Database Users

[Q] PixelQi Question

Can some help me out with how the PixelQi screen compares to E Ink? So far, the reviews I have read have stated that the screen is pretty bad for indoor reading without specifying how bad. Apart from PixelQi, I guess the Xoom is a far better tablet than Adam though obviously more expensive (rumored). If the PixelQi screen is as bad as the reviews state it to be, I guess the wait for the best PDF e-reader continues.
Secondly, I wonder why none of the big companies have taken a liking so far to PixelQi. Hopefully, the Lattice Innoversal will come out soon and provide a second glimpse of PixelQi in action on a tablet.

Someone posted a video of it in action and it looked good to me. It requires light on the screen to reflect back the picture, so it may need more than an ereader.
Sent from my EVO using XDA App

As I have a pixelQi enabled adam in my lap right now, I can state that while the pixelQi in the adam is /not/ a perfect replacement to e-ink
(The extra glossy glass layer added to the top of the pixelQi display removes some of it's benefit, sadly, as light has to travel further to hit the actual pixelqi display, so it doesn't diffuse right, if I'm thinking of the right word)
It is, however, pretty awesome if you've got the right lighting. I work in a very well lit office, and actually prefer reading off the kindle app with the pixelQi mode enabled (backlight off) and it works ok. However, under normal lamp light, it's not as good as the kindle is.

I wonder how out would work under airplane light. Also, is it only greyscale our is there color with just the pixel qi screen on?
Sent from my EVO using XDA App

I am guessing that is one of the reasons why it has not been adopted by any major player...most of them seem more interested in Mirasol. My question was rather related to flights - I wonder how easy it is to read on flights with Adam.
If this is the case, I wonder why there is so much enthusiasm over Adam. It has terrible support if not for XDA folks and the hardware is similar to Xoom. I guess that's what happens when a bunch of engineers try and run a company. I guess I will have a bunch of Solomon Adamites running wild on me for my comments but most of my words come from experience with startups. Adam for the present is just acting as a stop gap solution to the non iPad tablet market. It has potential but they better hire a business guy.

Again, the PixelQi screen is still pretty great, it just seems the glass layer ontop of it from the adam is a bit too thick to use it to its full potential.
Unfortunately, I cannot say as far as airplane light, as my next flight won't be until march. If you mean as in light from the windows, yes, that will be more than bright enough to light it up for great visibility. If you mean the dinky little overhead lamp you push in to turn on when the rest of the plane is dark, I'm not sure.
As far as enthusiasm over the adam, I agree, so far there has been a bunch of missteps from the company, with them having blog posts about finding matte glass, then it ending up as a matte screen protector, a bunch of shipping debacles and misinformation about dates, and other issues. However, I can say the hardware itself is quite solid. If you ignore the eden UI (which, when working is pretty great), the pure android experience is great.
If you consider that the adam has the identical hardware to the xoom (with possibly a different/unique/betterdependingonopinion screen), and the fact the Xoom is currently looking to be launched at $800 after contract, the adam is a /waaay/ better deal for the cash.
I of course can only speak from my experience, but so far I'm really enjoying the adam. Only real complaint I've had is that the GPS is either not working or somehow calibrated wrong, as it thinks I'm in China.
Edit: Sirchuk, to answer your question, depending on the light, there is still some color to be visible. We're talking /slight/ color, as far as I can tell, but it's there. If you don't have enough light you'll really only see white/grey, as far as I can tell.

The original CES video showed that with direct sunlight the screen was full color to the point of almost HD quality. I don't think that is the case anymore.
Sent from my EVO using XDA App

I also think one of the reasons NI can afford to price it so less is because they don't have to worry about Service, Support, Marketing, Legal, etc.,
The Matte and Glossy goof up is unforgivable. I was seriously hoping that NI would solve my PDF e-reader problem but I guess I will need to wait

The Xoom and the Adam don't have the same hardware -- they just have the same SoC. While it does make the similar, they are not the same. It's the same comparison with the ViewSonic G-Tab... same SoC != Same Hardware. There's a number of other things to consider...
(Storage, Screen, RAM, GPS, Wifi, Bluetooth, 3G/2G, Materials, Build Quality, Support, etc, etc.)

True, they aren't the same, but should deliver the same/similar functionality. Sure, the Adam doesn't have as high a resolution LCD (close) but it's also about half the price.
$425 shipped for the base model Adam, vs a rumored $800 shipped for the Xoom? I think Verizon will sell it for $700 after a subsidy, but that's still a steep price difference.
Honestly, I was set on a Xoom, until I compared the two and judged that the differences weren't worth almost twice the price.

Yep, I guess even am going in for the Adam mainly for the hardware but the FCC pics did look scary

Sirchuk said:
True, they aren't the same, but should deliver the same/similar functionality. Sure, the Adam doesn't have as high a resolution LCD (close) but it's also about half the price.
$425 shipped for the base model Adam, vs a rumored $800 shipped for the Xoom? I think Verizon will sell it for $700 after a subsidy, but that's still a steep price difference.
Honestly, I was set on a Xoom, until I compared the two and judged that the differences weren't worth almost twice the price.
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Like joshua.lyon said, the viewsonic g tablet has the "same" (similar) hardware. It is available at your local Kmart or Sears, so no waiting and it's about half the price of the xoom at $399. It already has hacker/developer support, etc..
But then again that "same" (similar), isn't similar enough... IMHO Xoom<Adam just because it's 1 or 2 hardware differences, mainly the option of PQi, lack of USB Host (both rather huge differences)..
Shoot, you want really cheap "similar" hardware, eLocity A7...
-CC
Comparables: http://pdadb.net/index.php?m=pdacom...&id5=2577&id6=2747&id7=2290&id8=2291&id9=2609

clockcycle said:
Like joshua.lyon said, the viewsonic g tablet has the "same" (similar) hardware. It is available at your local Kmart or Sears, so no waiting and it's about half the price of the xoom at $399. It already has hacker/developer support, etc..
But then again that "same" (similar), isn't similar enough... IMHO Xoom<Adam just because it's 1 or 2 hardware differences, mainly the option of PQi, lack of USB Host (both rather huge differences)..
Shoot, you want really cheap "similar" hardware, eLocity A7...
-CC
Comparables: http://pdadb.net/index.php?m=pdacom...&id5=2577&id6=2747&id7=2290&id8=2291&id9=2609
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Click to collapse
I don't know, I'm hearing mixed reviews of the PQi display. Granted, USB host is pretty nice. The Xoom does have twice the memory though and higher resolution. I still don't see how they think they can price it at $800 though.
My main concern is the longevity of the Adam. I don't even know if it has a warranty. It's open though, and that counts for something.
The thing that sealed the deal for me was watching the video of full HDMI output. Phones don't even do that, and it's a feature I will take advantage of.
Hulu, YouTube, Netflix (soon) and anything else online or offline output to my TV? heck yeah...

Sirchuk said:
I don't know, I'm hearing mixed reviews of the PQi display. Granted, USB host is pretty nice. The Xoom does have twice the memory though and higher resolution. I still don't see how they think they can price it at $800 though.
My main concern is the longevity of the Adam. I don't even know if it has a warranty. It's open though, and that counts for something.
The thing that sealed the deal for me was watching the video of full HDMI output. Phones don't even do that, and it's a feature I will take advantage of.
Hulu, YouTube, Netflix (soon) and anything else online or offline output to my TV? heck yeah...
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Click to collapse
+1 DVDs, self made recordings, Anime, HUGE eReader... endless options, heck yeah!

Eujin said:
As I have a pixelQi enabled adam in my lap right now, I can state that while the pixelQi in the adam is /not/ a perfect replacement to e-ink
(The extra glossy glass layer added to the top of the pixelQi display removes some of it's benefit, sadly, as light has to travel further to hit the actual pixelqi display, so it doesn't diffuse right, if I'm thinking of the right word)
It is, however, pretty awesome if you've got the right lighting. I work in a very well lit office, and actually prefer reading off the kindle app with the pixelQi mode enabled (backlight off) and it works ok. However, under normal lamp light, it's not as good as the kindle is.
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I'm interested in the Adam for reading lots of PDF files during the day in an office environment. Can you give some more details on what type of lighting that works well with the backlight off mode of Adam? Do you with normal lamp light mean for example a 60W bulb in a desktop office lamp with the light source positioned about 1 meter from the Adam screen. Would that not be good enough lighting for a good reading experience on Adam?
A second question to anyone with an Adam, since there's also been some talk about HDMI output here. Is there some HDMI to VGA adapter that works with the Adam? Most projectors at my work are still VGA only and I'm very interested in using Adam for powerpoint-like output.

joshua.lyon said:
The Xoom and the Adam don't have the same hardware -- they just have the same SoC. While it does make the similar, they are not the same. It's the same comparison with the ViewSonic G-Tab... same SoC != Same Hardware. There's a number of other things to consider...
(Storage, Screen, RAM, GPS, Wifi, Bluetooth, 3G/2G, Materials, Build Quality, Support, etc, etc.)
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Click to collapse
You must also take into consideration the adams abundance of ports, the XOOM only offers one micro usb, one micro hdmi, and a 3.5mm jack. so you have to either get them from Motorola or get some adapters. that mean no thumb drives or normall usb powered devices.

Tomorrow ill make a full review of it in all conditions
Sent from my Adam using XDA App

LeviathanPT said:
Tomorrow ill make a full review of it in all conditions
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Thanks. The best video of the e-reader capacity of Adam that I have so far found is by the goodereader team (google "Notion Ink Adam vs. Apple iPad and Amazon Kindle" to find it; my user account don't allow posting direct links yet)
That video still has a few problems that I hope some other video review will avoid:
1. doesn't say if the have applied the matte screen sheet or not. And if there are any drawbacks to using the matte screen sheet?
2. does not show what types of background light they have and does not compare different background lights
3. moves around the camera and/or Adam to much to quickly for the viewer. To shoot it with a fixed camera for 10+ seconds at a time and then change zoom mode and/or lighting and repeat the 10+ second shot, making sure to let it focus before counting, would be much more useful.
4. the reviewer hasn't actually done much reading on the device, e.g. tried reading a few book chapters in various use enviroments -- at an office table in sunlit indoors environment, outside, at night with an office table lamp, at night with a bedside lamp. Is it really important to position the lightsource just right to avoid reading-worsening reflection?
5. isn't shot in 720p or 1080p

My Adam has not arrived yet (I am a 5.31% factionalist)
but I use a Pixel Qi screen daily and have for the last six months. I can give you some insight into it's use on a laptop.
All screens reflect strong light to some extent. Your laptop does it. What do you do? You turn it to an angle that does not reflect light or reflects as little light as possible. You will do the same thing with the tablet. Many people are showing videos and photos that show how much light the Adam reflects, not how little light you can get it to reflect by just changing the angle a bit like you do now with your laptop. Your laptop screen is probably more reflective than the Adam screen and you wouldn't send it back because of it.
I am sure the contrast of the Adam Pixel Qi screen is not going to be as dramatic as your dedicated e-reader, but it is perfectly acceptable and has the advantage of being more of a full service device. I use mine to read in full sunlight by the pool for hours at a time frequently. The advantage of being able to watch videos, surf the web, read books, RSS, and emails and use thousands of programs (spelled Angry Birds) over weighs a greater degree of contrast on the screen. The only downside is that the black parts get too hot to hold. Don't even think about touching the touch pad! We need a terricloth Adam case please!
E-ink is probably better if all you are going to do is read books and documents. If you are living in the real world and do not want multiple devices, you need a Pixel Qi tablet or laptop. You can buy a laptop from ebay, and buy and install a Pixel Qi screen for less than a top of the line Adam.
The Pixel Qi screen needs different color correction profiles to enhance it's view-ability. I have three different profiles that change brightness, gama and contrast that can be employed with one click depending on the environment I am in. I hope we will have that capability on the Adam. Usually this would not be a big deal in Android, but with the Pixel Qi it is.
To get a nice white/black screen in reflective mode you need to use one profile. For full saturation in a dark room in transmissive you need another. Transflective mode is variable, and so can use a profile of it's own to your taste. This screen is not the old on/off you are used to. It will take some getting used to, but then you will never look back.
Hope this helps!

johnboatcat: thanks, very useful feedback.
I plan to read a lot on the device I end the end buy. But mostly PDF files with graphics or text that can't be easily reflowed. I am under the impression that Kindle type devices don't support that very well. I also have need for quickly jumping back and forth between pages while reading the PDF documents and the slowness of Kindle refresh rules it out.
So I am definitely waiting for an Adam-like device with decent e-ink-type screen mode, fast refresh and that also can fits common netbook use cases: emailing, writing shorter texts, browsing and so on.
Adam seems the most promising candidate at present. But the glossy glass above the screen looks worrying to me. From the videos I've seen it looks much more glossy than any laptop I have owned. So I'm awaiting more videos I guess. When you do receive you Adam please post some new feedback on this topic. With your experience with a PQ screen in another device you'll be in a very good position to judge just how much the Adam glass sheet changes the reading experience.
I should also say that I plan to do my reading on it mostly indoors: at an office desk and in bed. So positioning it to avoid distracting light source reflections might be much easier in those situations.

The screen thread!

So, I've been taunted by the Acer the day before launch at BB and had someone open one up to demo for me. After somehow avoiding the purchase I did more research and found the Asus release date and figured I'd wait. Well we all know how that went..
Anyhow as I sit here reading thread after thread deciding on the Acer now, or Asus later, I am torn about the screen quality. I have heard many things like "as good as Ipad" "way better than Xoom" the amazingly grammatically correct; "it Sux" or just "terrible"
I don't care about the dock....at all. Battery life, build quality and screen crispness i do care about.
I'm hoping this thread can be to discuss the goods and bads about the screen in as unbiased a way as possible. I would love for people who have interacted with both chime in!

The screen "quality" is fine. Text looks great (read for over an hour with no eyestrain). Videos look good. Viewing angles are even fine, which is unusual for a TFT.
But the glare!!! Yikes. I realize that the glare probably has more to do with the glass than the screen technology, but the bottom line is that they both contribute to my enjoyment, or lack thereof, of the screen.
I have a Nook Color and I can place the A500 and the NC right next to each other and the difference is dramatic in terms of glare. Sure, the NC has some reflection, but it's a great deal more muted than then A500 which is practically a mirror.

I don't have any particular problem with the screen. It looks sharp. Runs in 1280x800 resolution.
Some people complain about the grid that can be visible, but I have NEVER seen it during normal use. I didn't even know what people were talking about until I held it at weird angles directly under a light source (as in...10 inches away from my lamp).
The thing is a finger-print magnet though, so if you have OCD issues with that sort of thing you will always need to be replacing screen protectors or having a microfiber cloth in your back-pocket.

I picked one up from bestbuy a few days ago. The screen is very nice. The grid does bother me, but it's not often that I see it.
Games look good, videos look good. Everything is snappy
I don't have a transformer or an ipad to test it against but I think the acer is worth buying if you don't care about the keyboard dock on the transformer.

The screen itself is very good with decent colour and contrast with excellent viewing angles. As others have said though, you do get glare from the high gloss glass panel and it attracts fingerprints when you just go near it. With the right lighting direction I can see the grid in the same way I have seen it on virtually all capacitive screens.
Would I use any of this against the A500? - no. These issues are minor to me but I can see how for some they would be a more major issue.

I think the quality is really good but could use some tweaking. Why in the world are there no apps that allow you to tweak gamma contrast color and all that? Calibrating would make it much better but for some reason we are expected to keep it as delivered?
Also slightly unrelated, has anyone noticed if you use a 1280x800 image as a wallpaper it looks liek crap? What resolution do we need wallpapers to be in? The stock ones are too borring.

volcaicstrad37 said:
So, I've been taunted by the Acer the day before launch at BB and had someone open one up to demo for me. After somehow avoiding the purchase I did more research and found the Asus release date and figured I'd wait. Well we all know how that went..
Anyhow as I sit here reading thread after thread deciding on the Acer now, or Asus later, I am torn about the screen quality. I have heard many things like "as good as Ipad" "way better than Xoom" the amazingly grammatically correct; "it Sux" or just "terrible"
I don't care about the dock....at all. Battery life, build quality and screen crispness i do care about.
I'm hoping this thread can be to discuss the goods and bads about the screen in as unbiased a way as possible. I would love for people who have interacted with both chime in!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Look, the IPS display is "better"....that's that. If you need something with a gorgeous screen, wait.
Is the A500 screen terrible, bad, etc.? Not by a long shot. It's bright, crisp and the viewing angles are very, very good. The 'grid' you read people referring to, is barely visible and you'll only notice it on very lightly colored, black or white backgrounds, and that's with your face plastered to the screen. It isn't a deal breaker for many people but it might be for you. If you can afford to wait, wait....and make an informed decision and one you won't regret once you're able to compare them side by side. Unlike the TF, the A500 is in supply and I doubt they'll be running out any time soon so time and supply are on your side (for the Acer, anyway).

here are a few pictures of the iconia and transformer screens. Pics are captured by motorola atrix camera. Hope it can help with the buying decision.

home screen landscape and portrait

thickness and back. For some reasons, I can't upload the video

Wow the one on the right looks so much better. Orange county area? I live in Tustin lol. Where did you get your hands on a transformer?

keroppilee said:
Wow the one on the right looks so much better. Orange county area? I live in Tustin lol. Where did you get your hands on a transformer?
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hahaha, nice to have a neighbor on this forum. Yep, the transformer has the best screen but the iconia is not that bad. I got my TF at Fry's. I saw an employee there carried 3 TFs to the stock room. I jumped on them right away, got one for my best friend and one for my brother. Both of them want the TF so bad. As for me, I am settled with the iconia at Best Buy. I just like the build quality and how it feels in my hands. If I knew, I could have got the last TF for you

appreciate the thought
I'm still deciding between android or I pad. I really feel I pads polish in multimedia is a big plus. I'm trying my roommates xoom and youtube doesn't even run without stutter :/
Netflix is nice on I pad too
I do love the PC I sh feel of android. Much more customizable

Back light bleed through
Some transformer owners have complain about back light bleed through when watching videos.

hey in the past week i have tested the view sonic gtablet , the archos 101 and the playbook . the view sonic and the archos dont even come close to what the acer is i picked up the acer after i saw it at best buy today and i was impressed i also picked up the xoom last week but returned it after 24 hrs because the price 599 was on my mind the whole time i was playing with it .
the screen i feel is like the apple ipad which i have . i really can not notice the difference. and if anyone is thinking about the gtab and the archos dont get them if your not holding it at the right angle all the time your not going to see much.

I had the gtablet for 3 weeks and recently sold it and picked up the Acer A500 yesterday. I was also comtemplating on buying the Xoom at Bestbuy, but after playing with both tablets I couldn't justify spending the extra $ on the xoom so I went with the Acer and so far so good. It's like night and day compared to my old gtablet.

texonex said:
home screen landscape and portrait
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LoL. Please clean the screen of the Iconia What a difference...

I'm a Transformer owner, but over the weekend I had a chance to play with both the Xoom and the Iconia in store.
The screen on the Tranformer is definitely the best of all three tablets, and this was clearly evident even without having the Transformer to hand to compare side by side.
However, I would still rate the Iconia's screen as "very good" (the Transformer's screen would be rated "excellent"), and significantly better than the screen on the Xoom (which I would rate as just "ok").
Regards,
Dave
P.S. Just an FYI, but I'm keeping an eye on the Iconia forums because I'm thinking about getting an A100, not to troll regarding A500/Transformer comparisons!

if you want to see the real difference between the Iconia and Transformer, take a pic from the side with about a 150 deg angle.

MCWatter said:
. Viewing angles are even fine, which is unusual for a TFT.
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It not a regular TFT screen , in fact there are 4 differents technologies ( TN, MVA, PVA, IPS )
Acer choosed PVA for the A500 , it provides the highest contrast ever measured on a tablet (1126:1) when the Ipad and its IPS Screen is rated (960:1) , but the latency is not as good as its competitors (even if asus came out with a trick , to correct that , by inserting a black picture every 3 images )
People tends to think that IPS is superior , but in fact it depends of the usage.
A500's screen might not be the best screen in the world , but it is for sure a very good one.

Issues with Display (Colors)

Does anyone know if Motorola plan on releasing something to change the gamma/saturation/contrast on the Xoom? I love everything about it and own one, except for the fact everything looks washed out. I assume this would be a easy fix for someone to implement something similar to a monitor where you can pick the color temp of the device 5700k 9700k ect.
This is becomming a deal breaker to me as I watch a lot of videos and the colors look horrible.

It is definitely on the cool side, but far from horrible. With all the customization offered by android you would think screen preferences would be available.

I use an app called Color Filter Settings".

I measured my WiFi-only XOOM with a GretagMacbeth Eye One Colorimeter, and its color performance and gamma curves were actually pretty stellar. I also used these test images to visually inspect the picture. Using the LCD test images, the only faults I could find are the less than perfect viewing angles and (very) slow pixel response times typical of VA panels.
For reference, I am a photographer and have several D6500K calibrated monitors (2x Dell 2408 WFP (b) and 1x Dell FPW 2405).

willverduzco said:
I measured my WiFi-only XOOM with a GretagMacbeth Eye One Colorimeter, and its color performance and gamma curves were actually pretty stellar. I also used these test images to visually inspect the picture. Using the LCD test images, the only faults I could find are the less than perfect viewing angles and (very) slow pixel response times typical of VA panels.
For reference, I am a photographer and have several D6500K calibrated monitors (2x Dell 2408 WFP (b) and 1x Dell FPW 2405).
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yeah, just eyeballing it and i thought the xoom was pretty good. it hold shadows well, but washes out in the highlights. the transformer is waaaay too cool. some whites and light blues come out looking purple. it doesn't hold shadows as well but highlights are better.
to me a warmer color looks more natural.
i do image editing/color matching in print.

The Xoom's screen is sub-par. Why do people on this forum alway's try to make someone who draw's a problem about the Xoom feel like they are less intelligent? Every intelligent person know's the Xoom's screen is washed out... How about reading the reviews ? One of the only negative's about the Xoom is it's screen and video capabilities. As why this thing barely sells.
Put it next to the iPad2 or Playbook and see how crappy the Xoom's screen is. No need to do "specials tests" blah blah it's easy to see. It's a BIG difference. What you expect tho ? The Xoom has alot more going for it so i'm not surprised they didn't get the best panel.
LONG LIVE THE XOOM THO !!

jamaicansolja said:
The Xoom's screen is sub-par. Why do people on this forum alway's try to make someone who draw's a problem about the Xoom feel like they are less intelligent? Every intelligent person know's the Xoom's screen is washed out... How about reading the reviews ? One of the only negative's about the Xoom is it's screen and video capabilities. As why this thing barely sells.
Put it next to the iPad2 or Playbook and see how crappy the Xoom's screen is. No need to do "specials tests" blah blah it's easy to see. It's a BIG difference. What you expect tho ? The Xoom has alot more going for it so i'm not surprised they didn't get the best panel.
LONG LIVE THE XOOM THO !!
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Not quite... The reason other displays look "better" to your eyes is that they are calibrated to look appealing rather than accurate.
Do yourself a favor and take a look at a Motorola Droid. Now look at a Samsung Nexus S. Your tastes will probably favor the Nexus S's screen. However, I would far prefer the screen on the Droid, as it is much more accurate and better calibrated.
There's no right or wrong screen here, as it's all user preference. The Droid, like the XOOM, has an extremely well calibrated, accurate screen. They aren't shockingly vibrant nor does they have incredibly high contrast. However, if they were incredibly vibrant and had really high contrast, other users (such as myself) would call the image gaudy.
Bottom line is that if the XOOM looks wrong to you, you're not used to looking at well calibrated screens.
(Note: I'm only speaking from my own personal WiFi-only XOOM. I am not aware of how much variability there is screen-to-screen on XOOMs.)

madsquabbles said:
yeah, just eyeballing it and i thought the xoom was pretty good. it hold shadows well, but washes out in the highlights. the transformer is waaaay too cool. some whites and light blues come out looking purple. it doesn't hold shadows as well but highlights are better.
to me a warmer color looks more natural.
i do image editing/color matching in print.
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Click to collapse
Hmm... That's strange. If you click the LCD Image tests I have linked earlier, specifically the white saturation, how does your XOOM do? Mine reveals 254 as well as any of my calibrated monitors. I'm wondering if this means that there is a good deal of screen variability.

willverduzco said:
Not quite... The reason other displays look "better" to your eyes is that they are calibrated to look appealing rather than accurate.
Do yourself a favor and take a look at a Motorola Droid. Now look at a Samsung Nexus S. Your tastes will probably favor the Nexus S's screen. However, I would far prefer the screen on the Droid, as it is much more accurate and better calibrated.
There's no right or wrong screen here, as it's all user preference. The Droid, like the XOOM, has an extremely well calibrated, accurate screen. They aren't shockingly vibrant nor does they have incredibly high contrast. However, if they were incredibly vibrant and had really high contrast, other users (such as myself) would call the image gaudy.
Bottom line is that if the XOOM looks wrong to you, you're not used to looking at well calibrated screens.
(Note: I'm only speaking from my own personal WiFi-only XOOM. I am not aware of how much variability there is screen-to-screen on XOOMs.)
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I thought the LCD is AUO or SHP also matters. Mine is SHP which stands for "Sharp", problem is potential light leak. Correct me if I am wrong though.
Also, I hand my left hand carring ipad 2 and right hand carring Xoom (because right hand is my stronger hand) last weekend,
Screen-wise, if you turn xoom brightness higher, those two screens looks same to me.
Btw, ipad 2 IPS screens also has infinite finger-prints too...
Only challenge appeared to me when I put these two head-to-head compare, was apps.
We definitely need more sexy slick powerful Honeycomb apps!

jiwengang said:
I thought the LCD is AUO or SHP also matters. Mine is SHP which stands for "Sharp", problem is potential light leak. Correct me if I am wrong though.
Also, I hand my left hand carring ipad 2 and right hand carring Xoom (because right hand is my stronger hand) last weekend,
Screen-wise, if you turn xoom brightness higher, those two screens looks same to me.
Btw, ipad 2 IPS screens also has infinite finger-prints too...
Only challenge appeared to me when I put these two head-to-head compare, was apps.
We definitely need more sexy slick powerful Honeycomb apps!
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Click to collapse
Ah! I had forgotten about the two different screens. For reference, I have the AU Optronics screen.

Question RE: A500's Poor Color Performance

I think it is well known now that the A500 displays poor color saturation. I am wondering if there is either a third party app or a custom ROM that allows me to fix this issue?

panda.bear said:
I think it is well known now that the A500 displays poor color saturation.
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It is? I didn't know (or notice) that. What sources are you referencing?

Not to me, I am very satisfied with the A500 colour saturation

i dont know I get great colors and saturation , now I would say the camera isnt all that good but I dont really use the camera so it doesnt matter to me

Must not be very well known.

Mine looks great too

Like mine too
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk

I am basing this off my personal observations as well as many others who have noted the same issue online.
Displaymate reviewed the screens of all android tablets a while ago and confirmed user observations that the A500 demonstrates poor color saturation. You can read the article here (http://www.displaymate.com/Acer_Iconia_ShootOut.htm).
You can also find many others who note the same issue with this model if you search Google. It should be apparent if you compare your tablet to other displays unless they are of an equal caliber.
I doubt it is the actual LCD hardware which is causing the problem, which is why I asked if there was a software solution where you can adjust display settings like saturation, contrast, etc.

The A500 does not have the greatest screen. No, I am not going to hold my breath and cry about ICS not here yet, no, I won't start a faceyspace petition, no, I'm not going to claim I'm putting my A500 on Craigslist.
I love my A500 and plan to keep it a long time.
But the screen is not that great. It does not have the best contrast (blacks being really black and not gray), it could be brighter, the colors a little more saturated.
But it's a tradeoff. No Android tablet is the best at everything, and I chose the A500 because it did have a lot of features I wanted compared to the others. The cameras, the 2 different sized USB ports, the construction, yada yada yada.
You MIGHT find some software tweak that could possibly adjust the screen a little, but you're really up against a hardware limitation. Compare your screen to a mirrored hdmi signal to a good TV. It's the screen. It's not great.

The only issue i have with the display on my a500 . When we are in bed Reading .. my better half complains that my screen is to bright. She tells me to roll over so its not blaring in her eyes or turn it down. IT Needs to go lower brightness.
everyone who i have seen my tablet say its looks amazing. I to will be using my a500 for quite some time.I See no need to jump onto a new device 450.00 and 1 year old. i want a 17.3 I7 Laptop next .Would get check book taken away if i try buying both.

Just a cheap screen, want better color performance step on over to a top tier tablet.

It's a 262k colour screen. What do you expect?

sRDennyCrane said:
The A500 does not have the greatest screen. No, I am not going to hold my breath and cry about ICS not here yet, no, I won't start a faceyspace petition, no, I'm not going to claim I'm putting my A500 on Craigslist.
I love my A500 and plan to keep it a long time.
But the screen is not that great. It does not have the best contrast (blacks being really black and not gray), it could be brighter, the colors a little more saturated.
But it's a tradeoff. No Android tablet is the best at everything, and I chose the A500 because it did have a lot of features I wanted compared to the others. The cameras, the 2 different sized USB ports, the construction, yada yada yada.
You MIGHT find some software tweak that could possibly adjust the screen a little, but you're really up against a hardware limitation. Compare your screen to a mirrored hdmi signal to a good TV. It's the screen. It's not great.
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Actually, the depth of its black is where our screen excels. http://m.gizmodo.com/5824807/the-best-tablet-displays-ipad-2-just-got-dethroned

chasmanian said:
Actually, the depth of its black is where our screen excels. http://m.gizmodo.com/5824807/the-best-tablet-displays-ipad-2-just-got-dethroned
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After spending time with a super AMOLED plus screen, I can't say the Acer screen is anything more than adequate in any catagory. And compared to other Android tablets, Samsung is at the top... in fact, they're at the top everywhere. Even the new iPad, since Sammy makes that screen, too.

erica_renee said:
The only issue i have with the display on my a500 . When we are in bed Reading .. my better half complains that my screen is to bright. She tells me to roll over so its not blaring in her eyes or turn it down. IT Needs to go lower brightness.
everyone who i have seen my tablet say its looks amazing. I to will be using my a500 for quite some time.I See no need to jump onto a new device 450.00 and 1 year old. i want a 17.3 I7 Laptop next .Would get check book taken away if i try buying both.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Search for Rootdim, problem solved.

If you understand Russian, read here - it's a detailed comparative review of tablet displays.

so I guess the OP walked into a store with a fist full of cash and blindly bought a tablet.....the slightest amount of research would have found this tablets screen is no show stopper

BrianDigital said:
so I guess the OP walked into a store with a fist full of cash and blindly bought a tablet.....the slightest amount of research would have found this tablets screen is no show stopper
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I purchased this tablet about a year ago before the Transformer came out and the only other HC option at the time was the Xoom, which was a hundred dollars more expensive than the A500.
I did notice at the time that the color saturation on the A500 was slightly poorer than the Xoom when I purchased my tab in the store but that that difference didn't seem to overcome the price gap at the time. It is a minor issue I have with my tablet and no, I do not plan to see my tablet which I have owned for a year just because of it - I simply wanted to know if there was a way to adjust it which is why I created this post.
I don't understand why everyone here wants to attack and question me with rude or snarky comments which are OT. I am not attacking anyone or anything I am simply making an observation and asking if there is any way around it.

panda.bear said:
I purchased this tablet about a year ago before the Transformer came out and the only other HC option at the time was the Xoom, which was a hundred dollars more expensive than the A500.
I did notice at the time that the color saturation on the A500 was slightly poorer than the Xoom when I purchased my tab in the store but that that difference didn't seem to overcome the price gap at the time. It is a minor issue I have with my tablet and no, I do not plan to see my tablet which I have owned for a year just because of it - I simply wanted to know if there was a way to adjust it which is why I created this post.
I don't understand why everyone here wants to attack and question me with rude or snarky comments which are OT. I am not attacking anyone or anything I am simply making an observation and asking if there is any way around it.
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sorry just read a topic in here that got me moody, I have really only seen color modification on led screens i could be wrong, but i think what you see is what you get

is it just me or is my screen a bit lacking in viewing angles?

it's surprising how bad the viewing angles are. It's more prevalent when you watch a movie on it like game of thrones where everything is dark. That or i'm having a major issue with light bleed. The blacks seem clouded and when i change the angle, you can see that the viewing angles aren't optimum.
Is this expected out of this note? I assume the PLS LCD from samsung was the IPS equivalent. It's shocking considering my Nexus 7 feels like a better screen.

It doesn't have the viewing angles of an AMOLED screen, but I find it sufficient. Based on what I've read in other sections of xda, PLS actually has better viewing angles than IPS or at least that's what's being perceived.

It's not just you, there is significant brightness falloff when viewing it off angle. However, there is very little, if any, color shift when viewing off angle. I can live with it, because of the pen. If it wasn't for the pen then there are several other tablets that are waay better at being tablets than the note.

I dont really have this problem, or else ive compensated in one way for another. In power savings mode i notice it more, but i have it on power savings mode at those times for a reason. See if you can change your screen mode in settings under display. That has helped me before during movies, however during movies i have this upright and i dont really touch the tablet .

skadebo said:
It's not just you, there is significant brightness falloff when viewing it off angle. However, there is very little, if any, color shift when viewing off angle. I can live with it, because of the pen. If it wasn't for the pen then there are several other tablets that are waay better at being tablets than the note.
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I don't think so. Can you name them? The ones that are better.

You fell for the trap ! No biting the bait !
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda app-developers app

darkwolfelite said:
I don't think so. Can you name them? The ones that are better.
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iPad 4, iPad 3, Nexus 10, maybe even the TF Infinity pad if you're into that sort of thing. The high res + better off-axis viewing angles make for more enjoyable consumption devices.
Edit: I freaking love the Note btw because I need the s-pen. I'm just impervious to the reality distortion field that exists for every Android device in their own sections on XDA.

sledgie said:
You fell for the trap ! No biting the bait ! lol guess I did
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda app-developers app
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Click to collapse
skadebo said:
iPad 4, iPad 3, Nexus 10, maybe even the TF Infinity pad if you're into that sort of thing. The high res + better off-axis viewing angles make for more enjoyable consumption devices.
Edit: I freaking love the Note btw because I need the s-pen. I'm just impervious to the reality distortion field that exists for every Android device in their own sections on XDA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Friends of mine have Ipads, all versions of it and they all complain that my tab can do and handle alot more than thiers. the Nexus 10 is not as good as the note. Samsung I believe made the nexus 10. They are not gonna make a better product for someone else. And the Infinity? I hope you are joking! I had 3 of those things and and was not better than the note.
But I know everyone likes what they want to like regardless of what specs are so I am not bashing what you or anyone else likes:laugh:

It's just you.

GSMArena, Swedroid, and Anandtech are the three sites that do thorough standardized testing. GSMArena's review of the Note was 8 pages long. Here's what they said about the display. I think it pretty much matches people's experiences.
The 10.1-inch PLS LCD screen with a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels gets the job done but fails to impress. Android slates such as the ASUS Transformer Prime TF700T and the Acer Iconia Tab A700 are rocking full HD resolution, and the iPad 3 is in a league of its own with its 3.1MP screen. As a result pixel density on the Note 10.1 is nothing to be excited about (149ppi), but big tablets like this are viewed at a bigger distance than phones, so it's not as much of an issue as you might have thought. Still, if you've seen the new iPad, the difference in sharpness is quite noticeable. Numbers aside, the image quality is decent. Viewing angles are very good and blacks look reasonably deep.
http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_note_10_1-review-798p2.php​

DammitCubs said:
it's surprising how bad the viewing angles are. It's more prevalent when you watch a movie on it like game of thrones where everything is dark. That or i'm having a major issue with light bleed. The blacks seem clouded and when i change the angle, you can see that the viewing angles aren't optimum.
Is this expected out of this note? I assume the PLS LCD from samsung was the IPS equivalent. It's shocking considering my Nexus 7 feels like a better screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think some of you guys are staring to hard at HD LCD because there is zero issue looking at my screen from an angle and that's with brightness down.... ur just use to looking at the Nexus or the ipad that has a higher resolution... there's nothing wrong with the notes screen!

I don't have any issues with viewing angles, so my vote is its just you.

I like dealing with evidence so attached are some pictures I took with manual settings and a custom whitebalance. Contrast appears lower when viewing off angle. Or maybe Samsung did the classic switch-a-roo where early adopters get nice panels and then they switch to crummier / cheaper ones down the line.

Okay so I looked more carefully and I definitely see that off-angle viewing results in the dark or black areas of photos / movies become a grayish mess, kind of like in the bottom left hand corner of my second photo. The saturated / brighter parts of the photo are fine though. Anyway, I don't really care because the Note is awesome, I just wanted to bring some facts to the table instead of subjectivity.

skadebo said:
iPad 4, iPad 3, Nexus 10, maybe even the TF Infinity pad if you're into that sort of thing. The high res + better off-axis viewing angles make for more enjoyable consumption devices.
Edit: I freaking love the Note btw because I need the s-pen. I'm just impervious to the reality distortion field that exists for every Android device in their own sections on XDA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL. Awesome response

To give people an idea of what i see. When I play game of thrones. During dark scenes, everything looks cloudy. And at low brightnesses, in complete darkness, I still have to pump up my brightness to 40%.
I have a Nexus 7, Retina Macbook next to me. You can clearly see a difference. Also, on different angles magnifies that "white cloud". It's very similar to those TFT on laptops showing very bad blacks. The blacks are bad, but the clouding above is significant.
I bought it for the S-pen and work but it's something I noticed over the weekend.

Try movie mode under screen mode, let me know if it makes a difference. This is one of the only tablets i have to install a screen filter app on because its too bright in total darkness.

I find the viewing angle issues are easily solved using the following steps:
1) Sit in a comfortable chair.
2) Hold the SGN10.1 directly in front of you.
I mean, is there a particular reason you feel the need to view your Note from an extreme angle?
Sent from my GT-N8000 using Tapatalk 2

mitchellvii said:
Hold the SGN10.1 directly in front of you.
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Funny.
I guess I've never noticed it as an issue because it doesn't seem to be on mine...

mitchellvii said:
I find the viewing angle issues are easily solved using the following steps:
1) Sit in a comfortable chair.
2) Hold the SGN10.1 directly in front of you.
I mean, is there a particular reason you feel the need to view your Note from an extreme angle?
Sent from my GT-N8000 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good one. Haha!
Why would anyone want to watch movies on a tablet in an angle anyway?