Pentile Invasion?

[poofyhairguy]

Ok, so it started last year with the SGS1 and at the time everyone thought Pentile was a trade-off for the SAMOLED tech. But this year many of the major phones have pentile screens- Atrix, Droid X2, Droid 3, Droid Bionic, and reportedly Nexus Prime. Pentile seems to be the new trade-off for higher resolution screens that are inspired by the iPhone (which lacks Pentile).

Seems the only options to avoid Pentile going forward are HTC phones (that somehow magically have qHD WITHOUT Pentile). This year's SGS2 is Pentile-free, but if the next version has the Prime's 720p screen (likely) that means Pentile makes a return in that phone line.

What do yall think? Pentile a necessary evil to move the tech forward, or is this whole thing just a money grab (I have read more than once that Moto picked them due to cost) because us dumb consumers don't know better?

 

[Bateluer]

I think the average person doesn't know the difference, can't tell the difference, and doesn't care in the slightest either way.

 

[gsaldivar]

Be careful reading that title...

 

[BabaBooey]

I think the average person doesn't know the difference, can't tell the difference, and doesn't care in the slightest either way.

I concur.

 

[ponyo]

I rather them not use pentile but I understand it's the only way Samsung can currently fit 720p on 5" S-AMOLED. Next year Samsung should be able to get rid of pentile for 720p 5" but it's necessary evil at the moment.

I think the only pentile I can accept is 2560x1600. As much as I love S-AMOLED tech, I think I would get RGB S-LCD over pentile AMOLED on a phone.

 

[Oyeve]

What are the pros and cons?

 

[vshah]

What are the pros and cons?

pentile saves some power and can lead to higher brightness @ the same power if in an RGBW configuration

non-pentile is better for text

after dealing with pentile on the nexus one I am very very happy with the qhd non-pentile on the sensation.

 

[ponyo]

pros of pentile: cheaper and uses less power
con: blurry text

there might be more but that's what I'm aware of. Blurry text sucks. Your Vibrant phone is pentile. All Samsung AMOLED other than the current S-AMOLED Plus are pentile. That's why I was so interested in Galaxy II since they did away with pentile while keeping S-AMOLED.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Pentile vs Non Pentile is VERY easy to distinguish.

I was debating between the Incredible S (Inc 2) and the Nexus S. Both are 4" screens with 800x480 resolution. One has pentile, one doesn't. The Inc S' screen is really beautiful too because it has great contrast and is one of the better SLCD screens (Sensation isn't that great). It's obvious the Inc 2 is far sharper in text.

This isn't to say Pentile is blurry. It's more than usable, but if you stare at it, it's certainly a tad blurry.

Maybe I can post a photo of my gf's phone and my phone. She has the Inc 2, but I think her screen protector really ruins the image... lol.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Another thing I notice is how bad icons look on pentile screens. Like they are all behind screen doors or something.

I have noticed based upon input from others that sensitivity to pentile varies. My friend with an Atrix doesn't notice it, while it punches me in the face. I have better vision than he does though.

 

[lothar]

I will post the same thing I said about pentile screens exactly 8 days ago.
They have yet to be disputed.

Most of the people who bash pentile have never used it and are nothing more than bandwagon people on a misinformed train. People who say it's a trick or gimmick and is just a poor technology without benefits have a lack of understanding of what the technology is and what it does.

RGBW pentile on the QHD displays(which is not the same as the RGB pentile on AMOLED) is extremely good for reading black text on a white background(a topic you will find uninformed nay sayers saying the opposite) and is more viewable in sunlight and brighter than any display technology to date by a significant margin, nothing comes close. The appearance of fingerprints and glare are extremely diminished on these displays, they hide them much better than any other display tech. One final benefit that I can think of off the top of my head is that at any given level of brightness, RGBW pentile displays use less battery than any other display tech on the market.

I've compared the Droid X2/Atrix to the Droid X and they were very different.
The major difference? Pentile.
http://www.droid-life.com/2011/05/2...x2-and-its-qhd-display-pentile-at-its-finest/

If Moto kept their S-LCD screens without the "pentile" part, they would still have one of the best screens on the market today IMO.
The people who keep saying Moto has the best screens/color reproduction available are still quoting that comparison on DisplayMate failing to realize that Moto has since changed how they do their screens after Droid X series phones.
http://www.displaymate.com/Smartphone_ShootOut_1.htm

I think DisplayMate needs to do an updated comparison of Droid X2/Atrix pentile to a Moto "non-pentile" Droid X, SAMOLED+, IPS, and Apple's Retina displays to settle this idea that pentile screens are superior once and for all.

I know plenty of people that upgraded from a Droid X to a Droid X2, only to return the phone because of the screen.
So yes, "pentile" qHD screens are currently a gimmick. Give me the screen found on the Droid X, attach qHD resolution to it without the "pentile" part.
I don't need my phone to look like a checkered board for sunlight visibility which is a minute point for me. I spend more time indoors than outdoors.
I wouldn't trade having a slight better visibility in sunlight for having a checkered board 24/7.

I would love to compare a Photon 4G to a Droid X2 to see if there's any improvement in how Moto does their pentile screens. Unfortunately, one phone is at a Sprint store, the other is at a Verizon store. And neither would let me walk out of the store with their phones to do a side by side comparison.

 

[lothar]

I think the average person doesn't know the difference, can't tell the difference, and doesn't care in the slightest either way.

Most people that browse Anandtech are not average.

 

[s44]

It's blurri*er* than a similar-res screen without Pentile, but 720p Pentile is still a *lot* of subpixels.

 

[J-Money]

Pentile vs. Non-pentile is the new TN vs. IPS panel in monitors.

"Only peasants settle for {TN Panels | Non-pentile screens}! My eyes are far too advanced I simply cannot stand them!"

 

[poofyhairguy]

If Moto kept their S-LCD screens without the "pentile" part, they would still have one of the best screens on the market today IMO.
The people who keep saying Moto has the best screens/color reproduction available are still quoting that comparison on DisplayMate failing to realize that Moto has since changed how they do their screens after Droid X series phones.

In fact, Moto might have the worst Pentile implementation. Look:

Defense of Moto's pentile decision:

http://pentileblog.com/uncategorized/pentile-a-gimmick/

 

[Oyeve]

I see. Yeah, the text on the web on my old droid 1 was excellent but the colors were bland while text on my vibrant gives me headaches but i love the colors.

 

[hanoverphist]

i have a dX and i think the text is clear enough that it doesnt give me any issues. after seeing that pic posted above i had to open my phone to see if it was like that, and it totally isnt. mebbe i just got lucky. or im going blind.

 

[poofyhairguy]

The DX is not pentile. The DX2 is. Look much more blocky the DX2 looks in the picture above. It is even worse than the also Pentile Nexus S.

 

[ew915]

Everyone seems like they are pixel hunting lately.

 

[hanoverphist]

In fact, Moto might have the worst Pentile implementation. Look:

Defense of Moto's pentile decision:

http://pentileblog.com/uncategorized/pentile-a-gimmick/

The DX is not pentile. The DX2 is. Look much more blocky the DX2 looks in the picture above. It is even worse than the also Pentile Nexus S.

i was going off of that pic, it clearly shows pixelation that i cant seem to actually find on any screen of my phone. thats all. but i guess youre right. i could take a pic of my 1080p tv up close and show the same thing. making the notification icons 5/8" tall instead of their normal 3/32" tall just to prove that you can see the pixels is like standing a foot away from your plasma/ led/lcd tv and saying its blurry. if you were meant to see the battery and time icons 2" from your eye, im thinking they would make sure it looked decent from that distance. i think a lot of people are really nitpicking this stuff.

 

[dainthomas]

if you were meant to see the battery and time icons 2" from your eye, im thinking they would make sure it looked decent from that distance. i think a lot of people are really nitpicking this stuff.

this