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Larger Screen vs. Retna Display (High PPI display)

D

Dragula22

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 8, 2009
36
0
These two things go against each other so I'm wondering what you all think.

It seems everyone keeps hoping for a bigger screen but are you guys willing to suffer pixelation for it?

After using the high ppi iphone4 display, I'd be annoyed if my pictures didn't come out 100% realistic and my font wasn't as crisp.

It is for this reason that I don't believe Apple will increase screen size.
 
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I'd rather have 'retina' than bigger display. If it's feasible for apple to do both, then great. If not, rather have retina.
 
There has already been a few threads on this issue. But yours is slightly different.

No, I prefer Apple keeps the current PPI than drop it and put it on a bigger screen. If there isn't more PPI, there really wont be that big of a difference on the UI. In other words, you wont get another row for icons.
 
People need to stop with the bigger screen idea. Seriously, whats the use of a bigger screen anyways? Is it that much more important to have? The iPhone is fine the way it is. And yes, better pixels over bigger screen anyday.
 
thaoxa said:
People need to stop with the bigger screen idea. Seriously, whats the use of a bigger screen anyways? Is it that much more important to have? The iPhone is fine the way it is. And yes, better pixels over bigger screen anyday.
Click to expand...
For me, it's not as much about a bigger screen, but less wasted space on the front of the phone. I'd personally prefer the 3.5" screen with less casing, but there's a much better chance of a bigger screen in the same size casing.. so I'd be happy with that, as well. A bigger screen in a bigger casing would be horrible. But I don't see that happening.
 
Call me crazy, but I honestly don't think I want a bigger screen.

Apple appears to very intentionally designed the current screen parameters for best ergonomic use. For example, when I'm holding the phone in one hand and typing an email, the "send" button is in a top corner. I have noticed that my thumb just reaches that corner and would not reach beyond it without shuffling my hand up the device a bit.

I have used Android 4" and 4.3" phones. You often have to perform certain operations with two hands, or do a little bit of twisting or moving of the phone in one hand for the thumb to reach every spot.

I would rather not have any part of the screen out of reach.

(And no, my hands are not small, haha)
 
thaoxa said:
People need to stop with the bigger screen idea. Seriously, whats the use of a bigger screen anyways? Is it that much more important to have? The iPhone is fine the way it is. And yes, better pixels over bigger screen anyday.
Click to expand...
the vast majority seem to think different that you do.
 
BlindMellon said:
the vast majority seem to think different that you do.
Click to expand...


Would I mind having a bigger screen? Prob. not, but my point is, people, not the guy who started this thread, but people in general just need to stop with the bigger screen this, and that and this and that comparisons with the Androids.
 
I would definitely pick a retina display over bigger screen size. I use the iPhone mostly on reading text, like emails, news, sms, etc which benefits from the retina display. But playing games, watching videos and pictures are definitely better on a bigger screen, which is something I don't do as much.

But in the end, the retina quality display is here to stay, so if they increase the screen size, they would keep it close to the same PPI anyways, which is the best of both worlds.
 
I'd rather have a bigger screen than a "retina display". I have a laptop to watch and play things in HD, all i want on my phone is a little more room to type and browse. If they are able to keep the PPI high, thats fine, I know a lot of people like it.
 
boss.king said:
I'd rather have a bigger screen than a "retina display". I have a laptop to watch and play things in HD, all i want on my phone is a little more room to type and browse. If they are able to keep the PPI high, thats fine, I know a lot of people like it.
Click to expand...

Agreed.
I think Apple had their priorities wrong.. it should've been 4" screen first and then introduce HD display in the next iPhone.
I don't mind if the Retina Display goes down to 285, as long as the screen is bigger.
 
i prefer to use a 13" with 1600x900 res than a 15" with 1336x768 res.

so it's better for iPhone 4 to have retina display, yesterday i used my uncle's galaxy S to browse website, with its larger screen, i still find it better to read on the iPhone 4.
 
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I don't find it incredible hard to believe that they could make a 4" screen with the same ppi.

I would prefer to have "retina" display over a larger screen with "pre-retina" display. That said, I don't think Apple would ever reduce the resolution.
 
aleni said:
i prefer to use a 13" with 1600x900 res than a 15" with 1336x768 res.
Click to expand...

the problem here is that apple is in no way going to reduce the res if they give us a larger screen. It will be the same resolution or higher. So really it's like saying "1600x900 on a 13inch screen or 15inch screen". Increasing the size of the screen is not going to make browsing and reading more difficult, it will have the opposite effect.

That said, I'm no longer sure it will happen. They made a huge fuss about the "sweet spot" for pixels per inch. Increasing the size but not keeping the ppi will go against that, but introducing yet another resolution will probably cause a bit of chaos. If they were going to increase the screen size they would have done it before or at the same time as the resolution change. I don't think anything will happen with the screen size or resolution until the 3G and 3GS are a distant memory.
 
jayenh said:
the problem here is that apple is in no way going to reduce the res if they give us a larger screen. It will be the same resolution or higher. So really it's like saying "1600x900 on a 13inch screen or 15inch screen". Increasing the size of the screen is not going to make browsing and reading more difficult, it will have the opposite effect.

That said, I'm no longer sure it will happen. They made a huge fuss about the "sweet spot" for pixels per inch. Increasing the size but not keeping the ppi will go against that, but introducing yet another resolution will probably cause a bit of chaos. If they were going to increase the screen size they would have done it before or at the same time as the resolution change. I don't think anything will happen with the screen size or resolution until the 3G and 3GS are a distant memory.
Click to expand...
i think apple painted themselves in a corner with this 'retina' thing. there's no way they'll move away from that claim and going to 4" (which won't happen this year either way) will move them out of 'retina' range to 285 ppi.

i'm not sure where apple can go from here, because they won't up the resolution and make all the developers rework their apps again and then have 3 different resolutions.

my guess is they milk the retina display one more year (this year) and come up with something totally new in 4" for next.
 
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You all ARE crazy not wanting a bigger screen.
 
I hope apple doesn't listen to the people who want a humongous screen. Why? Because we do not need a bigger phone! Back in the 90's (in Europe anyways, did the US even have cellphones then?) there was a trend of making smaller and smaller phones. This was a good thing because cell phones are supposed to be very portable. Of course smartphones need to be a certain size to be usable but there is a limit. IF Apple went with a borderless screen they could increase screen size comfortably to maybe 3.7". I'm all for this but any bigget means a bigger phone!
 
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Hasn't it been proven that a 4" screen can fit on the iPhone 4's face? If apple made a phone the same size as the 4, but with a 4" screen, would you be in favor of it?
 
Weren't the fake mockups of the edge-to-edge screen basically a 3.7" rather than the current 3.5" ... i think that would be a nice compromise .... a little more visible display but not a huge sacrefice in ppi

Apple can't go to 4+" as to maintain the PPI they'd have to up the resolution and that isn't gonna happen .... unless they can bring the iPad and iPhone screen resolutions (albeit with different PPI) into alignment.

But i guess even that's not doable since they're different aspect ratios....
 
moobey said:
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Hasn't it been proven that a 4" screen can fit on the iPhone 4's face? If apple made a phone the same size as the 4, but with a 4" screen, would you be in favor of it?
Click to expand...

I remember a thread on here from someone who used CAD drawings to see what screen sizes would fit. Anything over 3.8" wouldn't work apparently.
 
You probably won't be able to see a difference between 326ppi and 288ppi; it'll look, for most of us, exactly the same. And, if Apple add better contrast, better brightness, blacks that are black and whites that are white (AKA a AMOLED-style screen (marketed under a different name), or a S-LCD), then, you'll notice the less ppi even, er, less (if you can even notice it in the first place).
 
vincenz said:
I remember a thread on here from someone who used CAD drawings to see what screen sizes would fit. Anything over 3.8" wouldn't work apparently.
Click to expand...
I saw that thread too, but it's also easily apparent to any iPhone 4 owner that a 4" screen at the same aspect ratio as the current screen won't fit - just line up a ruler diagonally across the corners of the existing screen and one can immediately see that 4" won't fit.

If Apple were to change the aspect ratio of the screen then 4" would fit but that would be crazy because, if they kept the same resolution, it would distort all existing iPhone app displays and make them look stretched.

I hope they stick with the current screen, or maybe 3.7" at most. I don't want my phone's casing to get any bigger.

- Julian
 
BlindMellon said:
i'm not sure where apple can go from here, because they won't up the resolution and make all the developers rework their apps again and then have 3 different resolutions.
Click to expand...

I could live with a drop in DPI for a larger screen, but a bigger screen with more real-estate justifies reworking apps regardless of the screen resolution.

I don't want the apps to be exactly the same but 20% bigger (like the NDS XL). I want icons and menu bars resized to fit the physical screen size. For browsers this means a greater percentage of screen space will be used for content. For other apps this means more controls and information comfortably arranged on the display.

I would only support a larger display if done in conjunction with an initiative to rework apps for the new size. If the apps are going to be pixel for pixel exactly the same, I'd rather have a smaller phone.
(in other words, I would prefer a DSi over an DS XL)
 
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