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What’s the likelihood of higher res screen coming?

acousticbiker
over 5 years ago

I’m trying to decide between keeping a 945 or waiting for F6, which I’m guessing will be announced January 2020 and ship a few months later (like a couple previous releases).

The one thing holding me back from committing to the 945 is the screen. I understand the trade off with battery life but I would think even just going to 320 x 320 would make everything, especially maps and some watchfaces, look so much better without too much of a hit on battery life (especially if using same less bright / lower tech screen for better outdoor visibility and lower power draw than the fancy Apple/Wear OS watches). 

I know it’s pure speculation (unless Garmin or DCR want to weigh in), but do folks think there’s a high probability that an F6 would have a higher res screen?

  • 0 over 5 years ago

    As long as we’re speculating... I would say that if they had plans to bring forward a new screen it would’ve been done with the MARQ series.

  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 5 years ago
    acousticbiker said:
    I understand the trade off with battery life but I would think even just going to 320 x 320 would make everything, especially maps and some watchfaces, look so much better without too much of a hit on battery life (especially if using same less bright / lower tech screen for better outdoor visibility and lower power draw than the fancy Apple/Wear OS watches). 

    Well, we have no idea how much of the battery life is going to lighting up the screen, but going from a 240x240 screen to a 320x320 screen is almost double the number of pixels (57.6k to 102.4k).  I have trouble believing that would't affect the battery life significantly. Otherwise, I assume they'd make a lower res model with an even longer battery life aimed at ultrarunners.

  • 0 over 5 years ago in reply to Former Member

    I’m curious if anyone has a technical perspective on how much battery drain from more pixels vs more light - I would think more pixels wouldn’t be as much impact as a brighter screen (which I don’t think is necessary)

  • 0 over 5 years ago

    I would say there is a high likelihood of a higher resolution screen device coming out.  Sometimes the CIQ Betas can provide some hints towards future capabilities if you know where to look, but no timelines or specific products.

  • 0 over 5 years ago in reply to sabeard

    Hmm, so is there code in CIQ that sugggests it might be coming?

  • 0 over 5 years ago in reply to acousticbiker

    CIQ 3.1 beta1 had some additional round devices with greater than 240x240 that were removed in beta2.  I don't believe they would just put them in if there were not plans for future hardware.

  • 0 over 5 years ago in reply to acousticbiker

    I don't remember, but do remember it was a significant bump in resolution. 

  • 0 over 5 years ago in reply to acousticbiker

    The Memory-In-Pixel (MIP) displays Garmin uses is kind of like E-Ink in that individual pixels hold their current state until told to change instead of the whole screen being scanned constantly like an old CRT TV or regular LCD monitors. So I don’t think adding more pixels would impact battery life much.

    The other way these screens save battery is by being reflective instead of being backlit. Without having to have a light shine through the display in order to read it, other than in low light conditions, it only needs to be lit briefly when indoors or after dark and then only when you want to read it. This is also why they’re easier to read in direct sunlight.

    Since Garmin doesn’t build the display themselves it won’t be until a supplier makes higher res screen that meets their power and price requirements that we start seeing a “better” screen in these wearables.

  • 0 over 5 years ago in reply to R_Tellis

    Thanks, R_Tellis. Here’s an example of a round 320 x 320 MIP: www.j-display.com/.../reflective.html. They exist (saw other examples on a quick google search), so I guess it’s a matter of quality, price, and power draw