A Time to Drool: Samsung's 1.98" VGA Display

[Darius Wey]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.tgdaily.com/2006/06/07/samsung_mini_vga_panel/' target='_blank'>http://www.tgdaily.com/2006/06/07/s...mini_vga_panel/</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Think your shiny new cellphone has a crisp display? Think again. Samsung is first to demonstrate actual VGA resolution on a cellphone-sized 1.98" display. Samsung says that the display shows ten times more detail than your average 40" high definition LCD TV... In real life applications, Samsung expects mobile phones equipped with this new display to be able to show Windows screens and documents with the same VGA quality that is provided by most desktop or notebook PCs today. Besides higher resolution, the screen also shows up to 16 million colors and can cope with "extremely fast data transmission rates required today," Samsung said."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/wey-20060610-198VGA.jpg" /><br /><br />Oh, Samsung, why do you tease us? :drool:

[inteller]

so will phones equiped with this display come with a free magnifying glass to read the text?

I think the QVGA display on the Cingular 2125 is exactly where phones should be in terms of a crisp readable display. Remember, people need to read names and numbers on their phone, not display pretty backgrounds.

then you say "well, but just use bigger fonts!"

uh yeah...thats a real efficient use of the phones limited memory resources. :roll:

[Darius Wey]

so will phones equiped with this display come with a free magnifying glass to read the text?

I don't get why people keep mentioning this.

With VGA devices, Microsoft raises the DPI setting in Windows Mobile to compensate for small text and items. The net effect is a much sharper display with text around the same size as that of a QVGA device.

[Janak Parekh]

uh yeah...thats a real efficient use of the phones limited memory resources. :roll:
Actually, I haven't noticed much of a memory difference between VGA and non-VGA Pocket PCs, despite the VGA devices having much "bigger", higher-DPI fonts.

--janak

[Vincent M Ferrari]

You want crisp? Generate a text page with 4 times the number of pixels.

Honestly, the idea that people "don't want (insert feature here)" is ludicrous, especially considering that everytime people talk about what's lacking in their phone, high end geeks (myself included) always mention VGA.

Hell, I got rid of my MDA because I wanted the VGA. Once you read text on a VGA screen, it's really hard to go back to reading it on a QVGA. The whole "it's all people need" thing is getting old and a bit silly.

[huangzhinong]

1.98 is too small, no matter how high resolution it is. After I found out that TOMTOM in hp 1945 (3.5 inch) is more comfortable than in treo 650 (2.6 inch), I realize LCD size does matter.

[Janak Parekh]

1.98 is too small, no matter how high resolution it is.
For a touch screen, possibly. However, this technology could be useful for Smartphones, and more importantly, it shows that achieving VGA resolution on smaller size screens is now reasonably achievable.

After I found out that TOMTOM in hp 1945 (3.5 inch) is more comfortable than in treo 650 (2.6 inch), I realize LCD size does matter.
&lt;shrug> I find my ~ 2.5" 700w (the useable portion is a bit smaller than the actual physical diagonal) extremely useable for most PIM applications. Sure, it's not for everything and everyone, but it's pretty good nevertheless.

--janak

[netboy]

what a WASTE to BURN MONEY and resources to develop this crap! u cant do much with a 1.98" VGA screen, it only good for regular cellphone or smartphone! it' not like u looking at your cellphone screen every hour!
1.98" VGA is not suitable for pda or pdaPhone, i cant imaging how difficult to use the stylus on a 1.98" screen. i believe it' a mimium of 2.8" VGA screen to be suitable for pda or pdaPhone.

i rather they spend those money and resources to develop cheaper way to make 2.8" or 3.5" VGA screen!

[Kamokazi]

I'd like to see a 3-4" SVGA or XGA display myself :-)

[Dyvim]

So that means that they should be able to make a 4" 1280x960 display. Now THAT would be sweet! Then with hacks you could choose to view your device at 96 DPI, 192 DPI, or 396 DPI.

[Sven Johannsen]

uh yeah...thats a real efficient use of the phones limited memory resources. :roll:
Actually, I haven't noticed much of a memory difference between VGA and non-VGA Pocket PCs, despite the VGA devices having much "bigger", higher-DPI fonts.

--janak

You haven't? Haven't noticed the file size difference between a wmv encoded for 320x240 as opposed to 640x480? I know you were talking about RAM, but there is more than that. Imigine watching your 320x240 video in the center quarter of your 2" display. :?

I think there is a practical limit to how small you need to make the pixels before you can't distinguish the detail you can display. Don't know if this is it or not. I personnally can't use the hacks on a VGA PPC to get twice the real estate. I can't see it, so it just stays standard. So for me it doesn't make much difference. For my wife though, she finds the increased clarity of the VGA display allows her to read it without the reading glasses, where that is more of a strain with the same display on a QVGA display.

Guess I wouldn't mind a 4" 1280x960 display, as long as they don't cram what is on my 19" desktop LCD onto it.