Point Of Contention: Nexus One Screen Resolution

• Rob Jackson
• 15 years ago

When we read tech specs for products released by large, reputable companies, we tend to take their word for it that they’re being honest. I mean are we REALLY going to grab some tools, shimmy open the device, and make sure we’re getting what we paid for? No.

Well…. maybe some of us, but that’s not the point. When you read the Nexus One screen resolution was 800 x 480 pixels it was a selling point, and chances are you weighed that as a factor when making your purchase. Well a report from Luke Hutchinson of Ars Technica is claiming that the effective resolution of the Nexus One is actually much lower – 653 x 392.

How is this possible? If you want the full tech-heavy explanation you’ll have to read the entire article, which is definitely deep to say the least. I’m not saying the story is accurate or inaccurate – and Google has yet to comment on the issue – I’m just letting you know the opinion is out there. I would ASSUME that the Nexus One does support 800×480 pixels resolution, but the AMOLED technology utilizes those pixels in a different manner to accentuate brightness over clarity. But that’s just my guess.

The Nexus One screen is based on the “PenTile subpixel layout” which Hutchinson explains in great detail. He raises the following question, which seems to be the anchor of his contention:

Even though no single pixel contains all three color elements, is it legit to say this display has 480×800 pixels as claimed by HTC and Google?

I think it is absolutely fair to say. The pixels are there and they exist – nobody ever told you what was going to LIVE in those pixels, right? And Hutchinson admits that the hardware resolution is indeed accurate (800 x 480) and that he is challenging the “effective resolution”. In fact as Hutchinson explains the blurriness of the pixel discussion itself, you start to realize he isn’t claiming the Nexus One pixel specs are misleading, just that the practice of how pixel resolution is quantified is – as a whole – fuzzy business.

This probably isn’t the last we’ve heard of this, because according to CEO of Nouvoyance – Candice Elliot – values can be tweaked in the PenTile display driver hardware. And if something can be tweaked in a display driver, rest assured there are modders, hackers, and software engineers who will use that as their own personal playground.