800x480...more Common Than I Thought

[Game_over]

I work at Sharper Image and I noticed almost all of the GPS systems and a version of the ARCHOS wifi has the 800x480 4.3 in. widescreen touchscreen. I spent everyday after work looking at how they use the real estate. All screens are different makes and aren't as bright as Pandora will be. So I just wanted to know is some kind of standard resolution for a screen that size?

 

[b._.o._.b]

EEEPC 7" has a 800x480 screen and it is pretty comfortable to read and use with firefox

 

[Magnulus]

Yeah, I can attest to that the 7" is pretty comfortable. I would think that reading an e-book or checking websites for an extended period on the Pandora could be a strain, but then again, it's not made for hours and hours of web browsing, is it?

For games, I think it'll look amazing. Especially 3D games, which will have very clear, crisp edges.

 

[Dubya']

I work at Sharper Image and I noticed almost all of the GPS systems and a version of the ARCHOS wifi has the 800x480 4.3 in. widescreen touchscreen. I spent everyday after work looking at how they use the real estate. All screens are different makes and aren't as bright as Pandora will be. So I just wanted to know is some kind of standard resolution for a screen that size?

Yes, 800x480 is typical for that size. Also, I believe that it has been stated somewhere in the "our new machine" thread that the easy availability and reasonable price of LCD touch screens of this size (because of their widespread use in GPS systems) were some of the primary reasons behind its selection for the Pandora.

 

[Yrx]

I work at Sharper Image and I noticed almost all of the GPS systems and a version of the ARCHOS wifi has the 800x480 4.3 in. widescreen touchscreen. I spent everyday after work looking at how they use the real estate. All screens are different makes and aren't as bright as Pandora will be. So I just wanted to know is some kind of standard resolution for a screen that size?

Yes, 800x480 is typical for that size. Also, I believe that it has been stated somewhere in the "our new machine" thread that the easy availability and reasonable price of LCD touch screens of this size (because of their widespread use in GPS systems) were some of the primary reasons behind its selection for the Pandora.

There was some kind of industry deal with a larger company that would have made a 640 x 480 a lot more expensive. Not that I'm complaining, I'll just use it unscaled for things that aren't widescreen.

 

[Prophet]

Well, I've done a bit of web browsing on a VGA (640x480) PDA with a 3.8" screen, and it was not a great experience, but it works.

A 4.3: screen at 800x480 might actually be quite decent, you just have to use large fonts. It should certainly be good enough to check a few favorite news sites and get your GMail. But of course, it won't replace a laptop or desktop. But then again, it will be far more portable.

 

[Peter R]

Well, I've done a bit of web browsing on a VGA (640x480) PDA with a 3.8" screen, and it was not a great experience, but it works.

A 4.3: screen at 800x480 might actually be quite decent, you just have to use large fonts. It should certainly be good enough to check a few favorite news sites and get your GMail. But of course, it won't replace a laptop or desktop. But then again, it will be far more portable.

The aspect ratio is 16:9 as far as I know.

 

[Magnulus]

The aspect ratio is 16:9 as far as I know.

I'm pretty sure he meant Inches. And I'm not so sure it's 16:9, actually. However, I can't back that up as I'm too lazy to research it and I've forgotten how to calculate aspect ratios because my mind is inferior.

EDIT: the ratio of the Pandora is 15:9 or 5:3, if you will.

 

[Peter R]

Right.

 

[quote]

I'm typing this post right now on my ipod touch (3.5 inch screen) Web browsing on this thing is suprisingly good, considering the screen size ....

 

[Magnulus]

I had a quick look at an iPod Touch at an airport not long ago, and I would say that the iPod Touch and the iPhone have a huge bonus in browsing ability from the multi-touch screen. It was surprisingly comfortable to browse with considering the low resolution of the screen, a resolution that is not that low compared to most handhheld browsing devices (thinking mostly of phones and other similarly-sized gadgets.)

 

[Dubya']

I work at Sharper Image and I noticed almost all of the GPS systems and a version of the ARCHOS wifi has the 800x480 4.3 in. widescreen touchscreen. I spent everyday after work looking at how they use the real estate. All screens are different makes and aren't as bright as Pandora will be. So I just wanted to know is some kind of standard resolution for a screen that size?

Yes, 800x480 is typical for that size. Also, I believe that it has been stated somewhere in the "our new machine" thread that the easy availability and reasonable price of LCD touch screens of this size (because of their widespread use in GPS systems) were some of the primary reasons behind its selection for the Pandora.

There was some kind of industry deal with a larger company that would have made a 640 x 480 a lot more expensive. Not that I'm complaining, I'll just use it unscaled for things that aren't widescreen.

Yeah, I remember reading that, so I searched on 640x480 and found this from craigix:

"If some of you have gone back though my posts over the last few weeks or months even I have dropped a few hints about walls we may have hit with certain areas. One of them is a 640*480 screen. It is not possible to use such a screen due to Sony having some kind of agreement with sharp."

 

[Prophet]

The aspect ratio is 16:9 as far as I know.

I'm pretty sure he meant Inches.


Yes, you're right. That was supposed to be 4.3" not 4.3: - typo.

 

[sparr]

the iPhone have a huge bonus in browsing ability from the multi-touch screen

It continues to piss me off that people make this claim over and over. I call bullshit. There is nothing about browsing on a multitouch screen that would not be just as easy, probably easier, on a single-touch screen with a zoom slider area on one side.

 

[Magnulus]

I would say that the iPod Touch and the iPhone have a huge bonus in browsing ability from the multi-touch screen

It continues to piss me off that people make this claim over and over. I call bullshit. There is nothing about browsing on a multitouch screen that would not be just as easy, probably easier, on a single-touch screen with a zoom slider area on one side.

Wow, that means you're way too easily pissed off. Shake your shoulders loose, calm down. It's not like I was saying that Hitler had the right idea, I was simply saying that from my own experience, that particular feature helps.

I'm just calling it like I saw it when I tried the Touch, and it felt like the multi-touch helped the browsing experience. Maybe it's just the implementation of it, I dunno, but it felt really useful. Could be because then I'm doing everything right there in the middle of the screen instead of having to go off to the side and pull a slider. It gives it a more tactile feel (though I KNOW it's not actually tactile.) than sliders do.
You can call bullshit all you like, but I don't necessarily agree.

 

[Game_over]

Yeah I figured id had to be some reason why I just noticed them. I'm kind of a real estate whore, so I need to use all of that screen.

 

[Magnulus]

Here's a thought for browsing and the like... Let's say the browser automagically resizes set-width pages (like Engadget, for example) to fit within the screen, and then to zoom in, you can hold one of the shoulder buttons (should be either so it's a usable feature for left and right handed people) and then drag the stylus upwards on the screen. To zoom out, drag downwards. It's as easy as that, no? Seems to me like it would work nicely...

 

[prairiefire]

Here's a thought for browsing and the like... Let's say the browser automagically resizes set-width pages (like Engadget, for example) to fit within the screen, and then to zoom in, you can hold one of the shoulder buttons (should be either so it's a usable feature for left and right handed people) and then drag the stylus upwards on the screen. To zoom out, drag downwards. It's as easy as that, no? Seems to me like it would work nicely...

i've been thinking a bit about how this will be used as a web browser and since we have both analogue pads, it might be useful to have one pad as a cursor and the other as a two-dimensional scroll. The thing is that you would likely need for the cursor to be able to cover the entire screen within the range of travel of one pad, and would need the scroll to cover the entire page over the range of travel of the other pad (unless you incorporated the click on the pads to make them "active"). This could prove to be annoying, however, if there is enough range of motion of the pads to accomplish this, then it would make for some really quick browsing in a 'zoomed' mode.

As for web browsing, with having a smaller screen, I wonder if incorporating the same ideas that mobile phone browsers use would be beneficial (i.e. opera mini - haven't tried opera mobile)