Designing for OLED displays

Some BlackBerry smartphones have an OLED screen instead of a traditional LCD screen. From a visual design perspective, this type of screen has higher contrast and clarity compared to an LCD screen. However, the lighter the image on the screen, the more power the device consumes.

Additionally, brighter pixels will burn down faster causing an undesirable screen effect called burn-in, where pixels lose their luminosity and color properties over time. Think of each OLED pixel as a candle. When you burn a candle, it will slowly burn down and never recover. The higher the flame on the candle, the faster it will burn down.

Best practices for optimizing battery life and reducing screen burn-in

Adapt your color scheme. Bright colors and UI components in static positions (for example, title bars and action bars) can burn out pixels quicker. The darker an image is, the less power it uses. Try and use a black theme and adjust light backgrounds to use less power, but still preserve readability.

Consider removing subtle patterns and textures. Use pure black where possible. Use of pure black has the added bonus of blending the user interface with black hardware elements that surround it.