Late last month my Samsung Note 20 Ultra had a Samsung update, and immediately after the update I had the bright green vertical stripe up the centre of my screen.

 

A quick Google showed me it was a common issue, often associated with recent Samsung updates, and there was no easy fix.

 

I went to the Samsung shop and the guy explained that Samsung have a choice of schemes to resolve the issue:

 

1. Free screen replacement 

or

2. Buy the phone back in exchange for a new Galaxy Phone with a value of the old phone being based on a 20% reduction on the new cost.

 

Seemed fair, but my phone was bought in Korea (where I used to work) so he suggested I phone Samsung Thailand to check if they will cover the costs.  

 

The lady at Samsung explained that only phones bought in Thailand were covered, but she offered to order a new screen and book the replacement service at my local Samsung shop. Cost would be 7,200 THB .... expensive, but the screen would be guaranteed for a couple of years.

 

After checking the eye-watering costs of a new Samsung S25 Ultra (can a phone really cost more than a new Honda. Wave??), I decided to go for the screen replacement.  I also like that my Note 20 Ultra was one of the last higher-end phones to have an SD card .... and mine has a 1TB SD card plus 512 Mb internal memory  ....  handy for my photo and video storage

 

I guess I could have got it replaced cheaper at MBK, but then I'd be worried about future updates causing another green screen issue.

 

But the good news is that if you have a Thai Note 20 or above or S series 21 or higher Galaxy phone with the green stripe issue, you can take advantage of the Samsung extended guarantee.

20 minutes ago, Kinnock said:

A quick Google showed me it was a common issue, often associated with recent Samsung updates, and there was no easy fix.

I have read of this but fortunately don't have a Samsung.

I am just curious but from what you discovered how does a software update cause a screen issue which can only be resolved by a new screen - ie what does it do to screw up the screen?

I have a Galaxy S21 FE and it suddenly developed two vertical lines. The Samsung dealer said I get one free screen replacement, but it takes 2 weeks to get the replacement screen... that's two Thai weeks, so three or four. From what I've read, it can last like this for a while or it can go bad very quickly. This is my work phone. I can't hope they do this in a timely manner, so I've got a shop across the street that will replace it for 3,500 baht and it only takes a day to arrive and an hour to fix. 

I've got Samsung everything. I regret that now.

13 minutes ago, topt said:

I have read of this but fortunately don't have a Samsung.

I am just curious but from what you discovered how does a software update cause a screen issue which can only be resolved by a new screen - ie what does it do to screw up the screen?

There's a few YouTube videos and lots of chat on Reddit and the Samsung group ..... apparently the update can cause overheating of the image signal processor.  Samsung claim it's due to general overheating issues and is not related to their UI7 update, but the Samsung community is adamant it's the update.  My issue appeared immediately after the update was installed.

Just now, Kinnock said:

There's a few YouTube videos and lots of chat on Reddit and the Samsung group ..... apparently the update can cause overheating of the image signal processor.  Samsung claim it's due to general overheating issues and is not related to their UI7 update, but the Samsung community is adamant it's the update.  My issue appeared immediately after the update was installed.

Thanks.

Based on that you might think that unless they issued updates to revert/modify the behaviour that it could happen on a new screen also.......

13 minutes ago, topt said:

Thanks.

Based on that you might think that unless they issued updates to revert/modify the behaviour that it could happen on a new screen also.......

Yes ..... that was my thinking on going for a genuine Samsung repair with a guarantee .... in case it happens again.

 

The special warranty by Samsung covers all Galaxy models up to the S25, so it looks like it's an ongoing risk.

About 3 months ago, my wife dropped her S20 Note Ultra and the screen then had a horizontal stripe where the screen had broken. I bought a replacement screen from Aliexpress for $70 and also a replacement Samsung battery for 400 baht. I had a local shop replace both for 700 baht.

 

Everything seems to be working perfectly.

4 hours ago, FarangRimPing said:

About 3 months ago, my wife dropped her S20 Note Ultra and the screen then had a horizontal stripe where the screen had broken. I bought a replacement screen from Aliexpress for $70 and also a replacement Samsung battery for 400 baht. I had a local shop replace both for 700 baht.

 

Everything seems to be working perfectly.

Interesting, thank you.  May be worth doing that next time I get any issues, as I don't want to spend 7000 THB again on an older phone.

On 9/2/2025 at 7:50 AM, topt said:

how does a software update cause a screen issue

This thread contains the suggestion that the 'green lines' are caused by an Android update. It is not necessarily so.

 

I had the green lines (which gradually multiply till the thing is useless to view) and had never updated the phone, or dropped it or any other misuse. It's a duff product and common to that type of screen (?something amoled) across many models. 

@Kinnock @isaanistical

 

If one of these models; - Samsung Galaxy Note 20
- Samsung Galaxy Note 20 5G
- Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra
- Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G
- Samsung Galaxy S20+ (S20 Plus)
- Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra
- Samsung Galaxy S21 FE
- Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
- Samsung Galaxy S22
- Samsung Galaxy S22+ (S22 Plus)
- Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra

 

and you bought it in Thailand, you can get a free screen replacement or can accept an alternative offer of a discount coupon or 20% of the list price back.

 

https://www.thaimobilecenter.com/content/samsung-free-repair-for-screen-lines.asp

7 hours ago, isaanistical said:

This thread contains the suggestion that the 'green lines' are caused by an Android update. It is not necessarily so.

 

I had the green lines (which gradually multiply till the thing is useless to view) and had never updated the phone, or dropped it or any other misuse. It's a duff product and common to that type of screen (?something amoled) across many models. 

Yes thanks for responding.

This article is fairly comprehensive about the situation. I am surprised it has been an issue for some years apparently -

https://www.androidauthority.com/how-to-fix-green-line-issue-on-phone-screen-3342058/

11 hours ago, topt said:

I am surprised it has been an issue for some years apparently -

I trawled the net after it happened to my phone in Feb,found huge volumes of (mainly) nonsense from India, where it seems to have been biggest.

There are endless "how to fix" youtubes, usually starting with "restart your phone" (duh!) and ending with "factory reset". NONE of them works, it's a hardware issue and if your screen is one of the duff ones, you're screwed - until Samsung recently relented under very commendable pressure from the Consumers Association/s here.

 

I have never updated a phone since 1993 when I started with them - until this time when I gave in and as a last resort put in Android 14, which b%ggered half my apps, screwed with my homescreens and generally proved I had been right for 30 years. But it did NOT fix the screen.