Database Users

Grainy Screen

I just received my Xoom WiFi today. Background info : I own an iPhone and a Macbook Pro. When I first started up the Xoom, the first thing I noticed was that the honeycomb graphics were a little pixelated. Then I noticed the same thing in the music players - the album covers seemed pixelated.
Am I just spoiled by the retina display? Even the camera seemed like it wasn't 'HD'.

No one has a reply?

The xoom has a higher resolution but the screen is not as vibrant as others. Not sure how you would see pixels b/c of that. I dont see any pixels but I do only have 20/20 vision and view at a normal distance.

I dont notice any pixelation.
Compared to my girlfriends ipad2, the colours are not quite as saturated. I do notice the blacks seem better on the xoom and easier to read text while a webpage is scrolling.
There seems to be 2 different screens used on the xooms. The dmesg output says I have the AU optronics one.

DroidBee said:
...Am I just spoiled by the retina display? Even the camera seemed like it wasn't 'HD'.
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Yes... But, I too own an iPhone 4 & Touch 4G, but you forgetting about the pixel density, not just resolution. In other words, a smaller display size given the same resolution will appear to the eye, to yield better visual results (notwitstanding color, screen technology, etc..)...
A fairer comparison would be between the Xoom and an iPad - where the Xoom has better resolution but a larger display surface...
As for album art, it really depends on how the software renders the graphic & its stored size, in which case I agree with you - Apple has a better design point...
Make sense?
Best to you,
John

Thanks for the replies!
I was talking about the album art of the sample media on it.

Its the same: Galaxy Note 10.1 vs. Ipad 3 (Retina) Display

Hi
I made an amazing discovery when a colleague at work who owns a new Ipad 3 with Retina display compared the screen to my Galaxy Note 10.1. I always knew that pixel density was a big subject and specifically people worry that the mentioned Samsung tablet would fall behind because of a lower pixel count per inch. So we did a real life test to see for ourselves how much better the Apple display is.
My colleague sent me a picture he had preinstalled on the Ipad. You know one of those great looking flower pictures to really show the display quality. We were then holding both tablets next to each other to compare. Of course we both suspected that there would be quite a difference. But actually its the same! Both displays look amazing with great contrast and colors. The only visible difference was when we looked at the screen from about 10cm (4 inches). There you could see that the Samsung tablet has less pixels. But it is completely irrelevant as you would never use it from that distance. So bottom line I think if you worry about this tablets pixel density then try to compare the displays next to each other and you will see that the display is in fact excellent. So my conclusion is that the color quality, contrast and brightness are much more important because thats what you can actually see in real life scenarios.
P.S.: My colleague is quite an Apple fan (he owns Iphone, Ipad, Macbook, Ipod). So the fact that he also said its the same quality really means something. And second, we both don't wear glasses or lenses and should therefore see difference quote clearly (of course its not a lab test).
Hope that helps some other people to make a decision...

The pixel density difference shows up mainly in very small fonts, for instance, if you look at a web page in overview, portrait. Other than that you don't notice much difference.

mitchellvii said:
The pixel density difference shows up mainly in very small fonts, for instance, if you look at a web page in overview, portrait. Other than that you don't notice much difference.
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+1
And both displays are limited to similar 10 inch screen real estates. These displays have already surpassed the resolutions at which "normal user" productivity/usability will be impacted by further gains.
The retina display is visually striking on my wife's iPad 3, yes, but does not make her more productive. There is only so much information that the human hand, eye and mind can efficiently access at any one time on a 10 inch screen, and increasing resolutions will not overcome this, IMHO.
JC

It's particularly frustrating when reviewers argue that 1280x800 isn't 'good enough' anymore. Worse, they argue most new tablets are higher resolution. In fact, they aren't. Even the Infinity was announced at the same time as the TF300 which has 1280x800.
What they miss is that the Infinity has lower run time and the iPad 3 had to add a beefier battery, making it heavier and thicker, to keep the battery life up because of the higher resolution screen.
Higher resolution IS better, but it's not a linear improvement. Doubling the screen resolution doesn't give you more information - it makes the same information look a bit better. And I'd say QVGA is about as good as it needs to get unless tablets get physically larger.
Unfortunately, most techbloggers are Apple fans and so whatever Apple does is definitively 'the best and the right way to do it' and if someone doesn't go that way - they start with two strikes against them. (Of course, if they DO do it the same way, then they're 'copying'... there's really no way to win with Apple fans...)

bancswissunique said:
Its the same: Galaxy Note 10.1 vs. Ipad 3 (Retina) Display
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No, it's not. It's kind of ridiculous to say it is. Text and other visual elements with fine details are significantly better on a FHD display. I notice the graininess all the time in the browser and when reading books or magazines. Is it a show stopper? No. Would I have paid $50 more for a FHD display on the Note? Yes. All the other features (to me) outweighed the 720P display which is why I bought the Note and am happy with my decision. But I wouldn't buy a 720P TV over a 1080P TV all things being equal and I don't think most of you would either.

With a better display you wouldn't have Wacom. Then it would just be an Android iPad clone.

I went from the Infnity to the note and there is a definite and obvious difference in the image quality due to the screen resolution. It goes from extremely noticeable to only slightly noticeable depending on what you are looking at but the difference is obviously there. I'm sure that the retina display has an equally different look. I love the note but no need to deny it's shortcomings.

Agreed. That said, the resolution is a limitation of the Wacom. I'll take Wacom and deal with a mildly substandard screen.

I feel the difference every single second I am using my tablet (unless I am looking at something low resolution zoomed in). Other advantages outweighed this disadvantage, but it's far from being the same as an iPad, or even other 10" tablets that have 1080p screen.

Interesting, since I rarely feel the difference.

Pick one.
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BarryH_GEG said:
Pick one.
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The XOOM is MVA.

BarryH_GEG said:
Pick one.
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Neither one applies. Only thing I wish for is IPS.

TheWerewolf said:
It's particularly frustrating when reviewers argue that 1280x800 isn't 'good enough' anymore. Worse, they argue most new tablets are higher resolution. In fact, they aren't. Even the Infinity was announced at the same time as the TF300 which has 1280x800.
What they miss is that the Infinity has lower run time and the iPad 3 had to add a beefier battery, making it heavier and thicker, to keep the battery life up because of the higher resolution screen.
Higher resolution IS better, but it's not a linear improvement. Doubling the screen resolution doesn't give you more information - it makes the same information look a bit better. And I'd say QVGA is about as good as it needs to get unless tablets get physically larger.
Unfortunately, most techbloggers are Apple fans and so whatever Apple does is definitively 'the best and the right way to do it' and if someone doesn't go that way - they start with two strikes against them. (Of course, if they DO do it the same way, then they're 'copying'... there's really no way to win with Apple fans...)
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"QVGA"... You think 320x240 is a "good" tablet resolution?
Sent from my GT-I9300 using XDA Premium HD app

The above example with the zoomed in fonts is kinda meaningless. I mean, who holds the screen close enough to see that? I have both the Ipad3 and the Note 10.1. With my eyesight--even with glasses on--I do not see a difference with movies or pictures. In fact, movies look better on the Note because you get roughly 44.5 square inches of screen with the Note compared to 34.5 with the Ipad. (Given a 16:9 movie.) BTW, I have 20:30 near vision and 20:20 distant vision. So it's not like I have horrible vision. As good or better than 90% of the population.
The only time I can see a difference is with small fonts, eyeglasses on, screen held too close. Now, someone with outstanding eyesight may indeed see a difference in fonts. For those people, it could very well be that a higher resolution screen would be a big deal. Myself, even without the pen, it's not worth the marginal difference in sharpness given the compromises necessary to get FHD. With FHD Android tablets, render time is so slow as to make those tablets worthless to me. With the Ipad, the battery makes the Apple 44% heavier per usable square inch of screen area. (Again, given a 16:9 movie...)
Given the constraints current technology imposes, I prefer the resolution on the Note 10.1. A year or two down the road, when compromises aren't required, sure I'd like FHD. I'd pay an extra $50 to get it. I wouldn't pay an extra $100.

Nakel said:
The above example with the zoomed in fonts is kinda meaningless.
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So is any discussion that says 147PPI is equal to 264PPI. It makes a difference. If it doesn't make a difference to you that's your thing.

I compared the displays. I don't notice a difference at normal viewing distance so I definitely don't want to pay for more res. For images (pics & video), I like the Note's color & contrast better than the iPad. I don't want any more res until they increase the display size to at least 11.5". But, I thought the iPad 2 also looked good (sharp, clear, easy to read) at normal viewing distance and it has less res than the Note!
---------- Post added at 10:10 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:56 PM ----------
BarryH_GEG said:
So is any discussion that says 147PPI is equal to 264PPI. It makes a difference. If it doesn't make a difference to you that's your thing.
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It's obviously more pixels. It makes a difference only if you can *see* the difference. VGA (720x480) looks horrendously jagged to me on almost any size display. The text on my Samsung 720p TV doesn't look as good as the Note. I do see the pixels. The display is 42" though.
When you look at the Note's display at your normal reading distance, do you see the individual pixels? Do you need more pixels to make the text look smooth and clear? Maybe 1280x800 looks (to you) as bad as VGA looks to me?
-------
I'm not trying to give you a hard time. I only know how I see or how things look to me.

There is a difference even with the xda forums regarding the fonts between the note and retina display.
However, the difference is not a deal breaker because the notes display is still very good.

well I haven't used the Ipad but When I had both the infinity and note at thesame time I noticed a big difference When looking at websites and reading comics.the performance tradeoff for the infinity screen was not worth it for me though. I still think about the infinity screen sometimes even several weeks later but the overall benefits of the note are worth the lesser screen for me. I don't even have great vision but the difference was still obvious for me. The pen and smooth performance of the note won out although I do miss the infinity dock also.

BarryH_GEG said:
So is any discussion that says 147PPI is equal to 264PPI. It makes a difference. If it doesn't make a difference to you that's your thing.
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Certainly there's a difference, it's ludicrous to say there isn't. However, depending on eyesight and viewing distance, the difference can be anything from negligible to huge. That's why I pointed out in my post that for some it could be a big deal. For me, at the viewing distance I use, it's negligible. I think the important thing for people is not just to jump to the conclusion that FHD is a big deal without comparing screens for themselves. Some people are going to look at the two screens and think "BFD, what's the difference?" Others will look at the screens and say "Wow, I really like the FHD better." Only actual comparisons will really be useful for buyers. I think all the threads here show just that point. Some could care less about the difference, some think it's noticeable, some think it's a big deal. There's no right or wrong answer. Everyone I've shown both my tablets too can't discern the difference in resolution looking at videos and pictures. But then again, almost every one of those people has been over 45, so eyesight has certainly played a role there.
Just so you know BarryH_GEG, I didn't mean any disrespect with my comment. Your posts have been tremendously helpful to me with a number of devices. I'm very thankful that people like you do so much to help everyone here.

How did Samsung fail on this screen??

I wanted to love the N10 so bad. After the reviews came out, I was shocked to hear the reviewers say that the N10 screen is dim and a bit washed out. The screen on my GNexus is so fantastic and the Galaxy SIII has a even more beautiful screen.
How come Samsung couldn't come up with a brighter screen for the N10?? I am waiting to pick a display model and see for myself before I decide but this is a deal breaker for me. After you own a Prime/Infinity you can't go back to a dim screen.

Why put so much faith into a random review, even if it's from a reputable source?
People's opinions will differ so instead of listening to a review, just wait until you can test the device and check it out then.

KidCarter93 said:
Why put so much faith into a random review, even if it's from a reputable source?
People's opinions will differ so instead of listening to a review, just wait until you can test the device and check it out then.
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Unfortunately the anandtech benchmark wasn't good. 740 for contrast ratio is pretty low. That's more than just an opinion

Techie2012 said:
Unfortunately the anandtech benchmark wasn't good. 740 for contrast ratio is pretty low. That's more than just an opinion
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Benchmarks generally prove nothing at all. When deciding to get a phone, experience should always be more important then specs and scores.
If you're going to base all of your choices on what reviews, specs and benchmark scores say, you'll never end up getting a new phone.

KidCarter93 said:
Benchmarks generally prove nothing at all. When deciding to get a phone, experience should always be more important then specs and scores.
If you're going to base all of your choices on what reviews, specs and benchmark scores say, you'll never end up getting a new phone.
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+1
See it & play with it for yourself. Benchmarks aren't always updated & optimized. Reviewers aren't always unbiased. Try it doing the stuff that you would do with it to see if it will suit your needs...just like when shopping for TVs - take a video you know well to watch when comparing screens.

KidCarter93 said:
Benchmarks generally prove nothing at all. When deciding to get a phone, experience should always be more important then specs and scores.
If you're going to base all of your choices on what reviews, specs and benchmark scores say, you'll never end up getting a new phone.
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Click to collapse
Yes and I am planning to pick up a device in person at a store and see it for myself. But after several reviewers saying the same thing I'll have low expectations.

Most reviews call it the best screen out there or at least up with the iPad (screens made by Samsung), but still, no one's tested a final version yet, the way the HW performs it looks like performance is somewhat held back (battery optimization issue?), and that could mean screen brightness is held back. At the end of this month we'll have proper out-of-box tests and user reviews, so don't jump off the ship just yet.

It's possible that the reviewers have seen the anandtech stuff and so there's that power of suggestion going on there. Also, don't forget these reviewers are accustomed to the iPad absolutely destroying any other tablet they review in every way, so they are REALLY going to scrutinise this one more than any other device and go looking for any and every flaw they can. You can't blame them, really.
Of course, there is just the possibility that Samsung made a crappy display - but they are one of the leading HDTV manufacturers. All of the Sammy TVs I've seen are amazing on every front (surprisingly, even design, which seems a lot better than LG, Toshiba etc).
Speaking of which, why have Sammy not yet thought to borrow some of the design language from their TVs for their devices? They look brilliant, a lot better than a giant Note or Nexus would.

Google had the option to use Samsung's RGBW display that is both brighter and has higher contrast but they opted instead for a traditional RGB display. I'm curious to know the reasoning behind that.
Some interesting reading -
Samsung showcased two 10" 2560x1600 panels at the FPD expo last year, one with the PLS-LCD technology..., and the other with an RGBW matrix arrangement, which is essentially a PenTile version for LCD screens.
...it actually seems that Google wanted the RGB stripe type, as two reports quote its reps calling the Nexus 10 screen "True RGB Real Stripe PLS".
...the specs for the stripe matrix Samsung display quoted at the FPD expo were 300 nits vs 400 nits of brightness, since the PenTile arrangement is RGBW, with one clear (white) pixel that lets more backlight through... Besides this lower brightness, the RGB type was quoted to have 500:1 contrast, compared to 900:1 for the PenTile version.
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zinfinion said:
Google had the option to use Samsung's RGBW display that is both brighter and has higher contrast but they opted instead for a traditional RGB display. I'm curious to know the reasoning behind that.
Some interesting reading -
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Everyone's been left with a bad taste after PenTile showed how amazingly crap it can look on Sammy's 300+ PPI devices (unless the noise at low brightness is actually just OLED and not PenTile, in which case oopsie daisie).
Also, PenTile must have some downsides, otherwise people wouldn't keep saying they would never buy a PenTile device. 100 nits is not all that. The TF700's 600 nits or it doesn't matter.
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1080p on phones?

So I I have been researching extensively and reading many articles about 1080p screens on smartphones..... And I think I have figured it out. The human eye cannot see a difference between a 1080p smartphone and a 720p smartphone, however, there are a few drawbacks to having 1080p on a phone. One of them is battery life. It seems to use much more battery to display a 1080p resolution as opposed to a 720p resolution. And that gets multiplied when you're gaming. Also, applications and games will take up much more space then they did previously if they are optimized for the 1080p resolution. So my question is what do you guys think about the new 1080p smartphone screen Resolution Revolution? I'm hoping it doesn't make it into the Nexus 5, but that's just me.
°N4°

It's a marketing thing. Companies are going to do it because they feel like they have to and to be able to say true HD!! And think of all the tech blogs that will take a new phone down a peg or two for having "last year tech." But ultimately it's another megahertz or megapixel thing.
Sent from my Nexus 4

Endoran said:
It's a marketing thing. Companies are going to do it because they feel like they have to and to be able to say true HD!! And think of all the tech blogs that will take a new phone down a peg or two for having "last year tech." But ultimately it's another megahertz or megapixel thing.
Sent from my Nexus 4
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Reminds me of the old days when Intel just kept upping the clockspeed on their CPU's. So what if the tiny FSB choked the movement of information down to a crawl? The standard consumer didn't know any better. The number was higher, so people bought it. In the end, it's business. You do what sells. Gimmicks sell.
*cough* Siri *cough*

1080P is utterly useless in my opinion. To be honest I can't tell the difference between my HTC One and Nexus 4 in display. 1080P should stick with HDTVs. Imagine a 4K res phone in the future and how useless it is in a 4.7 and 5 inch screen -.-

I don't really understand the need for 1080P either. Hopefully Google realizes this and sticks with 720P for the next Nexus or Moto X phone.

Its a bloody 4-5" screen, 720p looks gorgeous, with that being said, if it costs no extra battery life and performance, than 1080p on a phone is not something worth complaining about.
However when I see 1366x768 on 15.6" laptops, than I am just dissapointed.

Have any of you actually seen a 720p and 1080p screen side by side? You can definitely see a difference...well at least I can. Every time anything gets a spec bump there are always you people saying "what's the point of blah blah blah". The point of it is that its possible so why not. Its a step forward...so we should just keep phones at 720p for as long as they become irrelevant? Should we keep laptop displays at 1080p?
No that's why we have a retina iPad and Macbook and a Chromebook Pixel and a Nexus 10. Just because the difference isn't as vast as 480p-720p doesn't mean its a useless change. A 1080p HD screen looks better than a 720p screen for me and many others and just because you cannot discern the difference doesn't mean it's pointless or useless.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

Serious_Beans said:
Have any of you actually seen a 720p and 1080p screen side by side? You can definitely see a difference...well at least I can. Every time anything gets a spec bump there are always you people saying "what's the point of blah blah blah". The point of it is that its possible so why not. Its a step forward...so we should just keep phones at 720p for as long as they become irrelevant? Should we keep laptop displays at 1080p?
No that's why we have a retina iPad and Macbook and a Chromebook Pixel and a Nexus 10. Just because the difference isn't as vast as 480p-720p doesn't mean its a useless change. A 1080p HD screen looks better than a 720p screen for me and many others and just because you cannot discern the difference doesn't mean it's pointless or useless.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
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I have. There is no difference in my opinion. I don't know if its my eyes or not but 720P and 1080P look different only in displays larger than 10 inches for me personally. To be honest it just puts more stress on battery and/or CPU on gaming since it needs to render at 1920 x 1080.

blahblah13233 said:
I have. There is no difference in my opinion. I don't know if its my eyes or not but 720P and 1080P look different only in displays larger than 10 inches for me personally. To be honest it just puts more stress on battery and/or CPU on gaming since it needs to render at 1920 x 1080.
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U must have sum eye problem there bro, put an HTC one next to HTC one x then tell me u don't see any difference, then I will tell you to see an optician.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium

blahblah13233 said:
I have. There is no difference in my opinion. I don't know if its my eyes or not but 720P and 1080P look different only in displays larger than 10 inches for me personally. To be honest it just puts more stress on battery and/or CPU on gaming since it needs to render at 1920 x 1080.
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IMHO the quality of the technology driving the resolution is more important than the res itself. Super Amoled v. Ips+ and such. In most cases however I think a distinguishable difference is present from my gnex to this DNA. And my battery dumps on that device.. Even though we all know the gnex has blah blah blah battery. I get 17hrs on moderate use. Never before. Soo personal preference? Although I'd take the n4 ANY DAY.
Sent from my HTC6435LVW using Tapatalk 2

Tybaltus Prime said:
IMHO the quality of the technology driving the resolution is more important than the res itself. Super Amoled v. Ips+ and such. In most cases however I think a distinguishable difference is present from my gnex to this DNA. And my battery dumps on that device.. Even though we all know the gnex has blah blah blah battery. I get 17hrs on moderate use. Never before. Soo personal preference? Although I'd take the n4 ANY DAY.
Sent from my HTC6435LVW using Tapatalk 2
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More so true. I dont like the oversaturated Super Amoled had after seeing the Galaxy Nexus had. Even if they had a 1080P res. Droid phones usually have better battery but say the Nexus 4 had a 1080P screen and with the battery it has now. It'll die out faster.

I mean 720P to FHD is important on a television sure but, in that situation it's easier to notice the bump in Res. In phones I doubt most consumers would even know the difference between qHD, 720P, and 1080P. If it's possible to add FHD w/o impacting battery+perf significantly then I all for it however if we must suffer with these tiny 3000>2xxxmah batteries then the tradeoff isn't worth it IMO. Increasing battery should be a top priority, the Razr MAXX battery should be in every high end phone.

Reminds me of camera phone megapixel discussions I have had with friends. "I have more megapixels than you do, then my camera is better" which isn't necessarily true. Anything pass 8mp isn't really needed because the majority of us will not be enlarging pictures to the point where the difference is noticeable(I think its 20x20 or 30x30). Also, the lens plays a large role as well but enough of the pixel talk.
720 is like the 8mp phone camera, it'll meet our needs and even exceed them dependent on the technology. 1080p screens just play into peoples ego's and the logic that bigger = better. We are programmed to think that way and the companies play us for the fools that we are.
Instead of a 1080p screen, I'd take a higher capacity battery and a 720p screen any day.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

Nexus 4 at 720p = 320 ppi. At 1080p it would be 480 ppi. If you think the naked eye at typical viewing distances can resolve the difference with all other things being equal, you need to see a psychiatrist instead of an optician.
Pushing 50% more pixels is going to take more CPU/GPU, hence more battery, again all things being equal. I'll take higher frame rates and lower overhead of 720p every time as those are actually noticeable.
But feel free to buy into the hype of 1080p on on a display the size of a pack of smokes, or 14Mp on a camera sensor the size of a match head. You'll make the marketing suits very happy. (c;

There is a video on YouTube somewhere, on it they are playing the same film on 2 tellys, they are both 42 inches and one is 720p and one is 1080p and just about no one can tell the difference.

I think most are not seeing the difference in resolution between 720/1080p on a phone, but instead seeing different screen technologies and attributing that to the screens resolution... IE - Super Amoled with its over-saturation and great blacks vs LCD IPS, etc.....
°N4°

Is there a difference between 720p and 1080p? Well of course there is, but I don't think its a night and day difference. If I go 1080P on a smartphone I want the screen to be at leat 5.5.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium

NardVa said:
Is there a difference between 720p and 1080p? Well of course there is, but I don't think its a night and day difference. If I go 1080P on a smartphone I want the screen to be at leat 5.5.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
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I recommend the LG Optimus G Pro for you. n_n
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Well, you can see the difference if you hold it 1cm away from your eyes.
we don't really need more than 720p on 4.3-5" displays in my opinion.
It's just ridiculous that 4.7" phones have displays with up to 1920x1080 pixel, yet 15.6" laptops are mostly stuck at 1366x768.
Also, why the hell do we have 27" PC monitors with 1080p? (Sure, there are some with 2560x1440 but those are way too expensive. Hell, I'm not going to pay 800€ for such a monitor)
That's just pure bull****.
Instead of pushing 1080p on phones and 1600p on tablets, they should push the resolution of laptops and desktop computers.

its called advancements and bragging rights of owning something thats better... and for battery life, I bet making a new battery design right now, slimmer and bigger cap....
tech advanced is really picking up right now compare to years ago...

Opinion: 4:3 Display is the worst design decision ever

I can't believe Google has chosen a 4:3 display standard which was abandoned when everyone moved away from CRT TV and monitors and to LCDs and LED displays to begin with. Sure some apps and all may seem to benefit from it, but those of us who use it for streaming media will hate to see the black bars on the top and bottom of everything we stream (or suffer distorted video from some sort of stretching). I can't see myself spending exorbitant amounts of money on a new tablet to only lose a good portion of my screen when streaming media (The majority of which is all 16:9 now). Especially when they have other options like what they did with Chrome Sticks that use 3:2 screen ration which can at least comfortably accommodate 16:9 [yes you have to stretch it, but it is still within reasonably and does not result in nearly as bad of a picture].
I will be voting with my wallet in an attempt to show Google not everyone just blindly buys the latest and greatest just because it is new. For another instance I am still happy with my Samsung T-Mobile S2 [T989] that is running Android 5.1 currently even better than any previous version including the official Jellybean 4.1.2 that's the last official release they did for my device. I even run some of the newest apps and games just find and do not feel any need to upgrade still 4 - 5 years after it's release. this also begs the question why Google needs to stop all production of their newer Nexus 7 variant (which was truly a nice upgrade from the original with a tougher case, better sound, and higher definition display). Why not just continue it's production in tandem with the newer 9? Why do they fel the need to pressure their users to purchase this newer better tablet? Why do they feel the need to appear if, if not truly really copying Apple? They have done fine going their own way up until now if I wanted an Apple product with a poorly designed screen I would go buy an Apple tablet.
I just feel the need to post this as a user and consumer of everything tech, I find it extremely unnerving that people seem to be making excuses about how and why 4:3 is better when EVERYONE has taken such pains to move to 16:9 with everything display wise? Why do people just seem to fall in line and buy the newest hardware just because it is newer? Why not look in to things and when it is not a great choice vote with their wallets instead of just posting a couple things online and still buying the "new better" thing even if they may not fully feel that way?
I don't mean to start a full on war either way I am just curious about these things and felt the need to ask. Please do not take any of this as an attack or attempt to flame anyone's emotions either way.

I'm good with it
The 4:3 ratio is maybe not optimal for watching movies. But it is better for playing Hearthstone, most games, and for web surfing. I love my Nexus 7 2013, and it's great for movies in many ways, and reading books, but not magazines or web-surfing. There's no 'perfect' screen ratio. It's always a tradeoff.

We all like different things for me it works really well.
Sent from my Nexus 9 using XDA Premium HD app

I have many complaints about my N9, but the 4:3 ratio is not one of them.
It's one of the best features of a tablet that is intended for productivity. This was never a tablet that had a "media streaming" label attached, far from it.

See, but that is what I don't get, no one has any issues with productivity on a 16:9 computer monitor and nor have I had an issue with it in using a tablet in the same regard. Why is it now attached to being more productive? Seems to me that would come from a better UI design that utilized the screen better if that's the concern and does not need to be tied to the display ratio itself. Again most "productivity" apps such as say office have made the transition rather well on 16:9 computer monitors, so I don't see that being a huge point that drives one to spend as much as they do on these tablets.
Also, to say that this tablet is not designed for media usage is kind of disingenuous as yes you may do some work on it, but generally speaking if productivity is your sole purpose and they wished to cater to that then why not do a productivity model and separate the 2 with different displays, again I still find this point confusing as a 16:9 computer monitor such as the one I am using now does just fine. From what I have seen again imo it would seem to be more of a UI issue in that regard and not the physical ratio of the display. That just seems like a justification made after the fact to me personally as this has been billed as more of an all around tablet line.
It seems to me that the reviewers have affixed the label productivity tablet to it as a justification for the switch to the older ratio that in general EVERYONE has made moves away from and not because that was why it was created to begin with.
ah well it does all come down to opinions really in the end and I appreciate the constructive feedback.

No offence taken here. Everyone is entitled to their own preference and opinion. I was very skeptical of the 4:3 ratio before buying my Nexus 9. I use it mainly as a media/content consumption device and for web browsing and I moved up from a Nexus 7. I know that 16:9 video would be larger on a 16:9 9" device but the black bars have never bothered me. I thought they would, but it really is a non issue for me personally. For web browsing and content consumption however, I have to say that in my opinion 4:3 is far superior. On the Nexus 7 I was always zooming in or turning the tablet to landscape mode because text and pics were so small. This made it feel like I was looking at a small portion of the content through a small magnifying glass. No such issue with 4:3 aspect ratio on the Nexus 9. I really don't think I would like 4:3 on a tablet under 9" as the small size of text and pictures would negate the larger field of view, but for the Nexus 9 at 9" and anything larger, I feel that 4:3 works better for me.
---------- Post added at 04:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:20 PM ----------
I think what they mean by "productivity" is how the spreadsheet or document etc. scales to the aspect ratio of the screen and how that scaling makes you feel like you are perceiving the content you are working on. The way a document scales to a 9"-10" 16:9 tablet in landscape orientation makes you feel like you are only seeing part of the document, even if the text is larger. In portrait orientation it just feels unnatural. You don't have this issue with a 16:9 notebook computer because the screen is typically 11" or larger to which the spreadsheet or document scales large enough to comfortably work with.
The way documents scale on a tablet in a 9"-10" 4:3 form factor in landscape orientation just feels right. You feel like you are seeing most, if not all, of the document you are working on and the text scales large enough to be readable without zooming in constantly. That's my personal observation on the whole "productivity" debate. Does that make sense?

It definitely depends on the use case for it. No one complains about 16:10 and 16:9 monitors typically because they are typically used landscape. The case for 4:3 is that since tablets can be used in multiple orientations, whichever way you hold it for whatever you are doing, you are still getting a decent amount of screen real estate/content in all directions. Here is a decent article on some perks of the 4:3 aspect ratio for a handheld tablet device.

4.3 is much better... My Nexus 10 feels awkward in portrait and in landscape i wish i had more vertical space... Specially since wr have a huge nav bar and status bar...
4.3 "is a good decision imo

It's fine for me

I wouldn't have bought this if it wasn't 4:3

Also 4:3 is awesome for anime

USBhost said:
Also 4:3 is awesome for anime
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It works well with comic/manga apps but anime tends to be 360/480/720p, leaving us with black boxes.

I had a Nexus 10 and, although it was great for watching media, it was unwieldy to use for basic tasks like reading the news, checking email, etc. For these use cases, which are mainly how I use my tablet, the Nexus 9 is a superior form factor.

RealPariah said:
I just feel the need to post this as a user and consumer of everything tech, I find it extremely unnerving that people seem to be making excuses about how and why 4:3 is better
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No need for excuses: 4:3 ist just way better for my typical usage scenarios. Sold my N10 just because I prefer the form factor of N9. If you don't like it, there are plenty of other options on the market...

aren't the new samsung tabs rumor to be 4:3 as well..

I have a couple thoughts here. Let me start out by saying I am a tablet junkie and I currently have 4 at my house / at work. nVidia Shield Tablet, Tab S 10.5, Note Pro 12.2 and the Nexus 9.
While the three 16:9 / 16:10 tablets are all nice for watching movies, other than that I do not find the aspect ratio to be useful. Since I've perhaps watched 5 total hours of movies on my tablets (although I do watch YouTube a lot), I don't consider movie / video watching to be the primary use for a tablet for me. For movies I prefer my 60" TV, and for youtube it doesn't bother me to watch a five minute anything with bars on the top and bottom when needed. But I will give you that *video* consumption is best at this aspect ratio. That said, the N9 and nVidia Shield Tablet are the same basic width except with different aspect ratios and movie content gives you a bit more screen size on the N9. Not much more, but a bit more. So to me there is nothing gained by moving "down" to the Shield Tablet just so the aspect ratio is the same.
I however, use my tablet for productivity and gaming. All of my medical books are either in Adobe DRM format which I use Mantano Reader Premium for, or Kindle format. Since these are all technical books with pictures, graphs, tables etc, none "resize". They are all presented in US book format which is 4:3. When viewing the same book in the same app on my Tab S 10.5 and the Nexus 9 the two screens present the material at the same exact size on screen, the 10.5 (or any 16:9 tablet) displays the book with black bars at the top and bottom of the screen. So while the N9 is considerably smaller and more comfortable to hold in portrait mode for long periods of time, it shows the book at the same size as the 10.5 does. Big win for the N9. For Word documents, and Excel spreadsheets the N9 shows more useful data with the on screen keyboard up. The nVidia Shield Tablet is the same width as the N9 but due to its 16:9 (or 16:10) format shows very little of any document including email when the keyboard is showing. It's basically useless for productivity. Sorry but for real productivity apps 4:3 is just better for me and the apps I use. While 16:10 may work great for books outside the US here where I live and where I work and use the tablet, this content works best in 4:3. Using the on screen keyboard in landscape mode is easy on the N9, the center keys are a stretch of your thumbs when holding the tablet.
Games are not an issue at all on the N9. RR3, DH5, Order and Chaos, Hearthstone and Darkness Reborn are the games I play; and all play just fine and dandy on the N9.
I bought the N9 specifically for the 4:3 aspect ratio as have many others. I know it does not work best for you, but does EVERY Android tablet made have to suit you? Can't those of us who prefer 4:3 actually get a well specced Android tablet? Everyone I work around uses iPads as they are made for reading books, writing documents etc in the US. My screen has always had tons of useless space. Finally one decent 4:3 tablet comes around and I bought it as soon as I learned it's 4:3. Sadly right now it's the only nicely spec'd 4:3 Android tablet as the new Samsung A series is low end specs.
Seriously, 4:3 works for some people better than what you want.

"I will be voting with my wallet"
That's nice, have a nice day
Sent from my Nexus 9 using XDA Free mobile app

Disagree entirely, I'll take 4:3 on a ~9" tablet screen every single time. Any tablet that is widescreen, I won't even consider purchasing it.

I believe the new Galaxy Tab S is suppose to be a 4:3 as well. If that is the case and does actually happen, it would only sound logical that Android companies are starting to see how good 4:3 ratio is for a tablet. I own a N9 and Galaxy Tab S. The 16:10 ratio is great for watching movies, but that's all its great for in my opinion. You also still end up with black bars anyways, although not as big. I still don't mind 16:10, I just feel it's not as useful as 4:3. Especially when using it on a good sized tablet like the Tab S 10.5 I own. Holding the thing in portrait is extremely awkward and everything is smushed. In the 5 6 months I've owned the Tab S I've probably had it in portrait no more then 30 minutes total.
It's funny because I came from a IPad mini 2 last year. Was my first tablet and the reason I moved to the Tab S was mainly because I prefer Android but also wanted something bigger and was tired of those black bars. Now all this time later I find myself missing that 4:3 and end up using my Nexus 9 much more because of it. Don't get me wrong I would still probably buy another 16:9 or 16:10 tablet if it was smaller like the Nexus 7 or Shield and I really REALLY liked the look of it. However for me personally 4:3 is superior and thats coming from someone who watches a ton of youtube content. I still get a great/big enough picture (imo) and when I want to go browse the web or get some things done, I'll enjoy it much more. To eachs own I guess. I still think Google made a good decision on the ratio and I believe we will start seeing more and more Android 4:3's.

16:9 is the worst ratio for a tablet under 12". It's too narrow in either orientation. I've had 3 wintabs so far an hated 16:9. 16:10 is my favorite and hate that monitors have e all gone 16:9. At the same diagonal size you get less screen area. I had to replace all our 24" monitors with 27" just to get the same height.
You guy do realize that watching 16:9 content on a 16:10 device has black bars too? Most android tablets are 16:10.
For what I use this tablet for 4:3 is great. I didn't really think I'd dig it, but I love it and prefer it at sizes under 9". I've stated before, at this size and ratio it's as tall as an 8.4 and as wide as a 10.1 at 16:10 held portrait.