Change the DPI Setting!!!

[singelectric]

I bought the OP3 to replace my Nexus 5X, but one thing I noticed was the 5X would consistently show more of a webpage on screen, display more Facebook stories on screen, and so on. In Google Now, the launcher would display an extra column of apps on the 5X vs. the OP3, and icons on the OP3 looked comically large and often pixelated. It was enough for me to consider sending the device back - why would I go from a 5.2" screen to a 5.5" screen, and have LESS information displayed on the 5.5"?

It turns out the issue is the DPI setting that OP3 ships the device with. It seems that stock is around 480DPI, which would be 1080p on a ~4.8" screen. Because the phone is telling Android the screen is tiny, it scales everything up. 1080p@5.5" like the OP3 has is around 401ppi, and so IMO that's what the phone should default to.

Luckily, the setting is easy to change, even if you're not rooted - this toolkit includes settings to do so pretty easily. Changing it to the screen's ACTUAL resolution makes things show up at a a much more reasonable size.

 

[Golfdriver97]

ADB commands can do the same thing without root.

Code: adb shell getprop ro.sf.lcd_density

That should tell you your current dpi

To change it:

Code: adb shell wm density <insert desired DPI here> && adb reboot.

 

[anon(470989)]

Interesting. Does this change make for a better looking display all around? I have never been a fan of anything "blown up", so maybe it looks more detailed?

 

[nomi1978]

I would be curious to see if it makes the overall display better

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[singelectric]

Yeah, that's a handy way to do it; the toolkit does the same thing (but from a text-based .BAT file using ADB - for those that don't feel comfortable writing ADB commands themselves).

 

[singelectric]

I would be curious to see if it makes the overall display better

Depends what you mean by 'better,' but on the whole, I'd say yes.

Playing a game, watching a video or seeing a photo in full screen should look exactly the same. Changing the DPI setting won't change the color, or the max brightness, obviously.

What will change is the way that text and icons are rendered, the way most webpages look in Chrome, and the size of menus and icons in most apps. IMO, this does make the screen look 'better.' When I got my OP3, I thought that icons looked 'soft' and text - particularly lower case i's using Roboto - didn't look quite right. I chalked this up to the display (lower DPI than I'm used to, Pentile, etc.) - but after changing the DPI setting, icons look sharp and text looks near-perfect, with none of the 'softness' that I'd observed. I think Android icons just weren't meant to be rendered at the OP3's default DPI setting given how big the screen of the OP3 is.

 

[anon(470989)]

That is exactly how I feel about the look of the icons and text. Thanks, I will give this a try.

 

[mchockeyvette27]

Depends what you mean by 'better,' but on the whole, I'd say yes.

Playing a game, watching a video or seeing a photo in full screen should look exactly the same. Changing the DPI setting won't change the color, or the max brightness, obviously.

What will change is the way that text and icons are rendered, the way most webpages look in Chrome, and the size of menus and icons in most apps. IMO, this does make the screen look 'better.' When I got my OP3, I thought that icons looked 'soft' and text - particularly lower case i's using Roboto - didn't look quite right. I chalked this up to the display (lower DPI than I'm used to, Pentile, etc.) - but after changing the DPI setting, icons look sharp and text looks near-perfect, with none of the 'softness' that I'd observed. I think Android icons just weren't meant to be rendered at the OP3's default DPI setting given how big the screen of the OP3 is.

Definitely want to try this. What settings did you use to change it?

Posted via the Android Central App