Incredible using Gorilla Glass? HTC says so...

[xmonkey]

Last week I contacted HTC and asked them if the Incredible's screen was indeed glass (since whatever they do, it tends to feel like plastic compared to other phones) and whether it had an oleophobic coating. I pretty much knew it was glass already, so I was more interested in the oleophobic coating question. They got back to me today and what they said was quite surprising...

Dear Keegan, I can understand the interest in the knowledge of the HTC Incredible Screen. The screen display is actually an Opaque Aluminum-Silicone Base. It is called Gorilla Glass, which is impervious to the very real threats of key scratching and localized pressure. Gorilla Glass is an unscratchable, unshatterable material used as a protective window for your mobile phone. If you have any other questions or concerns please Reply back to this email or give us a call at our HTC Technical Support Line, 1-866-449-8358. I want to thank you for contacting HTC. In order to help improve our service I

 

[CatsTide]

very nice!

 

[lmbgm]

Interesting. By saying "unscratchable, unshatterable", that tells me that any scratch to the screen should be considered a "defect in materials or workmanship" and covered under warranty.

If only that would hold up.

 

[nstallion]

Interesting. By saying "unscratchable, unshatterable", that tells me that any scratch to the screen should be considered a "defect in materials or workmanship" and covered under warranty.

If only that would hold up.

Also curious that I saw at least 3 shattered screens within the first few days of release.

 

[CatsTide]

Also curious that I saw at least 3 shattered screens within the first few days of release.

i have also saw shattered droids....

 

[necosino]

not shattering = only the grass breaking internally. Not splintering as to damage the LCD display or risk cutting/injury. The phone is visibly damaged but still usable.

 

[lmbgm]

when you use words like "unscratchable" and "unshatterable", it says to me that it is not possible to scratch or shatter it no matter what you do to it (car keys, knife, axe, shotgun, driving over it, throw it out a plane).

I always thought thats why they came up with words like scratch-"resistant".

 

[Rubik76]

Also curious that I saw at least 3 shattered screens within the first few days of release.

While the external glass is tough stuff, the AMOLED screens are very thin. This probably makes them more prone to shattering than the Droid's. Gorilla Glass is still a very nice thing to have from a scratch perspective.

I'm still glad I just had Ghost Armor put on though .

 

[nstallion]

i have also saw shattered droids....

Indeed, which also use Gorilla Glass. I've dropped my Droid a few times - once sent it flying. The worst that has happened is the battery cover flew off and the keyboard opened. It's built like a tank - which it better be considering how much it weighs. I imagine anything hard hitting the screen directly would probably shatter this "unshatterable" glass though.

 

[absolution]

edit: nm

 

[jfunk]

The wording chosen by the email responder monkey isn't relevant in any legal manner. They confirmed it's indeed Gorilla Glass. If you want to read up on exactly what its capabilities are, check it out here:

Gorilla Glass | Home

Needless to say, they don't even approach any terms that imply damaging it is impossible, only that it's more resistant to damage than other glass.

 

[Blacryan]

I wonder if this is the same material used on the storm? I could sit there and scratch on my phone's screen w/ a key and it wouldnt leave a single scratch. I'm sure if you took a super sharp knife it would but I tried to scratch with a key wouldnt work.

 

[lgldrgdlr]

This is odd, because I contacted them as well and this is the email I got back from them:

http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/1777/emailbc.jpg

Wonder why people are getting different stories.

 

[WizeGuyDezignz]

Considering there are already multiple people with scratched screens, I would put a ton of money on it NOT being Gorilla Glass.

If any of you are familiar with Cowon, makers of the best MP3 players ever, they use Gorilla Glass on their players. I never had a screen protector on any of my Cowon's. I had a Cowon S9 for over a year and that thing NEVER had any scratches whatsoever with normal use. Not even a tiny scratch. Nothing, nada.

Now for the past month or so, I have their new MP3 player the J3. Same thing, no scratches at all. In short, I've never had any type of scratch on a Cowon MP3 player with Gorilla Glass.

So I highly, highly doubt the Incredible has Gorilla Glass.

 

[andyandroid81891]

This is odd, because I contacted them as well and this is the email I got back from them:

http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/1777/emailbc.jpg

Wonder why people are getting different stories.

The response you got does not contradict the response the original poster got. The original poster asked about the material the front "glass" was you asked for a manufacturer name. They told you it wasn't made by Gorilla Glass because it's the type of material NOT the manufacturer.

 

[WizeGuyDezignz]

I believe Corning makes the Gorilla Glass for Cowon. It's amazing and virtually indestructible.

 

[jwm2]

The units you've seen shattered are most likely the inner screen. On backlit lcd panels there are usually 3 layers. The backlight, the actual lcd panel and the top cover/shield with touch sensitivity. When you drop the phone its most likely going to shatter the actual lcd panel and not the backlight or the cover. This ensures that if you break the display that you don't get cut by the pieces of glass.

 

[NovaCove]

The units you've seen shattered are most likely the inner screen. On backlit lcd panels there are usually 3 layers. The backlight, the actual lcd panel and the top cover/shield with touch sensitivity. When you drop the phone its most likely going to shatter the actual lcd panel and not the backlight or the cover. This ensures that if you break the display that you don't get cut by the pieces of glass.

not all, my daughters phone was the outer layer that was shattered and if you ran your finger across it(unlock the phone) you could feel the spits and where they came together near the optical pad there was a sliver of glass missing

 

[andyandroid81891]

The units you've seen shattered are most likely the inner screen. On backlit lcd panels there are usually 3 layers. The backlight, the actual lcd panel and the top cover/shield with touch sensitivity. When you drop the phone its most likely going to shatter the actual lcd panel and not the backlight or the cover. This ensures that if you break the display that you don't get cut by the pieces of glass.

The Incredible has an OLED screen. This technology eliminates one of these layers!

 

[xmonkey]

lgldrgdlr: Interesting

Considering there are already multiple people with scratched screens, I would put a ton of money on it NOT being Gorilla Glass.

Plenty of people have scratched their Droid screens, and we know for a fact that is Gorilla Glass.

 

[CRPercodani]

If it is indeed using Gorilla Glass I find it odd they haven't mentioned it in the tech specs, nor have any reviewers. With the droid it was a hot topic and selling point.

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

 

[CheezWiz]

Perhaps they are using a knock-off...

 

[WizeGuyDezignz]

lgldrgdlr: Interesting


Plenty of people have scratched their Droid screens, and we know for a fact that is Gorilla Glass.

They must be using a different quality Gorilla Glass than Cowon then. Because those things are virtually scratchproof and indestructible.

 

[CatsTide]

Perhaps they are using a knock-off...

chimp glass?

 

[armoredsaint]

good info!