Resolution chase on mobile devices is stupid, is GPU advancements keeping up?

[AndroAsc]

Does anyone else think the resolution chase in mobile devices is getting out of hand? We've gone from 800 x 480 just 2 generations ago (Galaxy S2) to Full HD 1920 x 1080 (Galaxy S4).

Sure it's nice to have a high resolution screen, but I think we're reaching the point of diminishing returns.
1) Pixel density (i.e. ppi) has their limits. The human eye cannot distinguish beyond 300 ppi and anything beyond is just unnecessary. Most laptops have 150 ppi (like the one I am typing this post on), and it works just fine. Pixelation was an issue with QVGA resolution, but since I got a 800 x 480 on a 4" screen works it just fine for me. Moving to 1280 x 800 was OK, since it allowed me to get a full desktop experience when browsing, but 1920 x 1080? Ridiculous... at native resolution the font will be so small that one needs a magnifying glass to read!!!
2) Resolution means that GPU power has to scale to the order of N^2 just to keep up. 800 x 480 has 384k pixels to render, while 1920 x 1080 has 2074k pixels to render. That means that the newer GPU needs to have at least 5.4X more performance to maintain the SAME level of performance. I seriously doubt that GPU are scaling that well. For e.g. after reading the reviews on Galaxy S2 vs S3 (international version), it was evident that the performance was almost identical. The 2 extra cores are not used in most situation, and faster GPU on the S3 is negated by its resolution increase.

 

[Red Storm]

It's not at all stupid. For years and years computer/laptop displays languished around with the same resolutions year after year. It took mobile devices encroaching on their territory to start kicking them into action.

There's no reason to ever be completely satisfied with technology and say "This is good, no more improvement is needed". That kind of thinking gets us no where.

 

[AndroAsc]

It's not at all stupid. For years and years computer/laptop displays languished around with the same resolutions year after year. It took mobile devices encroaching on their territory to start kicking them into action.

There's no reason to ever be completely satisfied with technology and say "This is good, no more improvement is needed". That kind of thinking gets us no where.

You're missing the point. The resolution chase negates whatever performance improvement we get in GPU advancements.

 

[Red Storm]

I'll take a better display over better frames in time waster games that I never cared about...

 

[dguy6789]

But we are getting better framerates and better resolution at the same time. There isn't anything my current 720p phone doesn't run faster at native resolution than the last phone I had that was 800x480.

Also a tip: 300ppi being the max a human eye can distinguish is a partial myth. You can't say that phrase without also specifying the distance the device is held at. At the typical range someone holds a phone when using it they can still see pixels at that PPI. Probably the easiest way to really tell if you can see individual pixels or not is to play a 3D game that runs at the native resolution and see if you can see any aliasing or jaggies(Also have to be sure the game isn't using any AA either).

 

[AndroAsc]

But we are getting better framerates and better resolution at the same time. There isn't anything my current 720p phone doesn't run faster at native resolution than the last phone I had that was 800x480.

Also a tip: 300ppi being the max a human eye can distinguish is a partial myth. You can't say that phrase without also specifying the distance the device is held at. At the typical range someone holds a phone when using it they can still see pixels at that PPI. Probably the easiest way to really tell if you can see individual pixels or not is to play a 3D game that runs at the native resolution and see if you can see any aliasing or jaggies(Also have to be sure the game isn't using any AA either).

I was running a few benchmarks on the S2 and S3, and the graphics performance was not significantly better than my S1. We're not talking about playing 3D games here, but responsiveness/lag-time of the device.

So your statement that we're getting better framerates and resolution may be correct, but I'd rather take more performance increase over resolution increase that I will not notice.

 

[ChronoReverse]

If you think your Galaxy S1 feels as responsive as the Galaxy S3 then you're definitely off mark here.

 

[bearxor]

Here's an excellent example of PPI use on mobile devices.

244 is around where we're at now. 500 would be ideal, I believe.

Once we get to 500, then I think we can have a discussion about it. Until then, I'm all for high-res screens.

 

[dagamer34]

Does anyone else think the resolution chase in mobile devices is getting out of hand? We've gone from 800 x 480 just 2 generations ago (Galaxy S2) to Full HD 1920 x 1080 (Galaxy S4).

Sure it's nice to have a high resolution screen, but I think we're reaching the point of diminishing returns.
1) Pixel density (i.e. ppi) has their limits. The human eye cannot distinguish beyond 300 ppi and anything beyond is just unnecessary. Most laptops have 150 ppi (like the one I am typing this post on), and it works just fine. Pixelation was an issue with QVGA resolution, but since I got a 800 x 480 on a 4" screen works it just fine for me. Moving to 1280 x 800 was OK, since it allowed me to get a full desktop experience when browsing, but 1920 x 1080? Ridiculous... at native resolution the font will be so small that one needs a magnifying glass to read!!!
2) Resolution means that GPU power has to scale to the order of N^2 just to keep up. 800 x 480 has 384k pixels to render, while 1920 x 1080 has 2074k pixels to render. That means that the newer GPU needs to have at least 5.4X more performance to maintain the SAME level of performance. I seriously doubt that GPU are scaling that well. For e.g. after reading the reviews on Galaxy S2 vs S3 (international version), it was evident that the performance was almost identical. The 2 extra cores are not used in most situation, and faster GPU on the S3 is negated by its resolution increase.

This is Apple marketing speak. Also, you do realize that almost all operating systems that support Hi DPI displays don't just make the text smaller right? And what do you think drives the industry to make better GPUs in the first place?

It makes me wonder if you've ever seen a 5" 1080p display in person.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

I was running a few benchmarks on the S2 and S3, and the graphics performance was not significantly better than my S1. We're not talking about playing 3D games here, but responsiveness/lag-time of the device.

So your statement that we're getting better framerates and resolution may be correct, but I'd rather take more performance increase over resolution increase that I will not notice.

Lag in Android is another issue though. GPUs keeping up would be an issue in gaming I see. If the lag is truly solved by invoking full GPU rendering of the entire UI, I'm pretty sure no Android device would lag given today's hardware.

But that said, I do notice significantly more lag on my Nexus 10 than my Nexus 4 simply because of the high resolution.

 

[sm625]

I just want 1080p. After that they can stop for awhile. Desktops and tv's have been pretty much stuck at 1080p for years. I think that's why mobile devices are rushing to that plateau.

 

[zerocool84]

I can definitely see the pixels in a iPhone 5 and my LG Optimus G from a reasonable distance.

 

[Bateluer]

Lag in Android is another issue though. GPUs keeping up would be an issue in gaming I see. If the lag is truly solved by invoking full GPU rendering of the entire UI

Like they did with HoneyComb. Years ago.

 

[Eug]

Here's an excellent example of PPI use on mobile devices.

244 is around where we're at now. 500 would be ideal, I believe.

Once we get to 500, then I think we can have a discussion about it. Until then, I'm all for high-res screens.

It's already the norm on high end phones to have well over 300 ppi. I personally have no great want for more than 350.

 

[CuriousMike]

Making the GPU keep up with all those pixels ain't my problem.
It's the industries, and they'll solve.

And they'll give me better battery life, too.

 

[Eug]

It's already the norm on high end phones to have well over 300 ppi. I personally have no great want for more than 350.

P.S. That means that 1280x768 would be perfect for me on a 4.3" phone. That's 347 ppi.

The Blackberry 10 is supposedly 4.2" at that resolution, at 355 ppi. OK, so that's just a tad over 350 ppi.

 

[Fire&Blood]

No, not keeping up, the "lag" is much worse than on the desktop side and will remain so for a while. Discrete or integrated, mobile or desktop, the limitations sit on the hardware side of things. Even expensive multiple GPU setups with no concerns about power drawn/heat generated are routinely brought down to it's knees, I don't see why anyone would expect things to be better on the mobile side of things. We may move forward a little faster with the next SoC design and hopefully better power consumption but battery capacity is the main limitation for the foreseeable future and when we overcome that one, heat becomes a bigger factor. Future hardware and software should produce better results
but we are about to hit the ceiling of what we can do with a 2500mAh battery.
Die shrinks are hard to come by and most of the power savings have to be reinvested towards performance anyway. Raise your hand if going from 45nm to 28nm gave you 30% better battery life...