I know there are people from different networks in this thread, but I'm on T-Mobile and see the Ultra HD screen as not a big deal. On T-Mobile they offer Binge on Demand a service that lets you watch popular streaming sites in dvd quality so it doesn't use your data allowance. For me even if my phone had a quad HD screen I couldn't really enjoy it unless I was at home on wifi or out some where they offered it. Even when I had an unlimited plan I found myself lowering the resolution so the video could play without buffering. For now I'll enjoy my 4k content on my 4k Tv where it really shines.
Amen to that. That's the thing, for the time being the vast majority of streaming mobile video content is of nowhere near a quality or bitrate to really demand a 4K screen. And even if it was, for such a small screen at normal viewing distance (not right up at your face) really seeing an appreciative quality difference in resolution is questionable. Tablets yeah more likely, actual televisions obviously, teeny wee phone screens not so much, things look better no matter what the smaller a screen gets. Provided it's a good screen that is.
I'll say this first, I've got near perfect vision according to my optometrist, I'll just get that out of the way before this next bit. So the results aren't my eyesight, the morphine, maybe
Out of curiosity I've just spent the best part of half an hour viewing videos. The source was a good quality 4K video. Scaled to various resolutions at the best quality one could expect from them.
The result is quite surprising. At normal arms length viewing distance, I got all the way down to 240p before the image looked really poor.
Granted this is on a 1080p screen. However from 4K to 1440p right down to 480p looked good, clear and perfectly watchable.
Second test and this is easy for anyone to try and far more applicable to the mobile situation is YouTube, using the app not the website so you get the quality control and connected to (very fast) WiFi.
Search for "Playstation 4 pro 4k gameplay" and select the first one, should be a 27 minute showcase at 1440p. I only choose this one because the game footage is good quality for a streaming site.
So. On my iPhone 6 Plus with its 1080p screen and at a reasonable viewing distance less than arms length (maybe a foot and a half) I began watching and re-watching at every available resolution.
All the way down to 480p was just about acceptable for watching at that distance. Below that, ewwww
Obviously getting your face right up close to the screen changes things a bit. But with that video stream and my phone as close to my face as I could get it and still focus on the screen properly. 720p is great. Even at 480p at that distance, although obviously rather soft you can still make out the detail, look for instance at the holes in Spider-Man's eye mask and even the bricks of the buildings in the background. All easily identifiable.
Streaming video from Amazon at all of their quality settings on 4G looks good on the 1080p screen. Even the lowest quality setting is pleasingly watchable a foot from your face, though who wants to watch a film that close up. Incidentally the film was Dispicable Me, chosen because animation like that can easily show the worst of an image and when it's good quality it's really good.
I should also add at this point we did the same on my sister-in-laws Galaxy S7 Edge with its 2K display and we saw no appreciable difference in quality at normal distances, close up, yeah definitely sharper, but too close for long durations. Maybe it's different with something other than video content.
So what can we learn from all of this medication fuelled rambling. Bugger all probably
Other than when really close up a high resolution screen with good quality sources is obviously going to look sharper. But then, when you drop to normal, comfortable viewing distances 1080p looks just as good if it's a quality screen.
That's all hugely unscientific and based on just three people watching videos (2 Androiders and little, ok 6'3 isn't that little, me.) So it's going to be different for everyone.
The massive phone resolution debate will probably go on for years. You'll find many professionals and experts writing articles who claim that 4K on a phone is just unnecessary nonsense for advertising sake to lure people in. But then you'll likely also find some who claim the opposite.
Funny thing is, can anyone else cast their mind back to when the iPhone 4 and its retina screen was introduced? I can and I distinctly remember that when Steve and Apple claimed it was Retina because the human eye couldn't detect more than 300ppi. Afterwards companies like DisplayMate, Android opposers and manufacturers almost immediately declared this to be complete nonsense and that a true Retina display should be around 477ppi as that was the true limit of the human eye.
Oddly enough, neither is right, and both are right. But what both are doing is essentially taking a complex and variable subject matter and distilling it into easy to comprehend numbers for we mere cattle to understand.
The reality of course is more complex and I'm not going to put the math here its long and boring (much like this post) you can do it yourself or look it up. But basically with 20/20 vision and at the average normal viewing distances of 10 inches or more the human eye can perceive around 300ppi.
If you have better than 20/20 you can appreciate a higher ppi and rather obviously worse than 20/20 and your going to have to get closer than 10 inches.
Studies have shown at distances of around 6 - 7inches with better than 20/20 vision the human eye can resolve higher than 500ppi on a display.
So at the end of the day, for the average joe blogs who has normal vision and holds their phone at the distance most of us do, the 401ppi of the iPhone 7 Plus is perfectly fine as is the regular iPhone 7. Those with higher ppi displays are definitely going to benefit if they are closer to the screen or have decent vision (aided or unaided) but there becomes a point where at the size of a phone resolution really is just a numbers game. Unless you hold your phone so close you leave nose prints on it
So my personal view, what I'm taking away from this little experiment between phones is that unless you're unfortunate enough to have a screen lower than 300ppi you're going to get a good experience from it (screen accuracy and quality dependent of course) so just kick back and enjoy the tech you have and stop worrying about the tech you don't. Or some hippy crap like that, what do I know I'm practically on the ceiling by this point, which is why I've waffled on so long
I'm done with this now, I'm happy with what I have. Argue among yourselves and I care not who wants to tear any part of this lecture apart
This ridiculous post was brought to you today by 360mg of morphine, 8,800mg of gabapentin, more I won't bother listing, a good couple of litres of coffee, 6 cans of energy drink, the number 7 and the letter i and the, oh crap I was supposed to do the laundry.
