The guys who run DisplayMate are professionals who take screen quality seriously. They’ve just published their analysis on the 5 inch 1080p panel in the Samsung Galaxy S4, and they say it’s some of the best work Samsung has ever done. The LCD that Apple uses in the iPhone is better when it comes to color reproduction and in terms of brightness, but the GS4’s screen does a better job when it comes to white levels.

Which phone has the “best” screen? Both the iPhone 5 and GS4 have various pros and cons, so I’m hesitant to declare a winner, especially since I’ve yet to play with a GS4, so I can’t share my personal experiences. That being said, I didn’t buy a GS3 last year because the display looked like total garbage to me. The display in my Note II was widely praised as being an improvement to the GS3’s panel, but I have no problem admitting that I’m jealous at the iPhone 5’s quality.

Looking ahead, the screen in the next iPhone, the 5S, will likely be the same screen used in the iPhone 5. The Note III on the other hand, there are rumors saying it’s going to use a plastic substrate and that it’ll have the complete assortment of RGB subpixels.

One thing is clear, progress is definitely being made, and regardless of whether you buy Samsung’s flagship phones or Apple’s flagship phones, your eyes are going to be delighted.