Droid 3 screen

[Immolate]

If your worried about the screen, don't be. The rest of the phone is pretty sweet, especially the keyboard. If you want to go tit-for-tat kinda deal, then yeah you can notice some differences between the D1's screen and D3. All in all, no biggie, definitely liveable. Personally, the D1's screen was better, the D3 does show some instances of "mesh" on certain images, notably the battery, but you reallllllly gotta be looking for it.

I've studied that battery, because the checkers are most noticeable on it. I think it is a combination of the color with a bit of transparency on a pure black screen that makes it exaggerated. If I were a ROM designer, I'd probably go after that first thing.

 

[BenLand150]

If your worried about the screen, don't be. The rest of the phone is pretty sweet, especially the keyboard. If you want to go tit-for-tat kinda deal, then yeah you can notice some differences between the D1's screen and D3. All in all, no biggie, definitely liveable. Personally, the D1's screen was better, the D3 does show some instances of "mesh" on certain images, notably the battery, but you reallllllly gotta be looking for it.

When it comes to be pixels being noticeable, yeah D1 is better. But overall, the qHD display is better. To me anyway.

 

[Hobo]

qHD

Theres a vid on droid life comparing the pentile screen with other phones and they confirmed that the display was the same as the x2

 

[Opiemitsu]

I have to agree with most of the comments about the display; it really doesn't seem as bad as a lot of people are complaining about. I wonder if part of that is due to the smaller size of the DROID3's display at 4" vs. 4.3"?

I've seen a few examples of sub par image quality but for me, these are all acceptable trade offs. One of the examples is the grass live wallpaper both in it's thumbnail and full size preview when showing "day".

Certain colors of text also seem to be an issue, like light blue and end up looking like old school 8bit dithering. But again, this doesn't make it unreadable and I feel these are acceptable in how infrequent I've noticed them.

 

[blackmagick20]

Has anyone used this outside yet? I purchased mine Thursday to replace my Thunderbolt that I was highly unhappy with. I mainly work outside and even with the brightness turned all the way up (which murders the awful, awful battery on the Tbolt) nothing could be seen. Using the D3 outside...the screen is AMAZING. I can see everything crisp and clear just as if I was in a dark room! I'm very very happy with the D3 over the Tbolt. I would rather have a phone that lasts than the awful LTE service!

 

[Bear in NM]

Black,

Thanks for the thoughts on the outside view of the display. This was mentioned as one of the benefits of the pentile display, but you are one of the first to make mention. I live in the sunny SW, so this feature would be more important to me than some amount of pixilation. Still trying to decide.....

Craig

 

[blackmagick20]

I mean...what's there to decide on? The deal breaker for me was the physical keyboard. I had an OG, D2, DX, and then a Tbolt. I swore I would never go without a keyboard and I was mad at myself every single text when I didn't have one. I don't get all of the whining over the pentile screen. Yes...it looks different from the display on my Tbolt, but I can see the D3 outside clear as day and I also remember a time when phones had a tiny, monochrome screen. I care about my phone working well as a phone first. When the battery on the Tbolt couldn't last through 4 hours of barely any use, LTE, screen size/type, and UI don't mean a single thing because the phone is just a paperweight. I went almost 6 hours this morning of normal use and still had 80% battery life left.

 

[Bear in NM]

Black,

Lots for me to decide. I love my D1 keyboard. I am in an area that has no LTE nor will it likely be here soon. We do not even have an "official" VZW tower. So those two reasons alone make the D3 pretty attractive. But, I want to wait a bit to see if root happens. And, I am curious about the possibility of the Bionic actually coming out sorta soon. My concern about the ram on the D3 is not so much about how it works now, but as this will be my last NE2, I want to hope that the 512 is enough for any major OS upgrade down the road slightly. Lots of decisions to evaluate.

Back on point, my plan was to wait for the D3 to possibly make it to what we a "Verizon Store" here in my little town, so I could look the display over, not for pixilation, but for sunlight viewing. You have given me hope here, as it would not surprise me to find that our store does not get it. Yes, that small.

Craig

 

[blackmagick20]

That's crazy! That sounds like what it was like when I lived in South Dakota. I sort of lucked out because I have an upgrade now that I just used on my D3, my other line will be available to upgrade in January, then...somehow...the extra line I added for the Tbolt on its release day is eligible for upgrade in December. I'm pretty set with being able to get what I want within the next year, really. Honestly...if you love the D1 keyboard...this will blow your mind. I liked it, but I had problems with that plastic overlay bubbling up and/or sticking, so keys would rapid press. I had 2 replaced by that. This keyboard is light years better than the D1. Also...I can't insist enough on how impressed you will be with outdoor viewing. It's clear as a bell and it is very bright and about 90 degrees outside here without a cloud in the sky. I was amazed at how good it looks

 

[Bear in NM]

Black,

Thanks again. As I work out side 50% of the time, I was hoping my next phone did not require me to seek shade or my vehicle to see the screen. NOt to mention when in my Jeep in my cradle having the phone visible until I turn into a bad sun direction. Kind of a pain in the neck. And my upgrade NE2, July 10th. Oh wait, that is today 169.00 sure looks attractive, but I promised myself that I needed to see the phone, some reviews and to check on the apparent interest by folks who may want to root and rom. At this point I would be happy with just root. No question the Bionic will garner all kinds of development support, here's finger's crossed the D3 will as well.

Craig

 

[elvis_marmaduke]

How does the screen compare to a Samsung screen? I only see people comparing it to other moto phones :/

You have just been post pwned

 

[blackmagick20]

I'm not a big fan of rooting. I did it on my first D1 and didn't see the point. To each their own, I reckon. I actually just checked again outside to make sure it looked as good as I remembered and WOW...I mean...the screen actually has this nice, highly visible shimmer to it. It's really hard to describe, but it almost is like a glow. I can't believe how good it looks outside. This is a pleasant surprise that I wasn't expecting! You definitely need to see it

 

[cloudstrife05]

How does the screen compare to a Samsung screen? I only see people comparing it to other moto phones :/

You have just been post pwned

Visually doesn't compare to Samsung. Whats the first thing people talk about when they reference Samsung? The screen.

Sent from my DROID3 using DroidForums

 

[darkmatter]

Yea, except for me, samsung has the one screen I wouldn't be able to live with.

Maybe if there was a way to fix the colors I'd feel differently, but out of the box, samsung has by far the worst screens I've ever seen on a smartphone.

 

[BenLand150]

Got to agree with Black.

By instinct I cover my phone to add a little shade to see my phone and this morning I was multitasking outside and moved my hand away for a second, turned back to my phone without covering it and.. wow! It truly does look great! If you're really picky, shade almost ruins it because of the pentile screen, but, to me still a lot better then my DROID.

Samsungs screed I don't like. Bright and colorful.. yes, but just like the build structure of the phone, the colors seem more fake. The D3's seems more realistic. When you go outside or even.. look at a nice red blanket, not every color pops out at you..