5" screen (on a P2)

[monty]

Anyway, a 720p 5" screen seems a likely candidate for future production, even if it isn't available now.


Its a pretty strong standard, and would fill the lid better.


Could we get a 5" 16:9 screen in the current case if only the speaker mountings were removed?


Am I right in thinking that the expense in case design is repeated tweaks until it fits/works?

Its a standard for televisions, for sure. But unless some significant work is done to the OS/browsers/other apps this would make most text painfully small on a 5" screen. There isn't much need for 720 pixels down (which means 1280 pixels across) unless you intend to watch films four inches from your nose. 600 pixels down would be nice if possible, and would hopefully not only mean no significant work on the OS, but actually make it easier as no dragging to see windows needed. But I would caution against asking for more pixels than could be of real use, or equating them with a better quality of picture.

 

[craigix]

Unfortunately Samsung et al. seem to have decided on standard resolutions for sizes, 4.3" is stuck at the current res it would seem.


That said, if you try Android on a 800*480 screen it looks like it's a much higher res thanks to clever rendering.


I didn't know the G2S was so far off the iPhone4 res until I looked it up.

 

[monty]

Well, there's probably no rush for a P2 so maybe the standards will change. At the heart of these P2 discussions I keep seeing this dilemma; are we trying to keep up with handheld consoles or smartphones? If the former then I'd say there's a good few years before a sequel need happen, so long as production picks up and the price eventually drops.


EDIT: If the latter, gods help us!

 

[craigix]

Well the Pandora2 should be the best it can be, and that will be the goal.


The P1 was very ahead of its time when we first started, we were then unfortunately held up by the fact what we were trying to do was seriously complex.


The P2 won't be held up like that, we know what we need to do and the best way to do it now.


So we can seriously launch something to rival the best hardware on the market.

 

[Stephane Hockenhull]

There isn't a screen available that would fit and be as good as the current one, the only one I'm aware of, which is 256k colours only, is pretty expensive - and would still require a complete case redesign.

I don't see an issue with using a 256K color screen.


6bits per channel is perfectly fine with high resolution and combined spacial and temporal dithering you get an effective 2M colors at the very least.


you get HD text on high contrast and great colors on smooth shades using temporal dithering. when combined with an LCD's slow reaction on small changes it blends everything, you can't see the dithering when its well done.


besides, the machine is faster when rendering and displaying 32K/65K colors and more memory is available.


you have to intentionally look for banding at 256K colors and that's only on a static picture.


big boohoo on not having 16M colors.

 

[slaeshjag]

There isn't a screen available that would fit and be as good as the current one, the only one I'm aware of, which is 256k colours only, is pretty expensive - and would still require a complete case redesign.

I don't see an issue with using a 256K color screen.


6bits per channel is perfectly fine with high resolution and combined spacial and temporal dithering you get an effective 2M colors at the very least.


you get HD text on high contrast and great colors on smooth shades using temporal dithering. when combined with an LCD's slow reaction on small changes it blends everything, you can't see the dithering when its well done.


besides, the machine is faster when rendering and displaying 32K/65K colors and more memory is available.


you have to intentionally look for banding at 256K colors and that's only on a static picture.


big boohoo on not having 16M colors.

And most people doesn't seem to mind that the current OS only outputs with 65k colors.

 

[mattman]

A sliding Screen.


the clamshell is awesome. its still a hinge and can wear.


a sliding clam might be better. with the screen and speakers facing out/up sliding out to reveal all the glory of the keyboard assembly.

 

[Wrath Of Khan]

Well the Pandora2 should be the best it can be, and that will be the goal.


The P1 was very ahead of its time when we first started, we were then unfortunately held up by the fact what we were trying to do was seriously complex.


The P2 won't be held up like that, we know what we need to do and the best way to do it now.


So we can seriously launch something to rival the best hardware on the market.

Music to my ears.

 

[monty]

Well the Pandora2 should be the best it can be, and that will be the goal.


The P1 was very ahead of its time when we first started, we were then unfortunately held up by the fact what we were trying to do was seriously complex.


The P2 won't be held up like that, we know what we need to do and the best way to do it now.


So we can seriously launch something to rival the best hardware on the market.

I should clarify, the "gods help us" comment was a reference to the lifespan of the product, not the chance of it being better than the competition at the launch date. There's a lot to be said for a stable hardware platform; even more so if it starts from the sort of position you suggest it will/could.

 

[FRZ]

There isn't a screen available that would fit and be as good as the current one, the only one I'm aware of, which is 256k colours only, is pretty expensive - and would still require a complete case redesign.

I wouldn't say a complete redesign but, i think some small tweaks are in order.

 

[sukhi2011]

Everything is going 1080i,it would be better if p2 has this hd instead of 720p.

 

[Caine]

Everything is going 1080i,it would be better if p2 has this hd instead of 720p.

The screen is WAY too small for that. Being able to output 1080i/p over video-out would be great, having it as screen resolution doesn't make much sense.

 

[sebt3]

Knowing that the caanoo is more powerfull per-pixel than the pandora (yep AAAA is faster on caanoo than on pandora) this topic amuse me a little. The more pixel the more powerfull the GPU need to be. The pandora is already GPU bottlenecked in most port/game right now, adding more pixels to the mix wont help

 

[-Tj-]

Everything is going 1080i,it would be better if p2 has this hd instead of 720p.

My eyes are very sensitive to interlacing, so I'd rather have 720p than 1080i any day. 1080i output I wouldn't mind, since it'd be like an added extra, but interlacing on my main screen would drive me mad.

 

[Christoph.Krn]

That said, if you try Android on a 800*480 screen it looks like it's a much higher res thanks to clever rendering.


I didn't know the G2S was so far off the iPhone4 res until I looked it up.

Most of the higher readability is probably not software based. The Galaxy II S has Samsung's "Super AMOLED Plus" screen. This uses Samsung's "Real Stripe" matrix that somewhat improves image details, but more importantly has very good contrast and no "grain" due to being OLED, being very bright, and being glossy.


The readability of small text is highly dependent on the characteristics of the screen the text is being read from. A good anti-reflective glossy screen with 1280x720 pixels at 5" (if there was one, I guess) could be potentially more readable than the Pandora's screen.

 

[Neelix]

erm... aren't anti-reflective and glossy mutually exclusive?


- Neelix

 

[-Tj-]

You can have a glossy screen that has an anti-glare coating on it. Technically-speaking it's not glossy but the surface remains smooth so the pixels remain sharper. It's (imo) better than the matte screens, and a step above glossy.


Though now that I think about it, are there any resistive touch screens that have anti-glare coatings on them? Given the soft nature of the surface, I'd imagine they'll rub off quite readily, and none of my past resistive touch screen devices had any type of coatings on them afaik. If P2 goes capacitive there's more wiggle room there for coatings, but personally I don't like the idea of using a capactive screen with a full desktop.

 

[Christoph.Krn]

erm... aren't anti-reflective and glossy mutually exclusive?

Making a screen matte only diffuses light, whereas other solutions figuratively eat parts of the reflected light. A good example of this is Nokia's Clear Black technology (Example, Example). Other techniques have been used in some higher-priced desktop screens (Example (scroll down to "Lights on"), Example (extreme)) and laptop screens (Example) for several years now.


Sadly, most glossy screens are indeed extremely glossy, and so many people are stuck with the "matte is less reflective" thought. There are cases in which a matte screen is better than an anti-reflective glossy screen, such as when a screen is not easily adjustable (enough) and is reflecting bright ceiling lights all of the time, but it's not remotely better in all cases. For instance, my laptop's anti-reflective, bright, glossy screen is more readable in direct sunlight than any matte screens I have ever used in direct sunlight so far.


Some matte screen protectors are apparently particularly bad.

 

[Nintendo]

I quite like the screen size of a small tablet...7"

 

[Grench]

There isn't a screen available that would fit and be as good as the current one, the only one I'm aware of, which is 256k colours only, is pretty expensive - and would still require a complete case redesign.

The current case creaks, cracks and rattles. Frankly, I would put that towards the top of the 'redesign list' for a P2 anyway. Rebuilding the case to match a bigger/better screen sounds like a win/win.

Well the Pandora2 should be the best it can be, and that will be the goal.


The P1 was very ahead of its time when we first started, we were then unfortunately held up by the fact what we were trying to do was seriously complex.


The P2 won't be held up like that, we know what we need to do and the best way to do it now.


So we can seriously launch something to rival the best hardware on the market.

This device revolves around it's screen. Don't skimp there - raise the price if you have to, but with current device trends (iPad 3, Galaxy Note) toward extremely high pixel density and larger screens in portable devices - you don't want to be stuck at 4.3" if you can do 5"+ and still maintain a pocket-able clam shell device format.


Start with finding the ideal screen - then build the device around that. If you think 800x480 is the best hardware on the market, then you're out of touch.


Galaxy Note: 1200x800 at 5.3".


iPhone 4s: 960x640 at 3.5"


Your keymat is great - keep it.


Your nubs are great - if anything, make them socketed so it's easier to repair/replace them.


Clam shell design - winner.


Audiophile amps - must have.


Dual full size SD slots - make it 3 with one behind the battery and skip the NAND. Need to be capable of 100MB/sec read.


Shoulder buttons - get rid of the two giant flapper paddles and put in four (two per side) real buttons - slightly recessed. You could use the same molds as the AXBY buttons minus the letters - and two small circuit boards mounted vertically to house the contacts.


Case plastics - starting over is NOT a bad thing here. The quality of the existing plastics - we all know it was a compromise and the costs are important, but I'm on my 2nd case and it's already separating again and it's only been in service 11 months. Completely new plastics for a P2 is a GOOD idea.


IMHO