Galaxy S7

[Lloydbm41]

I was think more along the lines of a device similar to a phone.
I mean why make phones with 4K displays just so it can be used for VR. That is such a niche market. Why make a phone with a 4K display that will only appeal to a very very small amount of the buying public. when they could make a device very similar to a phone that would be cheaper because all it would need is the 4K display and ram and processing power. So it might be in the sub $350 range.
The general smartphone buying public would benefit more from better battery life. Not a 4K display that is targeted at a small niche who would use it for VR. Anyway...just my thoughts.

You are seeing a higher PPI push not just for VR (although it def benefits from it), but for the next evolution of displays moving to quantum dot and HDR (not to be confused with camera HDR).
The ultimate goal is to get a 3d display with perfect clarity without the need for glasses. And after watching 4k content on my TV, I'd say that the goal is within a year or 2 time.

 

[The Game 161]

So same screen sizes?

 

[Blaze4G]

I was think more along the lines of a device similar to a phone.
I mean why make phones with 4K displays just so it can be used for VR. That is such a niche market. Why make a phone with a 4K display that will only appeal to a very very small amount of the buying public. when they could make a device very similar to a phone that would be cheaper because all it would need is the 4K display and ram and processing power. So it might be in the sub $350 range.
The general smartphone buying public would benefit more from better battery life. Not a 4K display that is targeted at a small niche who would use it for VR. Anyway...just my thoughts.

I get your point, but look at it from a next angle. If 4k becomes mainstream in phones, that would push manufacturers even more to further develop better batteries and CPU/GPU.

If phones remained 1080p then my assumption is it would lead manufacturers to becomes less innovative in regards to battery and CPU/GPU. An advancement in one area will basically force manufacturers to make advancement in all other areas.

I sometimes wish we could preorder phones to our specifications like laptops and cars. For example with laptops you can select a screen resolution, hard drive size and type, amount of RAM, etc. However I understand this will nothappen because of various limitations.

 

[jamezr]

I get your point, but look at it from a next angle. If 4k becomes mainstream in phones, that would push manufacturers even more to further develop better batteries and CPU/GPU.

If phones remained 1080p then my assumption is it would lead manufacturers to becomes less innovative in regards to battery and CPU/GPU. An advancement in one area will basically force manufacturers to make advancement in all other areas.

I sometimes wish we could preorder phones to our specifications like laptops and cars. For example with laptops you can select a screen resolution, hard drive size and type, amount of RAM, etc. However I understand this will nothappen because of various limitations.

I get what you are saying...and I am all for display technology to advance and I want the latest and greatest and all that. But I don't want OEMs like Samsung to tell me I have to have a 4K display in the next phone so their VR products will work better. This will come at a cost of battery life and performance. The general consumer (me included) will not ever use any VR product so the 4K display will be useless for them. I am sure they would rather have better battery life than have a 4K display.

 

[Blaze4G]

I get what you are saying...and I am all for display technology to advance and I want the latest and greatest and all that. But I don't want OEMs like Samsung to tell me I have to have a 4K display in the next phone so their VR products will work better. This will come at a cost of battery life and performance. The general consumer (me included) will not ever use any VR product so the 4K display will be useless for them. I am sure they would rather have better battery life than have a 4K display.

True. I mentioned in a next thread that Samsung said they won't be moving to 4k for 2016. I personally would not want to see this either until advancements in battery technology.

Just had a random thought...for the next iteration of Gear VR, it would be nice it came with a 4k display itself. The phone will still be connected to push the display (connected via USB-C) and provide sensors, speakers ,etc. Hmm who can get me into contact with a Samsung Exec?

 

[nj-morris]

I was think more along the lines of a device similar to a phone.
I mean why make phones with 4K displays just so it can be used for VR. That is such a niche market. Why make a phone with a 4K display that will only appeal to a very very small amount of the buying public. when they could make a device very similar to a phone that would be cheaper because all it would need is the 4K display and ram and processing power. So it might be in the sub $350 range.
The general smartphone buying public would benefit more from better battery life. Not a 4K display that is targeted at a small niche who would use it for VR. Anyway...just my thoughts.

What makes you think that the standard expectations would be lower for a VR user? Speaking for VR users, I still use my phone for everyday tasks. The standard would be no lower than it is for a normal user.
My concept was a high resolution phone which downscales everything to standard resolutions, so standard user experience would not be affected. The reason why I chose 8K was because it's divisible by pretty much every standard resolution. 2x4K, 3xQHD, 4xFHD, etc. No awkward scaling. Plus, VR content would look ultra crispy.

 

[nviz22]

VR isn't even worth discussing for another year or two. Content is quite limited. Wait till Morpheus, Oculus, and Hololens come out on gaming then we can talk about it. Apple doesn't have VR in mind just yet either, so it's not too mainstream enough.

 

[tbayrgs]

3 adjustment slots? Pretty sure there's only 2. But I see where you're coming from.



Agree. The current resolution is a massive problem at the moment with VR.
But I've got an even better idea. How about a phone with an 8K display and breakthrough GPU, but downscale the standard resolution to 1440p (with the ability to view compatible 4K content) and limit the GPU power to save battery life, so the phone experience is not affected, and when the phone is plugged into a headset with extra battery space it maximises the resolution and power, providing a killer VR experience.

But what kind of horsepower would you need from the CPU/GPU to push to an 8K display? All three of those would be cost prohibitive in a phone...it would be insanely expensive. And I think that's jamerz point...including all of that in the mass market version of a smartphone for the general consumer makes zero sense at this point.

 

[jamezr]

What makes you think that the standard expectations would be lower for a VR user? Speaking for VR users, I still use my phone for everyday tasks. The standard would be no lower than it is for a normal user.
My concept was a high resolution phone which downscales everything to standard resolutions, so standard user experience would not be affected. The reason why I chose 8K was because it's divisible by pretty much every standard resolution. 2x4K, 3xQHD, 4xFHD, etc. No awkward scaling. Plus, VR content would look ultra crispy.

I don't think they are less than anyone else. I was just saying if you need a device just for VR then it doesn't need to have all the features a flagship smartphone has.
The vast majority of smartphone buyers do not need a 4K display. If OEMs are putting them in smartphones just for VR uses....then why not just make a device for that purpose.
I would rather have more battery life than a 4K display.

 

[Vegastouch]

I don't think they are less than anyone else. I was just saying if you need a device just for VR then it doesn't need to have all the features a flagship smartphone has.
The vast majority of smartphone buyers do not need a 4K display. If OEMs are putting them in smartphones just for VR uses....then why not just make a device for that purpose.
I would rather have more battery life than a 4K display.

Me too. Why do I need a 4k screen on my phone? Give me a better battery and the nice AMOLED screen.

 

[Fernandez21]

But what kind of horsepower would you need from the CPU/GPU to push to an 8K display? All three of those would be cost prohibitive in a phone...it would be insanely expensive. And I think that's jamerz point...including all of that in the mass market version of a smartphone for the general consumer makes zero sense at this point.

Why would you need extra horsepower if everything is still being rendered at 2k? You would probably still need a bigger battery to illuminate the extra pixels though.

 

[mclld]

Samsung seems to be leading the way with fast charging, maybe they have improved that for the s7

 

[nj-morris]

Samsung seems to be leading the way with fast charging, maybe they have improved that for the s7

I'm more looking forward to see what Motorola have to offer. The quick charging on the Moto X phones this year was ridiculous. I can't imagine what it will be like on next year's Moto phones.

 

[mclld]

Well yeah but this is the s7 thread so that is why I was talking about that, Motorola is awesome though

 

[tbayrgs]

Why would you need extra horsepower if everything is still being rendered at 2k? You would probably still need a bigger battery to illuminate the extra pixels though.

If I understand his post correctly, it's only rendering at 1440p when used as a standard smartphone. You'll need a whole hell of a lot more horsepower to render at the much higher resolution for VR. Even if scaling everything down to a max of 2K, it would still require a pretty damn powerful GPU because it's still pushing all those pixels. Look at what's required for the 4K and 5K iMacs. And I'd imagine an 8K panel will be quite expensive.

 

[Fernandez21]

If I understand his post correctly, it's only rendering at 1440p when used as a standard smartphone. You'll need a whole hell of a lot more horsepower to render at the much higher resolution for VR. Even if scaling everything down to a max of 2K, it would still require a pretty damn powerful GPU because it's still pushing all those pixels. Look at what's required for the 4K and 5K iMacs. And I'd imagine an 8K panel will be quite expensive.

It's my understanding that it's the "screen door" effect that is cause by low pixel count and is what bother vr users the most. So I would assume that just the higher pixel density of the panel would remove that effect, even if the graphics are still being rendered at 1440p.

 

[Vegastouch]

If I understand his post correctly, it's only rendering at 1440p when used as a standard smartphone. You'll need a whole hell of a lot more horsepower to render at the much higher resolution for VR. Even if scaling everything down to a max of 2K, it would still require a pretty damn powerful GPU because it's still pushing all those pixels. Look at what's required for the 4K and 5K iMacs. And I'd imagine an 8K panel will be quite expensive.

And useless in a phone. And horsepower is not the correct term to use here lol.

 

[mel823]

If the phone's the exact same design and they add a micro SD slot, I may just pick it up.

I just wish Samsung would sell unlocked versions of their phone.

 

[MRU]

.

I just wish Samsung would sell unlocked versions of their phone.

Do they not in the USA ?

 

[mel823]

Do they not in the USA ?

Best Buy and B&H Photo eventually sells them unlocked, but I can't just by it unlocked from the Samsung store or go to their store and buy it unlocked.

 

[nj-morris]

This looks interesting: https://twitter.com/stagueve/status/683211839451336705

 

[Andres Cantu]

This looks interesting: https://twitter.com/stagueve/status/683211839451336705

It certainly does. I hope that the 12MP camera spec is true. That would make it and the iPhone's cameras more closely-comparable.

Even better, if this is real and the iPhone 7's only changed camera spec is the inclusion of OIS (and not better sensors, larger apertures/pixels, more lenses, etc.), then I'm sure everyone (including myself) will be very disappointed.

I hope they make yearly advances to their cameras, not just on the "S" models, especially considering that they have "hundreds of employees" working on just the iPhone's cameras. If they don't, then they don't take cameras as seriously as they say they do, because the single addition of features like the sapphire lenses and phase-detection autofocus in those respective generations is not going to cut it anymore. The industry is moving much faster than that.

 

[jamezr]

This looks interesting: https://twitter.com/stagueve/status/683211839451336705

I am not so sure. why would Samsung go backwards with MP from a 16MP camera in the S6 and S6 Edge to a 12MP camera? I think most rumors are pointing to a 20MP in the S7

http://www.technobuffalo.com/videos/7-galaxy-s7-predictions/

http://www.phonearena.com/news/The-...-a-20MP-camera-sensor-be-even-thinner_id74905

http://www.techtimes.com/articles/1...-might-sport-sony-xperia-z5-camera-sensor.htm

http://www.sammobile.com/2015/11/09...feature-20-megapixel-camera-with-raw-support/

http://www.sammobile.com/2015/11/02/samsung-in-talks-with-sony-for-new-galaxy-s7-camera-sensor/

 

[Sevanw]

Doesn't everyone just love the rumor mill on full steam just before a flagship release. Lol

 

[nj-morris]

I am not so sure. why would Samsung go backwards with MP from a 16MP camera in the S6 and S6 Edge to a 12MP camera? I think most rumors are pointing to a 20MP in the S7

http://www.technobuffalo.com/videos/7-galaxy-s7-predictions/

http://www.phonearena.com/news/The-...-a-20MP-camera-sensor-be-even-thinner_id74905

http://www.techtimes.com/articles/1...-might-sport-sony-xperia-z5-camera-sensor.htm

http://www.sammobile.com/2015/11/09...feature-20-megapixel-camera-with-raw-support/

http://www.sammobile.com/2015/11/02/samsung-in-talks-with-sony-for-new-galaxy-s7-camera-sensor/

How about this plus a few other sites that I couldn't be bothered to copy: http://www.technobuffalo.com/2015/11/03/galaxy-s7-camera-specs-features-rumors/

A 12MP camera wouldn't be going backwards. It would be the opposite. Especially if they put that 1/2" sensor, it would be a beast of a camera, because the pixels would be about 1.8μm as opposed to the mere 1μm that they are now. Plus, who needs more than 12MP anyway?