iPhone screen: 3.7 inches, not 3.5?

[nagromme]

EDIT: Correction: 3.6, not 3.7

http://apple.com/pr has high-res PR photos of iPhone (400 dpi true size) and 5G iPod (can be scaled maually to true size--it's 2.4" wide like the iPhone). Both images seem to show the TRUE usable size of the display: they have an unlit margin around the screen, inside the "hole," which is more realistic than filling the entire "hole" like some mockups do. So although the screen image is a mock-up, the SIZE seems to be very accurate in those PR photos, with almost no margin for error. (No pun intended.)

Measuring those images in Photoshop, I cannot escape the following results:

1. iPhone screen is almost exactly 3.6" diagonal, bigger than the 3.5" advertised. iPod screen is about 2.44" diagonal, slightly smaller than the 2.5" advertised.

2. iPhone and iPod have almost exactly the same screen width and DPI--with the iPhone screen being twice as tall.

3. iPhone screen is almost exactly 2"x3" (320x480). iPod has almost exactly 2"x1.5" (320x240)--or just slightly smaller (meaning slightly smaller pixels than iPhone).

4. That does come out to exactly the 160 ppi Apple advertises for iPhone (160 does NOT work out with a 3.5" screen, but it does with 3.6"). It also works out with the iPod's advertised .156 mm dot pitch. The iPhone's dot pitch is .159 mm based on 160 ppi, which fits with the iPod screen being slightly narrower for the same 320 pixels.

So all the math works out to the iPhone screen being bigger than advertised: 3.6".

FUN with MATH

P.S., 10 keys in 2 inches (QWERTYUIOP) gives each key on the iPhone .2 inches of space (seems like enough, since it's harmless to hit neighboring keys along with the one you want).

[zap2]

wow...that something, of course thats assuming the picture is dead on(which is likely is)

Good work!

[clevin]

errrrr.... u do have alot of free time. lol

[nagromme]

Actually, Pythagoras and Photoshop did the heavy lifting... I spent as long posting about it as doing the math

If the picture's not dead on, it can't be off by more than a millimeter (check out the image and you'll see what I mean). The pic can't be off by enough to make 3.5" accurate (unless the iPhone we've seen so far is not the one that will ship).

A 3"x2" screen really seems very small compared to what's in my mind. I think it's easy to think of the iPhone as being much bigger than it is, since we're used to much larger devices like Palms and Blackberries and PSPs. I'm thinking the iPhone will seem shockingly small when you actually hold it in your hand. Plus the roundness will make it seem even smaller/thinner.

[puckhead193]

Originally Posted by nagromme

A 3"x2" screen really seems very small compared to what's in my mind. I think it's easy to think of the iPhone as being much bigger than it is, since we're used to much larger devices like Palms and Blackberries and PSPs. I'm thinking the iPhone will seem shockingly small when you actually hold it in your hand. Plus the roundness will make it seem even smaller/thinner.

Thats a good thing for some/me

[nagromme]

Yep--me too. This is not a computer--I want it to be as small as possible!

You could add a carry-case and booster battery to an iPhone and STILL end up smaller than a lot of these smartphone competitors that are twice as thick yet only have 32-128 MB storage and a smaller screen. (Which, granted, does help make them cheap.)

And speaking of PSP, the iPhone actually has more pixels: PSP is only 480x272 (4.3", 128 ppi). And the PSP's screen is around 2.12" tall in landscape--not much taller (but wider at 3.75") than iPhone.

(In terms of physical size, the PSP is 6.7 x 2.9x .9" ... which makes it over 3.5 times the size of the iPhone in cubic inches. Luckily it plays games--it's bit bulky for video on the go!)