Mock-up explaining the 4.6" screen of the Prime

[ottscay]

I think many of you get this already, but I still see a lot of people expressing concern over the 4.6" screen size as being "way too big", so I did a quick Photoshop mock-up to try and explain it:

Basically, the screen will indeed be 4.6", but the phone will be the same size as a 4.3" phone, because the bottom of the screen where the software buttons go will simply eat up the space previously occupied by physical or touch buttons.

So everyone should be excited about the 4.6" screen, it's exactly what we want, a 4.3" phone with even more screen space when held in landscape mode because of the introduction of software buttons.

(The stand-in phone is just an AT&T Gallaxy SII).

 

[ManBearPig618]

Nice. Makes sense to me.

 

[DolfanCole]

Basically, the screen will indeed be 4.6", but the phone will be the same size as a 4.3" phone, because the bottom of the screen where the software buttons go will simply eat up the space previously occupied by physical or touch buttons.

While want you illustrate is possible, we don't know in reality whether that'll be how it'll be implemented or not. So, I'd modify you're statement to say the phone may be the same size as a 4.3 phone.

 

[ottscay]

The 4.6" number has come up the most and from a lot of sources. Also the lack of hardware buttons has cropped up in repeated leaks since before Honeycomb shipped. We know 720p screens are on the way, and this makes them easier/cheaper to produce en masse (since putting 720p into a true 4.3 screen means smaller pixels and dot pitch, which is harder to do).

There's just no way the flagship device will be a mini-tablet sorry. All of the known facts and reasonable leaks point to this; it's as close to "knowing" as we get until the 11th.

 

[dsignori]

While want you illustrate is possible, we don't know in reality whether that'll be how it'll be implemented or not. So, I'd modify you're statement to say the phone may be the same size as a 4.3 phone.

This is silly. Are you suggesting that the viewable area (without the virtual buttons) could be 4.6 ", making the whole LCD close to 5"? Come one, that's just not the case, you know that I think.

The illustration seems exactly spot on.

 

[th0r615]

OH EM JEE!!! Look how big that bezel is! Im getting the iPhone 5!

 

[DolfanCole]

Define "know". The 4.6" number has come up the most and from a lot of sources. Also the lack of hardware buttons has cropped up in repeated leaks since before Honeycomb shipped. We know 720p screens are on the way, and this makes them easier/cheaper to produce en masse (since putting 720p into a true 4.3 screen means smaller pixels and dot pitch, which is harder to do).

There's just no way the flagship device will be larger than the Dell Streak, sorry. All of the known facts and reasonable leaks point to this; it's as close to "knowing" as we get until the 11th.

I'm not questioning the screen size or lack of buttons. We just don't know if they'll be able to fit it into a 4.3" device. Could they? Maybe. But we don't know for sure. And based on the supposed leaked photo, the bezel looks much bigger than what it would be if the same real estate for the buttons was instead used to allow for a bigger display. While this photo could very well be fake, it doesn't dismiss whether the device may have to be bigger than a 4.3 device to accommodate the larger display even with software buttons.

 

[ottscay]

OH EM JEE!!! Look how big that bezel is! Im getting the iPhone 5!

Lol. Enjoy that in Q2 of 2012...

 

[DolfanCole]

This is silly. Are you suggesting that the viewable area (without the virtual buttons) could be 4.6 ", making the whole LCD close to 5"? Come one, that's just not the case, you know that I think.

The illustration seems exactly spot on.

No, that's not what I'm saying at all. I'm just saying that we don't know if the actual implementation will be like the illustration. While the illustration and logic behind it seems plausible, we don't know in reality if it's even possible or whether that'll be the end-result or not.

 

[dsignori]

No, that's not what I'm saying at all. I'm just saying that we don't know if the actual implementation will be like the illustration. While the illustration and logic behind it seems plausible, we don't know in reality if it's even possible or whether that'll be the end-result or not.

I'm still not sure what you mean, but I apologize if that isn't what you meant originally. If you mean geometrically, it certainly is possible (and very close to honeycomb implementation less the top status bar), that is not really in question. I am not sure what you are saying is in question. Perhaps, if the buttons disappear sometimes, the entire 4.6 inch area would be viewable, but that is still as per the illustration. I always assumed this would be the implementation if they went with no buttons (which I still hate, BTW )

 

[ottscay]

I'm not questioning the screen size or lack of buttons. We just don't know if they'll be able to fit it into a 4.3" device. Could they? Maybe. But we don't know for sure. And based on the supposed leaked photo, the bezel looks much bigger than what it would be if the same real estate for the buttons was instead used to allow for a bigger display. While this photo could very well be fake, it doesn't dismiss whether the device may have to be bigger than a 4.3 device to accommodate the larger display even with software buttons.

I'm not really convinced that photo is real (it looks a bit iPhoneish/iPodish and Photoshoped to me, but it could be real). But here it is scaled to the image I made:

The side bezel is no bigger. There is a bigger bottom on this one (/cough where the round home button was), but so what? You realize that not all 4.3" phones are exactly the same size, right? The Droid X and Evo for example are quite different dimensions, but each is clearly a phone with a 4.3" screen.

The point was just that a 4.6" screen with software buttons doesn't translate into a monster phone. I'm not claiming that the GSII is the exact model it will follow.

 

[DolfanCole]

I'm not really convinced that photo is real (it looks a bit iPhoneish/iPodish and Photoshoped to me, but it could be real).

Yeah, I'm not convinced either. And I really hope that it's fake.

The side bezel is no bigger. There is a bigger bottom on this one (/cough where the round home button was), but so what? You realize that not all 4.3" phones are exactly the same size, right? The Droid X and Evo for example are quite different dimensions, but each is clearly a phone with a 4.3" screen.

Absolutely realize that. Another example is my wife's Fascinate, which has a 4-in display, is the same size as the TBolt, which has a 4.3-in display. Not all devices are created equally.

The point was just that a 4.6" screen with software buttons doesn't translate into a monster phone. I'm not claiming that the GSII is the exact model it will follow.

I understand that. And I agree with your point -- increase in screen size doesn't equate to an increase in the physical size of the device. I also hope that what you illustrate is how it ends up being. My thing is, we just won't know until we see something official (or "semi"-official).

 

[ottscay]

I understand that. And I agree with your point -- increase in screen size doesn't equate to an increase in the physical size of the device. I also hope that what you illustrate is how it ends up being. My thing is, we just won't know until we see something official (or "semi"-official).

Fair enough, we're on the same page then. I figured refering to it as a "mock up" and citing the GSII as the basis was enough to show it wasn't a literal representation of the Nexus Prime. I just see a lot of panic over the idea of a monster sized phone with a 4.6" screen and I was trying to help people visualize it.

Cheers!

 

[DolfanCole]

Fair enough, we're on the same page then. I figured refering to it as a "mock up" and citing the GSII as the basis was enough to show it wasn't a literal representation of the Nexus Prime. I just see a lot of panic over the idea of a monster sized phone with a 4.6" screen and I was trying to help people visualize it.

Cheers!

Gotcha! And, again, I hope you're right!

 

[E_man]

I don't see the advantage of it in landscape. In landscape, you have a shortage when it comes to vertical space. A 4.6 16:9 display actually has slitly smaller dimensions across the short side than an 800x480 4.3" phone. Now if the buttons are taking up .3 inches in the short direction in landscape (ie the bottom) you are left with less than 2" of space not including the notification tray, and any app title bars etc. I hope that, even if they are soft buttons, google locks them to the same basic position they are in now with the capacitive buttons.

 

[cdf3]

Thanks for the rendering

Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk

 

[delco714]

E-man, I'd assume the bar of "buttons" will stay in the same place yet the icons will rotate 90? as to visualize them better. Only way this phone makes sense in my opinion. What say you?

 

[johnyguy]

I'm not really convinced that photo is real (it looks a bit iPhoneish/iPodish and Photoshoped to me, but it could be real). But here it is scaled to the image I made:

Click to view quoted image

The side bezel is no bigger. There is a bigger bottom on this one (/cough where the round home button was), but so what? You realize that not all 4.3" phones are exactly the same size, right? The Droid X and Evo for example are quite different dimensions, but each is clearly a phone with a 4.3" screen.

The point was just that a 4.6" screen with software buttons doesn't translate into a monster phone. I'm not claiming that the GSII is the exact model it will follow.

i do like your explanation it makes sense!

 

[djw39]

E-man, I'd assume the bar of "buttons" will stay in the same place yet the icons will rotate 90? as to visualize them better. Only way this phone makes sense in my opinion. What say you?

Doesn't the Incredible S already do this with capacitive buttons?

Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk

 

[delco714]

^ not sure, but all the reason to expect it here, right? Hope so