The iPhone's display blows away every other display we've ever seen
By Ben Drawbaugh 
posted June 26th 2010 7:06PM
posted June 26th 2010 7:06PM
But like we said at the start, resolution isn't everything and a Blu-ray Disc on our 60-inch HDTV is still more enjoyable than watching video on a phone no matter what the resolution. This is mostly due to the size of the display, but also because of the distance we sit from it. And in addition to the small size there is the lower contrast, and the lack of surround sound. But that doesn't change the fact that once you spend some time using the iPhone 4, all of a sudden everything else does seem to lack detail and other screens we used to love, like the older iPhone and the Zune HD, look down right fuzzy -- can you tell which image above is the Zune HD and which is the iPhone 4? Sadly the iPhone isn't the perfect HD fanatic's companion though, because it still requires us to convert our 1080p content to 720p, and although the video looks great on the display, there's no way to get HD on to our bigger screen -- we're keeping an eye out for a HDMI to iPhone dock. One thing is for sure though, when it comes to detail and flat out resolution per inch, the iPhone is the new boss.
Oh yeah, I agree!!!
+ 1 to iPhone 4....
Blows, or blows away?
A 3.5 inch screen will never be good enough for me..... size trumps resolution on a small display 100% of the time. Of course that doesn't help the zunehd since its smaller than both. The galaxy S comparison on engadget shows the big difference between even 3.5->4.0 inches.
@jagowar my droid's screen looks just as good unless I stick it right against my eye.
Yeah.. I'm pretty blown away with my iphone 4 screen. Love it.
PS. I've had no problems with reception, no yellow screen, no proximity sensor issues, no issues with scratching, etc. etc. It's perfect.
@blackacex222 Same here had no problems with mine either I love it
@blackacex222 No neither have I love it the best iPhone yet By far Plus the 5mp cameras one of the best of seen to be fare
Me either. I haven't even been able to duplicate the reception issue. I watched the YouTube demo & followed everything he did and I didn't lose even one bar. I've made several calls and have had no problems with reception & I DO live in a highly populated area. I live in south FL. As a matter of fact the call was so clear & much easier to hear & talk on due to the dual speakers. No yellow blobs or screen probs here & the display is AWESOME!!!
Um, it's "fair".
wow...so cool...it's so sad that many of these "great" screens have a yellow tint across the surface...if you're lucky enough it's just a yellow band. but for some others, yellow spots...
@DarthCardo Yea and they dissapear after a few hours of use thy had to ship the phones so fast the new glue they use to bond the screen had not had time to set my mates had it and it's fine now clearly you don't have one but still feel the need to try make the issue sound worse than it is just because it's apple
@Bezzeywolf That's RIGHT!!!! The glue didn't get a chance to dry. They were just trying so hard to meet the production demand that they didn't expect & things happen. One thing you can count on though is that Apple WILL make up for it. There was an issue with my pre-order & not only did they send me my Apple iPad case, $39, free of charge, they shipped my phone super express bc it was shipped from Shenzen on that Friday & arrived on Monday morning. I watched & tracked the entire shipping movements. Plus, it read "direct international shipping" or something which was different than my other orders & nothing gets from China to the U.S. that fast otherwise. I live in south FL & I've NEVER experienced dropped calls & I've yet to be able to duplicate the problems they are referring to. I agree. People just go on & on & jump on any issue just because it's Apple.
Sorry iphone fans but samsungs super amoled is far superior by a long long way put them side by side and see resolution has nothing to do with it and who do you think makes them screen for apple? yes its samsung
@damo110011 I haven't seen a super AMOLED display but I've seen a regular AMOLED display. My HTC Desire has one. In normal use the display is superb - bright, vibrant and even. Where it blows is outdoors in strong sunlight. You can barely see the thing. That's the biggest issue with the tech. If the super AMOLED fixes the issue then I agree it's a good display tech.
@toyotatundra hah! Angry much?
Toyotatundra can't have one, that's the reason he's angry
@centauro74 Now why would I be angry over an inferior phone?
@centauro74 Oh and I can use my left or my right hand to use the phone and not worry about the signal dropping. Oh I forgot, it's AT&T - so you're going to get most of your calls dropped anyway. :)
@centauro74
Nor can anyone else, for that matter...
This sure doesn't seem to match up with what others are saying or the videos coming out. The resolution does nothing for you if your eye is not on the screen. The article basically backs that by mentioning that toy don't sit slide to an hd tv. And the dpi is way lower but it still looks great from normal viewing distance.
I think if you asked anyone if they wanted to to to a movie and watch it on a super hires 42in screen or the real movie screen I don't think you'd find many going for the resolution. Leave the video to the superphones like the Droid X or Evo.
@Blaque14K
And your sources are? I can tell you the iPhone 4 display is the crispest display I have ever seen... I now am disappointed anytime I look at my laptop or iPad display. I wasn't expecting to be blown away by the display seeing that it is a small screen, but boy, the added resolution is really awesome and makes a big difference.
@josejrp THANK YOU!!!! It DOES have the crispest display. Another thing the owners of the Droid & EVO etc. don't mention is not only can you NOT see the stupid things in the bright light, but they have MAJOR issues with reflection!!!! You can see the screen on the iPhone & iPad from ANY angle AND you don't get ANY interference with reflection onto your screen. Have you ever noticed that the iPhone is the ONLY phone shown on camera on TV etc. that you cannot see the camera that is filming the iPhone in the reflection of the phone?? ALL of the other phones on the market have to be CONSTANTLY moved around and adjusted to cut out the reflection to SEE & FILM the phone!!! Besides, put it ALL together, nevernind the display, pixels, size of screen, color, size, weight, apps, OS, speakers & location of speakers, gaming, GYROSCOPE, etc., the iPhone ALTOGETHER is a superior product & THAT is why people all over the WORLD wait in lines & start waiting 3 days early or more to get the IPHONE REGARDLESS of the 55, so far, yellow blobs out of 1.7 million, or reception issues that WILL BE FIXED, or ALLEGED scratching of screens(which were probably defects, which happen to EVERY company, or super irresponsible people who are SLOBS about taking CARE of things) just to BUY an IPHONE!!!! NO ONE is doing that to buy a Samsung, HTC, Google, Android, Motorola, or any other combo of a pathetic wannabe. They are STILL not an iPhone. They certainly don't have over 200,000 apps & counting. Most of ALL the iPhone as a WHOLE is VERY pleasing to the eye AND it's a product that works around the OWNER not the other way around.
One thing seems sure, though: the Next Thing after 3D flops is home 4K.
iPhone 4 freakin rocks! I'm reading this article on the 4 and honestly nothing comes even close. The 4 is "the boss"
@Swild826 ABSOLUTELY!!! I agree!!! Half the time I choose the phone over my iPad!! Lol. I would imagine when the next iPad comes out that they will do the same thing for the display as they did for the iPhone if possible. I'm sure they will have people asking for that. I am LOVING the display of this phone. It's so clear & perfect it's like live. Hold up the camera on the HD video & compare the real thing you are looking at to what's on the phone and the comparison is almost identical!! Same with just the camera. It's a 1,0000 x better!!!
exactly.. this screen is absolutely gorgeous. I sometimes just lock and unlock my phone just to look at the screen.. :D
@deepen03 Lol!!!! I do the SAME thing!!!! I thought it was just me.
@Kellyb1668 lol.. yea don't worry, i'm sure we all do it ;D
What is the big deal with this new resolution. I am happy with the resolution of my iPhone 3G. I can read the text without any strain. It is just an apple marketing gimmick. I love apple products, but I also understand Steve Jobs can sale ice to the Eskimos.
@eldolive
The sceen is much improved of the 3G and 3GS seeing then side by side is a huge difference especially in sunlight.
@eldolive Echo that... the increased resolution makes a huge difference. It's the most striking new feature of the phone -- you really can't see the pixels, which makes reading text more like a printed page (albeit back-lit).
@eldolive If you HAD an iphone 4 you would SEE the BIG deal!!! Put them side by side. No one is SAYING that the 3Gs isn't a good phone. The iPhone 4 is just better. If no one bothered to IMPROVE their products they would go out of business & you'd be complaining that they haven't made any improvements. I loved my 3Gs & I though the same thing. I thought my screen was just fine. Then I got the iPhone 4 in the mail & it blew me away. You CAN'T & WON'T see the difference until you actually SEE & USE the new phone. It is WORLDS & WORLDS better!!!
Well ive loved my 32GB 3GS for the last year its a great phone. I was disipointed in the Iphone 4 they didnt go larger at least 4 inches and wanted 64gb. Im now waiting to see the DELL STREAK with its 5 inch screen coming to AT&T next month. The Droid X is bad ass too with 4.3 inches but would cost me a small fortune to switch over to get it. Im all about resolution myself as I game on my PC at 2560 x 1600 thats 30 inches for those of you that think using your paltry 20-22 inch screen is plenty. More power to the Iphone 4 but im going bigger, its all about who has the biggest screen in my world I like to wow people!
@Soldier1969 First of all it's DISAPPOINTED!! Second, that is THE most ill-conceived statement I've seen on these phones yet. If you are soooo into gaming and bigger screens to make up for your lack in the phallic dept then use a PSP pr the now BIGGER Nintendo DS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The iPhone ISN'T meant for GAMING!!!!!!! They didn't go to a bigger screen because they CHOSE to make it a BETTER screen with the LARGER pixels etc. BIGGER isn't ALWAYS better when it comes to technology at least. I'd rather have a BEAUTIFUL 3.5in screen than a crappy 7 INCH SCREEN that you cannot even SEE in bright light or outside & that is ALWAYS being cut by the poor reflection!!!!!!!!!
Thank goodness a CE manufacturer finally stepped up to show the masses a high PPI display. Maybe the trend will catch on?
I'm hoping that, in the coming year or two, more portable devices will utilize this type of display accompanied with TEGRA. full 720p (or 1280x800) on a 4-4.5" display? AWESOME
I'm still disappointed they didn't go for a 4" screen at least, the resolution is great for text but 3.5" is a bit on the small side for me.
That's not a fair comparison, no one holds screens that close to their eyes. Take pictures from a distance people would actually view them at, then we could see the true difference between the screens. And taking pictures of bright screens in complete darkness never turn out very well. I think it'd be better if there was a video of them both playing the same video side by side.
It's not just the resolution. iPhone and the Droid X are the only modern smartphones out there with 24 bit displays. Rest of the phones including HTC EVO, incredible, nexus one etc have 16 bit or 18 bit displays.
This horrible nonsense is noticable whenever there is a gradient in websites, UI, movies(smoke) etc.
@Girish The Nexus One does have a 24-bit display, however the built in apps run at 16-bits. This may have been changed with Froyo but I don't know. The hardware and OS does completely support 24-bit colour though.
Before the iPhone 4 I have NEVER heard a WORD about pixel density being important. It was just another spec, like "Some phone has a WVGA display which is Super LCD. Btw its 280 ppi"
Over 250ppi is still an extremely high pixel density, and if you REALLY REALLY NEED something over that you are just being spoilt IMO. Now that Steve Jobs said that pixel density is important, it suddenly is. Who cares if games look pixelated because Apple haven't provided suitable APIs for the new resolution and have just lazily put more pixels in? ITS HIGH RESOLUTION, and even though it's half the size screen of the EVO, in the minds of iSheep it's still the best display ever.
Funny how nobody bitched about "how horrible" cell phone screens were until the new "retina display" was released by apple.
Just saying. Dont be so shallow.