resolution preferences??

[Adam Johansson]

Carsten Haitzler (The Rasterman) wrote:
> On Fri, 6 Jun 2008 00:02:14 -0400 "Steven Milburn" <steven.milburn at gmail.com>
> babbled:
>
>   
>> This question is probably just because I misunderstood something you said
>> before, but I'll ask anyway :)
>>
>> If it is acceptable to use QVGA, couldn't that basically be done without any
>> hardware changes?  I believe I remember you saying the glamo does scaling,
>> so couldn't you let SW treat the display as qvga, and just have the glamo
>> scale it up?
>>
>> Or, is the question more about having qvga instead of the glamo (which
>> leaves you back with the SDIO interface shortage)?
>>     
>
> we can just drive the vga screen at qvga. no need for scaling - just change the
> output at the lcd controller level. but it is a waste to pay for a vga screen
> when we won't use it. also it does look "blocky". it isn't about glamo or not -
> it's separate to glamo entirely. simply - how important is a vga screen...
> really? how many people out there can really see the difference? be really
> honest. stop thinking "my specs are bigger than your specs". scan u REALLY see
> all the pixels on a vga screen of that size. i bet to most people its all a
> blur - a qvga screen looks identical to them. only to a minority who have very
> good eyesight does it really make a difference, but this is just my "bet". i'm
> asking the question - and hoping for real honest answers.
>
>   
>> --Steve
>>
>> On Thu, Jun 5, 2008 at 10:42 PM, The Rasterman Carsten Haitzler <
>> raster at openmoko.org> wrote:
>>
>>     
>>> On Thu, 05 Jun 2008 11:50:43 +0200 Marc Bantle <openmoko at rcie.de> babbled:
>>>
>>>
>>>       
>>>>> quick question - would you prefer a qvga lcd (save a bit of cost) since
>>>>>           
>>> we'e
>>>       
>>>>> going to need to software-drive all graphics - the fewer pixels you
>>>>>           
>>> have to
>>>       
>>>>> fill, the better for speed. i'm really tossing up if the speed of qvga
>>>>>           
>>> is
>>>       
>>>>> worth the loss of resolution. i'm just not sure.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>           
>>>> Would that be 320x240 (QVGA [1]) or 480x320?
>>>>         
>>> qvga is 320x240. wqvga... that's a whole world of resolutions (400x240,
>>> 432x240, 480x272, 480x320). :)
>>>
>>>       
>>>> I think the latter would be acceptable in terms of usability.
>>>> OTOH it would also
>>>>         
>>> but it's not a drop-in replacement as its widescreen. we c ould go for 2.8"
>>> vga
>>> or 2.8" qvga. drop-in replacement. anything else mans new case/design etc.
>>> etc.
>>>
>>> also remember just getting supply of a screen is hard. you also need it at
>>> a
>>> decent physical size.
>>>
>>> i'm asking the question if going down to a (relatively) low resolution
>>> screen
>>> would be an ok compromise.
>>>
>>>       
>>>> - create extra maintenance cost for system and app themes
>>>>         
>>> one way or another we will need to be able to do multiple resolutions in
>>> the
>>> long-run.
>>>
>>>       
>>>> - narrow on-screen information for people with good eye-sight
>>>> (granny won't be affected ;-)
>>>>
>>>> Sofar I haven't suffered from lacking graphic speed on my
>>>> GTA01. It seemed that waiting for UI feedback was mainly
>>>> cause by other background processes (e.g. SD-read or such)
>>>> My interest are standard smartphone and geo apps and for
>>>> those I'd rather go for resolution.
>>>>         
>>> again - it depends what you want to do. :) gta01 actually performance
>>> better in
>>> many ways graphically :)
>>>
>>> --
>>> Carsten Haitzler (The Rasterman) <raster at openmoko.org>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Openmoko community mailing list
>>> community at lists.openmoko.org
>>> http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
>>>
>>>       
>
>
>   
Having an edge in the "my spec is bigger than yours"-world wide
championship is indeed good for marketing. Which sells more phones and
spreads the open concept.

Personally, i'd like VGA with the option to switch to QVGA for
power-saving. (You DID save power on QVGA, no?).

But then, I live in the west and the difference in price isn't a
showstopper for me.