We already learned that Samsung Display is preparing to start manufacturing the Galaxy S27 display soon. That may have already happened; Therefore, these new leaks could be perfectly plausible. Apparently, the S27 Pro and S27 Ultra will be the first Samsung smartphones to offer DC dimming. It seems like it can’t be true and yet a quick search later; In fact, even the Galaxy S26 Ultra relies on traditional PWM to adjust its brightness. Simplifying things a bit, in case you don’t know what we’re talking about, PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) is the traditional way of adjusting the brightness of a display. Basically, it turns the light source (backlight or the pixels themselves in self-emitting display technology) on and off very quickly to achieve a different perceived brightness. It works, but it is a kind of “trick” that depends on how our eyes work, and some people are quite sensitive to the technique and can suffer from eye fatigue and even headaches. The solution we have is DC dimming. It actually matches the voltage input to the light source, so there are no unpleasant flickers. However, it’s much harder to do, especially on modern displays with other features like variable refresh rate. But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible, just difficult. Open, say, a recent spec sheet of a flagship Xiaomi device and you’ll instantly spot the adaptive refresh rate with LTPO technology and optional DC dimming. This is still a technological hurdle, as we said, and often requires a hybrid approach where medium to high brightness levels use DC while low brightness levels switch to PWM. Still, it can be done and is largely for the benefit and comfort of the user. Anyway, more specifically, a rumor has emerged claiming that the S27 Pro and S27 Ultra will finally offer DC dimming. At least to some extent, that is, since a hybrid approach might still be necessary. This is apparently another thing that’s part of the S27’s wider “split” screen. According to sources, the Pro and Ultra will get Samsung’s latest M16 OLED material formula, while the regular S27 and S27 Plus will get M14+. Another screen differentiator is also the Privacy Display function, introduced on the Galaxy S26 Ultra. Apparently, it will stay with the S27 Pro and S27 Ultra. Frankly, it’s a bit surprising that Samsung is keeping the frankly niche privacy screen feature, which is quite complicated hardware-wise and sounds like a much bigger investment than the switch to DC dimming. Speaking of which, we don’t want to sound like we don’t appreciate the potential addition, but where is the proper hardware 10-bit color support? Some competitors already offer 12-bit color. Before turning on the comments section, we understand how economies of scale work both ways and that on incredibly high volume models, saving even pennies makes a lot of sense. And, just to keep things as balanced as possible, it’s not like Samsung is the “greedy villain” here. Apple iPhones also do not have DC dimming. They have a “soft PWM” mode in the settings. And there’s no 10-bit color hardware on iPhones either. So if you’re going to get mad at someone, it should probably be the “big ones.” Fountain
