What benefits come from the 480x800 res?

[golder]

I have a few questions about the screen:

If you compare a Tattoo (2.8" 240x320) with a Hero (3.2" 320x480) and a Desire/Evo 4G (3.7"/4.3" 480x800), on all of these Sense UI devies you will see a 4x4 icon grid. Looking at screenshots I can see they could definitely fit 6x4 (6 being vertically) in, if not, at least a 5x4 icon grid. 4x4 on a 4.3" screen makes the icons too spread apart! Why haven't HTC made their home screens with 6x4 icon grids?

Also, a 320x480 can fit nicely on a 3.2" screen, and if you multiply 320 by 1.5 and 480 by 1.5 you get the 480x800 resolution that is on the Desire on a screen 0.5" larger. So if you go 0.5" larger than that (or 0.6" larger tbe) and multiply 480 by 1.5 and 800 by 1.5, you could easily get a 4.3" screen that nicely produces 720x1200. Why haven't they used this resolution?

 

[SprintFun]

Speaking from HTC's view, you don't want one phone running a version of Sense that has a 6x4 grid, another with a 4x4 grid, etc. Much simpler to keep it consistent across the entire product line than to make it highly specialized.

As far as why they haven't upped the resolution, I'm not sure the technology is to that point truthfully. I mean I'm sure it "can" be done, but it's probably not cost or battery efficient right now. Higher resolution means higher cost and bigger battery drain. I have no doubt that that we'll see bigger resolutions in the coming year or two though.

 

[reallynotnick]

Also, a 320x480 can fit nicely on a 3.2" screen, and if you multiply 320 by 1.5 and 480 by 1.5 you get the 480x800 resolution that is on the Desire on a screen 0.5" larger. So if you go 0.5" larger than that (or 0.6" larger tbe) and multiply 480 by 1.5 and 800 by 1.5, you could easily get a 4.3" screen that nicely produces 720x1200. Why haven't they used this resolution?

Answer is because your math is off, you just keep multiplying by 1.5 even though the screens are not 1.5 times bigger width and height wise.

I just did the rough math and a 480x320 3.2in screen is 1.775in by 2.663.
The 800x480 3.7in screen is 1.90 by 3.17in.

1.9/1.775 is only 1.07 which means the 3.7in screen is actually a higher DPI than the 3.2in screen. But lets take that same DPI and apply it to a 4.3in screen.

The 4.3in screen is about 2.21x3.68in so if we compare the widths 3.68/3.17=1.16, so that is how much bigger it is in each direction

1.16x480 by 1.16x800 is 557x928. That however is not really a standard resolution and bumping up to a higher resolution would require a more expensive higher DPI screen which I am not sure exists but the DPI is still really high on this phone. I have a hard time believing you would get much benefit from going much higher.


I hope that made sense.

 

[SprintFun]

Not at all, but I suck at math anyways.

 

[Eguy]

Should have been 1920x1080 .

 

[momoceio]

all resolution changes is the sharpness, not necesarily the screen size on a device like this. 480x800 is more like the resolution your TV gets.... 480, 320x480 is more like what youtube streams without HQ or HD options... what you are going to notice is sharper images and more fine detail, that is about it.

I understand what the OP is saying though. The EVO has more pixels and should therefore be able to display more content in the screens real-estate. I also understand that they don't want different versions of SenseUI running around...would be nice if they made it dynamic though so it could adapt to differing resolutions.

 

[JustFrozen]

This is one of the reasons why HDMI out is such a great thing, as the phone can't display video in HD. The iPad too has this problem, although it comes close with such a large screen. Even though we'll need an adapter, it's awesome having the ability to output straight to HDMI instead of relying on component cables. That makes me wonder, does anyone know if the EVO supports outputting sound through the HDMI along with the video? That's a bit off topic but I'm really curious now

 

[momoceio]

Not sure and probably won't know unless someone gets further info from Sprint about it...or HTC.

 

[yibrushn]

the higher resolution isn't really for the UI it's more for showing more of a webpage or a picture on the screen. They scale the UI so that it is consistent regardless of the resolution but you'll see the icons are more detailed.
Here is a good way to see it.

File:Vector Video Standards2.svg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[reallynotnick]

Not at all, but I suck at math anyways.

In layman's terms just because the screen grows by .5in you can't multiple the screen width and hight by 1.5 if that were true the resolution on a 13in screen would be insanely high. What you were suggesting required smaller and smaller pixels which become increasingly difficult to make.

I understand where you got the assumption but it just doesn't work that way. Trust me though the screen will be plenty high res.

 

[Android 17]

i wouldn't see why not as HDMI carries the full digital signal, video + audio through to the source, so it's not like it's any extra work for them to do that, infact it'd be more work to get it NOT to carry audio... HDMI to HDMI always carries both
HDMI to DVI-* ONLY carries the video signal, so if you use the right type of cord you should be good

What he said.

What would be most interesting would be if we could use the HDMI to display content from apps, ranging from the inevitable Netflix app, to Pandora, Last.fm, etc.

 

[cabbie]

What he said.

What would be most interesting would be if we could use the HDMI to display content from apps, ranging from the inevitable Netflix app, to Pandora, Last.fm, etc.

This is my big hope from the car mount. Currently I have a mount where I need two wires, one for the headphone jack, one for power, to have my phone playing and charging.

Dropping it into a dock and not worrying about that would be a great benefit if thats how it happens. I don't see why HDMI couldn't handle a stereo signal to a car stereo.

 

[momoceio]

My car stereo only has a 3.5mm aux in...HDMI is digital so no go there.

 

[cabbie]

My car stereo only has a 3.5mm aux in...HDMI is digital so no go there.

googling found HDMI->USB and USB->3.5mm adapters, so that could work theoretically. Couldn't find a straight up HDMI->3.5mm tho

 

[reallynotnick]

googling found HDMI->USB and USB->3.5mm adapters, so that could work theoretically. Couldn't find a straight up HDMI->3.5mm tho

But since there is a 3.5mm jack on the top of the unit that's really not necessary.

 

[cabbie]

But since there is a 3.5mm jack on the top of the unit that's really not necessary.

well like i was saying i want the convenience of the hdmi and micro USB taking care of it when i just drop it in the dock so i wouldn't have to hook other cords in

 

[Caloy]

LOL! you just need an auxiliary cable.

Here, I searched eBay for it. : aux cable, Electronics, Cell Phones PDAs. Great deals on eBay!

well like i was saying i want the convenience of the hdmi and micro USB taking care of it when i just drop it in the dock so i wouldn't have to hook other cords in

Probably the car dock for the evo will only need one cable, but you would still need one for power and one for the audio out.

 

[cabbie]

I use an aux->3.5mm cable to go straight from my Hero into my stereo's disc changer port. Regardless, still got to plug it in each time, and plug in the USB to charge each time

 

[Caloy]

As far as I know, you really need two cables, one for the power/charger and the other is the signal/audio. Though I'm not sure about those car stereos with USB connection available. Maybe you can plug in the USB and it would both power/charge and audio connection.

 

[cabbie]

thats why i'm really interested in seeing if it'll support doing it via HDMI or the USB if it comes to that

 

[reallynotnick]

well like i was saying i want the convenience of the hdmi and micro USB taking care of it when i just drop it in the dock so i wouldn't have to hook other cords in

Ahhh so you want the connivence of the ports being on the same side of the device. Sounds like a lot of trouble but would be interesting if there was an easy way to do this.

 

[cabbie]

there were 'leaked' photos of EVO accessories like a juice pack and car dock. When I get into my car, I have to put my Hero in the mount, attach the power cord and then attach the minijack. it'd be a lot easier to just put it in the mount and voila

im lazy