Quick question: is the screen going to be visible during the day?

[j0e]

This has been a particular problem with my Pandora and I'm sure for many others: the screen is simply too faint when outside during the daytime when it's cloudy, and completely invisible in the sunshine. Even finding shade or going inside is mostly in vain. The brightness simply does not go up high enough. I do hope that the screen selected for the Pyra will be visible under these circumstances.

As a related question, is there a way to "overclock" the brightness of the Pandora's backlight?

 

[EvilDragon]

Pandoras screen works pretty well in sunlight when you use the Advanced Gamma Settings (in the LCD Settings dialog) and switch to "Outside" (or similar name) profile.

Did you try that?

 

[rygD]

I have had no issues seeing my Pandora screen while sitting in a car with untinted windows while waiting to pick someone up on sunny days.

Are you trying to play games or do other stuff?

 

[j0e]

Thanks for the suggestion, EvilDragon. The last time I looked at the gamma settings was more than a year ago, and I remember finding it fiddly and difficult to use. I went back to it just now and I found a few presets - one of which was named "Very bright - for outside use only". I also came across the basic gamma settings which is a lot simpler and more useful. thank you

Is there a command line command that the simple gamma slider uses to set the gamma? I want to try and put shortcuts on the desktop (or wbar) for preset gamma levels, to change the gamma more efficiently on the go.

Cheers again for your help.

 

[WizardStan]

Pandoras screen works pretty well in sunlight when you use the Advanced Gamma Settings (in the LCD Settings dialog) and switch to "Outside" (or similar name) profile.

This probably helps but there is definitely a difference between the older LCDs (CC and Rebirth) and those that came with the first few hundred 1Ghz. My 1Ghz screen disappeared in sunlight, and even sufficiently bright indoor lights. I swapped it directly with my CC LCD and I have no problem playing; easier to see in shade, but not impossible even in direct sunlight.I suspect this is more a case of that one batch of screens was not as good as the last because I think people eventually started saying their 1Ghz screens were good again.

If the consistency for the Pyra can be maintained, that should be good enough.

 

[EvilDragon]

I also have the later screen in my Pandora and had no problems with playing at the beach with that gamma setting...

 

[Askarus]

easier to see in shade, but not impossible even in direct sunlight. I suspect this is more a case of that one batch of screens was not as good as the last because I think people eventually started saying their 1Ghz screens were good again. If the consistency for the Pyra can be maintained, that should be good enough.

It's the touchscreen.

The old one is a mate one, the new one more glossy.

The mate one is far better visible on sunlight.

Pyra will get a mate touchscreen as well.

So don't worry.

 

[CrazyIvan]

I also have the later screen in my Pandora and had no problems with playing at the beach with that gamma setting...

I always wondered how you manage to do this, maybe you've got somehow more sensitive eyes than mine...

I can hardly play in sunny day in tram, even with highly distorted gamma. Direct sunlight or even cloudy days are entirely out of question in summer. Even with my archos gamepad 2 which have a brighter screen it's difficult to play in cloudy weather on max brightness (not as difficult as playing on pandora though). But it have very high minimum brightness for me to play in poorly lit areas.

The only devices that could be somewhat used in direct sunlight and cloudy but sunny days are Thinkpad Tablet (original android tablet, I don't own a successor) and galaxy note (phone). Both have max brightness >=500cd/m. I really hope that screens for pyra could reach such brightness for it to be usable everywhere except rain.

So far pandora is usable for me in all lighting conditions only during winter. Newer reflective screens for 1 ghz pandoras seem to have the same brightness when matte screen protector is applied.

The best screen for direct sinlight is in my x230t, but it looks like it's transreflective (the same technology as was used in nokia n900 screen).

 

[klapse]

Bright sunlight is about 1 million times brighter than the darkest scenes the eye can detect. It requires a massively bright screen to be visible in bright sunlight.

I really hope ED looks around for transflective screens. They make it possible to do non-gaming tasks (book reading, web browsing) in full sunlight. Sure the colors are off, but contrasts are visible.

 

[rygD]

easier to see in shade, but not impossible even in direct sunlight. I suspect this is more a case of that one batch of screens was not as good as the last because I think people eventually started saying their 1Ghz screens were good again. If the consistency for the Pyra can be maintained, that should be good enough.

It's the touchscreen.

The old one is a mate one, the new one more glossy.

The mate one is far better visible on sunlight.

Pyra will get a mate touchscreen as well.

So don't worry.

I thought someone said that difference between matte and glossy was the digitizer or something, and that the screens themselves can be identical.

Or are you talking about screen glare and reflection?  Does the reflectivity of a screen reduce visibility in areas with very little light (in other words, is matte or glossy better in a dark or dim room, or is there no difference?)?

 

[j0e]

I forgot to say that I had to wait till the next day (which was yesterday) to test the gamma function. Yesterday was bright and sunny and I brought my Pandora along, and cranking the gamma and brightness up worked wonders. Cheers for letting me know!

 

[myNewUsername]

I have a related question, will the touch be more accurate than the pandoras? On mine it OK accurate for about 2/3 of the screen area, but towards the top right corner it gets worse. well over 5mm off in the corner.

 

[FaeMinx]

easier to see in shade, but not impossible even in direct sunlight. I suspect this is more a case of that one batch of screens was not as good as the last because I think people eventually started saying their 1Ghz screens were good again. If the consistency for the Pyra can be maintained, that should be good enough.

It's the touchscreen.


The old one is a mate one, the new one more glossy.


The mate one is far better visible on sunlight.


Pyra will get a mate touchscreen as well.


So don't worry.

I thought someone said that difference between matte and glossy was the digitizer or something, and that the screens themselves can be identical.

Or are you talking about screen glare and reflection? Does the reflectivity of a screen reduce visibility in areas with very little light (in other words, is matte or glossy better in a dark or dim room, or is there no difference?)?

Glossy will give you a sharper image, so is preferable in dark environments.


Matte is far more popular (mostly) because the times you will be in an environment where no other light is reflected is a small fraction compared to normal operating conditions.


With glossy, even a small light in a dim room can obscure the image on the screen if the screen is angled to catch the light.


=~. O =

 

[mcobit]

I have a related question, will the touch be more accurate than the pandoras? On mine it OK accurate for about 2/3 of the screen area, but towards the top right corner it gets worse. well over 5mm off in the corner.

Have you recalibrated it? Is there dust under the bezel or is one of the clips of the bezel not snapped in correctly?

 

[myNewUsername]

It is calibrated, but i will have a look at the bezels. Thanks

 

[rygD]

Glossy will give you a sharper image, so is preferable in dark environments.

I think I have seen this.  Generally I prefer glossy screens, but for some things, such as ebook readers, I do prefer matte for the reason you gave below.  How do screen protectors play into this?  I know many don't use them, but I made one for my Pandora and went with glossy, and still have no issues in shade outside on bright days by just bumping up the screen brightness.

Matte is far more popular (mostly) because the times you will be in an environment where no other light is reflected is a small fraction compared to normal operating conditions.

That's me hiding in your closet/under your bed...

 

[PowerGod]

It is calibrated, but i will have a look at the bezels. Thanks

Try to recalibrate after installing this http://repo.openpandora.org/?page=detail&app=tsupdate.dimag0g

this makes wonders

 

[Askarus]

easier to see in shade, but not impossible even in direct sunlight. I suspect this is more a case of that one batch of screens was not as good as the last because I think people eventually started saying their 1Ghz screens were good again. If the consistency for the Pyra can be maintained, that should be good enough.

It's the touchscreen.

The old one is a mate one, the new one more glossy.

The mate one is far better visible on sunlight.

Pyra will get a mate touchscreen as well.

So don't worry.

I thought someone said that difference between matte and glossy was the digitizer or something, and that the screens themselves can be identical.

Or are you talking about screen glare and reflection?  Does the reflectivity of a screen reduce visibility in areas with very little light (in other words, is matte or glossy better in a dark or dim room, or is there no difference?)?

Well, the screen is the same.

The touch layer is what makes the difference.

A mate one is better visible in the sunlight than a glossy one.

 

[rygD]

Well, the screen is the same.  

The touch layer is what makes the difference.

A mate one is better visible in the sunlight than a glossy one.

Only because it reflects less light, though, right?  

I would prefer not to have the loss of clarity if people can achieve the same effect by putting a matte screen protector on.