Pandora Portrait Style

[stustaff]

Is it possible in Angstrom or through some kind of software to turn the dislay 90 degrees? would be great for using touchscreen to browse the web and for ebooks!

hold it like a little book it would also be good for writing on the screen etc

Think this would be a great use of the touchscreen and work very well with the Pandoras particular abilities.

anoyine else think it would be good/possible?

 

[WolfpacKxx86]

You should be able to rotate the screen easily using xrandr. I used to do that on my zaurus with angstrom installed.

 

[Capn_Fish]

It'll be fine, though web browsing probably won't be great at 480 pixels wide.

 

[lulzfish]

Thanks to a fun Compiz plugin, I'm writing this from a Firefox window that's 480 by 800.
It's not horrible, but the web is definitely made for 800 by 600. Firefox is scrolling sideways because the reply box is wider than the window is.

 

[White Flame]

It'd be cool if somebody could write a little desktop toolbar button that toggles landscape/portrait easily. I presume X11 has this sort of functionality available?

 

[lulzfish]

Yeah, it's part of this "Xrandr" business.
I'll look into it, but I'm not really much of a programmer. No guarantees.

 

[lulzfish]

These commands seem applicable:

xrandr --output default --rotate left
xrandr --output default --rotate normal

And suchforth.
I think randr is an extension to X, so it will probably need to be added somehow. Also, I can't get xrandr to do anything on my laptop, so I might have the commands wrong, or the wrong modelines or something.

 

[stustaff]

It'll be fine, though web browsing probably won't be great at 480 pixels wide.

Why??? its fantastic on my iPhone which is only 320x480 and thats portrait.

 

[Tor]

It'll be fine, though web browsing probably won't be great at 480 pixels wide.

For some sites it will be good.. sites like Slashdot, with three columns, where the real info is just in the narrow mid-column. Those kind of sites are easier to read on a portrait-mode display, particularly if you can control the zooming well (let that column fill your 480 pixels).

 

[MiniSinisterMinister]

... would be great for using touchscreen to browse the web and for ebooks!

Exactly my thoughts! I want it to be an official feature of the Pandora OS. I think most people would use such a "portrait mode" much more frequently with applications than they would use the "netbook mode".

 

[mali]

Using LCDs in a different orientation than the intended one results in eye strain sometimes because of polarisation issues.

 

[Hollenderster]

QUOTE
Using LCDs in a different orientation than the intended one results in eye strain sometimes because of polarisation issues.

Not a problem, at least as long as you do not know what to look for. The human eye can discern polarization states from a LCD, but normally the brain knows how to compensate this without you noticing anything. As soon as you know what to look for, the compensation becomes less efficient and you will notice that LCDs from different manufacturers rarely share the same polarization direction. Which can be a real PITA when you finally bought your second 24" screen or have to compare contents on a laptop and a desktop computer. Quite annoying sometimes and I would probably be happier if I hadn't known about this. If you still want to know more about the effect, here is the red pill: CODE
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haidinger%27s_brush

 

[stustaff]

I guess then it looks like something that is certainly possible and I really hope anyone porting 'reading' type software eg Ebook, comic viewers, text or internet browsers etc will have a 90" option.

Also many games on the DS work well this way up eg sudoku,kakuro, crosswords etc with a Hand writing recognition would be great(see DS brain training) also puxxle games would be better this way eg Tetris, puzzle bobble etc

 

[MiniSinisterMinister]

mali I find this effect also irritating for the eyes. However, the severity of the effect varies from screen to screen (the iPhone is quite good in this respect, isn't it?) . I hope that the effect is not that bad with the screens used in the Pandora. Maybe somebody from the development team can make a comment?

I believe it is vital for the quality of the Pandora software line-up that it contains software specifically adapted for a handheld device that people enjoy to use. It won't suffice to just port a lot of desktop software 1:1 and tout that this small thing runs everything.

 

[Prometheus]

I believe it is vital for the quality of the Pandora software line-up that it contains software specifically adapted for a handheld device that people enjoy to use. It won't suffice to just port a lot of desktop software 1:1 and tout that this small thing runs everything.

+1. The lack of adapting things to the resolution in use was one of the things that prompted me to rid myself of the EeePC I used to have - it was as though they'd just dropped a bunch of software into it without remembering (or perhaps even thinking about) the resolution of the screen they were using (it wasn't as though I was expecting non-supplied applications to adapt themselves, this was just software included on the device), and it made it look like a bit of a sloppy package to me.

 

[cools]

I use landscape mode on my PDA for ebook reading - rather than portrait. I find the longer lines easier to read.

Portrait is a must for any vertical games though

 

[Karel Jansens]

I use landscape mode on my PDA for ebook reading - rather than portrait. I find the longer lines easier to read.

The Pandora´s high-res screen makes portrait reading not only doable, but actually enjoyable. I presently use my Nokia N800 tablet as an ebook reader and with the right font (dejavu serif condensed) and the right size (19 or 20 p) you get a really good portrait reading experience. Of course, the more-than-200dpi resolution of the screen helps a lot.

That said, I am one of those who have the annoying habit of reading while eating, and at those times landscape reading comes in handy.

 

[zxxxy]

I dont know does pandora have acelerometer but i think it will be cool to rotate a screen like on iphone =D

 

[OrR]

Also, while it might seem nonsensical at first, rotating the display 180 degrees might make sense for pure touchscreen games and apps...

 

[pelrun]

QUOTE
Using LCDs in a different orientation than the intended one results in eye strain sometimes because of polarisation issues.

Not a problem, at least as long as you do not know what to look for. The human eye can discern polarization states from a LCD, but normally the brain knows how to compensate this without you noticing anything.

That isn't the issue; it's the viewing angle. If the screen has a narrow viewing angle in one direction, then trying to view the screen with that direction horizontal will cause each eye to see something different. It happens on my Zaurus in landscape mode (the lcd is natively portrait), which is annoying because that is the orientation I invariably use.

If it occurs on the (natively landscape) Pandora, it'll probably not be as noticeable, due to the narrower aspect of the portrait orientation.