screen size queries between pocket pc & smartphone

[riow]

Why they're the same in resolution 320x240 but they're different in screen sizes? Does that mean the pixel is smaller from smartphone? I don't get it. :?

[GSmith]

Actually, you *do* have it.

In more precise terms, the "pitch" is smaller. In common usage, "pixel" appears to mean both the glowing part that lights up in different colors and the non-glowing part (i.e. the space). Pitch includes the size of a lighted part of the pixel as well as the space next to it. So you can shrink the total screen size by removing some space between pixels (in which case the lighted part of the pixel is the same size), reducing the size of the lighted part, or some combination of both (including reducing both proportionally).

On projectors that project onto a screen, the space between pixels is often observed as the Screen Door Effect (SDE).

Generally, "pitch" is expressed as ""dots per inch" or "dpi".

This conversation all points to the fact that "resolution" as a description of number of pixels across and down on a screen is a kind of misnomer because if a 17 inch monitor and a 19 inch monitor that both have the same number of pixels, the 17 inch monitor has a higher "resolution" in the common english sense of the term (but not the "computer science" sense of the term).

I hope this helps!

Greg Smith
Author, FeederReader - Windows Mobile news, blogs, audio, video, podcasts downloaded direct to your Smartphone or Pocket PC
www.FeederReader.com - Download on the Road

[riow]

Hi GSmith, really thankful for your detailed explanation, but I still don't get something. Is the glowing part a circle dot? Is every dot touching other glowing parts at its 4 directions? So the remaining space outside of these glowing parts are those non-glowing parts which looks like star shape, doesn't it? Besides, will the size of every glowing parts from smartphone smaller than ppc, and so this condenses viewable space from screen size of smartphone :?:

[GSmith]

Think of the screen and pixels as a sheet of graph paper where the squares in the graph paper are the lighted part of the pixels and the lines of the graph paper are the spaces. If the graph paper had thicker lines, this would represent larger spaces. And thinner lines would mean smaller spaces. Ideally, the screen manufacturer wants to make the spaces disappear so that the lighted part of the pixels touch each other.

I'm really not sure what shape the "glowing part" is, but for purposes here, it can be considered rectangular. This is a reasonable assumption because often the only specifications we have are number of pixels, screen size, and (maybe) dots per inch. The one or two times I've calculated pixel size for PDAs, I recall it being square (where the height of a pixel equals the width).

If this doesn't answer your question, please ask again!

Greg Smith
Author, FeederReader - Windows Mobile news, blogs, audio, video, podcasts downloaded direct to your Smartphone or Pocket PC
www.FeederReader.com - Download on the Road