Pentile Screen Opinion/Topic

[greydarrah]

I just stopped by Verizon to look at the pentile screen on the Droid X2 and thought it looked great. It's all a matter of personal perspective.

 

[terrapin01]

My assumption on why the D3 seems better than the X2 is the smaller display. They have the same resolution, but the smaller display forces the pixels to be smaller, and thus finer.

I had originally thought that too, but I checked out the Photon and the screen didn't bother me at all. They might have improved it since the X2.

 

[beermanmike]

On a side note i thought the color green on devices was because it uses the least amount of power to display? Any little bit helps.

 

[bulvine420]

My wife just got the droid x2 and the screen is awful i hope the Bionic looks better otherwise im waiting for a quadcore

 

[johncihak]

Its the same screen. I'm stuck with the DX2 also, and will never get another pentile screen again. Might as well have a black & white screen when colors are so pixelated.

Sent from my A500 using Tapatalk

 

[rkeller62]

On a side note i thought the color green on devices was because it uses the least amount of power to display? Any little bit helps.

Actually it is because green is the easiest color for you eye to localize.

 

[trailblazen]

my wife's D3 looks worlds better than the X2 I looked at back when I bought the D3 for her (was bored at the store while they were setting her phone up). I think they may have improved the screen (yeah not by leaps and bounds but enough to notice for my eyes at least) between the X2 and D3 so here is to hoping that from D3 to DB that it is even better. One could only hope you know.

 

[Asterdroid]

my wife's D3 looks worlds better than the X2 I looked at back when I bought the D3 for her (was bored at the store while they were setting her phone up). I think they may have improved the screen (yeah not by leaps and bounds but enough to notice for my eyes at least) between the X2 and D3 so here is to hoping that from D3 to DB that it is even better. One could only hope you know.

That's because it's the same resolution on a smaller screen, nothing more.

 

[terrapin01]

Why is there still debate about whether the D3 screen looks better than the X2 because of size? The Photon just came out with a 4.3" pentile screen. There's no reason to even bother looking at the X2 any more.

 

[DolfanCole]

Why is there still debate about whether the D3 screen looks better than the X2 because of size? The Photon just came out with a 4.3" pentile screen. There's no reason to even bother looking at the X2 any more.

Unless the screen technology used in the X2 and Photon are the same. I haven't seen (or even tried to research) whether they are the same or not. Spec-wise, they are the same. Whether Moto used different technology (albeit both pentile), is still in question AFAIK.

 

[SSHGuru]

I want a Pentile screen - just because so many people complain about them.

 

[anon(49997)]

Couldn't stand it, I had to Google it.......
Below are some highlights and then the link. Ahem!

• Cuts power consumption in half for equivalent brightness, or
• Doubles screen brightness for equivalent power
• Achieves higher resolution
• Provides flexible settings for color control and power savings
• Increases cost savings potential and yield for manufacturers
• Accelerates adoption of next-generation devices
• Makes text easier to read

PenTile? technology responds to the needs of today's displays

 

[BlueBiker]

Okay, can't resist...

• Cuts power consumption in half for equivalent brightness, or

Probably true, this is a legitimate advantage of Pentile.

• Doubles screen brightness for equivalent power

Same as the previous claim, just stated differently.

• Achieves higher resolution

NO IT DOESN'T. It achieves a bigger number that manufacturers can advertise, while actually providing fewer subpixels, which are the screen elements actually visible to a user.

• Provides flexible settings for color control and power savings

In other words, it's more complicated to produce legible output.

• Increases cost savings potential and yield for manufacturers

Plausible. Less power draw gives manufacturers more freedom.

• Accelerates adoption of next-generation devices

In other words, it stresses the GPU, which has to work harder to render more pixels. This is an advantage?!

• Makes text easier to read

Only for black text on white background (or is it the reverse?), other text and line art looks like crap.

 

[johncihak]

I couldn't agree more. The pentile screen on my DX2 may as well be b&w because color letters are illegible

Sent from my A500 using Tapatalk

 

[anon(49997)]

I couldn't agree more. The pentile screen on my DX2 may as well be b&w because color letters are illegible
Sent from my A500 using Tapatalk

WoW! Illegible colored font. That's pretty serious. Oh well. If and when this Bionic releases I'll sure stroke me some colored fonts before buying.

C'mon Fat Lady!

 

[anon(49997)]

Okay, can't resist...
Probably true, this is a legitimate advantage of Pentile.
Same as the previous claim, just stated differently.
NO IT DOESN'T. It achieves a bigger number that manufacturers can advertise, while actually providing fewer subpixels, which are the screen elements actually visible to a user.
In other words, it's more complicated to produce legible output.
Plausible. Less power draw gives manufacturers more freedom.
In other words, it stresses the GPU, which has to work harder to render more pixels. This is an advantage?!
Only for black text on white background (or is it the reverse?), other text and line art looks like crap.

I figured some of you would like that.

 

[rkeller62]

...NO IT DOESN'T. It achieves a bigger number that manufacturers can advertise, while actually providing fewer subpixels, which are the screen elements actually visible to a user. .

Too many people make this claim so its time to clear it up. The number of pixels in a display, let alone the sub-pixels, have NOTHING to do with a displays stated resolution.

Thats right. There is usually a correlation between the 2 with digital displays, but I will say it again, pixels have nothing to do with the resolution a manufacturer can advertise for a display.

VESA sets this standard and it has to do with displaying alternating black & white lines while maintaining a modulated contrast ratio of at least 50%. So the qHD Motorola display has to be able to show 480 horizontal black/white line pairs and 270 vertical ones while maintaining the stated contrast ratio. In fact it does so with a modulated ratio of around 75%

 

[BlueBiker]

Too many people make this claim so its time to clear it up. The number of pixels in a display, let alone the sub-pixels, have NOTHING to do with a displays stated resolution.

Thats right. There is usually a correlation between the 2 with digital displays, but I will say it again, pixels have nothing to do with the resolution a manufacturer can advertise for a display.

VESA sets this standard and it has to do with displaying alternating black & white lines while maintaining a modulated contrast ratio of at least 50%. So the qHD Motorola display has to be able to show 480 horizontal black/white line pairs and 270 vertical ones while maintaining the stated contrast ratio. In fact it does so with a modulated ratio of around 75%

No offense, but I believe this is mostly wrong and useless. Both a Pentile and a traditional RGB display with 960x540 pixels will be advertised as "960x540" by manufacturers regardless of what VESA defines, and monochrome horizontal and vertical line pair contrast ratios are totally irrelevant with devices that are normally used in full color -- not black and white.

 

[rkeller62]

No offense, but I believe this is mostly wrong and useless. Both a Pentile and a traditional RGB display with 960x540 pixels will be advertised as "960x540" by manufacturers regardless of what VESA defines, and monochrome horizontal and vertical line pair contrast ratios are totally irrelevant with devices that are normally used in full color -- not black and white.

You can think that all you want, but it is the ONLY standard that exists for determining the resolution you can advertise for a display.

 

[BlueBiker]

You can think that all you want, but it is the ONLY standard that exists for determining the resolution you can advertise for a display.

A standard that measures a quantity that isn't applicable in the real world has little value or relevance. You may well be right that VESA defines resolutions based on horizontal and vertical black and white contrast ratios, but full-color smartphone panels are not used to display horizontal and vertical black and white lines.

Pentile displays do have advantages, and many users will be completely happy with them, but their resolution claims are fake by any legitimate definition.