Tablet resolution specs don't seem to match the actual resolution?!

[Kelemvor33]

Hi,

I have an old Asus TF101 that has a 1280 x 800 screen. I also have a brand new Insignia Flex 10.1 tablet that also has a 1280 x 800 screen. However, everything on the Flex is gigantic compared to the Asus.

Insignia: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/insignia-10-1-tablet-32gb-black/5157700.p?skuId=5157700

If I use an app to show me the specs of the hardware they both in fact say 1280 x 800. However, if I go to a website like this (http://www.rapidtables.com/web/tools/screen-resolution.htm) that tells me my screen resolution, the Asus shows 1280 x 764 but the Flex only shows 962 x 601.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/sg8r4boq0w2kjnt/2017-09-24 15.46.14.jpg?dl=0

All the icons on the home page are huge and every app I open seems gigantic as if it's not as high of a resolution as it's supposed to be.

I was expecting a tablet with a 1280 x 800 advertised resolution to actually be that. Anyone know if there's something wrong with this or if there's a setting I have to change or if I need to return this and get something better?

If it matters, the Asus is running Android 4.4.2 and the Flex has 6.0.1

Thanks.

 

[B. Diddy]

Go to Settings>Accessibility -- is there any kind of Zoom or Magnification setting turned on?

 

[Kelemvor33]

Go to Settings>Accessibility -- is there any kind of Zoom or Magnification setting turned on?

Nope. Accessibility is completely off

 

[B. Diddy]

I just went to that site on my Pixel XL, and it says my screen resolution is 412x732, so clearly something about that site is inaccurate.

What if you use the Display Info app?

 

[Mooncatt]

I just went to that site on my Pixel XL, and it says my screen resolution is 412x732, so clearly something about that site is inaccurate.

What if you use the Display Info app?

I got you beat. That site said my V20 was 360 X 640. Lol. I did notice if I turned auto rotate on and viewed in landscape mode, it reversed the resolution to reflect this. So my guess is it's only detecting what the browser is displaying as or something, because it is certainly not showing the correct full screen resolution.

 

[Kelemvor33]

If I use an app, it tells me the display is 1280 x 800. However, any app that I open looks blown up and zoomed in.

Here's the Youtube home screen. Notice the size differences:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/xj32gagek2h57ia/2017-09-25 19.45.25.jpg?dl=0

And here's that Display Info app. The main difference is the "dp" rating for Smallest Width but i don't know what that means. You can see the bottom row of boxes is much larger on the Insignia which probably is why everything is so huge.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ng4qstr1zklnc8f/2017-09-25 19.51.02.jpg?dl=0

The primary reason I bought this tablet is to run an app to control a Behringer Amp. Here's the app for that. Notice the Insignia (right) has everything larger so the volume sliders are much smaller.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/oyzna1vjxmhekow/2017-09-25 19.55.31.jpg?dl=0

I don't see a "dp" rating in the specs listing for tablets so how do I know what each tablet can do. I thought anything with the same resolution screen would be able to show the same information in the same size but apparently that's not the case.

 

[B. Diddy]

Hmm, not sure. "dp" means density-independent pixels, and is used to show certain UI elements at a certain absolute size, regardless of the screen resolution. https://material.io/guidelines/layout/units-measurements.html#units-measurements-pixel-density. It makes me wonder if the issue is related to how the tablet's firmware is coded. Let me see if my more wizardly colleagues may know more.

 

[Kevin OQuinn]

Odds are that the DPI settings are not the same. That is what actually determines the size of icons and other stuff on screen as opposed to the physical screen resolution.

Another good example....LG vs Samsung. Look at the on screen nav buttons and icons. LG's are much bigger than Samsung's. It's because of the DPI settings each OEM decided to use.

 

[Kelemvor33]

Odds are that the DPI settings are not the same. That is what actually determines the size of icons and other stuff on screen as opposed to the physical screen resolution.

They both say they are 160dpi (see the screenshot above). It's the "Smallest Width" setting that is different between the two. Looks like Android N has a Dev Option where you can change that setting but not Android M.

I guess I'll end up returning this tablet and finding something else.