Does the new PS Vita LCD stack up to the old Vita OLED?

Before Apple dominated the news cycle with the iPhone 5S and 5C announcements, Sony made some extremely savvy moves regarding its stagnant, somewhat flailing PS Vita. Not only will the handheld be modeled into a $95 set-top box that can be played with a DualShock 3 or 4, but the handheld Vita will receive a revision as well — with one major difference.

Much in the way the PSP originally received its first revision, the Vita model, PCH-2000, will trim down in weight and thickness. It will also come with 1GB of on-board storage (unlike the current model which doesn’t have on-board storage), will remove its proprietary connector in place of standard microUSB, and bump the battery life up by about an hour.

The biggest change, though, is that the original Vita’s 960×544 OLED display will be replaced by an LCD of the same size and resolution. OLED and LCD are obviously different, so that means the quality of the display will differ between the two Vitas in some way, no matter how big or small.

Initial reports from Sony’s demo appeared to show that the new LCD is a little worse in quality, in that colors were slightly faded toward the edges. Twitter user Hiro compared both Vita screens, and the difference is immediately noticeable.

As you likely figured, the top Vita is the old model, and the bottom Vita is the upcoming PCH-2000. The difference between the screens is certainly more stark than “slightly faded around the edges” makes it sound. However, if you’re interested in a Vita, you shouldn’t make your decision solely based on the above image. Whenever retail outlets have demo units available in your country, go check it out in person, as the quality difference may be much less noticeable that way.