8+ Display compared to 5.7" Notes

[rushmore]

I got to spend an hour with the 8+ today and compared more to my Note 4 and also a rogue Note 7 (not mine, though I had two that were returned).

Display width: Content in portrait mode is noticeably smaller than 5.7" Notes.

Video content: Most video content fits the 5.7" display, but is cropped or black side bars on the 8+. Point is most content is not optimized for the 8+ display. There will be in the future, but from an aggregate, most devices are not as stretched, so perhaps most content will remain not optimized for the display.

Corner curves: Since the corners are curved, even when content does fit the display, the corners are cut off. Also seems the display is not truly 6.2", since the corners are curved. Will measure next time when in a Best Buy or Verizon, since seems the device is not really 6.2" due the the corner curves.

I preordered this morning, but will probably cancel (I like most everything else, but the display is kind of important). I wish that Samsung simply took the Note 7 design and put the stuff from the S8+ in it. THEN it would be IMO the greatest device evah".

None the less, this device will sell bunches and I appreciate that a lot of folks like the display, but the corner curves and cropping/side bars of most video content bugs me.

 

[Aquila]

So it's cropping the content rather than giving you a full 16:9 with black letter boxing around it?

 

[rushmore]

Unless the content fits the display dimensions, the options are black bars on the side or crop. The catch is even if the content fits, the corners are cut off due to the curves in the four corners. IMO the curves in the corners make no sense. The G6 is stretched, but no curves in the corners. The display shape reminds me of a wider back window to a Nissan Rogue. An exaggeration, but the point is the corner curves seem dumb.

Why the corner curves? Makes no apparent user sense. Will measure tomorrow to see if really 6.2", or are they pretending the curves in the corners are not there. They might be speccing like in the old school CRT days when the bezel counted too

 

[ODog2323]

Yea I'm not at all a fan of the taller display. Not nearly as immersive as a phone with a smaller 16:9 screen.

 

[Aquila]

Unless the content fits the display dimensions, the options are black bars on the side or crop. The catch is even if the content fits, the corners are cut off due to the curves in the four corners. IMO the curves in the corners make no sense. The G6 is stretched, but no curves in the corners. The display shape reminds me of a wider back window to a Nissan Rogue. An exaggeration, but the point is the corner curves seem $tupid.

Why the corner curves? Makes no apparent user sense. Will measure tomorrow to see if really 6.2", or are they pretending the curves in the corners are not there.

For the measurement, they have to be pretending because the display pixel spec is a 2:1 rectangle. Obviously some rows of pixels have fewer pixels than others, meaning there are likely fewer pixels on the device than the spec sheet would indicate.

 

[anon(782252)]

Unless the content fits the display dimensions, the options are black bars on the side or crop. The catch is even if the content fits, the corners are cut off due to the curves in the four corners. IMO the curves in the corners make no sense. The G6 is stretched, but no curves in the corners. The display shape reminds me of a wider back window to a Nissan Rogue. An exaggeration, but the point is the corner curves seem dumb.

Why the corner curves? Makes no apparent user sense. Will measure tomorrow to see if really 6.2", or are they pretending the curves in the corners are not there. They might be speccing like in the old school CRT days when the bezel counted too

The G6 has rounded corners as well.

 

[Aquila]

Here's an article that went through the math, I haven't had time to read through and see if it's correct:

http://www.theverge.com/tldr/2017/3/30/15120824/screen-aspect-ratio-mathematics-galaxy-s8-lg-g6

"So yes, at 85.12cm², the Galaxy S8 has a significantly smaller display area than a 16:9 phone with the same diagonal screen measurement (which would be 92.16cm²). In fact, it’s not a huge distance away from the Pixel’s 5-inch-diagonal 16:9 display, which is exactly how it feels in person. These measuring differences are more than academic: the nominally 5.8-inch Galaxy S8 is ergonomically similar to the Pixel, and the same is true of the 6.2-inch S8 Plus vis-a-vis the 5.5-inch Pixel XL. This would suggest that Samsung’s cramming a lot more screen into the same physical footprint, but in reality it’s only a moderate amount of extra screen."

 

[rushmore]

Whuu? I did not notice, but only looked briefly since not a big fan of LG use of LCD.

 

[Aquila]

So the 5.7" Note devices have a display area of 89.57cm[SUP]2[/SUP] and the 5.8" S8 has a display area of 85.12cm[SUP]2[/SUP]. The Note @ 5.7" is 16:9, which is the ratio of almost all mobile content (avoids letterboxing, cutting off content, etc) and the corners are not cutoff. So we're losing almost 4.5 square cm of area (to use the smaller one) and much of that space will be screen that isn't on, because 13.5% of the display isn't needed to show most landscape content (videos, etc).

 

[rushmore]

Unfortunately that seems about right. There are a LOT more devices not this dimension, so would seem most content for sales life of this device will not be optimized for the display dimensions. Seems not a good thing for the user experience. Crop it or black bar it. Choose your poison.

Added: Would this also impact Gear VR? Since wider, less of the display could be used. This seems to be the case since the center of orientation will be the same, so anything to the sides would be cut off. Less apparent pixels if so. If the new Gear VR was designed just for this device, maybe different, but also works with current devices. The side borders are rather small already.

That and Pentile again would seem not the best for Gear VR. Glad I kept my S7, since still apparently the best overall device for Gear VR (more DPI).

 

[anon(782252)]

Whuu? I did not notice, but only looked briefly since not a big fan of LG use of LCD.

Yep, I had it for a whole 24 hours before sending it back, but not because of the rounded corners or aspect ratio.

 

[Aquila]

The Verge doesn't take the curve into account, by my VERY rough calculations based on gauging the size of the curve through a photograph (right?), there's about 2.215cm[SUP]2[/SUP] more area that we don't have on the 5.8" S8, in addition to the previously mentioned 13.5% amount of potentially wasted space or the 4.5cm[SUP]2[/SUP] less area than the 5.7" Note devices (or anything else that's 16:9 and 5.7", like the Nexus 6P, Moto Z, LG V20, etc).

 

[rushmore]

Well if the Note 8 has RGB tech, or an efficient 4K mode for Gear VR that would at least give me reason to jump. Thing is, not too sure there is such a thing as a battery and heat "efficient" 4K mode. Might need 5nm tech for that.

Suprised Samsung did not at least go the RGB route, but perhaps not an easy thing for production. Especially since they are so vested in Pentile for mobile displays. Darn Pentile. AMOLED is great for GEAR VR, but Pentile is not. The 1/3 of pixels not being on really stands out in a bad way for Pentile.

 

[tcdude]

Here's an article that went through the math, I haven't had time to read through and see if it's correct:

http://www.theverge.com/tldr/2017/3/30/15120824/screen-aspect-ratio-mathematics-galaxy-s8-lg-g6

"So yes, at 85.12cm², the Galaxy S8 has a significantly smaller display area than a 16:9 phone with the same diagonal screen measurement (which would be 92.16cm²). In fact, it’s not a huge distance away from the Pixel’s 5-inch-diagonal 16:9 display, which is exactly how it feels in person. These measuring differences are more than academic: the nominally 5.8-inch Galaxy S8 is ergonomically similar to the Pixel, and the same is true of the 6.2-inch S8 Plus vis-a-vis the 5.5-inch Pixel XL. This would suggest that Samsung’s cramming a lot more screen into the same physical footprint, but in reality it’s only a moderate amount of extra screen."

Thanks for the link I actually opened up a thread about this topic I just didn't have the exact calculation

Interesting article

 

[Misterb]

So the 5.7" Note devices have a display area of 89.57cm[SUP]2[/SUP] and the 5.8" S8 has a display area of 85.12cm[SUP]2[/SUP]. The Note @ 5.7" is 16:9, which is the ratio of almost all mobile content (avoids letterboxing, cutting off content, etc) and the corners are not cutoff. So we're losing almost 4.5 square cm of area (to use the smaller one) and much of that space will be screen that isn't on, because 13.5% of the display isn't needed to show most landscape content (videos, etc).

Why are you comparing the S8 and not the S8+, with its larger screen? Also, there's more to a phone than watching a video. With all the other things you use a phone for, the display will be superior to the old Note

 

[Aquila]

Why are you comparing the S8 and not the S8+, with its larger screen? Also, there's more to a phone than watching a video. With all the other things you use a phone for, the display will be superior to the old Note

S8 is closer in size to the Notes than the S8+, .1" difference in hypotenuse, rather than .5" difference.

Agree there are more things to do than video, buy this is one area where the radical design will hurt the experience and it's a very important one.

 

[Misterb]

S8 is closer in size to the Notes than the S8+, .1" difference in hypotenuse, rather than .5" difference.

Agree there are more things to do than video, buy this is one area where the radical design will hurt the experience and it's a very important one.

Some things don't compare well on paper, and with pictures. I think most people who take an old Note 4 and hold it next to an S8+, will find that the S8+ is much more enjoyable to use, but yet will carry and handle better.

 

[Aquila]

Some things don't compare well on paper, and with pictures. I think most people who take an old Note 4 and hold it next to an S8+, will find that the S8+ is much more enjoyable to use, but yet will carry and handle better.

You meet our Note 4 brigade?

 

[KupKrazy]

The G6 certainly does have curved corners? Anyway, this has been said ever since the the edge phones came out - and it didn't start with the S8/S8+. The curved edge makes the effective screen appear smaller because it's curved down so with the S7e and the Note7, the stated size always looked smaller. The screen of the Note7 - it had the same stated size as the iPhone 6/7 plus and even Note 4 but it always appeared smaller on the Note7 because it wasn't flat. Last year some of us made comments that they need to come up with a larger size to compensate for shortcoming of the curved edge - which is what they seemed to attempt with 6.2 inches. The only way to do this without making it wider than what they feel was optimum grip was to stretch it up.

So, while the demos the videos looked great, I already knew that the standard 16:9 videos will either have black bars or cropped zoomed in. Either way, I'm okay with it. I watch 2.35:1 movies on my 16:9 TV and I deal with the black bars albeit on a larger scale.

I guess my point is that this is not something that just came up with the S8/S8+ but has existed since the S6 edge.

 

[rushmore]

8+ Display compared to 5.7" Notes

Some things don't compare well on paper, and with pictures. I think most people who take an old Note 4 and hold it next to an S8+, will find that the S8+ is much more enjoyable to use, but yet will carry and handle better.

More the reason I was surprised since find the Note 4 display presents content better and easier to access functions than the Mr. Fantastic 8+

The 8+ is more awkward to use than the Note 4. I have medium hands.