What is an AMOLED wallpaper?

An AMOLED wallpaper is an image with large areas of pure black, made for phones with AMOLED or OLED screens. Those black areas are not just dark. The pixels behind them are switched off.

Why black is different on an AMOLED screen

Every pixel on an AMOLED screen makes its own light. To show black, a pixel simply turns off, so black looks as deep as the phone's glass and the edge of the image seems to melt into the bezel.

An LCD works the other way round. One backlight shines behind all the pixels, and they block it to show dark tones. Some light always leaks through, so black looks dark grey and costs about as much power as any other colour.

True black versus almost black

Most dark images are not as black as they look. Night photos have sensor noise, and JPG compression scatters faint colours through the shadows. A pixel with a value of #0A0A0A looks black to you, but it is still lit.

That is the gap AMOLEDify closes. It moves the image's black point so those almost-black tones reach #000000, and stretches the remaining tones so highlights stay bright. Comparing the black pixel percentage before and after shows how much of the screen actually switched off.

Does an AMOLED wallpaper save battery?

Yes, but how much depends mostly on brightness. Researchers at Purdue University measured dark mode on OLED Android phones in 2021. They found savings of 39% to 47% at 100% brightness, but only 3% to 9% at 30% to 50% brightness.

That study covered dark mode in apps rather than wallpapers, and a wallpaper is only on screen on your home and lock screens. Treat a black wallpaper as a small saving that helps most on bright outdoor days. The bigger reason to use one is how it looks.

How to make your own

1. Start with a dark image that has a clear subject. Night skies, neon and studio shots work well.
2. Open it in the AMOLED wallpaper maker. Auto mode finds a black point for you.
3. Drag across the preview to compare, and raise the black point if you want more black. Stop before the subject starts to lose its shape.
4. Save the PNG. Avoid converting it to JPG afterwards, because compression can lift black pixels off true black.

Where to find AMOLED wallpapers

If you would rather not edit anything, browse the top AMOLED wallpapers, or get the Amoled.in app for 9,400+ wallpapers made for these screens.