New consumer suit claims that phone and tablet manufacturer skimped on crucial color depth

Not Again!

We begin with a lesson in high technology.

We've all used the word "pixel" – used it to brag about the picture quality of our digital camera, or the depth and "reality" of our computer monitor or tablet screen. But how many of us know what a pixel is?

A pixel, it turns out, isn't a physical quality of the underlying technology at all – it isn't a tiny LCD bulb, for example. A pixel is a conceptual unit – the smallest piece of an image that can be controlled or manipulated by a computer on a digital display. One pixel can represent a varying range of colors and brightness depending on the sophistication of the display; the more pixels your monitor or your smartphone can cram into its screen, the deeper and richer the images it displays.

Sub-Mission

So far so good. But to complicate matters, let's introduce the subpixel. Subpixels can control the blend of color displayed by a pixel; a traditional arrangement is three subpixels per pixel – one displaying red light, one green and one blue. If the red subpixel is off and the blue and yellow subpixels are at full intensity, the overall pixel will display as green.

With us so far? The more pixels a display can control, the better the image. The more subpixels in each of those pixels – well, the better the image.

A whole passel of plaintiffs – five total, hailing from California, New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey – are suing Samsung Electronics America and Samsung Electronics Co. (collectively, Samsung) in the Southern District of New York over the number of pixels in Samsung's various phone and tablet devices. The suit, filed in mid-December 2018, alleges that Samsung deceptively advertised certain of its phone and tablet screens by claiming they boast more pixels than they have.

The plaintiffs claim that Samsung omitted half of the red and blue subpixels in each display, especially when compared with similar products from competing device manufacturers. Because of such an alleged misrepresentation, according to the plaintiffs, Samsung's devices appear more appealing to customers than they actually would be if the true pixel counts were revealed. As the suit states:

"They have half of the advertised number of pixels and two thirds of the advertised number of subpixels. For example, where a traditional screen would have four pixels (and 12 subpixels, 4 of each primary color), Defendants remove every other red subpixel and every other blue subpixel, resulting in hardware with 8 subpixels (4 green, 2 red, and 2 blue) that are only capable of forming two true pixels (because there are only two red and two blue subpixels, and a true pixel needs at least one red, blue, and green subpixel)."

The plaintiffs claim that not revealing the lack of subpixels deceives consumers who reasonably expect a full roster and are instead wrongly induced into purchasing Samsung devices that they believe have superior screen resolutions.

In what may be anticipation of Samsung's response, the suit maintains that the pixel arrangement at issue here turns on a lack of red and blue pixels, rather than the benefit of extra green pixels.

The plaintiffs are seeking damages under various false advertising, unfair competition and unfair trade practices laws in their home states.

The Takeaway

Advertisers should keep in mind that the test for deception concerns the net impression of the reasonable consumer. Where complex technological jargon is used to convey claims of performance or superiority, advertisers need to be cautious. This case will be an interesting one to watch, to see whether the plaintiffs are able to establish that the claims resulted in consumers being deceived as to material issue, or whether Samsung successfully defends the charges.

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