snob and the steam deck already doesn’t have sufficient performance for me.
What's the point of "upgrading" a performance limited device to a higer resolution meanwhile being the same 7 inches LCD screen, it drags down the performance even further while consuming more power / shortening the battery life.
I like that the option exists though, and a lot of older/simpler titles benefit from the resolution increase without much impact on performance or power consumption
You can still maintain an 800p output for heavy games, while getting a better resolution on lighter ones. If you play more light games than heavy games, that might be worth it
@@kennypowers1945 It definitely enough to tell though. Having played on most of the PC handhelds then the higher resolution ones like the 1600p Legion Go and One Player 2, do actually look a fair amount better and detailed than the lower resolution ones and especially over those with 720p or 800p displays. Although, I'd also say that 1600p (3K) is probably around the max limit for such small displays. Going anything above that will likely just be a complete waste and overkill for nothing. As for games, several older and emulated games will currently run at those higher resolutions, no problem at all. And I guess that amount games that will manage to run at those resolutions, will only increase as SoC's also increase in power. At the current moment, I'd honestly say that 1200p is pretty much the sweet spot for PC handhelds. It offers more than enough for modern games and allows for a resolution boost to older PC and emulated games, while not going too overboard on cost and the amount games that can actually take advantage from it.
It's a PC though, so resolution is up to you, and the DeckHD seems to not impact power consumption by itself. Plus, it is nice to have increased resolution on older titles.
@@defeqel6537the problem is that newer games won’t run (good) at display’s native resolution, which means display scaling which is always a bad thing on LCDs
@@jorelplay8738 could just run at 1/2 or 1/3 the resolution and use integer scaling (edit: it's not like newer games run well even at 800p on the Steam Deck)
I see they let Oliver out of the GameCube. Great video! I upgraded from an LCD Deck to an OLED Deck. And wow, it actually made me enjoy the Deck so much more. I haven't fired up my beefy gaming PC in a while!
As an owner of the 64gb model upon launch….that bad boy brought me so many precious gaming memories…it moved me away from my switch OLED….even docked to a 4K…the OG deck is freaking awesome, after getting the 1tb OLED model, I handed my older model with an additional 256 sd card to my teen son…🤘🏻
As a recent LCD owner, I think at this point I'll just wait for a Deck 2 with an OLED screen. The LCD screen isnt THAT bad to the point where i hate playing games on it (even though I do own a OLED LG TV to compare it to).
There's videos show the oled vr had the ghost icons problem like those seeing old galaxy phones on the oled vr which steam used old weak oled not super oled plus
The worst part of screen packaging is peeling off the plastic film, to witness the then statically charged screen surface immediately attract dust and hairs. Just like a magnet picking up iron filings in the school science department.
Who would even consider recommending a Steam Deck screen replacement instead of just buying an OLED? The installation process will take most people a full day, with a high chance of doing permanent damage to their device. But most importantly, the hardware just isn't designed to support 1200p... and you will still end up with a 60hz IPS screen without HDR. The LCD screen isn't as bad as people say - but just upgrade to an OLED if you have issues with it. It's worth it considering the improved battery life, weight, and other improvements.
I enjoyed this comparison but I do think it is disingenuous to not mention some of the drawbacks of the OLED panel. Black smearing, mura/graininess or green tint, PWM flicker and text fringing to name a few. Even with these issues the OLED is far superior to the LCD panel in my opinion. It’s worth mentioning because OLED is fantastic but not perfect.
Glad the Deck HD is an option. Just shows all the support out there for the original Steam Deck. The OLED Steam Deck is an amazing device. Congrats to all the owners of that. As far as value for money I am perfectly happy with my 64 GB standard Steam Deck, that I bought on sale, and I upgraded to a 1 GB SSD with a 1 GB Micro SD card. Steam OS 3.5.5 brought some really great display options to all standard Steam Decks for free. Thanks again for that Valve. The ability to play many of my Steam games on the go means I can actually play them. BTW officially playing Sega Genesis games on the Deck with the Sega Genesis Collection makes the Steam Deck feel like an updated Sega Nomad 😁
I have a v1 deck and it's amazing for emulation, so I can only imagine how good the oled deck is Earlier today I was playing gt3 while on the train and it was pretty much perfect. I still need to test switch emulation, but I've heard from others that it's basically flawless
The OLED is 100% worth the money. I had the LCD since launch and loved it. The screen was a weak point, but I wasn't overly critical about it like some people. Still had a great time with the LCD. But once I got the OLED it's just so much better in every way. Obviously the screen is the big one. The colors are amazing, black levels are perfect. The anti glare coating mixed with the higher peak nits makes for a usable experience outside. The first time I launched Ori and the Will of the Wisps I was floored by how good it looked. Colors that pop off the screen, amazing contrast and a silky smooth 90fps. There's a bunch of other small improvements and QoL changes that make the OLED feel like a polished, finished product to the LCD's beta, engineering sample type feel.
The OLED was a game changer for me. More battery, faster and larger SSD, way better looking screen (contrast is more important than resolution IMO), better refresh rate, and on top of all of that it's lighter? Completely worth it especially if you have a friend to gift or sell your LCD model to. The LCD model I would still choose over a gaming laptop any day.
I feel like 720p/800p is the best sweet spot for gaming handhelds this size. Anything higher feels like a waste of pixels given the cost in performance.
It was devastating when the OLED was announced as I already had my pre-order in for the DeckHD. I think it was the same week as the OLED announcement that I got the shipping notification for the DeckHD. 😭 I still like it, and prefer it to my stock 64GB LCD. Most of the people who hate on it are usually just misinformed and/or don’t own a Steam Deck.
I mean, hate is a strong word, but it's a lot of work to replace the screen, then update it every couple of weeks entirely dependent on if its developer still supports it. It's more economical to go with the OLED or even with a different kind of handheld system most of the time. The screen does look nicer than the LCD, but i think unfortunately all these things might be bricks in a couple of years.
Colour accuracy and contrast tend to be more important in giving you a better viewing experience then just resolution alone. So I'd personally go with the OLED my self.
No kidding. The difference between the Switch and Switch OLED is night and day! It makes me want to buy OLED screens for _everything_, but OLEDs are so dang expensive 😭
Excellent video. Even if the Steam Deck OLED weren’t a thing (I have one, btw), there’s no way I’d consider this as it’s so high maintenance, you’re entirely dependent on a relatively small company staying in business (no easy thing in this day and age) and ultimately doesn’t really deliver any net benefits.
FSR upscaling to 1200p is the real benefit of the deck HD Maybe it’s just a me thing but I love the improvement far upscaling brings on top of everything when using the deck HD
Another display upgrade posssibility for original SD owners is a set of AR glasses (XREAL RayNeo...etc). Their 1080P Sony micro OLEDs @ 120 Hz are great on the original SD.
deckhd is really cool and i'm glad it exists, but it was never gonna be for me anyway. an 800p screen means the steam deck can hit native res a lot more consistently, and i'd much prefer a native image over the same render resolution outputting at 1200p
If you're like me and had your head under a rock in regards to display technology. The Steam Deck OLED is a wake-up call. It has convinced me that an HDR capable OLED display is much more cost-effective route to better looking games than shelling out for a GPU at current pricing trends.
Would argue that trying both Deck and DeckHD at FSR2 Quality mode is a bit of a mistake when comparing upscaling quality/perforamcne. My general take (From observations with the ROG Ally) is that the higher-pixel density screen upsampling from the same *internal* resolution, produces a better output when upsampling to the higher screen. resolution. EX: 360p internal in Cyberpunk looks better on the ROG Ally (1080p Ultra Performance) than the Steam Deck (720p Performance). The higher pixel-density screen "shunts" out perceivable artificing, and FSR2 is at a cost point so far now that a performance drop vs the equivalent internal upscaling to a lower output is minor at most.
Higher resolution equals a better picture and higher quality. While it can also consume more power while an Oled provides better colors with a lot less power consumption. But the resolution might lack in terms of detail and burn in may occur especially if you’re using Steam deck in desktop mode more than gaming mode.
The main problem with the original screen is low contrast. I'm happy to install an upgrade myself; I actually think it's fun! But 1200p is a non starter for me. The 800p panel is a great res for that size and too many games won't run at 1200p, and the bios update issue sounds like a massive pain in the ass.
The higher resolution on the DeckHD works great for older PC games, newer 2D games, and emulators. On more modern 3D games, I run them at the original 1280x800 resolution.
I respect what the DeckHD tries to do, and that it's *an* option for people who own and are very invested in their LCD deck who may want just a little more out of it. However... for $100, the time and effort it takes to install it, all for a panel that's frankly still much worse than competing devices and runs at a hopeless resolution for the Deck... makes it an incredibly difficult sell. I do hope one day Valve improves the panel used in the LCD deck though. (And that they offer it for sale for existing owners to install)
Also, the 64gb model can be had relatively cheaply in some regions (just got mine for 48,000¥ while in Japan) storage upgrades are cheap, I’d rather have a cheaper handheld that I can justify upgrading sooner than the flashiest albeit gen 1 product. Great content as always Oliver!
Obviously if you are looking to get a steam deck ,then get the Oled. But for people that do have the LCD model already, the DeckHD is a great option( if only it had a higher refresh rate)
I finished watching your video and earlier I wrote a comment saying this discussion was pointless because you recieved the product for free, and didn't know how difficult it would be to put together, or how expensive it would be to have it constructed. I redact that comment because you did do some investigation and pointed out the difficulty. As expected from Digital Foundry. I would have preferred if you had direct experience but at least you let us know how troublesome it is to replace the screen of a Steamdeck, and some other things I weren't expecting like having to sit down and flash the unit every time steamdeck gets updated, which depends entirely on how long the DeckHD team roll out updates. This means there's a chance that Steamdecks with this screen on will become unusable after a point. As nice as it is to look at a larger screen, it will use more power (....theoretically?) than the smaller screen. Otherwise steam really messed up using such small power-hungry screens lol. I was surprised when you said deckHD used less power. But at the very least the deck running at a higher resolution will cause its battery to drain faster.
This is a nicer way of saying you are out of your damn mind if you buy the deckhd replacement screen. Even in the end he implies it's better to sell your old steam deck and get a new OLED model than to bother with a replacement screen. I also guarantee you a good number of people will break their steam deck trying to replace the screen. Fiddly small parts, lost screws, easily torn ribbon cables...oh and dear god there's an unofficial bios flashing part.
1200p never made any sense for the deck. They should have just offered a significantly higher quality 800P LCD screen. OLED seems to be more or less impossible for original units.
Well the Oled has a bigger battery as well. And depending on the storage size you want the jump may very well be worth it for more runtime and a better screen.
Make sure you or your sisters don’t have boobs. According to Alex, those are outdated and extremely offensive. If you have a BBC, he would be the perfect buddy.
The Oled on the Steam Deck OLED is insanely good! (I have actually compared it with the quality of a Samsung Odyssey G9 Oled). Since both the Oled in the deck and my monitor are made by Samsung you can defo see the similarities in colour reproduction and performance!
Now give us an OLED replacement screen to stick into our LCD models. I know things are configured differently, but with OLED being smaller....this should be able to be worked around? I can see a much harder time putting a larger LCD screen into an OLED unit....but OLED into LCD should be adaptable?
Great overview. OLED definitely seems the better option, and handhelds rarely have issues with burn-in either. I'm still happy that DeckHD exists for the original model, and is hopefully an indication of more to come, on the 3rd party customization front, as SD gains traction. P.S. some may consider this an inappropriate comment, but you are likely to get better sleep by reducing fructose/sugar consumption, though I understand it is difficult as the stuff is addicting
10:05 Based on the pictures, the DeckHD resolution and colors look better than OLED Cheaper to upgrade to DeckHD than lose money on selling your old SteamDeck and buying the OLED version
the DeckHD is such a waste imo, 1200p is unnecessary on a 7 inch screen, not only is the added sharpness minimal on a screen that small but it also is gonna make it harder for the steamdeck to run certain games, the OLED is a massive W, better colour, better blacks, slightly bigger screen without making the device bigger and keeping performance the same.
Still pissed at valve for coming withg an upgraded oled model 4 months after i bought my steam deck while they said that they were NOT GOING to upgrade nothing ffs.
I even wonder why someone bothered making such thing, if they even made a real crazy wide gamut LCD with so much better quality and kinda factory calibrated per unit and with the proper calibration for the LCD included in the kit to input in the SteamDeck I would see some good value like a nice quantum dot IPS LCD instead... I think they would do so much better if they could make a complete OLED conversion kit with the proper hardware to convert the LCD signals from Steamdeck to OLED and displaying properly, that would be so much better.
a display upgrade to oled would be so sick though. i really hope something like that will be possible. i love my steam deck but the oled version is sooooo tempting...
I really hope Valve makes good on their promises and brings StreamOS to more devices, that could make most of this discussion obsolete, as you could just get a device with a higher resolution device, without missing out on SteamOS. And also Valve being Valve it would also be cool if they could make mods like the DeckHD easier by making the BIOS modifications easier and maybe allow them zo be permanent (for example by making the resolution something like a kind of BIOS setting or so that doesn't reset, since that probably what the DeckHD needs)
I'd say Steamdeck 2 should have 2560x1600 resolution like the Legion Go (one of the primary attractions to that unit), but given the focus on battery life I can accept lower resolution from Valve, ideally Steamdeck 2 will just use 1600x1000 which fits with the maximum supported resolution in many classic games (usually 1600x1200).
Man i really wish that deck oled parts were compatible with the lcd deck, just swap out the screen and battery and bam, but no, its unfortunately impossible at the moment
One would think people are smarter. They say "screw you, nobody wants to port this game", "nobody wants to waste resources on this, on that" and yet they release a fucking 7 inch 1200p screen for a console that has the carefully chosen 800p display to go with it's battery and hardware and size for God's sake. No matter how hard you try to think of a bit different this or that, the golden combo is already here.
Great video Oliver. Lots of good info here. I have actually been using my Avegant Glyph with my Steamdeck and it's amazing. Retina imaging technology baby, it's the best! :)
Excellent video. Would love to see if it would handle the 1200p better when over-clocked and under-volted. From what I saw it's around 15-20 percent gain so likely wouldn't help that much.
i don't know maybe i'm just a casual...but i've been having the OG deck for over 2 years and never kind of noticed that the screen is bad or anything like that. granted i haven't seen the OLED edition or similar gaming handhelds in real life...but i think the display is fine
I don't own a Steam Deck yet, but I do see the difference. I'll buy the 1GB OLED Steam Deck that way I don't have to open it until 2GB NVME drives are half price. Good video, thanks for all the hard work.
Let's just say, I really, really hope Valve & Nintendo alike stick w/ 800p &/or 720p for the Deck 2 & Switch 2. At the screen size we're working w/, the DPI doesn't make enough sense to go higher res & it comes at the expense of performance & battery life.
Gpu on these mobile chips got huge performance upgrades though. I LOVE my steam deck OLED but i guess if steam deck 2 still ships with 800p screens, it could permanently be in cpu bottleneck. Just look what modern smartphones are able to deliver on sometimes crazy resolutions like 1440p in that size. 1080p could be the sweetspot I think. Though I wouldn't care at all if it would still be 800p. I f*ckin love that thing and 800p for sure is enough.
For a handheld 1080p is more than enough, more than that you will have a very short battery life. It is better to put more efficient display like OLED which show better collor and consume less power. You can only put 1200p or above if high density graphene battery is available on the market.
Good to see Oliver's transitioned from broadcasting out of a GameCube and now into a wood-panel Atari 2600.
I'm upset that the GameCube era is over.
lol 😂
Classic comment
I think this is the first time I've seen him without headphones.
Whoever you are, you are truly funny and witty lol I miss my 2600 just wish I could hold it
Really enjoyed watching Oliver come into his own on the channel in terms of production quality, style, and confidence. He fits in perfectly right along the rest of the bespoke staff. Great addition to the team.
I think more 1200p is a waste of resources for a handheld. Steam deck oled is the better option
100%
I personally think the future should be 1600p. So integer scaling for games that can only hit 800p and still be able to have great image quality for streaming and low power games.
I bought the Deck HD during the initial production run when the OLED hadn’t been announced. Going forward, I agree that the OLED is the better option when buying a new one. It’s too bad that an OLED can’t be swapped into the LCD models.
@@mechanicalmonk2020 Maybe with a Deck 2, Valve could bump up the screen to 1200p or 1600p, being as it should have a lot more power, and 1080p is a possibility but I think that would be overkill for a portable device and would kill most of the performance upgrade the hardware offers, but maybe higher resolution whiles rendering the game at a lower resolution and upscaling to the higher resolution could offer better image quality results, whiles not being a burden on the hardware being it's rendering at 800p.
@@mechanicalmonk2020My iiyama CRT runs nominally at 1600p. Icons get quite small what with it being 19 inches diagonal.
The deckhd was basically obsolete the second the oled model was announced
Yeah didn’t the deckHD also compromise the battery life of the LCD model too?
@@Marauder-q2vI'd imagine so. The brightness of the panel has a negligible effect on power draw but the lcd in general pulls about 3w at the 800p base. I imagine at 1200p the increased pixel density might massively increase power draw.
It was obsolete when the DeckHD was announced, Valve chose 800p for a reason.
unless you'd rather not replace a whole device
@@KrakenGameReviews power consumption is mentioned in the video, and DeckHD clocked lower power consumption, though difficult to say for sure based on single unit comparison
Cool to see Oliver doing an on-camera appearance in a video, great content as always Sir!
The fact that a screen replacement is even an option is amazing and shows how open the Software and Hardware is. I hope Valve keeps this around in future Products, because its so extremely rare in the hardware industry.
Doesn’t sound like it’s that well supported as you perpetually reliant on someone making you a custom version of the firmware
@@djtomoy Yep, you need official support from Valve at a software level and an easier approach to installing the hardware for it to be really useful.
For most useful, it will be messy to replace the screen, as well as constantly having to update the software to support the screen.
But if Valve are more open to third party support at a software level, I suspect there would be a market for that and it would make the Deck more flexible, especially with a Deck 2 if they redesign it so you can plug in, plug out the screen, battery, storage and maybe even memory, it would offer more value and flexibility for the ones that want to upgrade in some areas, say 32GB of memory over 16GB.
But the only way I see it being practical is if Valve are willing to support third party options at a software level so it just works, it would likely be a curated list of hardware support but that would be fine.
Its an option on phones and maybe soon switch lite too. Compatible third party screens on devices has been a long time thing
@djtomoy Ofcourse, it's just like a regular PC. Valve doesn't have to specifically support whatever third-party stuff is happening, as it isn't even in their financial interest to do so.
Nah, it shows how low res the original product is 💀
Got my Steam Deck OLED on the way. Honestly so excited! I havent had a handheld in years and have wanted an OLED deck from the start so hyped to get one. A dream device for retro gaming imo
That's awesome. Excited for you and Happy Gaming.
You'll love it. I had a LCD Steam Deck for the last year or so and loved it, got the OLED Steam Deck for Christmas from my girlfriend and I love it even more, it rarely leaves my hands now. When I first seen the announcment for the OLED version I wanted it so bad, then I heard all the upgrades and side grades they also gave it on top of the OLED screen then I was drooling. lol
I recently got one and I really love it. Such an incredible piece of technology. It's the handheld gaming PC I've long dreamed of, but its ease of use is surprisingly console-like.
Seeing a Steam Deck video from DF always gets my excited. Very happy with my OLED mind you
I don't play mine at all. It's a very boring handheld.
@@redcrimson1028you don’t have Steam Deck OLED
@@redcrimson1028 Then buy a game you like. It's all about the games mainly anyway, so long as the screen looks decent the device don't really matter. So how can 1 device be more fun then another if they all have more or less the same games to play?
@@randysalsman6992 Yep, I don't understand that comment either. It's all down how boring the game is that you are playing at the end of the day. Since the game is exactly the same as it is on a full blown console or PC. Well at least gameplay and story wise. I guess that the visual quality and game immersion isn't quite as good on a handhelds smaller display than it is on a larger display, but I don't really find it that much of distraction or an issue. Especially after I've been playing the game for a few minutes and have become accustomed to that smaller display, the games slightly lower visual quality and have become more immersed into the game.
It would be like saying that a game is more boring on the PS4, than it is on a PS5.
@@randysalsman6992 I have like 400 games in my steam library
Imagine the DeckHD team when the OLED was dropped with no one expecting it prior to Valve’s claims.
Talking about a fatality.
This was my very first thought when I saw the OLED. You got to feel a little bad for them.
Although I guess it's a better option if you already have a steam deck, than replacing it with a new one. Although an OLED replacement screen might be pretty cool.
If they can come up with an OLED option, I will buy one, as I don't plan on going with OLED steam deck (most likely next model).
It can still work if the price and the quality of the panel are good.
Unfortunately, none of these is true for this "upgrade".
@@cromefire_I gave my lcd deck to my oldest son…and it’s still awesome. I couldn’t resist that OLED 1tb model tho. Funny out of my switch OLED and this one…I prefer my lcd vita over my OLED model.
I have both the DeckHD and OLED and I use my DeckHD more often due to streaming from my game server to the device. Its a huge difference in visual clarity and doesn't sacrifice any issues with performance and battery life due to my use case. I havent touched my OLED in months and typically will only use it if traveling.
You shouldn't be steaming your Deck, the moisture won't do it any good.
@@randysalsman6992 and the mold. Be careful with mold infestation
haha yes, i agree. edited!@@randysalsman6992
Loving Oliver and his new undisclosed location!
I don’t really think recommending the deck HD is advisable under any circumstance. The fact it breaks with every firmware update and is contingent upon continued support (which is just not something that often happens for boutique products), I don’t see it as a good choice.
Once Oliver said that it became an immediate nonstarter for me. Even if I CAN deal with the constant firmware upgrades, I simply don’t want to
@@pobbityboppity1110 agree. I love tech, but I am so done with fiddling with oddities. All for a reduction in performance. I’m a bit of a graphics snob and the steam deck already doesn’t have sufficient performance for me.
What's the point of "upgrading" a performance limited device to a higer resolution meanwhile being the same 7 inches LCD screen, it drags down the performance even further while consuming more power / shortening the battery life.
I like that the option exists though, and a lot of older/simpler titles benefit from the resolution increase without much impact on performance or power consumption
You can still maintain an 800p output for heavy games, while getting a better resolution on lighter ones.
If you play more light games than heavy games, that might be worth it
@@iurigrang I doubt 800p upscale well to 1200p, it’s gonna be blurry
@@LightOffArchivesit’s about as good as 720p to 1080p on a small screen. Not a huge difference
@@kennypowers1945 It definitely enough to tell though. Having played on most of the PC handhelds then the higher resolution ones like the 1600p Legion Go and One Player 2, do actually look a fair amount better and detailed than the lower resolution ones and especially over those with 720p or 800p displays. Although, I'd also say that 1600p (3K) is probably around the max limit for such small displays. Going anything above that will likely just be a complete waste and overkill for nothing. As for games, several older and emulated games will currently run at those higher resolutions, no problem at all. And I guess that amount games that will manage to run at those resolutions, will only increase as SoC's also increase in power. At the current moment, I'd honestly say that 1200p is pretty much the sweet spot for PC handhelds. It offers more than enough for modern games and allows for a resolution boost to older PC and emulated games, while not going too overboard on cost and the amount games that can actually take advantage from it.
Excellent work as always, Oliver. I don't really understand the desire for more resolution on handhelds... too much impact on performance.
And battery life as well
It's a PC though, so resolution is up to you, and the DeckHD seems to not impact power consumption by itself. Plus, it is nice to have increased resolution on older titles.
@@defeqel6537the problem is that newer games won’t run (good) at display’s native resolution, which means display scaling which is always a bad thing on LCDs
@@jorelplay8738 could just run at 1/2 or 1/3 the resolution and use integer scaling (edit: it's not like newer games run well even at 800p on the Steam Deck)
I see they let Oliver out of the GameCube.
Great video! I upgraded from an LCD Deck to an OLED Deck. And wow, it actually made me enjoy the Deck so much more. I haven't fired up my beefy gaming PC in a while!
Oliver have a normal background challenge...!
Great to see you on camera man, keep up with the great content.
Just picked up my first Steam Deck and it’s awesome!
I'm happy for you.😊🙏🏽
Just picked up my Legion Go and it's awesome!!
It’s such a pleasure just hearing you talk, it soothes my ears.
I want Oliver to narrate my entire life
As an owner of the 64gb model upon launch….that bad boy brought me so many precious gaming memories…it moved me away from my switch OLED….even docked to a 4K…the OG deck is freaking awesome, after getting the 1tb OLED model, I handed my older model with an additional 256 sd card to my teen son…🤘🏻
As a recent LCD owner, I think at this point I'll just wait for a Deck 2 with an OLED screen. The LCD screen isnt THAT bad to the point where i hate playing games on it (even though I do own a OLED LG TV to compare it to).
There's videos show the oled vr had the ghost icons problem like those seeing old galaxy phones on the oled vr which steam used old weak oled not super oled plus
"This is a brand new Steam deck unit" - Covered in dust and pet hair
The worst part of screen packaging is peeling off the plastic film, to witness the then statically charged screen surface immediately attract dust and hairs. Just like a magnet picking up iron filings in the school science department.
Let's see your perfectly clean one.
Who would even consider recommending a Steam Deck screen replacement instead of just buying an OLED? The installation process will take most people a full day, with a high chance of doing permanent damage to their device.
But most importantly, the hardware just isn't designed to support 1200p... and you will still end up with a 60hz IPS screen without HDR.
The LCD screen isn't as bad as people say - but just upgrade to an OLED if you have issues with it. It's worth it considering the improved battery life, weight, and other improvements.
Excellent work Oliver!
Oliver steps up. Most humble guy I can imagine
I enjoyed this comparison but I do think it is disingenuous to not mention some of the drawbacks of the OLED panel. Black smearing, mura/graininess or green tint, PWM flicker and text fringing to name a few. Even with these issues the OLED is far superior to the LCD panel in my opinion. It’s worth mentioning because OLED is fantastic but not perfect.
Oliver is coming to us from an undisclosed bunker.
Glad the Deck HD is an option. Just shows all the support out there for the original Steam Deck. The OLED Steam Deck is an amazing device. Congrats to all the owners of that. As far as value for money I am perfectly happy with my 64 GB standard Steam Deck, that I bought on sale, and I upgraded to a 1 GB SSD with a 1 GB Micro SD card. Steam OS 3.5.5 brought some really great display options to all standard Steam Decks for free. Thanks again for that Valve. The ability to play many of my Steam games on the go means I can actually play them. BTW officially playing Sega Genesis games on the Deck with the Sega Genesis Collection makes the Steam Deck feel like an updated Sega Nomad 😁
Love the updated look Ollie! Keep kicking ass!
The Steam deck oled is really tempting as an emulator device, aswell as a Switch replacement.
Great job as always, Oliver!
I have a v1 deck and it's amazing for emulation, so I can only imagine how good the oled deck is
Earlier today I was playing gt3 while on the train and it was pretty much perfect.
I still need to test switch emulation, but I've heard from others that it's basically flawless
I can't get enough of my OLED Deck, haven't touched my PC since I got it lol.
Your PC must suck then
@@Dr.WhetFarts It does.
The OLED is 100% worth the money. I had the LCD since launch and loved it. The screen was a weak point, but I wasn't overly critical about it like some people. Still had a great time with the LCD. But once I got the OLED it's just so much better in every way.
Obviously the screen is the big one. The colors are amazing, black levels are perfect. The anti glare coating mixed with the higher peak nits makes for a usable experience outside. The first time I launched Ori and the Will of the Wisps I was floored by how good it looked. Colors that pop off the screen, amazing contrast and a silky smooth 90fps.
There's a bunch of other small improvements and QoL changes that make the OLED feel like a polished, finished product to the LCD's beta, engineering sample type feel.
The OLED was a game changer for me. More battery, faster and larger SSD, way better looking screen (contrast is more important than resolution IMO), better refresh rate, and on top of all of that it's lighter?
Completely worth it especially if you have a friend to gift or sell your LCD model to. The LCD model I would still choose over a gaming laptop any day.
I feel like 720p/800p is the best sweet spot for gaming handhelds this size. Anything higher feels like a waste of pixels given the cost in performance.
It was devastating when the OLED was announced as I already had my pre-order in for the DeckHD. I think it was the same week as the OLED announcement that I got the shipping notification for the DeckHD. 😭 I still like it, and prefer it to my stock 64GB LCD. Most of the people who hate on it are usually just misinformed and/or don’t own a Steam Deck.
I mean, hate is a strong word, but it's a lot of work to replace the screen, then update it every couple of weeks entirely dependent on if its developer still supports it. It's more economical to go with the OLED or even with a different kind of handheld system most of the time. The screen does look nicer than the LCD, but i think unfortunately all these things might be bricks in a couple of years.
Can you do a review on the legion go?
great video Oliver, keep up the amazing work ! I'm more and more tempeted to get a steam deck oled hahaha
Colour accuracy and contrast tend to be more important in giving you a better viewing experience then just resolution alone. So I'd personally go with the OLED my self.
No kidding. The difference between the Switch and Switch OLED is night and day! It makes me want to buy OLED screens for _everything_, but OLEDs are so dang expensive 😭
Excellent video. Even if the Steam Deck OLED weren’t a thing (I have one, btw), there’s no way I’d consider this as it’s so high maintenance, you’re entirely dependent on a relatively small company staying in business (no easy thing in this day and age) and ultimately doesn’t really deliver any net benefits.
Seeing oliver out of that tiny DF Direct Box felt exhilarating for me, keep doing it Oliver, youre awesome
FSR upscaling to 1200p is the real benefit of the deck HD
Maybe it’s just a me thing but I love the improvement far upscaling brings on top of everything when using the deck HD
Another display upgrade posssibility for original SD owners is a set of AR glasses (XREAL RayNeo...etc).
Their 1080P Sony micro OLEDs @ 120 Hz are great on the original SD.
deckhd is really cool and i'm glad it exists, but it was never gonna be for me anyway. an 800p screen means the steam deck can hit native res a lot more consistently, and i'd much prefer a native image over the same render resolution outputting at 1200p
If you're like me and had your head under a rock in regards to display technology. The Steam Deck OLED is a wake-up call. It has convinced me that an HDR capable OLED display is much more cost-effective route to better looking games than shelling out for a GPU at current pricing trends.
1:58 Lonely Mountains: Downhill is awesome!
Using and getting acclimated to OLED and then going back to any other screen tech is like dating Margot Robbie then having to go back to Judge Judy
Let’s not make this comparison
Would argue that trying both Deck and DeckHD at FSR2 Quality mode is a bit of a mistake when comparing upscaling quality/perforamcne.
My general take (From observations with the ROG Ally) is that the higher-pixel density screen upsampling from the same *internal* resolution, produces a better output when upsampling to the higher screen. resolution.
EX: 360p internal in Cyberpunk looks better on the ROG Ally (1080p Ultra Performance) than the Steam Deck (720p Performance). The higher pixel-density screen "shunts" out perceivable artificing, and FSR2 is at a cost point so far now that a performance drop vs the equivalent internal upscaling to a lower output is minor at most.
Higher resolution equals a better picture and higher quality.
While it can also consume more power while an Oled provides better colors with a lot less power consumption. But the resolution might lack in terms of detail and burn in may occur especially if you’re using Steam deck in desktop mode more than gaming mode.
got myself an OLED deck and sold the LCD model. the screen is beautiful and performance is better in most if not all games.
i really like this video format, cutting to ollie was a good choice.
The main problem with the original screen is low contrast. I'm happy to install an upgrade myself; I actually think it's fun! But 1200p is a non starter for me. The 800p panel is a great res for that size and too many games won't run at 1200p, and the bios update issue sounds like a massive pain in the ass.
At 1080p the performance just gets lower. The steam deck doesn’t really scale all too well at that resolution unlike the ally at 15 watts.
The higher resolution on the DeckHD works great for older PC games, newer 2D games, and emulators. On more modern 3D games, I run them at the original 1280x800 resolution.
I respect what the DeckHD tries to do, and that it's *an* option for people who own and are very invested in their LCD deck who may want just a little more out of it. However... for $100, the time and effort it takes to install it, all for a panel that's frankly still much worse than competing devices and runs at a hopeless resolution for the Deck... makes it an incredibly difficult sell. I do hope one day Valve improves the panel used in the LCD deck though. (And that they offer it for sale for existing owners to install)
Also, the 64gb model can be had relatively cheaply in some regions (just got mine for 48,000¥ while in Japan) storage upgrades are cheap, I’d rather have a cheaper handheld that I can justify upgrading sooner than the flashiest albeit gen 1 product.
Great content as always Oliver!
Steam Deck OLED is literally the only way to go
Steam Deck Oled 800p is more suited for the APU it has
Love your videos Oliver, thanks for this comparison
Obviously if you are looking to get a steam deck ,then get the Oled.
But for people that do have the LCD model already, the DeckHD is a great option( if only it had a higher refresh rate)
I finished watching your video and earlier I wrote a comment saying this discussion was pointless because you recieved the product for free, and didn't know how difficult it would be to put together, or how expensive it would be to have it constructed.
I redact that comment because you did do some investigation and pointed out the difficulty. As expected from Digital Foundry. I would have preferred if you had direct experience but at least you let us know how troublesome it is to replace the screen of a Steamdeck, and some other things I weren't expecting like having to sit down and flash the unit every time steamdeck gets updated, which depends entirely on how long the DeckHD team roll out updates. This means there's a chance that Steamdecks with this screen on will become unusable after a point.
As nice as it is to look at a larger screen, it will use more power (....theoretically?) than the smaller screen. Otherwise steam really messed up using such small power-hungry screens lol. I was surprised when you said deckHD used less power. But at the very least the deck running at a higher resolution will cause its battery to drain faster.
This is a nicer way of saying you are out of your damn mind if you buy the deckhd replacement screen. Even in the end he implies it's better to sell your old steam deck and get a new OLED model than to bother with a replacement screen. I also guarantee you a good number of people will break their steam deck trying to replace the screen. Fiddly small parts, lost screws, easily torn ribbon cables...oh and dear god there's an unofficial bios flashing part.
1200p never made any sense for the deck. They should have just offered a significantly higher quality 800P LCD screen. OLED seems to be more or less impossible for original units.
oled not worth the extra money imo, I was very happy to buy the steam deck 64gb when it went on sale for £300 when they released the oled
After having both it's very worth it imo
Well the Oled has a bigger battery as well. And depending on the storage size you want the jump may very well be worth it for more runtime and a better screen.
I wish I had friends like Oliver and the rest of the crew at DF.
Make sure you or your sisters don’t have boobs. According to Alex, those are outdated and extremely offensive. If you have a BBC, he would be the perfect buddy.
@@flipwarrior lol what?? That made me laugh more than it should, I'm going to tell my sister.
@RedPanda_______How did you know my pronouns from yesterday?
@@flipwarrior your avatar looks gross, you ate that?
@@deepblue8143Oliver got to it first. 🥹
The Oled on the Steam Deck OLED is insanely good! (I have actually compared it with the quality of a Samsung Odyssey G9 Oled). Since both the Oled in the deck and my monitor are made by Samsung you can defo see the similarities in colour reproduction and performance!
I had no problem flipping my LCD model on ebay. Now I own an OLED model.
Geez, it looks way better on this upload.
I'd like some deck related content from John personally. I quite like his videos.
Great to see you Oli!
Nice video production, definitely upping his game
Now give us an OLED replacement screen to stick into our LCD models. I know things are configured differently, but with OLED being smaller....this should be able to be worked around? I can see a much harder time putting a larger LCD screen into an OLED unit....but OLED into LCD should be adaptable?
Going higher than 1080p is dumb, the difference in sharpness isn’t noticeable but the performance difference is very noticeable
I do hope, once ifixit gets OLED displays from the deck, someone could get working on the LCD model, then you get the best of both worlds..
Great overview. OLED definitely seems the better option, and handhelds rarely have issues with burn-in either. I'm still happy that DeckHD exists for the original model, and is hopefully an indication of more to come, on the 3rd party customization front, as SD gains traction.
P.S. some may consider this an inappropriate comment, but you are likely to get better sleep by reducing fructose/sugar consumption, though I understand it is difficult as the stuff is addicting
I believe the DeckHD for OGDeck best use case is Emulation. But anything else, 800p RSR + FSR.
Fantastic video from my man Oliver! 😎🤙
Thanks Oliver, great info 😊👍🏼
Now that steam has added support for the deck HD in their bios, does it still seem like a bad idea to upgrade to it?
10:05 Based on the pictures, the DeckHD resolution and colors look better than OLED
Cheaper to upgrade to DeckHD than lose money on selling your old SteamDeck and buying the OLED version
``You will need to set the resolution manually for deckhd`.Window's handheld user's: Am i a joke to you ?
Thank you for the episode
the DeckHD is such a waste imo, 1200p is unnecessary on a 7 inch screen, not only is the added sharpness minimal on a screen that small but it also is gonna make it harder for the steamdeck to run certain games, the OLED is a massive W, better colour, better blacks, slightly bigger screen without making the device bigger and keeping performance the same.
Still pissed at valve for coming withg an upgraded oled model 4 months after i bought my steam deck while they said that they were NOT GOING to upgrade nothing ffs.
Oh ffs valve give me break
@@1985NEVETS What?
@@Tenma_Gold was just messing saying valve to give me a break
@@1985NEVETS ahh, i would love the same thing to be honest D:
This.
love this new format mr gamecube
I’m ready for a Steam Deck 2.
Bet it will be the last
I even wonder why someone bothered making such thing, if they even made a real crazy wide gamut LCD with so much better quality and kinda factory calibrated per unit and with the proper calibration for the LCD included in the kit to input in the SteamDeck I would see some good value like a nice quantum dot IPS LCD instead...
I think they would do so much better if they could make a complete OLED conversion kit with the proper hardware to convert the LCD signals from Steamdeck to OLED and displaying properly, that would be so much better.
Great video Oliver but can you give your desk a wipe over next time😅
Ah man, I didn't want to mention it cuz he's such a nice dude but yeah the dust was distracting.
a display upgrade to oled would be so sick though. i really hope something like that will be possible. i love my steam deck but the oled version is sooooo tempting...
I really hope Valve makes good on their promises and brings StreamOS to more devices, that could make most of this discussion obsolete, as you could just get a device with a higher resolution device, without missing out on SteamOS.
And also Valve being Valve it would also be cool if they could make mods like the DeckHD easier by making the BIOS modifications easier and maybe allow them zo be permanent (for example by making the resolution something like a kind of BIOS setting or so that doesn't reset, since that probably what the DeckHD needs)
I'd say Steamdeck 2 should have 2560x1600 resolution like the Legion Go (one of the primary attractions to that unit), but given the focus on battery life I can accept lower resolution from Valve, ideally Steamdeck 2 will just use 1600x1000 which fits with the maximum supported resolution in many classic games (usually 1600x1200).
Man i really wish that deck oled parts were compatible with the lcd deck, just swap out the screen and battery and bam, but no, its unfortunately impossible at the moment
the OLED 800p 90Hz is a great choice what I want to see on the Deck 2 is a micro LED 1200p 120Hz display with 4nm AMD APU.
One would think people are smarter. They say "screw you, nobody wants to port this game", "nobody wants to waste resources on this, on that" and yet they release a fucking 7 inch 1200p screen for a console that has the carefully chosen 800p display to go with it's battery and hardware and size for God's sake.
No matter how hard you try to think of a bit different this or that, the golden combo is already here.
Great video Oliver. Lots of good info here. I have actually been using my Avegant Glyph with my Steamdeck and it's amazing. Retina imaging technology baby, it's the best! :)
Excellent video. Would love to see if it would handle the 1200p better when over-clocked and under-volted. From what I saw it's around 15-20 percent gain so likely wouldn't help that much.
i don't know maybe i'm just a casual...but i've been having the OG deck for over 2 years and never kind of noticed that the screen is bad or anything like that.
granted i haven't seen the OLED edition or similar gaming handhelds in real life...but i think the display is fine
Speaks volumes about valve's willingness to move forward. Competitors need to take a page from this.
I don't own a Steam Deck yet, but I do see the difference. I'll buy the 1GB OLED Steam Deck that way I don't have to open it until 2GB NVME drives are half price. Good video, thanks for all the hard work.
Replacing the NVME and replacing the screen are entirely different things.
@@ingueferroque I know that, it is less work than replacing the screen. and a future upgrade for the OLED. Steam Deck.
Let's just say, I really, really hope Valve & Nintendo alike stick w/ 800p &/or 720p for the Deck 2 & Switch 2. At the screen size we're working w/, the DPI doesn't make enough sense to go higher res & it comes at the expense of performance & battery life.
Gpu on these mobile chips got huge performance upgrades though. I LOVE my steam deck OLED but i guess if steam deck 2 still ships with 800p screens, it could permanently be in cpu bottleneck.
Just look what modern smartphones are able to deliver on sometimes crazy resolutions like 1440p in that size.
1080p could be the sweetspot I think.
Though I wouldn't care at all if it would still be 800p. I f*ckin love that thing and 800p for sure is enough.
No matter the form factor, or method, OLEDS should be everywhere. They are simply beautiful and are easier to present accurate colors
For a handheld 1080p is more than enough, more than that you will have a very short battery life. It is better to put more efficient display like OLED which show better collor and consume less power. You can only put 1200p or above if high density graphene battery is available on the market.