It's time for higher resolution in mobiles with 4"+ displays

[Ahmed Alzayani]

Most High end mobile phones now run WVGA resolution (800

 

[Pryomancer]

Now that Apple have done it with the new iPhone, everyone else will do it properly, on 3.7"+ screens with AMOLED etc.

 

[Zenze]

I don't see screens getting much bigger than they are now, otherwise they will just be to big for the pocket. So that only leaves better screen technology and higher resolution. Both will happen...

 

[IOWA]

Most High end mobile phones now run WVGA resolution (800

 

[Tangent]

Is it just me, or are screen resolutions going the same way as megapixel counts? My Slide has a 5 megapixel camera in it and the image quality is not nearly as good as my old 4.3 megapixel Kodak point & shoot. The pixel count doesn't matter nearly so much as the lens does, yet I'll bet money that in a few years we'll be seeing phones with 10 megapixel cameras shooting through the same quarter inch wide lens. On the same note, it wouldn't surprise me at all to start seeing twice the resolution even the iPhone 4 has on the same size screen just to sell to the crowd that wants the bragging rights...

 

[tsanuri]

Most High end mobile phones now run WVGA resolution (800

 

[IOWA]

Consier that with a a HDTV on small sizes you almost can not tell the difference you will not notice it on a handset.
1080p charted: Viewing distance to screen size -- Engadget HD
According to the chart on a 20 In display you can see the difference if you are less than 5 ft away on a 720p display. How close would it need to be on a 4in display. 6-12 in would be my guess.

I think you'd need a magnifying glass lol...

 

[tsanuri]

I think you'd need a magnifying glass lol...

I was trying to be nice at the 6-12in mark but yea.

 

[rhippler]

So the 138 PPI of the monitor I am looking at must be just horrible. I mean it's just one HUGE pixel.

 

[Jammy]

My Desire has 252ppi. I can see the pixels easily from 12 inches.

On the iPhone 4, I can almost see the pixels at 7 inches, but if I go much closer than that, I go cross eyed.

I'd love a screen with 300ppi+.

 

[IOWA]

My Desire has 252ppi. I can see the pixels easily from 12 inches.

On the iPhone 4, I can almost see the pixels at 7 inches, but if I go much closer than that, I go cross eyed.

I'd love a screen with 300ppi+.

I'm somehow doubting that. Do you have any idea how small a pixel is?

 

[MonmouthDroid]

My Desire has 252ppi. I can see the pixels easily from 12 inches.

On the iPhone 4, I can almost see the pixels at 7 inches, but if I go much closer than that, I go cross eyed.

I'd love a screen with 300ppi+.

I really doubt this

 

[meyerweb]

+1

I've seen a couple of posts from people who have compared the new iPhone screen to the EVO screen and can barely tell a difference at very close distances, and none at all at normal distances. This is another case of Apple hype vs. reality.

 

[Pryomancer]

My Desire has 252ppi. I can see the pixels easily from 12 inches.

On the iPhone 4, I can almost see the pixels at 7 inches, but if I go much closer than that, I go cross eyed.

I'd love a screen with 300ppi+.

Yeah, this is incorrect. I have a Desire and can't distingiush the pixels from that distance at all. I don't have perfect eyesight but even if you did the increase needed to see them would be far too great.

Unless you're a sparrowhawk, I call bullshit.

 

[Hrethgir]

+1

I've seen a couple of posts from people who have compared the new iPhone screen to the EVO screen and can barely tell a difference at very close distances, and none at all at normal distances. This is another case of Apple hype vs. reality.

Truth. On one of the other forums I post on, one guy made a list of "revolutionary" things about the iPhone4:

Bigger battery
Faster CPU
Thinner
Lighter
Retina Display

Oh god, people really slurp down that Kool-Aid, don't they. Only legit one in that list is the thinness, really.

 

[mrspeedmaster]

I think you'd need a magnifying glass lol...

I can see the difference in pixel density from 7" away. Here is part of a post I made on the Incredible forum w/ picts of the iPhone4 side-by-side with a Droid Incredible w/ has a 3.7 AMOLED screen.

full view:

Youtube video at 100, 300 crop. Notice the freckles on the left cheek. I could not capture it on film but you can clearly see it on left image. Notice the pentile matrix rendering problem in the flesh tones.

Full View:

Pentile Matrix AMOLED at its finest..

Lastly, from this very board:

Another thrown in for review:

Note, making browser comparisons are very hard. I set the DINC to default font and zoom to medium. Default. if I lower the font, it will be too small. If I move it up, it will be too big. There is no way around this. Also, Android does not have a complete set of fonts used by most websites. E.G. Helvetica, Arial, Times, various san & serif fonts. It does a lot of font substitution so it causes wrappings.

I just learned today Android only has like 9 fonts just point your Astro Filemananger /system/fonts
which is totally crappy if you ask me. It makes the browser comparisons real hard and may be a big reason why web browser performance and legibility is bad on Android.

 

[IOWA]

If your zooming to 300% you can see pixelation sure, but who's eyes can do that?

 

[mrspeedmaster]

If your zooming to 300% you can see pixelation sure, but who's eyes can do that?

IOWA, respectfully disagree with you. I have avg eye-sight and I can see the difference from 7 inches away. Text that seems to be 4-6 points is clearly readable. In HD video, you can see little nuances. For example, the TRON HD trailer on youtube. If you go 00:50 into it, you can see the spinning quarter and on the iPhone 4 you can see the details of the eagle on the back of the quarter. You can't see that with a lower res display. The spinning coin is a blur on my Droid Incredible.

I'm all for it if we get 720p displays this Christmas on a phone. When it happens, all the android fanboys will be touting it as the second coming. They have set the bar and you sound like you are just dismissing it.

 

[IOWA]

IOWA, respectfully disagree with you. I have avg eye-sight and I can see the difference from 7 inches away. Text that seems to be 4-6 points is clearly readable. In HD video, you can see little nuances. For example, the TRON HD trailer on youtube. If you go 00:50 into it, you can see the spinning quarter and on the iPhone 4 you can see the details of the eagle on the back of the quarter. You can't see that with a lower res display. The spinning coin is a blur on my Droid Incredible.

I'm all for it if we get 720p displays this Christmas on a phone. When it happens, all the android fanboys will be touting it as the second coming. They have set the bar and you sound like you are just dismissing it.

Maybe. I laugh at people who seriously want to watch youtube/movies all day on a 4" screen. It's a nice to have, but that's it.

 

[Pryomancer]

Apple have set the bar with the new display on the iPhone 4. What people conveniently miss out, is that for every one time Apple tops the competition, Android and its hardware manufacturers like Samsung and HTC raise it four times over.

 

[mrspeedmaster]

Apple have set the bar with the new display on the iPhone 4. What people conveniently miss out, is that for every one time Apple tops the competition, Android and its hardware manufacturers like Samsung and HTC raise it four times over.

This is why competition is good for everyone.

They did set the bar. I now expect from every new phone in the future:

1) a Hi res display that has a good compromise for text, outdoor and indoor use

2) Battery life that last more than a day worth of use without having to be OCD about shutting off widgets/notifications/ disabling wifi, bluetooth, gps, or the use of a task killer.. You know.. normal use.

3) Real HD recording. Real HD playback. None of the 1/2 ass attempts by the EVO and Droid X. Galaxy S is promising.

4) Cameras with higher pixel density and bigger sensors in relation to their MP count. I also expect responsive shutter time.

5) Zero or no lag in UI performance. None of that 30fps cap . When I pull up Google Earth, I expect every new phone with higher specs to perform faster zooms and pinches than an iPhone. PERIOD. For chris-sakes, Google Earth is a "Google Product". You expect it to smoke the iPhone version in snappiness. The iPhone is reported to be underclock yet is is faster than both the EVO and Incredible which have 1ghz cpu.

So instead of trying to out-do Apple 4X, maybe they should work on what they already have. The EVO could be an iPhone killer if they concentrated on the software side of things instead of the published specs. Instead of pumping the next revision with a 1.5 mhz dual core snapdragon and 12 MP, they should work on the software/firmware now. It is pathetic how the iPhone spanks the EVO in just HD recording and playback.

Android manufactures also need to pony up cost for licenses. They need to offer H.264 as standard. They need to license exchange from Microsoft. They need to get Yahoo onboard and provide a Yahoo mail client that works on wifi and 3G, and they need to license Cisco licenses for enterprise users. All of which IPhone 4 have. If the licenses add another $150 to the cost of the phone, so be it. They need to do it.

 

[OstrichSaK]

If the licenses add another $150 to the cost of the phone, so be it. They need to do it.

I know I wouldn't be buying a phone that was $150 higher in price for items I would never used and am pretty sure I'm not alone.

 

[mrspeedmaster]

I know I wouldn't be buying a phone that was $150 higher in price for items I would never used and am pretty sure I'm not alone.

You shouldn't have to pay the $150. The manufactures need to eat and absorb the cost to make it competitive. The enterprise feature alone will make them at least compete w/ Blackberry. Motorola ate the cost for Yahoo Mail client on some of their phones. Samsung at the cost for H.264 720p video playback on the Galaxy. If HTC only makes $10 profit per unit, they need to do it to gain marketshare. For chrissakes, they get the OS for free. The $45-70 they are saving from using Android instead of WinMo means, they have the ability to spend it on other software for their phones.