Do we really need 1080p screens on Smartphones.

Associate
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Yesterday i had the pleasure of checking out a HTC One in black, which i must say is a great looking phone, probably best from HTC yet.

Anyways after comparing screen's to my Nexus 4 which is 720p, tbh honestly i could hardly tell the difference between 720p & 1080p, even with HTC's higher dpi both looked as good as each other in my book, same goes for the Experia Z which looked abit more washed out compared to the Nexus 4 & HTC One screen.

Now do you think we need 1080p on screen's that are 5" & under, I mean on let say the Note III when that comes out maybe 1080p will be better used due to screen size, but on smaller screen i feel it's kinda marketing guff and really not needed.

What's your thoughts on this?
 
Caporegime
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apple started this off with their PPI, saying that their phone has amazing pixel density, etc as a big selling point of their new phones. they have to convince consumers that their is actually something better about their new models so their marketing just picks one thing and then markets the hell out of it.

soon this fad will die and Apple's marketing team will pick something else, like speaker quality then you will see other phones come out with big sized speakers that offer incredible quality, but are truly unnecessary.

anyway these upgrades are essentially better for us all. competition is high and it's forcing companies to make higher standard products than ever before. it may seem like overkill but at the end of the day we are receiving higher end products for the same price.

imagine if you told someone 15 years ago the amount of things that would be possible with a portable phone, they would have thought you were mental.

we do not need 1080P screens but the more advances the better I say.
 
Soldato
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I don't even need dual core, let alone quad or octo's.

But bring it on I say, if it means consumers getting more for their money than it has to be a good thing and there are loads of users that will find a benefit in such advances.
 
Soldato
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1080p does have the negative affect of nerfing the performance of tasks that depends on pushing pixels fast.

Honestly, whilst the screen on the One is nice its probably overkill as I'd say the screen on the Nexus 4 is nice also with no visible pixels.
 
Man of Honour
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I wish they did move onto speakers, I haven't heard one phone I'm happy with, fine if in a quite room. But crap in a semi noisy environment, same with tablets.
There realy does need to be a number game with speakers.

As for screens it depends how close you hold the phone.

At 4" (closest adults can generaly focus) and with 20/20 vision you eye can detect about 876dpi. If you had perfect vision rather than 20/20 2190dpi at 4"

At 1ft which is about as close as a phone would ever be held.
http://wolfcrow.com/blog/notes-by-dr-optoglass-the-resolution-of-the-human-eye/
If the average reading distance is 1 foot (12 inches = 305 mm), p @0.4 arc minute is 35.5 microns or about 720 ppi/dpi. p @1 arc minute is 89 microns or about 300 dpi/ppi. This is why magazines are printed at 300 dpi – it’s good enough for most people. Fine art printers aim for 720, and that’s the best it need be. Very few people stick their heads closer than 1 foot away from a painting or photograph.
 
Soldato
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At one point I had a Nexus 4 along with my Butterfly ( 5" 1080p ) , and I would always be surprised how much better the Butterfly display was, particularly the sharpness of the icons.

I don't rate the Nexus 4 display very much though, so possibly the difference would not have been so dramatic coming from another 720p display, one such as the One X for instance.
 
Soldato
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I think that if you had a 1080p 400+ ppi screen for a while you'd notice the downgrade much more to 720p ~300ppi.

Not a massive difference by any means.
 
Soldato
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Really dont understand this argument. Progression is progression, what you want them to stop making screens better?

It's the same as the 120hz monitor argument, people that have never used them before will say "do you really need 120hz I cant see the difference." then try telling that to someone that has used one for a long time.

Sometimes even if you can't immediately see the difference you will notice it much more once it's taken away.
 
Soldato
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If you get the extra pixels "for free" then its a non issue. But I can see the sense in not wanting the highest resolution screens. Its the megapixel thing all over again. Some of these high megapixel point and shoots are actually worse for cramming more in. Its a similar situation with phones - if it comes at the cost of perceived performance or battery life then you can keep your 1080p displays thankyouverymuch.
 
Soldato
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until there's a proper scientific test (where the only variable is the screen res) that shows 1080p screen uses noticeably more juice than a 720p one in normal use then don't worry about it.
 
Man of Honour
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Really dont understand this argument. Progression is progression, what you want them to stop making screens better?
.

Comes a point(we've hit it) where it isn't progress as your eyes simply can do the resolution. So it's better to refocus to power saving, anti glare etc.
 
Soldato
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I agree - and will be surprised if they use anything more than 1080p on smartphones. It's good for upto 7-9 inch screens, 2560 after that.

This. We should just leave it on the ~400 ppi mark and start concentrating on other areas.

Maybe they should concentrate on sound or battery even... I remember having a phone that was able to last a week without charging... good times :p.
 

B&W

B&W

Soldato
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I personally would like hologram technology but that's far far away. That combined with wearable computing would be amazing.

For example a small button or led strapped to your wrist that controls the hologram and answers phone calls.
 
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