There were assertions in the first few posts without qualification that 1080p is unnecessary and that is scientifically impossible to see the difference below 6" and even 5". Both of those were wrong. Scientifically speaking, it is possible to tell the difference even on LOWER than 5" (for closer than normal distances) and at 5" for normal typing distances. At 6", it should be a piece of cake to tell the difference. These people mentioned it anecdotally without any qualification that there is no benefit to 1080p. Maybe not to them.
We absolutely need them for 5.5" and above. I'm sure you could tell the difference on a 6" screen.
Yes, there were such unqualified assertions. With the one exception however, I think everybody agrees that above 5", 1080p can make sense. All in all I think the community got it right. Every few posts people mentioned that display size is an important factor, and I don't recall anybody arguing against that. I think most people understand the ramifications involved, but just didn't go to the lengths required to be precise (none of us here ever do).
I would certainly say I went against the prevailing views in the thread. People seemed pretty anti-1080p. That may be fine for what we have right now in WP phone display sizes. But scientifically and competitively, no 1080p sort of equals no competitive phablets. At those sizes (5.5-6") 1080p and 720p is too large a difference to ignore. You could very easily see the difference (even if we ignore the edge case of usage while lying down).
I don't think so. What I do think you went against is the prevailing imprecision.
I still think it's absolutely correct to say that at 5" or below, 1080p is largely a gimmick. IMHO that is what this thread has been about so far, at least in spirit. The OP was specifically talking about his/her L920 which has a display diagonal of 4.5". At that size nobody needs 1080p (except marketing departments and sales staff).
Despite all the technical documents you linked to, I still think the "good enough" argument is worthy of consideration. What we're discussing here is reaching a level of perfection that can't be disputed, even in theory. While I appreciate the theory, I'm not sure how relevant it is in practice. Firstly, almost nobody has perfect vision, so that theoretical argument applies to almost nobody. Secondly, it is my experience that almost nobody has an interest in that level of visual quality, even if they do have perfect eyesight. Most people purchase low-end computer monitors and watch television on sets with colour temperature and gamma settings that almost make me sick, yet they see nothing wrong with it. That is even echoed in most of the articles you linked to. In the words of Dr. Raymond Soneira: "For most uses, however, the extra sharpness of a 1080p display is wasted."
IMHO anyone proclaiming the benefit of 1080p around 5" really must have a $2000 colour calibrated monitor on their desk and a 4k television set in their living room. Failing that, I think it's fair to call it either hypocrisy or naivet?. I'd be surprised if even 1% of the people proclaiming the merits of 1080p had such hardware at home.
Can you explain further? The ridiculous part, I'm not sure I follow
On the same device, if I bump up the resolution, I ought to be able to see more contacts in the contacts list for example is what I meant.
On a 4" AND 5" device of the same resolution and same platform, I will see the same exact screenshot, one is just bigger than the other.
Now on a 5" device with GREATER resolution, you can fit more in
Okay, now I see what you mean.
If we were talking about Windows I would agree, but we aren't, or at least I wasn't. Mobile operating systems don't work that way. Just look at the L920 and the L820. Both run the same OS, both have display diagonals of 4.3", but the L920 has a resolution of 768x1200 while the L820 has a resolution of 480x800. If your theory were true, we'd see more content on the L920 than we do on the L820, but we do not.
I don't think he aimed that at you either. So he din't mean it sarcastically.
Pretty certain he's replying to thread question with the response that he thinks its not possible to tell the difference at these small screen sizes
Yeah, you're probably right. I hate it when people don't provide enough context to make it clear who they are replying to. Anyway, thx for clearing that up. :wink: