Does the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s Privacy Display mean an image quality trade-off?
Some Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra users say the Privacy Display compromises the overall display experience.
The new Privacy Display on Samsung’s Galaxy S26 Ultra smartphone has been praised as an impressive and breakthrough security feature, but is it affecting image quality?
Some reports from early Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra adopters have expressed concerns about colour reproduction, brightness and image quality on the screen – compared to the Galaxy S25 Ultra.
As Android Authority explains in its report drawing attention to the issues, the S26 Ultra uses two types of pixels in the display to assist with narrowing viewing angles when Privacy Display is turned on. This turns off pixels with wider viewing angles and leaves only those – in theory – viewable from a front-on position. It’s possible this is causing issues with image quality even when the feature is switched off.
One user has posted side-by-side images of the display of the S25 Ultra and S26 Ultra with Privacy Display disabled. It does appear there are some issues with bleeding of colours and distorted text.
The person who posted the images says: “Not good and my eyes get tired really quick with S26 Ultra. I prefer S25U display – much more clear and comfortable.”
The WinFuture.de contributor Roland Quandt noticed the disparity in clarity when turning the feature on. He provides a pair of images and asks: “Anyone notice the difference in brightness and screen clarity when turning on Privacy Display on the Galaxy S26 Ultra?”
Whether this is more of an anecdotal experience or an actual quality issue with the display caused by Privacy Display remains to be seen. Stuff has contacted Samsung to ask.
Are you an early S26 Ultra adopter? Have you noticed a drop off in quality when the feature is enabled or compared to the previous generation?
Chris Smith
