*** The Official Steam Deck Thread ***

I'm interested to see what the views on the etched vs glossy screen are. I've currently got the 512GB LCD (upgraded to 2TB) so don't need the storage space as will put the 2TB drive in either way.

I've a Switch Oled and no issues with glossy screen and have heard reports that the Steamdeck looks better with glossy oled.
.
 
martos123 said:
I'm interested to see what the views on the etched vs glossy screen are. I've currently got the 512GB LCD (upgraded to 2TB) so don't need the storage space as will put the 2TB drive in either way.

I've a Switch Oled and no issues with glossy screen and have heard reports that the Steamdeck looks better with glossy oled.
.
Click to expand...

Personally (and this is mostly subjective). I find glossy screen better because

1 - Better contrast, simple science that light isn't scattered from the etched surface, this affect reflection and also light coming from behind it, aka the OLED panel itself. A glossy screen reflect more like a mirror, so if there is a strong reflection, it is only strong in a concentrated area, not in a larger area.

2 - The etched surface will disperse light all over, so when there is strong light source that causes a reflection, like a light bulb in the ceiling. The "spread" of the light is larger than a glossy surface. On a glossy screen, the reflection is very localised, it is the actual reflection of the light bulb itself, like a mirror. I can simply move a little bit so the reflection isn't landing on a critical part of the screen i am looking at or just move and the light bulb isn't in the reflection. An etched screen will take light from the surrounding and scatter that more and even if you move the light bulb off screen, the ambient light source, say, from the white ceiling, will cause minor hazing.

This is my experience anyway.

My OLED TV is glossy, my iPhone is glossy, my iPad is glossy, my Macbook is glossy, the screen on the back of my cameras are glossy, my retro handhelds are glossy, my Nintendo Switch is glossy, the Gameboy is glossy, i wouldn't have it any other way. I think etched screen feel cheap...my spare Monitor at home it etched...i wish it was glossy like my old iMac.
 
Last edited:
martos123 said:
I'm interested to see what the views on the etched vs glossy screen are. I've currently got the 512GB LCD (upgraded to 2TB) so don't need the storage space as will put the 2TB drive in either way.

I've a Switch Oled and no issues with glossy screen and have heard reports that the Steamdeck looks better with glossy oled.
.
Click to expand...
Save your money. If you do decide you want anti glare just fit a £7 screen protector.
 
Wrote this elsewhere to a similar question, but will quote
Now it's purely a preference thing, some prefer the shiny, glossy look as they believe its more vibrant looking. Whereas some prefer the matte, etched look + better fingerprint resistance.

Personally, I prefer the latter from prior experience. I made the mistake of selling on one of the original Decks, a 512GB with the etched glass, and just sticking with a 64GB (upgraded SSD etc). Flicked between them for a few months, but moved on the 512GB as, frankly, it was worth more. Did not get on with the glossy, plasticky screen over time. I mean the screen is one of the weaknesses of the LCD Deck, but the reflectiveness of it made it a chore to use in certain lighting situations, and you had to put up with your mug looking back at you during darkly lit games etc. Even a good screen protector with some anti-glare properties didn't quite work for me.

So, personally I'm delighted to be going back to the etched screen, but it's very much a preference thing. Vast majority of reviews doing the rounds are with etched models, and are glowing, but you can't go wrong with either and both should give a fantastic image with far better colour reproduction than the original. The colour vibrancy controls along with the inherently brighter panels should allow both to be dialled in to suit all tastes.

If definitely upgrading the drive, then go with the 512GB and use the money difference to help against a 2TB. I'm probably just gonna leave the 1TB drive in as I've been playing musical SSDs with a number of handheld devices of late and it's a bit of a pain in the arse TBH.
Click to expand...
I'd imagine you'd be happy with either model TBH
 
Last edited:
Like Raymond, I kept coming back to the fact I have no issues with a glossy screen on any other of my devices. This is what ultimately made me decide on the 512GB model.

The last few days I've been thinking about what to play first! Honestly, I have no idea. My Steam library is in need of some new purchases as I've been out of PC gaming for a while. So probably Donkey Kong Country on SNES :cry:

My 2TB SSD has landed in the UK. Looks like it'll be out for delivery tomorrow, very quick, only ordered last Sunday. Toying with the idea of getting a 2230 to USB adapter so I can check the read/writes and power ups. I'm assumuing you can't check this on the Steam Deck itself?
 
Last edited:
2StepSteve said:
Like Raymond, I kept coming back to the fact I have no issues with a glossy screen on any other of my devices. This is what ultimately made me decide on the 512GB model.

The last few days I've been thinking about what to play first! Honestly, I have no idea. My Steam library is in need of some new purchases as I've been out of PC gaming for a while. So probably Donkey Kong Country on SNES :cry:

My 2TB SSD has landed in the UK. Looks like it'll be out for delivery tomorrow, very quick, only ordered last Sunday. Toying with the idea of getting a 2230 to USB adapter so I can check the read/writes and power ups. I'm assumuing you can't check this on the Steam Deck itself?
Click to expand...
You can benchmark hard drive on the deck with KDiskMark:

github.com

GitHub - JonMagon/KDiskMark: A simple open-source disk benchmark tool for Linux distros

A simple open-source disk benchmark tool for Linux distros - GitHub - JonMagon/KDiskMark: A simple open-source disk benchmark tool for Linux distros
github.com github.com
 
carrot1401 said:
Like many my 2tb drive arrives this week from my China, what’s the best way to check it’s legit in a deck?
Click to expand...
This is my 2TB WD (from Aliexpress)

ux8jW2Jh.jpg



256GB Samsung (The Steam Deck original drive)

A5Fmi3vh.jpg



This is the same 256GB running in an external NVMe USBC enclosure (with Win10 installed)

8IbEtAAh.jpg
 
Last edited:
Guest2 said:
This is my 2TB WD (from Aliexpress)

ux8jW2Jh.jpg



256GB Samsung (The Steam Deck original drive)

A5Fmi3vh.jpg



This is the same 256GB running in an external NVMe USBC enclosure (with Win10 installed)

8IbEtAAh.jpg
Click to expand...
That’s a nice bump in performance! The sequential read/write is not really important for the deck, but the random read/write improvements should make a bit of difference.

Could you post a link to the item on aliexpress please?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom