Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and eDGe

[MissileMax]

I picked up a Samsung Galaxy Note 2 yesterday and found that the Pocket eDGe's stylus and Note's S-Pen are compatible. Which is great because I use my edge as my primary note taking device and e-reader, but I often am holding my Note's S-pen.

[exscentric]

Interesting, it won't work on the Samsung Galaxy SII nor the tab both are capacitive screens.

[Filark]

I found the same thing, MissileMax. My EE is my primary reader, but I got the Galaxy Note for my phone. I find myself using whichever stylus I have in hand, and sometimes trying to put it back in the wrong device!

P.S. I like them both, and I like them together!

[lorenzoens]

I absolutely love my Note (1st version).

Thanks to the amoled display, now I use it as my main portable ereader too, since using a black background reduces damatically the backlight emission and eyestrain, much more than any lcd out there (retinas included).

The excellent ppi density (5,3" - 1280x800) is another bonus.

[helf]

Well, the Note 1 uses one of the crappier pentile pixel arrangements, so the actual pixel density as well as resolution is thrown into a murky pool of arguments. The note 2 has a better pixel arrangement that doesnt butcher fonts as much.

But, regardless, it's a good device. I was actually going to get a note 2 soon, but I've decided to hold out for the note 3.

[lorenzoens]

. You didn't ever see the Note 1 with your eyes, did you?

For gods sake I'm not here to start a race between the two Note. The first Note is fine enough (really good indeed) for me to wait for its death till I'll consider buying a new one.

At that time, a Galaxy Note 4 will sport a Youm (flexible amoled) of 2nd generation and a full hd resolution.
If I hadn't bought the Galaxy Note 1, I would probably have bought the 2nd, although I don't like the 16:9 ratio for any reader.

[helf]

Originally Posted by exscentric

Interesting, it won't work on the Samsung Galaxy SII nor the tab both are capacitive screens.

That is because the pen doesnt work with capacitive screens. It works with another sensor layer. The S-Pen and the pen on the edge's use a type of digitizer called "electromagnetic resonance". It works entirely difference from capacitive digitizers.

[helf]

Originally Posted by lorenzoens

Lol kid. You didn't ever see the Note 1, did you?

For gods sake I'm not here to start a race between the two Note. The first Note if fine enough (really good indeed) for me to wait for its death till I'll consider buying a new one. At that time, the Note 4 will sport a flexible amoled of 2nd generation and a full hd resolution.
If I hadn't buy the Galaxy 1, I would probebly have bought the 2nd, although I don't like the 16:9 ratio for any reader.

I was just commenting on it, I wasn't trying to start an argument. And, yes, I have seen and used one.

If it works fine for you, then good The Note 2 should be "full hd" (I hate these terms..) @ 1920x1080. I honestly cant wait for it to come out. I was *this* close to buying the note 2.

[lorenzoens]

It is a layer over a normal capacitive screen, if I well remember. The pen is like the good ol' wacom-enabled pens you find since iRex readers and the first Wacom tablets.

[lorenzoens]

The Note 2 is not full hd, it's 1280x720 vs 1280x800 of the first one. The second has got less ppi than the first. (Sry we've posted at the same time)

Would you like to see a screenshot of the Note 1? I can take it for you right now
Edit.: here it is, attached. Wait for it to load after you click it. Where do you see that "murky pool of arguments"?

[helf]

Originally Posted by lorenzoens

the Note 2 is not full hd, it's got less ppi than the first
(sry we've posted at the same time)

Would you like to see a screenshot of the Note 1? I can take it for you right now

lol, I know. I've /used/ the original note. I thought it was cool when it came out and went and played with one.Then the boss of a family member went and bought one so I had a few more chances to play with one. I have also used, and quite like, the note 2. I know how the screens look. I, personally, dislike the subpixel arrangement on the note 1's pentile screen. They changed the subpixel layout on the note 2 and it works a lot better. (It is not normal RGB striping, but its not the typical pentile layouts either. It works really well)

Anyways. I was just commenting on that because the pentile farce the samsung spewed for so long always had annoyed me. Most people dont notice the issues, so more power to them. It drive me insane trying to use one.


*edit*

Just saw your screen shot... Ok. Two things. 1, I like black on green as well, lol. 2. A "screen shot" of a display using an entirely different pixel arrangement than the one the screenshot will be viewed on will tell you nothing. You'd have to take a photo with an actual camera.

[lorenzoens]

Originally Posted by helf

2. A "screen shot" of a display using an entirely different pixel arrangement than the one the screenshot will be viewed on will tell you nothing. You'd have to take a photo with an actual camera.

Are you kidding me? :-)
If you see this picture on a nice, standard pc monitor, you'll have a realistic idea of how sharp these fonts can look like when you read with it. But don't zoom out to a 5,3" dimension on your pc display, because it hasn't got the high pixel density of these smartphones.

[helf]

Originally Posted by lorenzoens

Are you kidding me? :-)
If you see this picture on a nice, standard pc monitor, you'll have a good idea of how distinct these fonts can look like when you read with it. But don't zoom out to a 5,3" dimension on your pc display, because it hasn't got the high pixel density of these smartphones.

No, I'm not kidding. A normal PC monitor (in my case, a bog standard LCD) uses a Red/Green/Blue subpixel grouping in a horizontal stripe for each "pixel" of the display. These are rectangular with a perpendicular orientation. The pentile display on the note 1 has shared subpixels in basically a diamond pattern with no distinct groupings.

Here is a photo of the note 1 and 2 screens compared:



A standard LCD pixel pattern looks like this:



Now, pentile arrangements on devices such as the original galaxy, the galaxy note 2, the galaxy s3, and others, are similar to the subpixel arrangement on standard CRT displays. Even on CRTs, unless you have one that handle ungodly high resolutions, had fuzziness to them. It's just par for the course on the display type. It is impossible for pentile screens to make a straight line and antialiasing and subpixel dithering can only get you so far. Pentile displays, at least on samoleds, tend to artifact too. And by that, I mean they tend to have a subpixel, usually red, show up where it shouldnt on edges and in other areas of a shape (such as a letter). Again, most people have no problem with this and never even notice it. It just drives *me* insane.

Anyways, I wasnt trying to start a flame war or anything Sorry about that.

[lorenzoens]

But how does all this affect readability? I'm being a bit rude because no one can reasonably talk about the Note 1's display as you did. There are just a few displays where fonts can look 'sharper' (and 'sharper' alone doesn't mean better) than this.

To see pixels on the Note 1 you have to put it at 12-13 cm from your eyes. Who would really do it in front of a 5,3" display?

[helf]

Like I said, it doesn't affect readability for the vast majority of people. It does, however, affect it for me. And, depending on your eye sight, you can see the pixels on a display such as the note, from a LOT farther away than 12-13cm. I can see the pixels on my friends galaxy s3 (same basic sub pixel arrangement as the note 1 but even higher DPI) from normal operating distance. It just depends on your eyesight. I have incredibly good macro vision but my far vision is pathetic.

Here is a demonstration of fonts on a pentile versus striped screen:



This clearly shows you the artifacting I mentioned earlier as well as the lumpy blurriness you get out of a pentile screen. This argument will be pretty moot in the not too distant future, though, when the pixel densities keep getting pushed up. At least this is my hope...

For me, reading on most pentile arrangements is like trying to read on old qVGA or lower resolution PDAs. The pixel density on AMOLED displays might be fairly high, but the subpixels themselves are smaller than on, say, and sLCD display, and has more air gap between them and their sibling pixels. So, for me, its like looking at a awkward grid of diamond patterns.

Anyways, I'm not trying to dis the note 1... though I suppose my use of "crappier pentile arrangements" was poorly chosen, lol.