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Ok guys, this is all opinionated of course, but I think that a lot of people (including myself) are a bit frustrated with the announcement of the Note 4, mainly for the lack of changes.
I put together a list comparing Note 2 to Note 3, which was a HUGE upgrade, and compared it to Note 3 to 4. As you can see, the two lists are very different when put next to each other:
note 2 vs note 3:
SD800 WAAY Faster than Exynos 1.6ghz
bigger screen
1080p vs 720p, better colors, 40% brighter
completely new features like air command, USB 3, multi vision, air gesture, able to use S-pen with capacitive buttons
from S4: IR blaster, glove mode,
better camera with new features, 4k video, slomo
Design completely new, new back, flatter front, sides that mimic a notebook
32gb storage, more ram, bigger battery,
taller, thinner, lighter; new integrated camera w/flash, cleaner look; speaker on bottom
LTE Advanced, 802.11ac
gorilla glass 3 vs gorilla glass 2
accessories: s-view cover, gear, wireless charging back, wireless s-view
note 4:
SD 805 (super fast gpu (good for 4k, better thermal design = better battery life), 2x memory bandwidth, faster cpu (15%), much better image processor, up to 300mbps let-a)
same size screen
2.5k vs 1080p, adaptive display, possibly super dimming mode (unknown), "basic" mode to get true RGB color accuracy in Note4
16mp cam with ois, 3.7mp ffc with 120 degree wide angle; side-touch “button”
Design similar; new metal sides, no stitching on back, camera is now split from flash module for heart rate sensor, like note 2, curved edged (2.5d) glass like note 2, small cuts in metal frame like iphone's antenna, black phone speaker grill, ffc moved more to corner, larger home button, edge matches color of phone's front & back
new features: 30 minute super charging, s-pen 2x sensitive, MHL3
From S5:Fingerprint reader, heart-rate sensor, ultra power-saving mode, multitasking button replaces menu button
completely new features: UV+SP02 sensors, fast-charging, bring content from one app to another with s-pen, select multiple items with s-pen like a mouse, pop-up screen, split-screen w/multiple apps, use heart rate sensor for selfies
same storage options, same RAM, battery 20 Mah more but 7.5% better; same integrated microsd/microsim module as note3, not in note 2
dimensions: narrower and thinner, but taller and heavier (N3: 5.95" x 3.12" x 0.33” in, 5.93 oz N4: 6.04" x 3.09" x 0.32” in, 6.21 oz)
speaker on back, camera and flash in 2 different components
LTE-A 300 mbps vs 150 on n3, 802.11ac with MIMO, bluetooth 4.1
same gorilla glass 3 as n3, 2.5d curved edge glass from note 2
like note 3, 3 mics, but improved in note 4; can focus on sound coming from one or two directions
accessories gear vr, Swarovski backs, montblanc pens+cases, samsung ruggedized note4 case, gear s, wireless charging back, wireless s-view
design negatives: taller, heavier, speaker on back; REMOVED: USB3, temperature & Humidity sensor
missing features: From S5: waterproof, ISOCELL BSI sensor, super-dimming unknown at this point; no dual-tone flash like iphone, speaker on back like Note2, not 64bit if snapdragon
unknown:super-dimming mode, PWM for screen dimming which was in note2 and 3, if signal is as good as note2 because note3 signal was worse
sensors (from samsung website):
Note 3:
Gesture, Accelerometer, Geo-magnetic, Gyroscope, RGB, Proximity, Barometer, Temperature & Humidity, Hall Sensor
Note 2:
Accelerometer, RGB Light, Digital Compass, Proximity, Gyro, Barometer
Note 4:
Gesture, Accelerometer, Geo-magnetic, Gyroscope, RGB,IR-LED Proximity, Barometer, Hall Sensor, Finger Scanner, UV, Heart Rate Monitoring, SpO2
I think after compiling this list, I've realized I can overlook some minor things like USB3 (even tho it was STUPID FAST!), sensors and a few other details. At the end of the day, I remember why I pick Samsung: Best-in-class screen, which is one of the biggest things about a pone, top-notch hardware, super fast, great (although sometimes useless) features, geek-friendly when it comes to expandability, removable battery/memory, customizable, etc.
That waterproof omission is going to sting tho :crying: Really was looking forward to underwater pics without a "bag", or shower-browsing online!
The lack of USB3, Isocell sensor and speaker moved to the back are all a step back, but with all these other improvements, I'm sure you wouldn't even notice it much.
Your right, the screen is being given no love, and your right, it is super important. This should be the best smartphone screen ever. Paired with the latest processor, and great S pen features, I'm in. I just hope that there is no lag like everyone said about the G3
Thanks for putting this up. I think you should add that while the Note 4 rolled back to USB2, it was upgraded from MHL 2 to 3. Too many tech sites that do comparisons forget to mention this.
The Note 3 is USB3 MHL2.
The Note 4 is USB2 MHL3.
Dat Noob said:
Thanks for putting this up. I think you should add that while the Note 4 rolled back to USB2, it was upgraded from MHL 2 to 3. Too many tech sites that do comparisons forget to mention this.
The Note 3 is USB3 MHL2.
The Note 4 is USB2 MHL3.
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added to new features portion. Thanks!
My utter frustration is moving the speaker to the back.
No word yet if the sound is better on the N4 then on the N3.
My only complain is move speaker to back.
No waterproof is better if Samsung can't make slim bezel for waterproof phone, see how thick and ugly the bezel in S5.
Thanks Samsung not implement waterproof in Note 4.
I had use few waterproof Sony phone like Z and Z Ultra, waterproof is real gimmick as it won't last long and troublesome on those flip cover on nearly every single port. Please don't add in until you can give slim bezel design on it. Waterproof is real unnecessary.
Andrewtst said:
My only complain is move speaker to back.
No waterproof is better if Samsung can't make slim bezel for waterproof phone, see how thick and ugly the bezel in S5.
Thanks Samsung not implement waterproof in Note 4.
I had use few waterproof Sony phone like Z and Z Ultra, waterproof is real gimmick as it won't last long and troublesome on those flip cover on nearly every single port. Please don't add in until you can give slim bezel design on it. Waterproof is real unnecessary.
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I also feel waterproofing is a gimmick and while this doesn't reflect every phone. A few people I know who have the Z1/2 and S4 active/S5 have issues with the water proofing whenever water touches their phones from freezing, to switching off, to black screens, to unresponsive buttons.
Dat Noob said:
Thanks for putting this up. I think you should add that while the Note 4 rolled back to USB2, it was upgraded from MHL 2 to 3. Too many tech sites that do comparisons forget to mention this.
The Note 3 is USB3 MHL2.
The Note 4 is USB2 MHL3.
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The note 4 when back to using a usb2.0? What the funk ? I really loved the extra fast charging of the note 3. I'm not sure what the MHL is and how it affects charging speeds but they advertised fast charging on the note 4, so we'll see.
I had Note 2 but bought S4 and then Note 3 came out and its seems no diffrent from S4 cus of the 1080p screen , so i waited for 2K and now Note 4 has it so its a 100% buy from me !
I always found that the N3 screen looked fuzzy I couldn't live with it.
The fact the screen is Qhd is reason enough for me give the N4 a chance.
RCJ89 said:
I also feel waterproofing is a gimmick and while this doesn't reflect every phone. A few people I know who have the Z1/2 and S4 active/S5 have issues with the water proofing whenever water touches their phones from freezing, to switching off, to black screens, to unresponsive buttons.
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Yup, cause I own Z and Z Ultra before, I know it is not that effective and needed as advertise.
Att.Fan1982 said:
The note 4 when back to using a usb2.0? What the funk �� I really loved the extra fast charging of the note 3. I'm not sure what the MHL is and how it affects charging speeds but they advertised fast charging on the note 4, so we'll see.
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The Note 4 will have better chraging capabilities than the Note 3. Look what the seemingly unimportant MHL3 actually adds:
The MHL 3.0 specification capabilities include:
4K (Ultra HD): Support of 4K formats up to 2160p30
Simultaneous high-speed data channel
Improved Remote Control Protocol (RCP) with support for peripherals such as a touch screen, keyboard and mouse
Power charging up to 10W
Backward compatible with MHL 1 and MHL 2
Latest HDCP 2.2 content protection
Enhanced 7.1 surround sound with Dolby® TrueHD and DTS-HD
Connector agnostic – uses as few as five pins
Support for simultaneous multiple displays
The MHL Experience
Home Theater – 4K Movie-Theater Picture Quality
Watch all of your favorite content in 4K movie-theater picture quality from your smartphone to your TV or home theater system. Stop, rewind, pause and play all of your content using the TV's remote control.
Mobile Games – Zero Lag
Play all your mobile games on a 4K screen with no lag, all while the TV provides power to your smartphone for extended game play.
Office – Work Anytime, Anywhere
Transform your mobile device into a portable computer by connecting it to a keyboard, mouse, monitor (or multiple monitors), and storage device to work anytime, anywhere.
Automotive – Touch Screen to Access Music and Navigation
Interact with the smartphone through your car infotainment touch-screen display or buttons on your steering wheel to make phone calls, play music, navigate with the phone's GPS, and more, all while providing charge to your smartphone.
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http://www.engadget.com/2013/08/20/mhl-3-0/
Edit: Also, just to add, as far as I know this is a first for Samsung. The Galaxy S5 for example had MHL2.1.
Andrewtst said:
Yup, cause I own Z and Z Ultra before, I know it is not that effective and needed as advertise.
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that's too bad...what about taking pics under-water? The Note 4 has that virtual button on it's side for taking pics. If it were waterproof, I doubt the button would work, because it's most likely capacitive. But does the touchscreen work well enough to hit the camera capture button? Or you can probably use the volume button to capture a picture, so would that work? Or does it freeze up completely?
Andrewtst said:
Yup, cause I own Z and Z Ultra before, I know it is not that effective and needed as advertise.
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Dat Noob said:
The Note 4 will have better chraging capabilities than the Note 3. Look what the seemingly unimportant MHL3 actually adds:
http://www.engadget.com/2013/08/20/mhl-3-0/
Edit: Also, just to add, as far as I know this is a first for Samsung. The Galaxy S5 for example had MHL2.1.
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Well 4k support is a big deal now that people are starting to buy 4K TV's to output to and content providors like netflix support streaming 4k (but probably not yet on mobile, that I don't know)
Samzebian said:
that's too bad...what about taking pics under-water? The Note 4 has that virtual button on it's side for taking pics. If it were waterproof, I doubt the button would work, because it's most likely capacitive. But does the touchscreen work well enough to hit the camera capture button? Or you can probably use the volume button to capture a picture, so would that work? Or does it freeze up completely?
Well 4k support is a big deal now that people are starting to buy 4K TV's to output to and content providors like netflix support streaming 4k (but probably not yet on mobile, that I don't know)
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Newer Z1, Z2 or Z3 yes for taken under water as got shutter button. Previous model can only via time record.
Also remember due to the S Pen, really hard to do waterproof, if do then it will be troublesome in taken out the S Pen.
Andrewtst said:
Also remember due to the S Pen, really hard to do waterproof, if do then it will be troublesome in taken out the S Pen.
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Lack of IP67 is my biggest issue with the Note 4. I also thought that it's because of the S Pen, but after reading Samsung response on the issue, I'm not sure anymore. Here's what they said when asked by Android Authority:
Unlike the Galaxy S5, the Note 4 isn’t waterproof – when we asked Samsung’s reps why, they said the Note 4 is for people interested in being productive and creative on the go, while the Galaxy S5 is a more generalist device
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http://www.androidauthority.com/galaxy-note-4-hands-on-519696/
Dat Noob said:
Lack of IP67 is my biggest issue with the Note 4. I also thought that it's because of the S Pen, but after reading Samsung response on the issue, I'm not sure anymore. Here's what they said when asked by Android Authority:
http://www.androidauthority.com/galaxy-note-4-hands-on-519696/
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Knowing that, I'm also disappointed in the note 4's lack of ip67 certification.
Dat Noob said:
Lack of IP67 is my biggest issue with the Note 4. I also thought that it's because of the S Pen, but after reading Samsung response on the issue, I'm not sure anymore. Here's what they said when asked by Android Authority:
http://www.androidauthority.com/galaxy-note-4-hands-on-519696/
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Same. I could buy their reasoning for the larger bezels on the S5 due to waterproofing, but why would the Note 4 be larger now if it doesn't even include that?
Missing water proof feature too! Maybe there will come some 3rd party cases for N4 that makes it water proof for short times. The difference in S5 is the existence of a cover for the Micro USB port and a little "strip" in the back cover.
Water proof features are what other manufacturers came up with to try to offer something..ANYTHING... to attempt to steal some of Samsung customers because they couldn't do it on the tech side of things. Forget waterproofing, as it a point of sale gimmick which fails because it needs stupid little blanking plugs ETC.
So far the biggest thing I see on the Note4 that might make my life loads easier is the fast charge which is a really handy feature.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using xda app-developers app
How do you waterproof a phone with an S pen? I can understand the disappointment some feel but it wasn't a feature I was seeking on a Note device.
Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk
After looking at a few previews of people using Gear VR I’m not sure if eyeglasses can be worn. Do you take off your glasses and use the focus dial?
I think I read in slashgear it will work with glasses
I believe it will
The guy from 'Tested' said in his video review from the Oculus Connect event that his glasses were not compatible with the headset because of his mixed astigmatism. And he also noted that because of it, the headset's lenses were harder to adjust.
Wearing glasses with Gear VR
cdmoore74 said:
After looking at a few previews of people using Gear VR I’m not sure if eyeglasses can be worn. Do you take off your glasses and use the focus dial?
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Actually, after looking into it a little bit, it appears as though Gear VR may not really be suitable for wearing glasses with Though I suppose it could be done as long as the device still fits and wearing the two together isn't too uncomfortable, so it would also probably depend on the style and/or size of the glasses you are wearing. There are some similar devices that have a selection of lenses to accommodate people who wear glasses, but apparently Samsung does not offer this feature with Gear VR. Hope this info helps
acasey78 said:
Actually, after looking into it a little bit, it appears as though Gear VR may not really be suitable for wearing glasses with Though I suppose it could be done as long as the device still fits and wearing the two together isn't too uncomfortable, so it would also probably depend on the style and/or size of the glasses you are wearing. There are some similar devices that have a selection of lenses to accommodate people who wear glasses, but apparently Samsung does not offer this feature with Gear VR. Hope this info helps
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best solution would be to wear contacts, or go to the doctor and do the laser treatment...I'm one of those lucky people who got 20/20....and yes I always wear eye-drops when go to the beach or take a shower....eat lots of green vegetables etc...
If you are near sighted, you wont need to wear glasses using gear vr. I have no idea about far sighted people.
There's a way to change the focus.
Focus can be changed using the scroll wheel on the top..so I guess it ll work for far sighted ppl too..
What if you are near and far sighted? I wish I was joking but one eye is each for me.
What happens if you look through binoculars? Usually people are fine looking through lenses close to their eyes even without corrective lenses in front.
dbraba01 said:
What if you are near and far sighted? I wish I was joking but one eye is each for me.
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The guy from Cnet used his own glasses with the Gear VR, it's probably not as comfortable as wearing no glasses but atleast he was able to use it this way.
"I slipped Gear VR over my own glasses, but you can also just adjust a top focus dial to fit your own prescription. (Although my -9 vision barely worked with one Gear VR headset's focus dial.) "
-9, no wonder he still needed to use glasses. I'm between - 3.75 and -4.00. My daughter is -8.25 and she can't see anything without her glasses.
I'm also -8.25 and I was able to get the Gear VR to focus perfectly. The wheel was to the max in the opposite direction as when I have my contacts in, so I would think -8 is getting to the max of it's focus tange.
Glad to report that after trying Gear VR at the Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, IL (Samsung has a experience location near the AT&T store) the headset works fine for my eyesight without glasses. The only issue is the the person doing the demo does not tell you about the focus wheel. Maybe he just thought I knew what I was doing.
On a separate note I wish they had more demo's. The blue ocean one is not enough and I wanted more. But in a few days I will have my grubby hands on my own.
Works for me without glasses. Im nearsighted. So I can't see far. Which luckily works out for the gear vr since the thing is less than an inch from your face.
No Glasses
The manual specifically says not to user glasses and goes so far as to recommend wearing contacts. But as others have said, the focus wheel makes it easy to adjust focus.
I use the VR without my glasses or contacts and it works but requires moving the wheel to the extreme as far as it will go; it is *almost* in perfect focus but certainly good enough.
cbutters said:
What happens if you look through binoculars? Usually people are fine looking through lenses close to their eyes even without corrective lenses in front.
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Binoculars have a diopter ring to adjust each eye to proper foucus, so they work together with the main focus.
ChickenWingSoup said:
Binoculars have a diopter ring to adjust each eye to proper foucus, so they work together with the main focus.
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Interesting... I guess I'm equally bad in both eyes, so I never noticed. Although now I have had a lasik procedure and I can see perfect 20/20 in both eyes. Its amazing. going on 5 years now, no problems.
I'm nearsighted and have different vision in each eye, the right eye quite a bit worse with far worse astigmatism. Even with that and uniform focus for both eyes in the gear vr, though, I am able to find a very suitable focus and have continued using the VR at length. I do believe it may be a bit better with contacts, and I will be getting new contacts shortly ( yes, just for the vr ) but for now, it actually works rather amazingly well considering how far off my eyes are from each other.
Everyone will be different, though. I have let many people try mine and everyone with poor vision and glasses was surprised they could find a very clear focus without their glasses, but I'm sure there are some out there where contacts will be the only option. Currently, options are limited without far more advanced hardware because adjusting the focal length of the lenses to focus to the eye slightly changes the magnification of the image as the distance changes. If they had independent focus, the two images wouldn't quite match up so the image being generated for each eye would have to adjust on the screen too.
We do live in the future, though, so someone will come up with something awesome for this very soon I'm sure.
I ordered mine with free shipping Thursday afternoon and got it yesterday.
+Good build
+Comes with a hard case (device is already in it, along with sd card)
+Fairly straight forward process
Before putting the device on head:
1. Dragged the Gear sd card folders to my 128gb card
2. Installed the VRintro APK to get the software install process started (the main apps are installed)
3. The process requires a simple registration to access the Oculus market
4. I skipped the card process since already dragged the content to my 128.
5. Once registered, the Oculus Cinema installs
6. Then the fun starts! Put the N4 in the Gear and adjust the gear to fit head
7. Then a brief simple calibration process and tutorial
Quick perspective / review:
1. More immersive than expected
2. Games are good for demos, but I mainly got it for movies
3. The 3D & 360 are surprisingly good
4. The Oculus Cinema ROCKS!!!
5. 2D movies worked fine. The only thing I could not get to work was an older concert from Youtube that was in FLV format and one avi. AVI, MP4, WMV and MKV worked fine.
6. The best Cinema options IMO are Cinema and Void. Void is nice since you can lay down and re- orientate the device view Void also provides the most display real-estate , so highest resolution. That said, I prefer Cinema a tad more due to the immersion.
7. Speaking of resolution, it is best described as between around 720p or a tad less. Before you balk at that, the experience more than compensates and the sense of large scale is impressive and the image quality is very good. Screen door goes away in your mind after a minute or two.
8. Device got real warm, but Void mode was less so, since just a black background.
9. Battery life for me was a tad over four hours watching video. Void mode might add 30 minutes.
10. Did not test a controller yet, but forum reports are any bluetooth controller should work.
11. Also did not test many images, but the immersion was great there too.
I can see this becoming HUGE for Note 4 owners and others companies jumping on the bandwagon. Also eating my words on Qhd being overkill. I now want HIGHER res on the Note 5 so video looks even better
If you are a Note 4 owner and video fan: Buy This Now
mine comes in Thursday. can't wait!
Mine is in 9n Friday and I am PUMPED. Only thing that concerns me is future support. I would really like samsung and Oculus to continue support and place a lot of effort in nourishing a healthy developer environment.
rushless said:
6. The best Cinema options IMO are Cinema and Void. Void is nice since you can lay down and re- orientate the device view Void also provides the most display real-estate , so highest resolution. That said, I prefer Cinema a tad more due to the immersion.
7. Speaking of resolution, it is best described as between around 720p or a tad less. Before you balk at that, the experience more than compensates and the sense of large scale is impressive and the image quality is very good. Screen door goes away in your mind after a minute or two.
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I too want this mostly for movie watching. I'm wondering how crazy I'd look on a plane with this. :laugh:
Can you describe a bit more about the movie experience? Is it like watching a 60" tv from a few feet away, a movie theater screen from far away, etc?
Awesome review! +1
PS - 3 New games came out on the Gear VR Store. Check it out.
my experience was 4 out of 10....I bought it to watch movies on it...but seriously you can actually count all the pixals, the quality of the video is that bad, I have the HD Quality videos loaded....now I also feel a headache after wear it for almost 30 min...mind it I don't wear glasses....It's a great start but a long way before it could be something of use.....so I'll wait for version 10 or something.
It came with a box, SD CARD Adapter and Mircro-SD card 16GB, also It came with a cleaning cloth to clean the leans...
the phone got headed after using it for 30 min, as if someone had just taken it out from micro oven--hope it doesn't burn my phone..
loaferkan said:
my experience was 4 out of 10....I bought it to watch movies on it...but seriously you can actually count all the pixals, the quality of the video is that bad, I have the HD Quality videos loaded....now I also feel a headache after wear it for almost 30 min...mind it I don't wear glasses....It's a great start but a long way before it could be something of use.....so I'll wait for version 10 or something.
It came with a box, SD CARD Adapter and Mircro-SD card 16GB, also It came with a cleaning cloth to clean the leans...
the phone got headed after using it for 30 min, as if someone had just taken it out from micro oven--hope it doesn't burn my phone..
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Wonder if 2k video improves pixel issue... have you tried watching 4k in cinema mode?
Even with the Note 4 high resolution its still not enough not to notice pixels. I heard that you need like a 16k display which sounds impossible. And it is normal for the phone to get hot and that's per the operator's manual.
But not everyone can physically handle this type of experience. That's the reason why Samsung did not allow this product to be sold in stores like bestbuy. This product is not targeted to the casual user. The majority of experiences will be us geeks showing it off to other people which will drum up interest. And it also gives Samsung and Oculus time to fine tune it for Note 5. Gear VR is a step above the development kits but slightly below a consumer ready product.
Bruce lee roy said:
Wonder if 2k video improves pixel issue... have you tried watching 4k in cinema mode?
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yes the 2k videos look great, and even the 3D does a better job......
EvanWasHere said:
I too want this mostly for movie watching. I'm wondering how crazy I'd look on a plane with this. :laugh:
Can you describe a bit more about the movie experience? Is it like watching a 60" tv from a few feet away, a movie theater screen from far away, etc?
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It is like watching a 100" projector and the cinema is just like being in a huge cinema.
loaferkan said:
my experience was 4 out of 10....I bought it to watch movies on it...but seriously you can actually count all the pixals, the quality of the video is that bad, I have the HD Quality videos loaded....now I also feel a headache after wear it for almost 30 min...mind it I don't wear glasses....It's a great start but a long way before it could be something of use.....so I'll wait for version 10 or something.
It came with a box, SD CARD Adapter and Mircro-SD card 16GB, also It came with a cleaning cloth to clean the leans...
the phone got headed after using it for 30 min, as if someone had just taken it out from micro oven--hope it doesn't burn my phone..
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Click to collapse
If you look for the pixels and focus on them, it could detract, but the point is the total experience and the screen door fades from focus. Kind of like anything else if you focus on it Case in point, I notice and could count pixels in movies theaters and plasma sets. Especially the bigger digital screen systems. Everything is relative
The best view is Void if you want to minimize the pixel issue (also reduces device heat and extends battery). The home theater mode makes the pixels stand out and is like 480p due to less space for the video.
Just imagine a 1080p device with a Gear VR. That would be like an old school bar projector . Samsung knew what they were doing using Qhd. Next years S6 and Note 5 apparently up the resolution and likely the VR products are part of their reasoning for the higher res.
My N4 did not get hot as you describe, but I could see intense 3D games doing that, but I will not be playing them. Did not get the headache issues either, but depends on the person of course.
I got mine yesterday and played around with it a bit last night. My opinion is it is really cool and shows where VR could eventually go but definitely don't expect everything to be perfect yet. It all comes down to your attitude going into the experience.
1) Yes the pixels are noticeable and it is a bit worse than watching a hockey game sitting behind the netting behind the goal. You absolutely see and notice the "screen door" but you also can choose to overlook it based on the very cool experience. You also can imagine that in 2-4 years that issue will go away.
2) I wouldn't call things blurry as is being discussed in another thread yet rather the whole viewing image is not in focus. If I look straight at text it is reasonably clear but anything above, below, left or right of where my eyes are focusing will be slightly out of focus. If I move my eyes (and head) just slightly to look at a different area that becomes more in focus as compared to what I had been looking at. For the large images you don't really notice the whole effect so much but when there is a lot of different text on the screen in different areas you will certainly notice it.
3) When you first put the headset on you notice that you are looking through lenses and somewhat notice the blackness associated where your eyes are getting covered up. After a short while you stop really thinking about this and get taken into the experience.
You might read all of this as me not thinking highly of the VR or that this is just another gimmick. Let me come full out and say that isn't how I feel and I was pretty much blown away by the whole thing. I can't wait to see where VR goes from here. The first time you are watching the demo and then hear something to the right and turn your head and see something on your right that you had no idea was there you will get sucked in. From there you keep looking to your left, right and behind you and become pretty amazed.
So my take is that there are certainly issues and VR is not "there" yet but from this experience you really start to understand where VR could go and it no longer feels like an impossible technological hurdle to climb. It is no longer a question of if VR is really possible but more a question of when we are going to get there.
They need more pixels in order to increase the FOV and reduce the screen door. The Note 5 should be even better. Just hoping they keep the form factor of the Note 5 the same as the Note 5 to fit the Gear VR. That said, I will get $200 worth of fun out of this in a year, regardless.
None the less, the Gear VR is a worthy purchase for video fans IMO.
rushless said:
It is like watching a 100" projector and the cinema is just like being in a huge cinema.
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If true, this is freaking amazing.
Bruce lee roy said:
If true, this is freaking amazing.
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The catch is the resolution is less in that mode. Does look cool though.
I have played with my Gear VR for a few days and I totally agree with the review. The experience is amazing. This tech is gonna go really far. It has an insane potential.
Killemalll said:
I have played with my Gear VR for a few days and I totally agree with the review. The experience is amazing. This tech is gonna go really far. It has an insane potential.
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Yeah, im in the same boat, this thing literally blew me away. Showed a lot of folks at work this thing and they were amazed as well. It's definitely the new form of entertainment. The key word is immersive. I think with the sensons onboard the gear vr, it really helps with that. I know the Note 4 has a better screen than the oculus version but I feel we'll need at least 8k or 10k displays to eliminate the screen door effect. But overall, daaaaaammmn.
well i just received mine and all i can say is that i am blown away by it. what am amazing experience. finally, VR for the masses is set to be a reality. i let the wife and kids try it and they were all giggly over it too. one complaint: wearing eyeglasses with it sucks
rushless said:
It is like watching a 100" projector and the cinema is just like being in a huge cinema.
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I have a 100" projector screen in my bedroom and it's no where close to the experience you get when you watch the cinema selection. The screen is bigger than many movie theaters I go to. And the wide video is just crazy. No home theater can touch that.
HTCMario said:
well i just received mine and all i can say is that i am blown away by it. what am amazing experience. finally, VR for the masses is set to be a reality. i let the wife and kids try it and they were all giggly over it too. one complaint: wearing eyeglasses with it sucks
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Wearing glasses with Gear VR is pretty uncormfortable i assume, can the focus wheel not adjust to your eyesight without glasses properly?
I bought Gear VR for Note 4 based on positive review, but after using it for two nights, I decide to send it back due to low resolution. Here's my illustration of how resolution is archived and my thought on it:
Movie watching experience: Low resolution ruins it. It's bad to watch anything on a 480p screen at a size of 200". Plus No DTS/AC3 support, no smb support in Oculus cinema.
Kodi supports DTS or AC3, but it also reveals that the field of view from Gear VR only covers part of Note 4's screen. See my illustration in attachment. The header, footer as well as 4 corners are not covered, which means that only central part of a movie is viewable.
Ideally, 720p (1280x720) resolution for each eye can be achieved from Note 4's 2560x1440 screen if the rectangle of half screen inscribed in the the field of view like some cardboard does. But the way Samsung's implementation of it's Gear VR makes it unable to fully take advantage of Note 4's screen. The best movie resolution that Gear VR can archive is 972x546. I understand that Samsung's take is good for VR for there is no unilluminated area within it's field of view.
I wish Samsung would come up with a new product that allow the rectangle of half screen inscribed in the field of view instead of the other way around. I think this can be archived by another set of lenes with less multiply factors than current ones. Even at 720p, the screen doesn't need to be 200". 150" would suits the pixel better.
When it comes to VR, Samsung Gear VR also suffers from low resolution. Plus 360 degree video makes me dizzy. I downloaded and watched almost all 360 degree video from youtube but I'm not impressed enough. The people figures are larger than real life. Everyone looks like giants in these videos. Among videos, I prefer those taken from a steady position. First person action view just makes me dizzy. I think it's due to my brain can't process it when the vr scene is moving around but my head is not.
360 degree picture is quite a pleasure to view though.
Sold mine to a colleague due to the exact same reasons
shadowcliffs said:
I bought Gear VR for Note 4 based on positive review, but after using it for two nights, I decide to send it back due to low resolution. Here's my illustration of how resolution is archived and my thought on it:
Movie watching experience: Low resolution ruins it. It's bad to watch anything on a 480p screen at a size of 150". Plus No DTS/AC3 support, no smb support in Oculus cinema.
Kodi supports DTS or AC3, but it also reveals that that the field of view from Gear VR only covers part of Note 4's screen. See my illustration in attachment. The header, footer as well as 4 corners are not covered, which means that only central part of a movie is viewable.
Ideally, 720p (1280x720) resolution for each eye can be archived from Note 4's 2560x1440 screen if the rectangle of half screen inscribed in the the field of view like some cardboard does. But the way Samsung implements it's Gear VR makes it unable to fully take advantage of Note 4's screen. The best movie resolution that Gear VR can archive is 972x546. I understand that Samsung's take is good for VR for there is no unilluminated area within it's field of view.
I wish Samsung would come up with a new product that focuses on watching movies .
When it comes to VR, Samsung Gear VR also suffers from low resolution. Plus 360 degree video makes me dizzy. I downloaded and watched almost all 360 degree video from youtube but not impressed enough. The people figures are lager than real life. Everyone looks like giants in these videos. Among videos, I prefer those taken from a steady position. First person action view just makes me dizzy. I think it's due to my brain can't process it when the vr scene is moving around but my head is not.
360 degree picture is quite a pleasure to view.
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Not questioning the validity pic you put up, but can I ask how you came to the conclusion that it only uses 972x546 pixels of the screen? Is it official information, or did you measure it somehow?
Toss3 said:
Not questioning the validity pic you put up, but can I ask how you came to the conclusion that it only uses 972x546 pixels of the screen? Is it official information, or did you measure it somehow?
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That's based on my calculation given my understanding of how it works (as illustrated) is correct. Samsung claims the resolution for each eye is 1440x1280, which is misleading IMO. Same reason as explained in the illustration.
shadowcliffs said:
That's based on my calculation given my understanding of how it works (as illustrated) is correct.
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Just put my N4 in my Gear VR holding my thumb to the proximity sensor, so that I could see observe the screen when connected and they are not using a completely square image - it looks more like this (except there's a gap in the middle):
It also doesn't the entire width available, but it looks like it's using more than what you have in your picture. The gap between the images is about 4mm and the gap between the image and the sides is about half that (2mm). The top and bottom gaps are about 5mm. So it's definitely using more than 720 pixels for the height, but less than 1280 pixels for the width.
EDIT: I measured it using a tape measure (not any exact numbers, but more accurate than those I came up with).
So based on these measurements the screen would use about 1190 pixels at its widest point, and 1240 pixels at its highest.
The graph shows the best scenario, where movie screen fills your entire FOV. But this is not comfortable for most viewers, and you are likely to "sit back" a little. Since you're looking through the same matrix of pixels, you are then effectively losing screen resolution, going somewhere to 480p like OP mentioned.
What's also sad, when we reach the Holy Grail of 4K (with Note 5), the movie screen would still be only 1460x820.
If you want best experience with 2D HD content, you're better off moving your chair closer to a TV than strapping Gear onto your head.
Nickoz said:
The graph shows the best scenario, where movie screen fills your entire FOV. But this is not comfortable for most viewers, and you are likely to "sit back" a little. Since you're looking through the same matrix of pixels, you are then effectively losing screen resolution, going somewhere to 480p like OP mentioned.
What's also sad, when we reach the Holy Grail of 4K (with Note 5), the movie screen would still be only 1460x820.
If you want best experience with 2D HD content, you're better off moving your chair closer to a TV than strapping Gear onto your head.
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Actually just tried to measure the screen in the cinema mode, and came up with ≈ 45mm. The screen width is 125mm, which means that half that would be 62,5mm, which would give us an approximate horizontal resolution of 45/62,5*1280 = 921pixels. Pretty much explains everything right there. Even with a 4k screen the horizontal resolution in a comfortable mode would only be 1382 px.
The screen height (screen is not a perfect rectangle) at its highest point is ≈25mm. So with a screen height of 70mm that gives us a vertical resolution of 25/70*1440≈514px.
So based on my measurements the resolution you get is pretty much 921x514 (screen is not a perfect rectangle) at the widest and highest parts.
When it comes to watching movies, the screen will be cropped to the aspect ratio of close to 1.78:1, that's how I estimated it at an effective resolution of 972x546 (the biggest 1.78:1 rectangle inscribed in the FOV circle).
You just showed that the actual FOV is not exactly a circle. Now the question is, is the actual FOV inscribed in the theoretical FOV, or the other way around. I guess a way to find out is to look through gear vr at a picture with measurement markers.
And again, in best scenario the effective movie-watching-resolution based on Note 4 screen is 720p (1280x720) considering the aspect ratio of 1.78:1. This best scenario is achieved when the rectangle of half screen (1440*1280) inscribed in the FOV. This is the case in my Chinese version of Google cardboard where the movie screen is smaller (equal to 150" from 10 feet away, more or less) and the pixel is less obvious. So the difference of this Chinese version of Google cardboard vs Samsung Gear VR is like 150" 720p screen vs 200" 5xxp screen.
Not sure about the original Google cardboard for I don't have one.
Toss3 said:
Just put my N4 in my Gear VR holding my thumb to the proximity sensor, so that I could see observe the screen when connected and they are not using a completely square image - it looks more like this (except there's a gap in the middle):
It also doesn't the entire width available, but it looks like it's using more than what you have in your picture. The gap between the images is about 4mm and the gap between the image and the sides is about half that (2mm). The top and bottom gaps are about 5mm. So it's definitely using more than 720 pixels for the height, but less than 1280 pixels for the width.
EDIT: I measured it using a tape measure (not any exact numbers, but more accurate than those I came up with).
So based on these measurements the screen would use about 1190 pixels at its widest point, and 1240 pixels at its highest.
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Click to collapse
Nickoz said:
The graph shows the best scenario, where movie screen fills your entire FOV. But this is not comfortable for most viewers, and you are likely to "sit back" a little. Since you're looking through the same matrix of pixels, you are then effectively losing screen resolution, going somewhere to 480p like OP mentioned.
What's also sad, when we reach the Holy Grail of 4K (with Note 5), the movie screen would still be only 1460x820.
If you want best experience with 2D HD content, you're better off moving your chair closer to a TV than strapping Gear onto your head.
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In theory (if my theory is not faulted), to be 1080p movie ready for each eye, the width of the half screen needs to be 1920, which equal to 3840 in whole screen. The height is already more than enough (1440 available, 1080 needed). So the resolution needed from the phone screen is 3840x(1080 to 2160, the former may make the phone too long, but who knows right? The latter will keep the same aspect ratio as Note 4).
Can the lenses on gear vr be replaced so that it will make the screen through it smaller, for watching movie's sake?
I love mine as a great start to mobile VR and i have watch lots of films via oculus cinema. Can't wait for note 5 and new gear vr but perfect start samsung
hashcheck said:
I love mine as a great start to mobile VR and i have watch lots of films via oculus cinema. Can't wait for note 5 and new gear vr but perfect start samsung
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Here I'm mainly talking about movie-watching ecperience. The experience is ymmv. For a guy used to watch movie on a 120" projector screen, or a 60" 3D Samsung TV, gear vr experience is unbearable, while Chinese version Google cardboard is very impressive except for it's build is not goog enough.
shadowcliffs said:
Here I'm mainly talking about movie-watching ecperience. The experience is ymmv. For a guy used to watch movie on a 120" projector screen, or a 60" 3D Samsung TV, gear vr experience is unbearable, while Chinese version Google cardboard is very impressive except for it's build is not goog enough.
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I have a 120" movie screen (only 1080p though), and I personally don't find the experience "unbearable", just not as good. Still think it beats watching the movie on just your phone though or laptop.
Totally agree Toss3
Toss3 said:
I have a 120" movie screen (only 1080p though), and I personally don't find the experience "unbearable", just not as good. Still think it beats watching the movie on just your phone though or laptop.
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Right, I realized that unbearable is too much of a word. I meant to say that I still prefer to watch movies on 120" projector screen or 60" LED TV over current gear vr. It's a pity because gear vr would have done better. I'm impressed with it's build and the quality of lens, but the lens is not of the correct multiply factor for watching movies.
The gearvr resolution actually gets better overtime as you start not noticing the screen door effect the more you use it. Sure it's not perfect but heaps better then the oculus rift dk2. I'm can't wait for note 5 version
Average viewable res is 540p. Void mode shows more content at about 640p since no VR graphics (depending on video format).
I prefer Void due to more of the video res shown, can view laying down and at least 30% more battery life.
Hey folks. I have a question before I purchase the gear vr for s6. How is the screen resolution? I heard it is like youre watching a 360p or 480p video. I heard it is better than the note 4 vr. So kindly shed some light of note 4 vr resolution display and/or s6 vr. Thanks.
With the Note 4 Gear VR, you're gonna see all the subpixels, that's for sure. As ludicrous as 515 PPI sounds for normal phone use (and it is), the Gear VR's lenses ruthlessly reveal the PenTile diamond structure used once you've got the focus dialed in. I doubt the S6 is going to be any different in practice, only that there's less magnification and a lower FOV.
Saying it's like a 360p or 480p video isn't really giving it enough credit, though. It's more like 720p, which makes sense because the eye buffers generally run at about 1000x1000 for performance reasons. (You could possibly squeeze out a bit more like 1280x1280 if the scene isn't too intensive.)
But here's the thing: while the resolution may seem inadequate, you tend to forget about it really quickly. Low-latency head-tracking, smooth framerates and wide FOV are far more critical to the VR experience than resolution, honestly, because it's those things that really establish a sense of presence.
I don't know about the exact resolution, but is not that good. Although for a first product it is amazing. It really makes you feel you are there. The DPI are not really an indication of any sort.
I sent mine back as i was not happy with the screen door effect. To be honest if you are considering splashing out £170.00 then i would hold out until the newer VR models come out next year for PC's as the content is very limited at the moment.