Lowered the resolution on my Galaxy S7 to 720p and I can't tell the difference

[+Warwagon MVC]

So I recently lower the resolution on my Galaxy S7 down to 720P. I can't tell a single difference between the default Quad HD and just 720P.

 

The screen is only 5.1 inches I personally think 720p looks just fine and we'll see if it provides better battery life in the process. 

 

Maybe I just have <bad> eyes :-)

Edited September 11, 2017 by Jason S.
edited

[Circaflex]

Performance should be better, but I wouldn't expect much in terms of battery improvement. The main power draw is the screen itself, which will draw the same amount of power regardless of the resolution.

[Draconian Guppy]

On 9/1/2017 at 3:50 PM, Circaflex said:

Performance should be better, but I wouldn't expect much in terms of battery improvement. The main power draw is the screen itself, which will draw the same amount of power regardless of the resolution.

Doesn't it draw less? I remember this being a mess when the LG G3 came out with the quad hd, then reduced to 1080p, supposedly improved like 10% battery life?

[Jason S. Global Moderator]

13 minutes ago, Draconian Guppy said:

Doesn't it draw less? I remember this being a mess when the LG G3 came out with the quad hd, then reduced to 1080p, supposedly improved like 10% battery life?

Circaflex was differentiating b/w the GPU battery draw and the actual, physical screen. The screen itself would draw the same amount of power regardless of resolution. The lower resolution would [potentially] draw less power as the GPU doesnt have to work as hard to output a higher resolution.

[Draconian Guppy]

6 minutes ago, Jason S. said:

Circaflex was differentiating b/w the GPU battery draw and the actual, physical screen. The screen itself would draw the same amount of power regardless of resolution. The lower resolution would [potentially] draw less power as the GPU doesnt have to work as hard to output a higher resolution.

ahhh makes sense! So on GPU intensive tasks, it should draw less no?

[Jason S. Global Moderator]

2 minutes ago, Draconian Guppy said:

ahhh makes sense! So on GPU intensive tasks, it should draw less no?

it should, yes

[darth_vader]

I have an S7e and even in 1080p mode I notice the text is a little bit blurry. The lower res usually make sense in games or gpu intense apps. It's just like PC games, if you play at 4k, the power draw would be higher then playing at 1080p for ex. Not to mention that the lower the resolution the better the performance is, otherwise I would not keep the phone on anything other than native resolution.

[The Evil Overlord]

A personal rant, but I've always thought 720p was more than enough, my phone has a 5.5 inch screen, and found it sharp and crisp. My son's Sony has a 1080p screen, and watching the same content, playing the same games, etc... Just didn't seem different on 1080

[exotoxic]

27 minutes ago, The Evil Overlord said:

A personal rant, but I've always thought 720p was more than enough, my phone has a 5.5 inch screen, and found it sharp and crisp. My son's Sony has a 1080p screen, and watching the same content, playing the same games, etc... Just didn't seem different on 1080

 

They cant justify the price tag without these innovative features. World first 16K 5inch phone buy now only £9,999!!!11!!

[Elliot B.]

I ran my S7 edge (5.5") at 1280x720 and run my S8+ (6.2") at 1480x720, as there is no quality loss (even in finer text detail) and will only increase battery life and performance, even if only by a few %.

 

Text does not go slightly blurry at 720p and I'd love to blind test anyone that think it does.

 

1440p and 4k resolutions are necessary for VR headsets such as Samsung's Gear VR.

[techbeck]

Had a buddy who could see the refresh lines, or whatever you call them, in old CRT monitors and I couldnt see anything.  I cant tell much diff from 720 to 1080.  Some people are just wired different

[Elliot B.]

Just now, techbeck said:

Had a buddy who could see the refresh lines, or whatever you call them, in old CRT monitors and I couldnt see anything.  I cant tell much diff from 720 to 1080.  Some people are just wired different

On a 5-6" screen - I'm not convinced.

[dragontology]

CRT monitors didn't come 5-6" except for like portable TVs, and those were rare. Besides, refresh lines didn't have to do with resolution. I could see them too, sometimes. I don't think they were hard to see though?

 

Running a Galaxy phone at a lower resolution won't reduce the power draw of the screen, reducing the brightness will. Or since it's OLED (AMOLED), running fewer pixels on (more black ones). The lower resolution takes work off the GPU, not the battery. Reducing the work of the GPU can in turn benefit the battery.

 

I have an iPhone 6s. It runs at 750p. Weird resolution, basically 720p with a few extra lines. You know Apple likes to "think different." It's a beautiful screen. Looks great, especially at full bright. I usually run at 25%. My ideal Android phone would basically be a Nexus 4 (the 4.7" one) with modern specs. Problem is, Android has deeper issues; I don't want to get into an Android vs iOS let's just say I prefer Android for its features and iOS for its stability. But if I'm designing an Android phone, Nexus 4 is the body. Chipset would probably be Snapdragon 600 series, not 800. I'm not a gamer, so I favor SD600's power saving features. I want a phone that will go all day and run smoothly, playing top games and running VR are not priorities. Resolution would be a bit higher as it would be one of those 18:9 screens, so 1440x720. We don't need huge bezels. Camera of the Pixel 2, naturally. 128GB NVMe SSD storage, like my iPhone 6s has. 256GB as a premium option. No SD card slot. 2200mAh non-removable battery. USB Type C. Headphone jack on top. And a bloody lanyard pin! Name... Nexus 4ever.