Foldable Display vs Dual Screen

[Renoktation]

If we think critically, we will find that there are very few scenarios that can actually benefit from having a foldable screen in place of a dual screen.

My logic is pretty simple. Application content & component can be divided into following categories:

1. User interface - Most modern application use Grid View or List View controls where in contents are stacked in rectangular boxes which can be easily displayed on either of the displays on a dual screen device. Foldables do not provide any advantage over here.



2. Text Content - There is a very old feature of text editors known as "Text Wrap" which enable a text to be oriented properly on display of any form factor. Now, bigger display means you will have to turn pages lesser number of times. But as far as foldables or dual screens are considered, none of them have any advantage over the other as can be seen in the following diagram.



3. Images - Ideal size of an image should be proportional to its distance from our eyes. A 6-inch display should be perfect for handheld devices. This is what we can see on dual screen devices. On foldables screens, we can see images in bigger frames. But that also means that we have to held the device little bit farther from our eyes for perfect comprehension. The difference is so subtle that it is hardly noticeable but nevertheless it exists. And hence, again foldable screens offer no advantage over dual screen displays. Following figure from Microsoft documentation illustrates this concept.



4. Videos - This is one area where a foldable screen may have an edge over a dual screen, especially if you are watching them on a kick stand.

5. Games - This is one area where dual screens have an advantage over foldable displays as the former allows Nintendo like usage mode.

So basically, the score till now is 4 all. Now what I am going to say will tilt the balance in favor of dual screens. Well, the two screens of a dual screen device can be separated in theory very much like a Surface Book! This has no real advantage but the advantage becomes clear when you reverse my last sentence. You can join any two displays to form a bigger display!



I feel that both foldables and dual screen displays have a place in future.

What do you think about this topic? Let me know.

 

[Polychrome]

It's like you said, it really depends on what you want out of the device, and there's reasons for both. I run dual monitors on my desktop, so having it in a compact form and being able to compartmentalize tasks appeals to me. Here I can read a webpage while listening to an online show of some kind, or even play games while doing so. But somebody who just wants to veg out on netflix is gonna like the fold better.

Also, gotta love that "hand feel" of the thing. It's like a little hardbacked book in your hand.

 

[dirtyvu]

the funny thing is with truly separate screens, your brain is almost automatically compartmentalizing things.

I've never been a big fan of buying a single huge monitor and then manually zoning it (though the one in Power Toys is pretty good).

That said, with the Surface Duo, I almost feel pressured to run 2 apps because it just looks so odd to have an app on one screen and the other screen be the desktop.

 

[justjun555]

I love dual screens but I think they are fighting losing battle against flexible screens. flexible screens are logical evolution of dual screens IMO. well designed flexible screen can pretty much mimic all use cases of dual screen & at the same time providing luxury of using big screen for media consumption. as you said the advantage of displaying games, videos, comics in full screens without any distracting gap is pretty big & IMo majority of average smartphone users will side with that instead of dual screens.

lot depends on how flexible screens improve in future. the crease is bothersome for pen input & durability concerns are still there. so there is still long way to go but I don't see dual screen concept survive this battle in small formfactors.

only area I see dual screen devices can have it's own niche is laptop segment where each individual screen will be big enough that it's more logical & cheaper to make dual screen laptop like surface neo than foldable laptop like Lenovo thinkpad x1.

 

[brau0303]

I believe that this new type of devices with Folding or Multiple screens is the way forward. They will resonate with different people for different reasons (we don't all want the same things and that's actually not a bad thing)

I was attracted to the idea of the Fold (had one on pre-order that ultimately got canceled due to the release delay ) and then saw the Duo last year and I thought the Duo had great potential and I actually like the over form better. My wife prefers the Fold 2 but then, she want's different things than I do from these devices. I am enjoying my Duo and am really looking forward to seeing how these will evolve and change how we do things.

Cheers,
BR

 

[Polychrome]

That said, with the Surface Duo, I almost feel pressured to run 2 apps because it just looks so odd to have an app on one screen and the other screen be the desktop.

This makes me wonder if we'll eventually have apps that just exist to take up that screen and display a pretty graphic or white noise or something.

as you said the advantage of displaying games, videos, comics in full screens without any distracting gap is pretty big & IMo majority of average smartphone users will side with that instead of dual screens.

While video I get, I see some cases in which games and comics (or other books) actually benefit. I was totally geeking out when I realized MangaPlus, intentionally or not, spanned very nicely on the thing. In a real book there would be a "gap" there (on the binding) so it actually feels better than using my kindle for me.