Database Users

Considering sending my Galaxy back, need some advices...

Hi there,
got my GalaxyS for 3 days now, and been owning a Desire for 2.5 months.
I was perfectly happy with my Desire, the reason I still ordered the Galaxy was because all the talks about S-Amoled got me really excited, and the larger screen was too tempting because I'm an avid reader.
After 3 days, I must admit my feelings are a little mixed:
On the one hand, the screen of Galaxy IS gorgeous, color/contrast/sunlight readability all top. And the more app storage (which pained me a lot on the Desire) is also extremely welcome.
But, on the other hand, there are still things Desire does better - to my dismay, the text display on the Galaxy seems to be worse than on Desire?! At same level of zoom, Galaxy displays the fonts more pixelated, but this is only visible when the font is small, many other people seem to share this sentiment.
And also, even the lowest brightness setting on the Galaxy is too bright for me in the dark?! I do a lot of reading at night in bed, the lowest setting on Desire has a tinted color, but doesn't hurt my eyes. Galaxy on the other hand, I can't really stare at it for long without my eyes tiring...
So right now I'm really a bit unsure... Is there any chance getting software solution to set the brightness lower than low?;-) Also, would the display quality of small fonts improve with newer system/software, whatever?
If not, then I'm afraid I'll just stick to my Desire and send the Galaxy back
Thanks for any thoughts!
Billy

Would never recommend an amoled screen to a person who likes to use the device as an e-book reader(until they get rid of the pentile submatrix). You should get a Droid or HD2 if you want a decent display.
The reason why the pixels appear larger on the SGS is simply because of the fact that they are.
If you found the Desire to better suit your needs then I'd recommend you go back to it.

Just curious, how does the iPhone 4 fair in term of text display? Not that I'm considering getting THAT

I would recommend to keep Samsung Galaxy S for phone and very mobile use and then to wait and buy Samsung TAPE for reading and other stuff.

n3p3nth3 said:
Just curious, how does the iPhone 4 fair in term of text display? Not that I'm considering getting THAT
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The iPhone 4 display is geared towards text, it has a high pixel density as a result of high-res/small screen size and a regular grid pixel layout.
The Samsung screen is more targeted to graphics & video with faster refresh, massive contrast, larger display, oh and its 16:9 wide screen too

Thanks guys for the info and advices, guess in the end I'll just toss a coin to decide

i personally like s-amoled for one reason
it doesn't consume as much power. it matters when your screen is 4.0 inches

Seems there is no 'perfect' phone...
I've been strongly expecting to purchase the SGS (Captivate actually). But I've also been interested in using it as a reader some.
I've been reading the posts about Pentile topics.
Also I really want a phone that will be very viewable in sunlight.
I've been thinking the new MOTO X may be nice...but then I'd have to change carriers.
[SIGH] [/SIGH]

ewingr said:
I've been strongly expecting to purchase the SGS (Captivate actually). But I've also been interested in using it as a reader some.
I've been reading the posts about Pentile topics.
Also I really want a phone that will be very viewable in sunlight.
I've been thinking the new MOTO X may be nice...but then I'd have to change carriers.
[SIGH] [/SIGH]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The sgs is great to use in direct sunlight, even better than my hd2 was.
It also does pretty well when it comes to ebook reading as long as you don't zoom out too much(I'd only recommend it for light reading).

S-AMOLED vs LCD comparison and observations

I just looked at the Vibrant today. I am trying out the Sprint EVO and have not made up my mind (have 3 more weeks to decide). I have been very curious with all the hubub surrounding this new screen. "brilliant" "incredible" "vibrant" etc are terms that all the review sites are throwing around.
Now that I have seen it, it is ture. The colors really pop. However, I am torn. On the one hand, S-AMOLED colors are very rich. It has better color saturation for video, and photos colors pop a bit more on the S-AMOLED vs the evo's LCD and the viewing angles are GREAT! There is almost no hazing effect when viewed from the side. WOW
On the other hand, even though both devices have 800x480 displays the text looks jagged on the Vibrant. Icons while very bright, do not look smooth. Very small text that is readable on the EVO is illegible on the Vibrant (for example viewing web pages zoomed all the way out). Pictures when viewed at the same zoom level look sharper and more detailed on the LCD screen. It appears that the actual resolution is less on the S-AMOLED than the TFT.
What is going on here? Why does it look this way. For me a large part of my phone is reading text, why does it appear more jagged and fuzzier? Does anyone have any insight?
Oh, and also the maximum brightness is lower on the Vibrant (not that I ever use max brightness) somehow whites look just a little dirty/grey in comparison to the EVO.
Anyone have any insight into this resolution issue?

after reading up on arstechnica.com i realized that this fuzzieness is due to the face that the S-AMOLED display is a pentile display and thus only has an addressable resolution of 392x653.
http:// arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2010/03/secrets-of-the-nexus-ones-screen-science-color-and-hacks.ars/
Remove the space between the Http:// and the link for the Ars Technica Article about pentile displays.
from the article:
"you could think about this display as taking the 480x800 input image and scaling it down to 392x653 image, using subpixel positioning to reduce the apparent blurriness as much as possible."
That explains why this is so much fuzzier when displaying text. Now to decide if the the color saturation is worth the reduced resolution....hmmm.

Yes I agree, PenTile is the only thing keeping AMOLED from being the best displays hands down. The worst thing you can do though is compare to screens side by side. You will always find something wrong with both, ignorance is bliss =P
I had time with the HTC Incredible which uses AMOLED and you get used to it, I do think its worth it. I did like being able to read text zoomed out all the way though on the EVO.
Its a trade off, but I honestly think whatever you pick you will get used to it after time.

i think for me, a mobile phone's performance comes down to display text quality (browsing ebook reading etc), web browsing, video, phone UI experience, and battery life. if you got used to the AMOLED on the incredible why did you give it up for the EVO?

All you need to do is go on a Vibrant, go to youtube, and watch the Tron Legacy trailer in HQ... or the Avatar that came with it and AMOLED will blow your mind...

I had the Evo for 3 weeks and if Sprint worked well in my area I would have kept it. I like it a bit better than the Vibrant, which I have now. The screen is not as bright and pretty but the smoothness of the text made up for it. I also liked how websites looked on the Evo more.
I'm still very happy with the Vibrant, but I would have stuck with the Evo if I didn't have so many dropped calls where I work and live.

Just imagine if the screen was 4.3 inches even though the screen size for this isn't to bug nor to small
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

The S-AMOLED in the Galaxy S is not pentile matrix. The Incredible doesnt use pentile matrix either. The N1 does use pentile matrix. I have seen a N1 beside an Incredible and the two are really different looking. Text on the Incredible is crisp and clear, on the N1 its fuzzy.
Edit: Sorry, I was wrong about the Galaxy S, it DOES use pentile matrix. What a ripoff, this has me seriously questioning whether to get the phone or not. The low text quality on the N1 ruined that phone for me. But I'm pretty sure I'm right about the Incredible, the text on it looks super sharp and crisp.

violinbf said:
i think for me, a mobile phone's performance comes down to display text quality (browsing ebook reading etc), web browsing, video, phone UI experience, and battery life. if you got used to the AMOLED on the incredible why did you give it up for the EVO?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I went to the EVO for the 4.3" screen vs 3.7. Like you said, text is better on LCD. Everything else is better on AMOLED, imo. So it comes down to what is most important to you.
derek4484 said:
The S-AMOLED in the Galaxy S is not pentile matrix. The Incredible doesnt use pentile matrix either. The N1 does use pentile matrix. I have seen a N1 beside an Incredible and the two are really different looking. Text on the Incredible is crisp and clear, on the N1 its fuzzy.
Edit: Sorry, I was wrong about the Galaxy S, it DOES use pentile matrix. What a ripoff, this has me seriously questioning whether to get the phone or not. The low text quality on the N1 ruined that phone for me. But I'm pretty sure I'm right about the Incredible, the text on it looks super sharp and crisp.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Samsung has used PenTile on every single AMOLED they have made.

I do love the 4.3 inch screen. 4.3" gives 15% larger viewing area than a 4" screen. This was very noticeable to me especially with typing on the keyboard and displaying web pages. Another plus is that viewing video's with the device on the table is more comfortable on the larger screen. The EVO is not too much larger than the Galaxy S.
The only thing that bugs me about the EVO is the processor/GPU and battery life.
It is hard to look at the GPU benchmarks and demonstrations for the new OMAP and Hummingbird and not think that the Snapdragon is a little behind the times. Not sure that I will game that much but I do want the power to run the new fancy Gingerbread UI nice and smooth. I wish i knew what kind of GPU processing power was necessary for Gingerbread because I will be trying to shoe horn that OS update on my device.
Obviously a 45nm processor will overclock better than a 65nm one and will get better battery life at stock speeds. I believe the power draw is ~500mw for the Snapdragon and ~350mw for the Hummingbird. That is significant power savings. Weirdly though the reports of the Vibrant's battery life are not that much better that the EVO. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Galaxy overclock to 2ghz just like the previous generation 65nm OMAP on the droid (stock 550mhz overclocks to 1ghz easily)
Pops_G did you keep your EVO or return it? Using a custom Kernel to defeat the FPS cap makes it a non issue now. If you did return it, do you have your eye on something else? One nice thing about Sprint is that you can upgrade your device at the subsidized price annually VS every 2 years so I only need to get to next July. Plus the plans are cheaper if you are crafty.

the point in s-amoled is reducing power consumption. less reflection, and brighter under heavy lighted areas (like outdoors)
power consumption is a large issue, when screen size is this big

violinbf said:
Pops_G did you keep your EVO or return it? Using a custom Kernel to defeat the FPS cap makes it a non issue now. If you did return it, do you have your eye on something else? One nice thing about Sprint is that you can upgrade your device at the subsidized price annually VS every 2 years so I only need to get to next July. Plus the plans are cheaper if you are crafty.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I returned the EVO and was planning on getting one of the Galaxy S phones, possible the Vibrant because T-Mobile is the only one with out of contract pricing. I am still undecided though, gaming is a big deal for me and the EVO was slow in 3D. Also I had one of the EVOs that they have not been able to fix the 30fps issue for, one of the early ones.
Cyanogen claims to have bluetooth HID and plans on getting HDMI out working full time. That would mean you could use your EVO as a console on your TV. Playing old SNES games and soon N64 games off your phone with a WiiMote is very tempting.
But over all I like the Galaxy S phones more. Just waiting till Sprint announces the Epic release date.

Epic Screen diff. than Nexus S

I used to have an Epic. I always suspected that screen on the epic was a little diff. than the Nexus S. I hated the Epic and I like the Samsung Nexus S alot more! But yesterday, my coworker has an Epic and downloaded the same wallpaper as I have. Then we compared phones with the same wall paper and brightness. His screen had richer contrast, was brighter without being washed out, and seem to have better detail. I don't understand why this is...but I wanted to throw this out here.

Have you tried any other colour settings?
Take a look here.

I've never seen the nexus s screen. Even though I think the epic screen is beautiful eye candy, it exaggerates how things look in real life. I don't know for a fact but I would guess that color, tint, and saturation have been cranked and tweaked so as to make people ooh and ahh when they look at it. A picture could easily be manipulated to make the colors really stand out. Maybe if you were tripping on LSD, the colors you see might look like the screen on the epic but that's not how things actually look like.
I was wondering a similar question just before I popped into the forum. You being a previous epic owner, what similarities, differences, and other observations are you finding out with the nexus? I'm very interested in your opinions because I used to have an epic and wonder how the experience might be when comparing the two phones.

herbthehammer said:
I've never seen the nexus s screen. Even though I think the epic screen is beautiful eye candy, it exaggerates how things look in real life. I don't know for a fact but I would guess that color, tint, and saturation have been cranked and tweaked so as to make people ooh and ahh when they look at it. A picture could easily be manipulated to make the colors really stand out. Maybe if you were tripping on LSD, the colors you see might look like the screen on the epic but that's not how things actually look like.
I was wondering a similar question just before I popped into the forum. You being a previous epic owner, what similarities, differences, and other observations are you finding out with the nexus? I'm very interested in your opinions because I used to have an epic and wonder how the experience might be when comparing the two phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey herb, I remember you from the Epic forums! You're actually 100% correct on why the Epic screen looks different. Prior to our most recent update (2.3.3) our screens would have looked very similar but then Google decided to make things look more natural. Now for a brief tangent: I used to sell TVs at Best Buy and one thing you'll notice about any new LCD TV, and Samsung is a particularly bad offender on this front, is that they are very, very blue. Much like all of the SAMOLEDS. This is because the human eye reads bright blue as even brighter white; it makes people think that one screen is so much more bright and vibrant than another. And its exactly the trick that is causing problems here.
One other thing I did while at Best Buy is do a lot of screen calibration (both selling and actually calibrations). People see the calibrated screen next to the non-calibrated one and you know what they all say? That it looks dull and washed out. Then I pulled out a special trick: You hold a sheet of blank white paper next to a white image on both screens. On the calibrated screen the color of the screen comes very close to the color of the paper. Of course it does, they're both white. But on the non-calibrated screen the "white" looked markedly blue. This is a test I've run on both a 2.3.2 Nexus S screen and a 2.3.3 Nexus S screen. I've done it on both mine and my wife's phones and I can tell you that I found the exact results described above. I'm not trying to be insulting but the truth is that its a tactic to sell more products and that it works. People like things they think look better and they think the non-calibrated screen looks better. Its just that its not. The point of HiDef (or more accurately in this case a beautiful screen) is to make things look more real, not more fake which is what those false colors do. But people want what they want and no matter how many times they're told it should be a certain way it doesn't matter. Its like how people insist on buying hybrids even though the process of making their batteries is immensely destructive to the environment and the fact that a diesel will usually get the same if not better fuel economy with cleaner emissions. Its the image that matters.
As to answer the second part of your question, Herb, I love my Nexus S. I hated the Epic. I hated how it felt like a completely forgotten device from the second it came off the line. I hated that we had to build stock roms off of leaked builds just to get working GPS. The second someone offered, I traded it for an Evo (which I loved immensely, for the record) I even drove 160 miles to make the trade <.<
As a phone, solely the device I mean, it works amazingly. I get around 14-16 hours of use a day and even then I still only get down to 20-30% depending on usage. If I spend the day flashing roms, sure it goes a bit quicker than that but flashing takes a lot of power. A lot of people complain about the call volume but I have to say its not bad. Its a bit quiet but its usable in most settings and if its not, I can pop in my bluetooth earpiece and its fine again. As for speed? I can't explain it but it is lightyears faster than my old Epic. Its amazingly fast. More than blistering.
Now, people around here often like to complain that our development is slow but really its no slower than the epic was and now that its launching in Canada and on Sprint its only going to grow. I know of a few devs that plan to switch from the Epic over here and things will start to really boom. Honestly, I'm tempted by dual core phones, specifically by the rumored HTC Pyramid but I wouldn't give up my Nexus S. Its the first smart phone that I actually, truly, enjoy using. And now my wife is complaining about my "writing a novel" so I'll wrap it up. I love my Nexus S.

One more question/concern.
With the nexus s, if you download the programs livo recorder and virtual recorder, what happens? When you play back after recording audio on the high quality settings, does the audio studder and skip like it did on the epic? The HTC evo and shift are the only two phones I've used that can make flawless recordings and have very sensitive mics. I've had emails with the devs of their respective programs when the epic came out. The epic was very bad with high bitrate audio recording. If I would make a recording of me counting the seconds on the program as it was recording, it would studder, skip, and jump ahead a few seconds constantly. It was kinda like a mix between listening to a scratched CD skipping and watching Max headroom and his glitching while speaking.
If you get the time sometime, publish your results. Also, does the video recorder crash, like the epic, when its on its highest resolution settings? I know it can't do HD but I'm still wondering. Thanks

Hey herb. It doesn't crash on its highest setting and ill give those apps a shot tomorrow and upload them to YouTube
Sent from my MIUI Nexus S from the XDA Premium app.

herbthehammer said:
I've never seen the nexus s screen. Even though I think the epic screen is beautiful eye candy, it exaggerates how things look in real life. I don't know for a fact but I would guess that color, tint, and saturation have been cranked and tweaked so as to make people ooh and ahh when they look at it. A picture could easily be manipulated to make the colors really stand out. Maybe if you were tripping on LSD, the colors you see might look like the screen on the epic but that's not how things actually look like.
I was wondering a similar question just before I popped into the forum. You being a previous epic owner, what similarities, differences, and other observations are you finding out with the nexus? I'm very interested in your opinions because I used to have an epic and wonder how the experience might be when comparing the two phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Other than the screen on the Epic, I hated the Epic. I didn't like the keyboard, the side button, or the software. I love the Nexus S...even if the screen is slightly less than the Epic(which probably could be fixed with voodoo color adjustments). However, I think I might sell mine and buy the Sprint Nexus S simply because Sprint does not have a data cap.
I hate Tmobile for tricking me in unlimited data. I think they are ATT.

Galaxy note displaying small fonts? Crisp or not?

Upgraded my iPhone 4 and got a Samsung Skyrocket. I love the screen constrast, but that's it. When reading the screen gives me the impression of being smaller than a 3.5" iPhone, if that's possible. I keep zooming in and out and side to side at every website I load. With the iPhone, bam, I was there, or two clicks away from the correct way to read something.
Love the phone, except the screen. I tried to tweak the density after rooting, but I can't fabricate pixels. Text looks coarse and it's hard to find a correct zoom size. Maybe it's a fonts issue?
Although I'm 41 I'm pretty good at reading small fonts, but the small fonts on the iPhone 4 screen were great, while on the Skyrocket it's a mess. I have to increase the zoon to a point where I'm scrolling websites left to right, which I hate. I could get full width on the iPhone 4 even reading forums (so I like to see the nick name on the left and other info, not only the post)...not so on the Skyrocket (before you think my eyes are a freak exception I must add that, OTOH, I am myopic, so far from perfect!)
So what I want from a review is this: will the Galaxy note and/or the Skyrocket HD give me the same crisp sense I got with the iPhone 4 when reading? That's all I care about when it comes to resolutions CRISP TEXT!
Thanks!

You can calculate the pixel density (dpi) yourself. iPhone 4 has the highest DPI due to its retina display nature (326 dpi). Galaxy Nexus is very close (316 dpi) IIRC. And GNote will be slightly lower due to larger screen. They all should be much better than the WVGA resolution on a 4.3" or 4.5" screen, e.g. GS2 or Skyrocket. So text readability should be better. BTW, iPhone 4 screen has the lowest contrast ratio among other phone screens.

RipplingHurst said:
Upgraded my iPhone 4 and got a Samsung Skyrocket. I love the screen constrast, but that's it. When reading the screen gives me the impression of being smaller than a 3.5" iPhone, if that's possible. I keep zooming in and out and side to side at every website I load. With the iPhone, bam, I was there, or two clicks away from the correct way to read something.
Love the phone, except the screen. I tried to tweak the density after rooting, but I can't fabricate pixels. Text looks coarse and it's hard to find a correct zoom size. Maybe it's a fonts issue?
Although I'm 41 I'm pretty good at reading small fonts, but the small fonts on the iPhone 4 screen were great, while on the Skyrocket it's a mess. I have to increase the zoon to a point where I'm scrolling websites left to right, which I hate. I could get full width on the iPhone 4 even reading forums (so I like to see the nick name on the left and other info, not only the post)...not so on the Skyrocket (before you think my eyes are a freak exception I must add that, OTOH, I am myopic, so far from perfect!)
So what I want from a review is this: will the Galaxy note and/or the Skyrocket HD give me the same crisp sense I got with the iPhone 4 when reading? That's all I care about when it comes to resolutions CRISP TEXT!
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't comment on the Skyrocket HD and can't make a comparison to the iPhone 4, but the text on the Note is as clear and crisp as I've ever seen. I came from an Infuse and an GS2 and marvel every day at how much better the screen is. I still play with my GS2 on occasion but after using the Note for a month now I could never go back to it for daily use.
My desktop and laptop are gathering dust as I find myself using the Note more and more for browsing and reading online.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using XDA App

If you are used to iPhone retina. Do not buy an SAMOLED display.
Its the worst kind of display ever made. Maybe look for a SAMOLED plus device. (But I do not like AMOLED in general. In this stage its just bad...)
But for sure not the old Pentile matrix. No matter how much you try, it will never look like an S-LCD, retina etc.
And no its not crisp. Nothing you were used to on iPhone.
I have both. Note and iPhone
(Also still Galaxy S)
You can pretty much google non biased pages about the SAMOLED technology explained.
And the SAMOLED HD is still a pentile matrix.
As I was getting it I was hoping due to its size I wont see the difference like I seen it on the SGS. But no.. Full page view my not possible due the fonts becoming not readable. Despite the advertising or ppl telling you how crisp it is.
Just go to a shop and try to browse a bit with it. And look on the small fonts.
Also memory effect and the "lines" on the SAMOLED is still a problem and more so seen on the Note.
I would not recommend this phone to ppl with "good" eyes (looking for sharp, smooth fonts) or coming from decent DPI displays.
---------- Post added at 04:50 AM ---------- Previous post was at 04:36 AM ----------
foxbat121 said:
You can calculate the pixel density (dpi) yourself. iPhone 4 has the highest DPI due to its retina display nature (326 dpi). Galaxy Nexus is very close (316 dpi) IIRC. And GNote will be slightly lower due to larger screen. They all should be much better than the WVGA resolution on a 4.3" or 4.5" screen, e.g. GS2 or Skyrocket. So text readability should be better. BTW, iPhone 4 screen has the lowest contrast ratio among other phone screens.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think this is the best article for this http://www.flatpanelshd.com/news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1319022037
It has 315 ppi (pixels per inch), which is slightly lower than the Apple iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S, which has a pixel density of 326 ppi. One would imagine that this qualifies as a "Retina Display" (because it is over 300 ppi and viewed from 10-12 inches) but actually it does not.
Because we are talking about a Super AMOLED display and not a Super AMOLED Plus, the display is based on a so-called PenTile pixel structure, where pixels share subpixels.
And if you calculate the real pixel density you will find that the Galaxy Nexus is actually closer to a “real” ppi value of 200, which is just slightly higher than on the Galaxy S II (that uses a Super AMOLED Plus with RGB pixel structure). Some claim that a PenTile panel needs around 420 ppi to qualify as a Retina display and that is probably also the reason why Retina is nowhere to be found on the specs sheets of neither Galaxy Note nor Galaxy Nexus.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Thanks all for the useful input. I was this close to buy one now on the Expansys website, but now I'm worried.
I sold my iP4 already, and I'm stuck with the Skyrocket for now. I would buy the Note and sell the skyrocket on ebay, but now I don't know.
Back to research. I wonder what store would sell the note here in the bay area (so that I can see one with my own eyes).

RipplingHurst said:
Upgraded my iPhone 4 and got a Samsung Skyrocket. I love the screen constrast, but that's it. When reading the screen gives me the impression of being smaller than a 3.5" iPhone, if that's possible. I keep zooming in and out and side to side at every website I load. With the iPhone, bam, I was there, or two clicks away from the correct way to read something.
Love the phone, except the screen. I tried to tweak the density after rooting, but I can't fabricate pixels. Text looks coarse and it's hard to find a correct zoom size. Maybe it's a fonts issue?
Although I'm 41 I'm pretty good at reading small fonts, but the small fonts on the iPhone 4 screen were great, while on the Skyrocket it's a mess. I have to increase the zoon to a point where I'm scrolling websites left to right, which I hate. I could get full width on the iPhone 4 even reading forums (so I like to see the nick name on the left and other info, not only the post)...not so on the Skyrocket (before you think my eyes are a freak exception I must add that, OTOH, I am myopic, so far from perfect!)
So what I want from a review is this: will the Galaxy note and/or the Skyrocket HD give me the same crisp sense I got with the iPhone 4 when reading? That's all I care about when it comes to resolutions CRISP TEXT!
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, it is not as smooth as it is compared to the IP4, I can easily see the jagged edges/feathering on the text. Maybe you need to wait for an HD SAMOLED Plus.
Also if you care about the screen quality in all aspects you might find the HD SAMOLED lacking in quality control if you dont get lucky with the panel lottery.

Ok here is your answer:
My wife is also myopic she reads very small letters by simply removing her eye glasses.
So what I did is that on the Opera Mobile I went to the the XDA website and zoomed it All the way out so that the entire page was visible and handed my GNote to her to read it without zooming in,she could very easily read it since the letters were very crisp,please keep in mind that she uses an Iphone4 and in her opinion the reading experience is at least as good on the GNote as well,however you should know that the text in both stock browser and Dolphin are much larger even I can read it without zooming in.
Hope this helps.
Jack

You guys make it seem horrible and unusable. I dont have the greatest eyes buy i can read pages witjout zooming. Small text is not as crisp as ip4 but not that far behind.
GALAXY NOTE

intruda119 said:
You guys make it seem horrible and unusable. I dont have the greatest eyes buy i can read pages witjout zooming. Small text is not as crisp as ip4 but not that far behind.
GALAXY NOTE
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The OP is asking if its the "same" the answer is only yes or no and nothing in between.
From what I can tell nobody is making it sound like its unusable, infact you see more of the website on the Galaxy Note as compared to the IP4 due to the higher resolution but the crisp text feeling is not the same.
At least he only cares for text quality and is not concerned about brightness uniformity on whites or if they are pure or yellowish whites.

That is the worst example i've seen You can at least upload a screenshot with the full resolution. Don't use the S-Pen method, but do the swipe. That way you'll get the correct size.
And don't upload it with the XDA app. It compresses the image even more
Sent from my iPad GT-N7000 using xda premium

There's quite a bit of FUD here.
The size of the characters is a function of screen resolution, screen size and zoom level. The Galaxy Note has a resolution of 1280x800 which is similar to many 12" laptops, but is crammed into a 5.3" display. Hence text will appear tiny when a normal webpage is displayed at native resolution without any zoom.
Having said that, due to the screen size and resolution, it's very easy to view an entire webpage and zooming into a section you want to read is a matter of a couple of touches, just like an iPhone.
@RipplingHurst: Try alternate browsers like Opera, Dolphin, Firefox to compare how well the page reflows when zoomed in. I believe that is the real crux of your issue.

speedofheat said:
There's quite a bit of FUD here.
The size of the characters is a function of screen resolution, screen size and zoom level. The Galaxy Note has a resolution of 1280x800 which is similar to many 12" laptops, but is crammed into a 5.3" display. Hence text will appear tiny when a normal webpage is displayed at native resolution without any zoom.
Having said that, due to the screen size and resolution, it's very easy to view an entire webpage and zooming into a section you want to read is a matter of a couple of touches, just like an iPhone.
@RipplingHurst: Try alternate browsers like Opera, Dolphin, Firefox to compare how well the page reflows when zoomed in. I believe that is the real crux of your issue.
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Click to collapse
Sure, those 3 factors are what influence the size of the characters, but that's only one factor in legibility. The pentile display makes for a significantly worse reading experience, there's no two ways about it. Particularly in greyscale.
And as the previous replies stated, it all depends on what you're used to. I'm used to working on high-end IPS monitors, which probably makes it worse for me.
But I agree with you that no matter how good/bad the display is, the browser still makes the biggest difference. And on the iPhone, the browser is very, very good at zooming in.
I recently noticed that the stock Note browser (most likely on all Android stock browsers), it uses static dithering when you zoom in... which is just ridiculous when you consider the power it's got!

Very interesting points all. I should definitely try other browsers. i think playing with apps like lcd density is not productive to what im trying to accomplish. To the one who pointed how the wife reads well in the note being myopic like me, that really helped me and tilted me back to trading my skyrocket for the note. will see what happens.
i'm really used to read in bed with my phone very close to me, and I l'd like to quickly find a zooming that I like no matter what page. Apple stock browser is really good at zooming and deciding what to render together with text, as it was pointed above.
Now movies are not that important to me and I think the skyrocket does a much better job than the iPhone at that. Im sure I wouldn't be disapointed with the Note. I've read about the white tint and I can live with that, no problem.
But I really wish web browser had all the rendering power needed to display smooth text. For me that's the big deal about high resolutions in tiny screens.

RipplingHurst said:
But I really wish web browser had all the rendering power needed to display smooth text. For me that's the big deal about high resolutions in tiny screens.
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Ok me trying again. Despite I wrote you all up. Even with the links and all.
If you want quality and smooth fonts especially the small ones. The PenTile is not physically able to do that. Just to some extent of size. Has really not much to do with the browser... that rendering can really do only this much when it comes to small letters.
If you take out the rendering and the browser out of the equation when it comes down to it the SAMOLED will loose against SLCD , or IPS or how they are all called.
I never said its unusable and sincerely there is no competition for that res and screen for the next 2 months I guess or more. If it was unusable I would already sell it. But I would rather wait for an LCD with that res phone.
Am I just telling you. You will see thats not smooth.
Especially now that many ppl told you. And you using the phone on your nose.

RipplingHurst said:
Very interesting points all. I should definitely try other browsers. i think playing with apps like lcd density is not productive to what im trying to accomplish. To the one who pointed how the wife reads well in the note being myopic like me, that really helped me and tilted me back to trading my skyrocket for the note. will see what happens.
i'm really used to read in bed with my phone very close to me, and I l'd like to quickly find a zooming that I like no matter what page. Apple stock browser is really good at zooming and deciding what to render together with text, as it was pointed above.
Now movies are not that important to me and I think the skyrocket does a much better job than the iPhone at that. Im sure I wouldn't be disapointed with the Note. I've read about the white tint and I can live with that, no problem.
But I really wish web browser had all the rendering power needed to display smooth text. For me that's the big deal about high resolutions in tiny screens.
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Click to collapse
It wold be better if you can try the device for your self and decide. Im very particular about the screen and i easily get bothered about the yellowish whites that my replacement screen has.. and in dont like to crack up the brightness when im in bed using my phone but thats personal preference.
Movies on the galaxy note is borked for now theres a thread about it and this is the major deal breaker for me and the source of my decision to get a refund.
The screen quality/technology is the major factor on how great your text will appear. The really high ppi the ip4 makes it hard to beat in text smoothness when zoomed out. But it doesnt mean the galaxy note is bad you just dont get that jagged free text or thst safari goodness in text reflow.

EarlZ said:
It wold be better if you can try the device for your self and decide. Im very particular about the screen and i easily get bothered about the yellowish whites that my replacement screen has.. and in dont like to crack up the brightness when im in bed using my phone but thats personal preference.
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If it bothers you, maybe you should start a thread about these screen issues Earl... you might get a couple of replies

Seems like the guys answering here have broken Notes or something. I can easily read an unzoomed webpage even in portrait mode with good quality fonts. Supercurios screen app also changes the rendering of small fonts so try that. I've tried the ip4 extensively and much prefer my Note.
Sent from my superior GT-N7000 using Tapatalk

RipplingHurst said:
Upgraded my iPhone 4 and got a Samsung Skyrocket. I love the screen constrast, but that's it. When reading the screen gives me the impression of being smaller than a 3.5" iPhone, if that's possible. I keep zooming in and out and side to side at every website I load. With the iPhone, bam, I was there, or two clicks away from the correct way to read something.
Love the phone, except the screen. I tried to tweak the density after rooting, but I can't fabricate pixels. Text looks coarse and it's hard to find a correct zoom size. Maybe it's a fonts issue?
Although I'm 41 I'm pretty good at reading small fonts, but the small fonts on the iPhone 4 screen were great, while on the Skyrocket it's a mess. I have to increase the zoon to a point where I'm scrolling websites left to right, which I hate. I could get full width on the iPhone 4 even reading forums (so I like to see the nick name on the left and other info, not only the post)...not so on the Skyrocket (before you think my eyes are a freak exception I must add that, OTOH, I am myopic, so far from perfect!)
So what I want from a review is this: will the Galaxy note and/or the Skyrocket HD give me the same crisp sense I got with the iPhone 4 when reading? That's all I care about when it comes to resolutions CRISP TEXT!
Thanks!
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The problem is with the goddamn font that comes with the Note.
Install Roboto and you'll be fine.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using XDA App

Zamboney said:
Seems like the guys answering here have broken Notes or something. I can easily read an unzoomed webpage even in portrait mode with good quality fonts. Supercurios screen app also changes the rendering of small fonts so try that. I've tried the ip4 extensively and much prefer my Note.
Sent from my superior GT-N7000 using Tapatalk
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Livewings said:
The problem is with the goddamn font that comes with the Note.
Install Roboto and you'll be fine.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using XDA App
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Click to collapse
Guys, no one said you cant use the Note....
But the OP is in particular out for smoothness.
No font, rendering etc cant help the physical build of PenTile. Its the hardware thats bad or that I am not get crucified, lets say not perfect... (far from perfect )
Please read something about it before you jump to advices. Look closely to your display. You really had to be blind to not see that the fonts, object anything is not smooth.
The other faults of the SAMOLED that the OP will notice particularly on brown or grey background I wont even start to talk about .

RipplingHurst said:
i'm really used to read in bed with my phone very close to me, and I l'd like to quickly find a zooming that I like no matter what page. .
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One of the great joys of the note is that due to its large screen you don't need to hold it so close... Even though the dpi is less than the iphone, the fact that you can hold it further away should make up for it.. If you showed the same amount of text on the note and the iphone, does anyone really say it reads easier on the iphone?

Expectations, are they realistic?

Hi,
Very interesting and informative forum.
Though part and parcel of all such forums I do begin to ponder if our expectations of such a device as the XZ are on times realistic?
Battery life: Consider this, Full 1080 x 1920 5" HD screen. Quad core 1,5GB. 2GB RAM. Not to mention Wi-Fi, blu tooth, GPS and NTC. Place this inside an ultra thin robust superbly crafted mobile and is it so surprising the battery has its limitations? I think not.
We simply have to accept that this new breed of super phone is going to push battery levels to the limit. We cannot realistically compare such a mobile even with a modern phone dating back 12 months! Sure I have owned phones that have needed charging only twice per week but it was 'just' a phone.
Viewing angles. WHAT is this all about. May I, with respect, ask any one who places their phone in the kitchen and expects to see it form the third floor. Gross exaggeration there BUT its equally odd and questionable why some reviewers harp on about viewing angle? Unless I have been doing something wrong with my mobiles dating back to 1989 then I cant think why such a parameter is even mentioned. I don't want the person sitting next to me on the train looking at what I type in an SMS etc? WHO holds there mobile at 45degrees to their viewing line of site and why?
Considering this mobile will perform what it used to take maybe 6 other separate devices to perform in one sleek elegant package I am not surprised it requires charging every night. I am rather shocked given its specification it works at all? Fantastic technology wrapped into such a wonderful mobile and so well made. No, I do not begrudge my XZ having something to eat every evening.
I have managed three days without charging providing I use with caution... Telephone calls and SMS's don't appear to drain the battery any more than previous well outdated mobiles did.
Washed out colours? I own the Samsung galaxy S2 and S3 plus the Note and come to mention it the nexus S and to me its a question of choice and preference. I was spellbound with the colours of the S3 BUT after a time it became hard on my eyes to view such over exaggerated highly saturated colours. Life is not like that! Place the XZ side to side with most of my Samsung range and their IS a difference and I am pleased there is. I now find the XZ colour reproduction much more realistic and less strain to view for long periods of time. I am not saying one is better than the other they are different, I now prefer the XZ.
Choice is a wonderful thing and it has taken decades of conflict to ensure we have it. We should appreciate the choices we have and enjoy as many of them as we can while we can.
Congratulations to Sony and the world of technology for giving us such devices. Think outside the box, look at your XZ, its rather ingenious don't you think!
Kind regards to you all.

The only I hope better was viewing angle.
Ya, we look 99% phone straight view, means viewing angle not affecting much.
But......... it do affect me slightly when playing temple run type of games.
The only improvement I seen need at Z or ZL is better display panel, at least given us SLCD2 and better SLCD3.
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Some said washed out color, hmmm.......... I really no idea about this, they is confirm no washed out color.
"Life is not like that!" - actually Sony did much vibrant than any Samsung AMOLED flagship phone when you view photos / videos using bundle apps with Bravia Engine 2 turn on. The cool part here is Sony tune it nicer than Samsung as it look much appealing and real even it is extreme vivid. Sometimes I do hope Bravia Engine 2 will work also in at least the launcher wallpaper.

Battery & Viewing Angle
Ryland Johnson said:
Hi,
Very interesting and informative forum.
Though part and parcel of all such forums I do begin to ponder if our expectations of such a device as the XZ are on times realistic?
Battery life: Consider this, Full 1080 x 1920 5" HD screen. Quad core 1,5GB. 2GB RAM. Not to mention Wi-Fi, blu tooth, GPS and NTC. Place this inside an ultra thin robust superbly crafted mobile and is it so surprising the battery has its limitations? I think not.
We simply have to accept that this new breed of super phone is going to push battery levels to the limit. We cannot realistically compare such a mobile even with a modern phone dating back 12 months! Sure I have owned phones that have needed charging only twice per week but it was 'just' a phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really don't think battery life is bad at all. I leave WiFi on 24/7 and several voip apps and I easily get home every day with 14 hours use time and 30-40% battery left. I use the screen for 2-3 hours (on the train). I'm going to attach my battery life screenshot for yesterday. (The part with the rapid fall near the end is when I was watching youtube on the train on the way home...)
Ryland Johnson said:
Viewing angles. WHAT is this all about. May I, with respect, ask any one who places their phone in the kitchen and expects to see it form the third floor. Gross exaggeration there BUT its equally odd and questionable why some reviewers harp on about viewing angle? Unless I have been doing something wrong with my mobiles dating back to 1989 then I cant think why such a parameter is even mentioned. I don't want the person sitting next to me on the train looking at what I type in an SMS etc? WHO holds there mobile at 45 degrees to their viewing line of site and why?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is interesting, because one of the things I *don't* like about Sony is that their phones are missing something that all other Japanese makers (Sharp, Fujitsu, NEC, etc.) have as a standard feature - Veil View. This feature makes it much more impossible to read the phone from an angle by using a special LCD technology, while viewing it straight-on is only slightly impaired. This is such a strongly demanded feature that there are several apps in the Android market that attempt to emulate it for phones without the hardware support. (They can't change based on the angle though, so they make it just as hard to read for the actual user!

I think the viewing angles feature is being used to compare larger screens aka TV, monitors where it does matter since the screen will be seen from different positions but since a phone as far as I know is single user oriented it's a pointless subject of review.
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