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Hello,
I've run BiffMod-HD2 Vanilla Froyo and am currently running MDJ's CyanogenMod 7 Gingerbread on my HD2.
In both instances, UI elements and apps with gradients look low-quality and have step banding.
I think it may be only with PNG files used in backgrounds, buttons, and widgets etc. Anyway, its ugly. Does anybody know why this is and how to fix it?
I took screenshots, but they the gradients look perfectly smooth when I view them on my computer.
I'm having the same issue. It's happened on every ROM I've flashed. Hopefully someone will provide some insight here.
Does anybody know?
Same problem. I think, it happens because HD2 screen is 65k colours only, and Windows Mobile UI is adapted for this mode. But Android was designed for AMOLED screens with millions of colours...
wilderwind said:
Same problem. I think, it happens because HD2 screen is 65k colours only, and Windows Mobile UI is adapted for this mode. But Android was designed for AMOLED screens with millions of colours...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes the banding is due to 65K color limitation to the HD2 screen. I guess the banding disappears while using the Launcher Pro.
kundanjuit said:
Yes the banding is due to 65K color limitation to the HD2 screen. I guess the banding disappears while using the Launcher Pro.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is it hardware or software limitation? Any way to unlock another color modes?
It is not hardware limitations. There is already another thread with a ton of info. If you want banding to go away, use LauncherPro WITHOUT a live wallpaper until a permanent fix is implemented.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=933444&highlight=banding
mayurolla said:
It is not hardware limitations. There is already another thread with a ton of info. If you want banding to go away, use LauncherPro WITHOUT a live wallpaper until a permanent fix is implemented.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=933444&highlight=banding
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. I didn't think it was because of the screen's color limitations. If so you would see banding in JPGs and video. The banding only seems to appear on PNG files, which happen to be used in most graphical UI elements.
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App
Just tried Launcher Pro and I still have the same problem. I used to use Launcher Pro on BiffMod Froyo and the same thing. The problem presists with 2.2 Launcher, 2.3 Launcher, Zeam, ADW, and Launcher Pro.
And its not only in Widgets. It can be seen in most UI buttons, the call screen, and most predominantly in the voice command pop up. That thing looks like a coin would shoot out if Mario hit it with his fist.
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App
The banding remains elsewhere, but using launcherpro, the banding disappears on the widgets and wallpaper. AGAIN YOU CAN NOT USE A LIVE WALLPAPER with launcerpro or else banding will appear. Then under advanced settings, select high quality scrolling so you dont see banding while scrolling.
I'm using LauncherPro with PureGingerbread this works for me.
mayurolla said:
The banding remains elsewhere, but using launcherpro, the banding disappears on the widgets and wallpaper. AGAIN YOU CAN NOT USE A LIVE WALLPAPER with launcerpro or else banding will appear. Then under advanced settings, select high quality scrolling so you dont see banding while scrolling.
I'm using LauncherPro with PureGingerbread this works for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't use live wallpapers. Still doesn't work for me. Oh well. Using Launcher Pro is really just. Bandaid anyway. The root of the problem is still unknown, at least to me and most people here.
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App
There is a thread about this and your answer you are looking for is post #10
hello00 said:
There is a thread about this and your answer you are looking for is post #10
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome. Thank you.
First of all, I should say, if this topic has already been discussed, then I apologise, and pelase just point me to the right direction. If not, let's get the discussion going!
I started this thread really for 2 reasons. One is to find out for myself (and hopefully for others) which launcher app is more suitable for my needs. And the second one is to have a discussion on the pro's and con's of the different launchers available.
For the GNote as a standard there is the TW launcher of course. I haven't seen any real shortcomings with it. I quite like it. it's clean, smooth and it works.
I am aware of three others: ADW, GO launcher, and launcher pro. I think ADW has a free and a pay version, and I assume the pay version has more features.
I haven't used any of the others on the GNote, and I never used the GO launcher. However, I did use ADW and LauncherPro both on my viewsonic Gtab. On that particular device I found launcher pro more suitable for my needs. Again, it was clean, simple and smooth.
I've never attempted using addons for either, and I am now becoming aware of the different ways to change icons, themes, etc. It'd be interesting to know what can be done with which launchers...
SS launcher
Why: cause it doesn't suck
Sorry, all I can write for now
From the Beast : Galaxy Note
If I'm not mistaken, only the stock TW Launcher has true hardware acceleration thanks to Samsung's work on it. Every other launcher should be software driven (i.e., CPU taxing).
Go Launcher Ex. I tried almost all popular ones and Go is just the best IMO. I can resize widgets, easily create folders and it's highly customizable.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium
QQLauncher is the beat imho
Wysłane z mojego GT-N7000 za pomocą Tapatalk
ssLauncher
ssLauncher because:
It's truly different
It is completely configurable, down to the pixel
All widgets can be resized (although some get funny)
shortcuts can be of any style whatsoever (individually) making for a unique layout
It does not lag at all on my set-up (although transitions are a bit tricky to set up right)
You can have page names (the main thing I wanted)
It's truly different!
Nova Launcher!
Otherwise ADW, I like it's customizability. Never tried SS Launcher though.
If you use gb i think go launchr is optimal choice, but for ics nova is the fastest one
Sent from my GT-I9220 using XDA App
sprintuser1977 said:
SS launcher
Why: cause it doesn't suck
Sorry, all I can write for now
From the Beast : Galaxy Note
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow you are damn right. This app makes so much sense. very unique indeed.
I personally use now Go Launcher Ex-highly customizable etc...but I recommend you to have a look at the "Post your homescreen" threads where you'll see different types of homescreens and launchers by the users.
Another site which is quite good for this is mycolorscreen.com/ where you'll see different homescreens and normally the Widgets in use with the market link. So you'll be able to learn how to customize your screen on your own
tap*talked via GT-N7000 (GB.XXLA4)
Am I the only one who dislike multi pages launchers? On the Gnote this artifice is not necessary anymore, I just have ADW with only one screen and with some tuning I have enough room for my often used apps, two folders and a off off my kid. I even disabled auto rotate. On such a big screen landscape makes no sense for home screen and most apps but pictures and video.
guibog said:
Am I the only one who dislike multi pages launchers? On the Gnote this artifice is not necessary anymore, I just have ADW with only one screen and with some tuning I have enough room for my often used apps, two folders and a off off my kid. I even disabled auto rotate. On such a big screen landscape makes no sense for home screen and most apps but pictures and video.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One word: Widgets!
I used to use ADW but it ha gotten too buggy, and it looks like it's not being developed anymore .
These days it's go launcher, but really it's just a place holder until I can load ICS, and the stock launcher
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk
Am I the only one who thinks the none of the launchers are doing it right?
For all I know, TW launcher is the only launcher that uses hardware acceleration. It NEVER lags. Compared to other launchers, I'd stick with it. (I'm on RR v22, ICS for RR v1.6)
TW launcher on ICS for RR looks so much better than stock TW. It makes it bearable. Plus it doesn't lag.
VTL launcher 1.7.0 with left and right docks active, absolutly the more versatile one!
Inviato dal mio GT-N7000 usando Tapatalk
AA1973 said:
I personally use now Go Launcher Ex-highly customizable etc...but I recommend you to have a look at the "Post your homescreen" threads where you'll see different types of homescreens and launchers by the users.
Another site which is quite good for this is mycolorscreen.com where you'll see different homescreens and normally the Widgets in use with the market link. So you'll be able to learn how to customize your screen on your own
tap*talked via GT-N7000 (GB.XXLA4)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great site, thanks! Just opened it and found a great homescreen containing several widgets I've been literaly looking for and didn't know they exist. Can't post links yet unfortunately, but you can go have a look and see if it also catches your attention Its on a Note too!
guibog said:
Am I the only one who dislike multi pages launchers? On the Gnote this artifice is not necessary anymore, I just have ADW with only one screen and with some tuning I have enough room for my often used apps, two folders and a off off my kid. I even disabled auto rotate. On such a big screen landscape makes no sense for home screen and most apps but pictures and video.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not that I dislike them, but I'm sure gonna go for as few as I can. Thinking about 2 or so, depends on how many widgets I'm actually gonna need. I don't like to keep scrolling to find what I want.
I installed several launchers and launcher modifiers. Most modifiers sucked. I think they put adware on my phone because once a day or so I get an advert pop up that is not from my provider (I recognise some new type of icons in the notification bar). I uninstalled the launcher modifiers very quickly so I forgot their names. I tried ADW, and so far decided to stick with launcher pro, as it gave me what I needed (customised icons for apps and dock). Anything else wasn't really of interest for me from a functional perspective.
Im using launcher pro on the chinese leak ICS and its so smooth its insane. It looks to be rendering in 60p while using a live wallpaper with absolutely no lag at all. I like the animations and options in it but it is getting a little dated and could do with an upgrade to add some more widgets and functionality.
This was fairly smooth on GB roms pretty much the same as TW launcher but on the ICS leak this flies
You can shrink and zoom all widgets in the paid version from 1x1 to full screen and this works well with nearly every widget I have tried. This is very useful when reducing DPI even though atm I am using the stock 320 incase it breaks something reducing this.
The TW launcher is so low for me when scrolling left and right even though its smooth it just moves across pretty slow, I like to get to where I want quick and launcher pro does this. I havent tried many other launchers lately but tried them all before and keep going back to launcher pro even though it hasnt been updated in a while.
@martcerv: So how is that ICS leak working out for you? Many seem to have problems of all sorts with it...
I have been using spb shell 3d in tablet mode with resizable widgets and for me its the best.
It displays 8 rows x 6 columns and is really suited to the Note. The labels maybe small for some, but not really needed.
For me its the best experience, its compatible with the ICS chainfire release and is very smooth and responsive.
I have adjusted dpi to 213 for better views in gmail etc, but this does not effect shell 3d. At 213 dpi you loose the top bar for some reason, but have put info onto homescreen, see pic
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
I've noticed after switching to Apex Launcher, that if you try to change any of the app icons away from the Touchwiz icons, they look blurry. It seems most of the icons built-in to the third-party launchers and icon packs are not xxhdpi, which is what our 1080p screens need to look best.
Does anyone know where to get xxhdpi icons, especially the stock jellybean ones? Do you guys notice this also?
Not sure if this is what you want but check out DCikonz
Play store
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda premium
Mushroom. said:
I've noticed after switching to Apex Launcher, that if you try to change any of the app icons away from the Touchwiz icons, they look blurry. It seems most of the icons built-in to the third-party launchers and icon packs are not xxhdpi, which is what our 1080p screens need to look best.
Does anyone know where to get xxhdpi icons, especially the stock jellybean ones? Do you guys notice this also?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not stock icons, but Kovdev makes really nice xxhdpi icon sets; Tersus and Stark are my favorities. They aren't free, but these are really well done if you're into that kind of stuff.
tysj said:
Not stock icons, but Kovdev makes really nice xxhdpi icon sets; Tersus and Stark are my favorities. They aren't free, but these are really well done if you're into that kind of stuff.
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Click to collapse
yeah I have Tersus installed and they look fantastic
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Try the glass theme by samer zayer...love it
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2
I downloaded the Stark theme, the icons look good.
Still looking for somewhere to get stock Google icons from. Seems strange that they're not available in a resolution for 1080p screens anywhere.
Ones that are scaled for the mobile displays and not the desktop/tablet ones? Been looking to switch up my wallpaper a bit, but the ones I grab off the Internet just don't look good on the phone the majority of the time.
megagodx said:
Ones that are scaled for the mobile displays and not the desktop/tablet ones? Been looking to switch up my wallpaper a bit, but the ones I grab off the Internet just don't look good on the phone the majority of the time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For the moment I am just rotating & cropping desktop 1440p wallpaper in Nova Launcher. If there are more 1080X1920 portrait wall paper I'd like to see them.
Try ZEDGE
megagodx said:
Ones that are scaled for the mobile displays and not the desktop/tablet ones? Been looking to switch up my wallpaper a bit, but the ones I grab off the Internet just don't look good on the phone the majority of the time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use an app called ZEDGE - you can download and install hundreds (thousands) of Hi Definition, awesome quality Wall Papers - I personally like wall papers that have a sort of 3d effect - with depth to the image - and I found quite a few from ZEDGE - You will find it here;
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.zedge.android&feature=nav_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDNd
As an added bonus, you can also download free ringtones, notifications and alarms. I love it - good luck - hope it works for you.
If I have helped, don't forget to say thanks.
I posted in the themes sub forums that the correct resolution for the phone is 2160x1920. This results in the most detailed backgrounds. Personally I've found there to be a lack of wallpapers for my taste in this resolution so I resorted to the slightly more common 2560x1920 wallpapers. It crops wide, but height is perfect.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda app-developers app
I found a nice website with a lot of 2160X1920 wallpaper for GS4 here :http://www.mygalaxys4wallpaper.com/gallery.php?gallery_id=21_Space&paging=0
Just updated my own Wallpaper.
pics work too; i snapped this one the other day, desaturated it, and cropped it.
I find good pictures then I make the HD background. For best support I crop and scale them to 1920x1920. Then it works for vertical and horizontal screen without anomalies.
Sent from my awesome AT&T SAMSUNG GALAXY S4 SGH-I337 using xda developers app.
Well, to get full HD wallpapers I can only recommend http://fhdwallpapers.weebly.com/ . The site is easy to use and browse, and it's commited to providing only vertical (portrait) 1080p wallpapers for mobiles; some high quality stuff there actually.
If you want full HD wallpapers with the status bar shadow effect (my personal favorite), then go to http://fhdwallpapers.weebly.com/shadows.html .
I've been enjoying my Shield since I got it 2 months ago, and like the original Kitkat look to it, the background and the colors. Well after upgrading to Lollipop I was horrified to see that the color theme is completely opposite. The app drawer is white!!!! How awful is that? Anyway, I've never needed to get a launcher in the past on my phones because the roms I used were customizable enough to get a theme or color set I liked. But with the Shield Tablet... I'm just not fond of the roms available.
So whats the popular launchers and are there any cool themes? I'm looking for something to make my Shield Tablet look like a "Shield Tablet" again and not some bright white lollipop stick in the mud...
You can always just flash back to KitKat.
You can always use Nova Launcher (my choice)
A lot of people swear by Nova.
I still like ADW Launcher Ex (runs fine on my Shield with Lollipop) - just hope to see an update since it's been hinted...
Sent from my SHIELD Tablet using XDA Free mobile app
Thanks for the responses, I'll give those two a look. I know I could go back to kitkat, but for how long will I be sticking to Kitkat while the OS is updated throughout the years... Eventually I'd have to move on, so trying to now. Oh, and why the hell is there no auto brightness like kitkat had? I have t manually set the brightness now...
There is still auto-brightness in Lollipop, it's just implemented a bit differently. It's the "Adaptive Brightness" option that's found in your display settings. Juts like normal auto-brightness, it adjusts your screen brightness automatically based on your surrounding. Adjusting the brightness slider with adaptive brightness on changes how aggressively the screen up-clocks its brightness. So if you have adaptive brightness on and you pull the slider to the max value, the display will work like normal auto-brightness but will tend to favor higher brightness more of the time. (and vice versa). It's like normal auto-brightness but with the ability to customize how aggressive the setting is.
And as for a launcher, I've been very happy with Nova for years.
I've been trying Nova and Go launcher. I like how simple Nova is, but I like how many themes and styles Go has. It doesn't look like Nova has themes, other than icons...
No, Nova doesn't have an integrated theme engine like Go does. I just like Nova's little tweaks and adjustments.
Hope you can find one you like. One of the first things I do when I get a new device is add a custom launcher.
Buzz launcher.. Awesome themes.. And you can basically setup custom themes yourself if you know what to do. I've gone buzz and never looked back.
DFA1 said:
I've been enjoying my Shield since I got it 2 months ago, and like the original Kitkat look to it, the background and the colors. Well after upgrading to Lollipop I was horrified to see that the color theme is completely opposite. The app drawer is white!!!! How awful is that? Anyway, I've never needed to get a launcher in the past on my phones because the roms I used were customizable enough to get a theme or color set I liked. But with the Shield Tablet... I'm just not fond of the roms available.
So whats the popular launchers and are there any cool themes? I'm looking for something to make my Shield Tablet look like a "Shield Tablet" again and not some bright white lollipop stick in the mud...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nova definitely.. plenty of icon sets etc for it although there's no overall theme engine, lots of adjustment though.
F.
DFA1 said:
I've been enjoying my Shield since I got it 2 months ago, and like the original Kitkat look to it, the background and the colors. Well after upgrading to Lollipop I was horrified to see that the color theme is completely opposite. The app drawer is white!!!! How awful is that? Anyway, I've never needed to get a launcher in the past on my phones because the roms I used were customizable enough to get a theme or color set I liked. But with the Shield Tablet... I'm just not fond of the roms available.
So whats the popular launchers and are there any cool themes? I'm looking for something to make my Shield Tablet look like a "Shield Tablet" again and not some bright white lollipop stick in the mud...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been using Action Launcher since the shield came out, and I like it alot. Version 3 hasn't been out all that long, but its got a nice material theme to match the rest of the OS, but you can theme it to a fixed color (Material Dark is what I do), or let it adapt to to colors of your wallpaper. Give it a shot?
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.actionlauncher.playstore&hl=en