Hi boys and girls, maybe some of you will find my question absurd, but that`s because they have not seen, what i saw a couple of weeks ago. A know a guy who owns one of those unpopular ASUS PDAs, and a couple of weeks back, he showed me that some Russian guys managed to change the resolution of his device from 240x320 to 480 x 640, which was amazing ... everything was looking so much better ... hence i thought it wasnt such a big deal, because i thought his pda`s screen has more colors than the TC as well, but seems like it wasnt that ... a friend bought the Touch Diamond 2 days back and when i saw the display i was amazed how nice everything looked ... no crappy color transitions ... all colors were so smooth ... so i told him how frustrated i am that htc didnt place more colors on my display as well ... later to realise that actually the diamond and the touch cruise have the same ammount of collors ... which takes me to my question ... does someone know if its possible to change the resolution of the Touch Cruise from 240x320 to 480x640 ? I`m sure alot of people will be interested in that as well.
You cannot change the resolution to anything higher than the hardware supports. The Cruise supports 240x320 and that's it. The diamond and Asus you saw has 480x640 support. When running these vga devices you will get a lot better graphics if you switch from stretching a 240x320 application to 480x640 compared to running a native 480x640 application.
It's like saying that you saw a guy going from black-and-white to full color on his color tv, and asking if that's possible on your old black-and-white travel tv as well.
NOT possible. Touch Cruise/Polaris have 320*240 pixels (76800 pixels).
You CAN'T split 1 pixel in 4 parts. It is not possible and never will be.
As strange as it may sound, i've seen a tablet PC that actually allows you to set a "higher than native" screen resolution. The driver simply scales the output image down to the native resolution, and yea, it looks terrible.
PS: To the original poster, don't get it wrong, you can't increase your screen resolution this way, just the resolution windows "thinks" is supported, and it looks like crap. Neither i ever seen this done on WinCE/WM.
After i made the post i talked with the guy who did that ... and yes he said it was due to to a software change of resolution and doesnt have the full potential of the VGA screens ... sadly i`m stuck to the not so nice looking display of my TC ... hopefully i`ll upgrade to a better device in the near future ... though it might not be a HTC, having in mind what they did regarding the 3D drivers ... i`m a bit dissapointed ... Thanks guys for the answers.
dotpocket
There is a program that allows you to change youre device's resolution to 480x640 but it just makes everything smaller. its called dotpocket.
Related
This is probably a really stupid question - but would it be easily possible to "upgrade" the tilt's screen to VGA? Like with the screen from this phone http://www.engadget.com/2007/10/08/e-tens-glofiish-m800-a-better-x800-with-qwerty/
??
The screens look almost the same size if not the same size.... would the screen "plug" be the same.. (is it "standard" for windows mobile phones like VGA is?) and would the OS pickup the new screen?
Sexy thought - having a screen like that on this Tilt.
I'm sure if the measurements are right and you have tons of know-how, it's possible. My best advice would be to hit a mobile site which is tech-y related and hit up some of their guys to try it out.
If you find the answer, let me know. Replacement screens for most PDA's are fairly cheap on eBay.
J
Here's a couple of reasons why putting a VGA screen in the Tilt is a bad idea:
1) VGA screens consume more power on average than QVGA -- it's likely the reason why we don't see many VGA screen phones today -- and the ones that do exist aren't quad band.
2) The processor has to push 4x the number of pixels in VGA which means it needs a fairly beefy processor and a takes corresponding hit on battery life.
(this may also tie into reason 1)
3) VGA support in Windows Media has historically been half-assed, to the point where some view it as a failed experiment.
As a previous Toshiba e800 owner, I can tell you firsthand that VGA caused more problems than it solved. Microsoft decided that smoother fonts and icons were a priority over screen real estate, so while everything looked prettier it didn't really do anything for productivity. There were a few exceptions, like being able to view Exel sheets in VGA but not with Pocket Exel (only Clearvue apps allowed you to display, but not edit, in true VGA -- which was completely goofy). Then along came a couple of brilliant guys who found a way to unlock true VGA mode for everything which was great but caused a number of incompatabilies with older software that was designed when all PocketPC screens were QVGA. Switching between faux-VGA and true-VGA required a soft reset which for some reason took *minutes* in WM2003SE. Playing games was a pain. Trust me.
VGA devices that came after that point were only marginally better. The Loox 720 used a faster processor but it had no graphics accelerator, which really dragged down the performance. The Axim X50V and X51V had graphics acceleration but with a unique Intel chip that had very little support and documentation. HP's offering was decent but had a nonstandard touch d-pad. The HTC Universal tried to strike a balance between power consumption and I'm not sure if it really succeeded in that respect. There was an Asus VGA model that didn't seem to go anywhere, and a very tasty looking Acer model (n311) that either never saw the light of day or was only released in a country whose name I cannot pronounce nor spell.
So if you do decide to go the VGA route in the Tilt:
The Tilt/Kaiser roms likely do not have native VGA support, meaning that you will need to tweak or rewrite the display drivers. I don't think it would be difficult to get the Tilt to display in 'pixel doubled' mode but the results will likely look less than stellar. Support for the ATI acceleration in the Kaiser is either broken or nonexistant at the moment, and no documentation is available. That is a huge blow to getting anything VGA displaying at a decent speed.
One last reality check: Most of the previous VGA devices used screens that were between 3.5 and 4 inches. The Kaiser screen is 2.8 inches. You might see a modest improvement in picture, but it's likely your eyes can't resolve the majority of the extra pixels. (keep in mind that the average user views a PDA screen from about 2 feet away).
in short, if you REALLY must have VGA, go buy a Glofish (and say bye to HSDPA and quadband)
I retract my previous statements. On second thought, it would really suck to have a Tilt with a screen with the quality of, say, a PSP's screen. I couldn't imagine being forced to watch a video file on such a device.
J
What about the eten glofish m800.... which has come out recently.... with triband UMTS/Quad Band GSm and one of the best GPS chipsets available?
Hi all - thanks for such an informative forum! I'm looking to replace my beloved aging (and dying) Dell AximX50v, and the info at this site is very helpful.
I took this photo at my AT&T store, comparing the google homepage on the Axim's VGA screen, the iPhone, and the Tilt (the Touch Pro will have VGA resolution, but the screen size will be the same, I think).
The photo overemphasizes iPhone's brightness, just because it was directly below the camera lens and the other two devices were at an angle to the camera (the camera was close to the devices).
Touch Pro specs are awesome, but even the iPhone's screen is smaller than the x50v's...sigh. Why can't we have a great tool AND eye candy??!
Be seeing you,
The Duck
cant be sure but are you sure the other two phones were not using dimmed screen, i know for a fact that th diamond and my old Orbit has a significantly better screen brightness then those.
Hey, Dazza - no, the screens weren't dimmed. As a matter of fact, the photo posted above was the 2nd picture I took because the Tilt did dim the screen just as I took my first shot - here's what it looked like dimmed!
While the iPhone's screen was brightest, there's no question that both the Axim and the HTC screens looked substantially brigher than shows up in this photo. I can see a substantial difference on my Axim if I look at the screen straight on and if I look at it at even a very slight angle. When I got close to the 3 devices for the picture, the angle of the lens to screen didn't do any favors to the Axim or the HTC.
My purpose in sharing the photo was to illustrate screen SIZES though - there's a big difference between the Axim, the nearly same size iPhone, and that of the HTC! 'Natch, all are loads better than my Razr V3xx screen, though!
Be seeing you,
The Duck
The screen of the tilt still looks quite dim (although you said it looked brighter in real life.
Are you sure you also put the screen brightness on highest? By default, my TP adjusts its brightness according to the environment lighting.
I've uploaded some pics (the ones with my laptop (Asus G1S, full brightness) in the background are alternated between autoadjust/full brightness)
http://www.sanderd.be/public/htctp/screenbrightness/
-
SanderD
I hear you! I love my Tilt, and have been looking at the Touch Pro as a good upgrade just to have my VGA back.
Having used the x50v, and just recently retiring my x51v, I understand what you mean by screen size. It would be nice if HTC and the others would make us spoiled by true PDAs something with a real screen.
I work with a guy who uses an HP PDA that has a 4" screen. It is absolutely wonderful to work off of. The only offering from HTC that is close, is the 5" Advantage, and is overkill for most.
Well I still have my glorious LOOX 720 and I can tell you, its screen is great (and even compared to the other VGA devices of the time, if you remember the tests), BUT, I easily moved to Touch Pro anyway.
ah, that would actually make sence, sorry i was bit stupid there, viewing angles!
Obviously need to exercise that part of my brain some more.
Hello!
I'm about to receive my Diamond 2 (announced for next week in Switzerland, reserved and paid already), but I'm wondering which Nav software will be the best, fitting the screen and screen resolution. Any idea?
Hey! I live in Switzerland too and I'm waiting for my device also.
For me the best NAV Software is iGO... and I hope it's going to go well with Diamond2's resolution.
There's a thread in Blackstone section (another WVGA device) without about 50 pages or so about nav' programs. Just go over there, there's a lot of info you could use.
EDIT: Here's the thread about TomTom, there's a similar about iGO
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=432410&highlight=tomtom
@d3sm0nd: hehe... seems like we still have to wait 10 days iGo is a good product which I will first try.
@NoWorthWhile: Thank you for your message. I had (I just sold it) a HD and was running (had pain with that) iGo, following this famous 50 pages thread. Knowing that the screens have the same resolution but not the same size, I was wondering if this could apply to the Diamond2 as well.
Man... I can't wait to have mine!
Well basically, what i'm thinking is that software doesn't care about the size of the screen, but only about the resolution. IMHO you should have no problems
But not owning a TD2 (i'm on the first TD) I can't tell for sure.
NoWorthWhile said:
Well basically, what i'm thinking is that software doesn't care about the size of the screen, but only about the resolution. IMHO you should have no problems
But not owning a TD2 (i'm on the first TD) I can't tell for sure.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
quick question sorry its kinda off topic but doesnt that mean the screen on the diamond is A LOT sharper than the touch hd?
sharper, yes....a lot? well, u go from 3.8 to 3.2 inches with the same number of pixels, so each pixel is 15% smaller in size, and 30% smaller in area....
To say that this is a lot, or a little, is entirely up to you ;-)
imho, the pixel density of diamond or diamond 2 is very high, borderline of being overkill, especially if you are not myopic (furtunately, I am, but for older people with hypermetropy problem, such a high resolution on a screen this size is a waste imho, while it is not on the HD).
I am glad that highend WinMo device seems to go to WVGA resolution as standard, it is I think the best for a screen around 3.5'' inches (no need to go higher, it is already too high for video but nice for static images). Increasing the number of color and constrast would I think be the next logical step...
For info, going from HVGA to VGA means a decrease of 25% in size, 45% in area....so the difference increase of sharpness between HD and diamond 2 is less than what you would have if the iPhone went from barely ok (HVGA) resolution to good resolution (VGA) ;-)
The PPI density of the Diamond2 works out at around 292 (SQRT((800^2)+(480^2))/3.2). This is less than the highest resolution the average human eye can resolve unaided, which is around 300 PPI, but its not far off it. So what that means is that someone with average eyesight will actually notice an increase in sharpness looking at the same image on a Diamond2 screen as that on a Touch HD screen.
shuflie said:
The PPI density of the Diamond2 works out at around 292 (SQRT((800^2)+(480^2))/3.2). This is less than the highest resolution the average human eye can resolve unaided, which is around 300 PPI, but its not far off it. So what that means is that someone with average eyesight will actually notice an increase in sharpness looking at the same image on a Diamond2 screen as that on a Touch HD screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you speak about human eye resolution, you should always put it in PPI at a certain distance, or an angle of resolution, PPI alone are not usefull: I am sure anybody wth a more or less functional eye can pick the difference between HD and TD2 from 6 inches (15cm) away , if they can focus at that distance...from 20 inches (50 cm) away, it will take a good eye...from 3 feet (1m), my guess is that it is not humanly possible (or maybe some fighter pilots, or people with a very succesfull high order refractive lazik surgery? ;-) ).
I routinely watch my pda screen from 25-30 cm away (10-12 inches), so TD2 resolution will not be lost, at least on static images. For video, human eye resolution is lower, so there I think TD2 screen may be overkill, or I would need to watch the screen closer and hope for no headache ;-)
I own an official version of TTN6 that I bought for my Touch Cruise. It won't install properly on the Diamond2. I did manage to get it running once but the display was all messed up.
I found a version 7 file on the internet somewhere that works great and the display looks truly fantastic. However, my maps from the version 6 package are not found for some reason.
I went to tomtom.com to buy some new maps via tomtomhome but when it asks to link the D2 to my online account it says I have an invalid version of tomtom so I can't do anything with it.
nav program
can report iGO is working.
need to edit sys text a bit then it is ok
add this
[rawdisplay]
autoconfig=1
try amazegps.com for a free solution. It does not download the maps to your phone though so as you drive it refreshes the maps. It does do spoken turn by turn directions and for free it's hard to beat. It works on the HD so it should work for the Topaz.
wilcovh said:
can report iGO is working.
need to edit sys text a bit then it is ok
add this
[rawdisplay]
autoconfig=1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good to hear this, does it look nice on Topaz's resolution?
think it looks good.
at first it was a bit weird because as soon as you switch the screen orientation the bottom bit of the screen was not used and could not get it back to be used in iGO. but when you add the line to the sys.txt it is fine
W
Just a random thought I had. I own a Fuze and I love the 480 x 640 resolution of the screen. If someone gave me a phone with anything less than a VGA resolution I think I would go crazy. I saw my old Mogul laying around and decided to turn it on to compare both screens. What a difference! So, do you think you (VGA owners) could ever go back to QVGA?
i did, sold my touch pro and used my vogue. it was a hella big difference at first but when you get used to it, you will barely notice the difference
the biggest place where i miss my vga screen is when im web browsing
mike21pr said:
i did, sold my touch pro and used my vogue. it was a hella big difference at first but when you get used to it, you will barely notice the difference
the biggest place where i miss my vga screen is when im web browsing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That sucks that you had to sell your TP. I can see how one would get used to the screen resolution again though, but for me it would be really hard.
I voted no, however I would have to agree with mike. For purely phone related tasks VGA is not necessary, however once you use the more "advanced" functionalities like web browsing, third party apps, VGA becomes quickly the minimum resolution, especially for web browsing.
VGA works great for me with my 3.5" 640 x 480 pixels, Just in 2008 devices started to make this screens and my Universal is from 2005!!
QVGA I really don´t like it
WVGA never used...
Awesome, that's sweet! palmares assurance vie
VirgilIantu said:
Awesome, that's sweet!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Welcome to the forum
May I know what is sweet?
It's def a big factor in choosing a phone, but sometime a qVGA phone is better. Like Omnia vs Diamond. Either way, I prefer my Storm's screen
TheChampJT said:
It's def a big factor in choosing a phone, but sometime a qVGA phone is better. Like Omnia vs Diamond. Either way, I prefer my Storm's screen
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had no idea the Omnia was only QVGA. I figured it was such a well-rounded device and expected the VGA screen, but I guess not.
The Storm does have a beautiful screen though. I'll give you that. I'm really starting to regret getting rid of the Storm...
I can't have less than my Fuze's VGA screen. WVGA or higher is next for me!
BTW, what is the name for screens with res 360 x 640, like the Omnia HD and Idou. I googled it but no go . . . it may be "qHD" though?
adeltaY said:
BTW, what is the name for screens with res 360 x 640, like the Omnia HD and Idou. I googled it but no go . . . it may be "qHD" though?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
qHD sounds good, but I doubt that's the name for it. Actually (and I could be completely wrong) I think 360 x 640 is still considered VGA. I think that maybe once it gets to a certain amount of pixels it would change up to the next level. I don't think I know what I'm talking about.
I had my HD, and i thought that all WM devices look like this until my brother got an Omnia, and i thought something was wrong with the device. Thats until i found the difference was WQVGA and WVGA.
BIG difference in quality, so no it will be hard to go from VGA to QVGA, but you will get used to it.
I've got the Blackstone, and briefly had the Omnia in my hand.
Returning to QVGA is pretty much impossible after you've got used to >= VGA.
However, the difference is not the screen real estate, but the DPI. Once you get used to a higher definition screen, it's horrible to go back to the ill defined QVGA screens. However, a small VGA screen still looks great, but a physically large QVGA screen looks even more hideous! (I recently had reason to pull out my IPAQ, the original ancestor to modern Windows Mobile devices, and was surprised to see that the screen was bigger than the Blackstone, but no where as well defined).
V
MY Diamond screen cracked and my insurance company said they could not replace it, so offered me a £350 cheque. as I was due an upgrade in 3 months (1 month to go) I took their cash and banked it decideding to go back to my old artemis for a few months.
Whilst VGA is sooo much better, you can survive with QVGA. However I am happy with it because I know it is temporary till mid june (ish) when I get a TD2
Hi!
I'd like to replace my old and slow HTC Kaiser with something better. But what the hell, all these new hi-res phones seems to cause quick eye strain and headache. It does not matter is I decrease brightness or change colour scheme, it just seems to be tied to DPI. Or maybe WM phone makers do something to their screens?
For example:
HTC Kaiser - 2.8" 320x240 -OK
SE Satio - 3.5" 640x360 - OK
Nokia N97 - 3.5" 640x360 - OK
Nokia N97 Mini - 3.2" 640x360 - OK
SE Xperia X10 Mini - 2.5" 320x240 - OK
HTC Touch Pro 2 - 3.6" 800x480 - bad
Samsung B7610 - 3.8" 800x480 - bad
SE Xperia X2 - 3.2" 800x480 - very bad
LG eXpo - 3.2" 800x480 - very bad
Anyone go the same problem?
Edit: My eyes are OK, I don't wear glasses. But I noticed I don't like hi-res notebook screens, if I can choose I work with 19" LCD, at home I have 26" LCD (both has relatively large pixels).
Not sure but this never happens to me. I been using hi-res phones for about a year now. My x10 is 854x 400
Sent from my X10a
I watch movies on mine and I've never noticed any strain with my old TP2, Kaiser, or HD2.
i see where ur coming from , would recommend a 4"+ phone like desire hd commin sometime this yr
as far as it comes off for me hes talkin about text reading , guys , not movie watching lol
i had
320*208 @ 2.8" a blessing to read , altho pixelated a bit (still beautiful colors tho)
320*240 @ 2.6" much worse to read , also unpleasant web browsing cuz of the small screen
800*480 @ 3.2" very nice images , graphics , PITA to read
800*480 @ 4.1" best of both worlds , almost as readable as the first in list , and badass imagery
Thanks souljaboy.
Well it occurs to me even when just working in the standard environment, quite strange.
4" is way too high, I'll probably have to either keep my old Kaiser or get something with Symbian, although it is far less customisable compared to WM :-/