Samsung’s New Phone Uses 8‑Bit Screens, Not 10‑Bit

Samsung’s newest flagship, the Galaxy S26 Ultra, was first announced with a promise of a 10‑bit display that would bring brighter colors and smoother gradients. A later statement from the company clarified that all three S26 models actually use 8‑bit panels. This means they can show about 16. 7 million colors, not the over a billion that a true 10‑bit screen can render. The earlier claim may upset people who pre‑ordered the phone thinking they were getting a higher‑quality display. The company now says that the same 8‑bit setup is used on the S26 and S26+. Even so, Samsung claims that its 8‑bit panels look better than the previous generation. They attribute this to a technique called frame rate control (FRC), which tricks the screen into simulating some of the benefits of 10‑bit color.A content creator once demonstrated that the S26 Ultra’s screen has less banding than the older S25 Ultra. That improvement could come from FRC, which adds extra frames to smooth color transitions. Still, the debate over whether Samsung actually uses 10‑bit technology remains unsettled because different sources have given conflicting answers. For now, the safest assumption is that all S26 models feature 8‑bit displays. Samsung may be using FRC to reduce color banding, giving users a visual experience closer to that of a native 10‑bit panel. Future updates may clarify the situation further, but buyers should be aware that the screens are not truly 10‑bit.