Sony Ericsson Xperia ray Review: Part 1 - The Screen

From my initial review of the Xperia ray, the next few entries will be a more in-depth review of each aspect of the phone.  This review will be about the Reality Display.

Since the death of my P1i, Android has been my mobile OS of choice.  The expandability and flexibility has met all my communication needs since Symbian's UIQ.  Now, it's been a little over a year since I got my Sony Ericsson X10 Mini Pro.  I've enjoyed having such a small phone, and all the new larger phones don't really appeal to me as much.  Which is what led me to the Xperia ray and it's 3.3" Reality Display.

With my new Xperia ray, the first feature you notice is the beautiful new screen, dubbed Reality Display.  With a pixel density of 297ppi, it's much higher than my X10 Mini Pro's 156ppi, and quite close to Apple's Retina Display of 326ppi.  (On a side note, PCs run at 72ppi, most Macs run at 96ppi and the Apple iPad runs at 132ppi.)  Which is just my way of saying, at this level...this IS nitpicking.)  This makes images and video look incredibly crisp and clear.  Combined with Sony Ericsson's Bravia Engine (which only works on video and photo playback), the Reality Display is the single most stunning feature of the ray.

The following are close-up shots of the ray's screen against the iPod Touch 4, and the X10 Mini Pro.

Xperia ray screen

iPod Touch 4 screen

X10 Mini Pro screen

iPod Touch 4 vs Xperia ray

Xperia ray vs X10 Mini Pro

The level of detail on the ray is quite high and comparable to Apple's Retina Display.  Although no one will ever really read text at these sizes, it does make pages and icons look sharper and more vivid.  It also has a tendency to have a warmer hue than both the Retina Display and the X10 Mini Pro.

The other great quality of the screen is the contrast.  Blacks are very nice and deep, thus making the other colors stand out very well.  If you look at the ray vs X10 Mini Pro, you'll see that the Mini Pro doesn't really show black, it's more of a dark gray.  Color rendition on the ray is quite excellent as well. Gradients are smooth and there isn't any noticeable banding.

Another great aspect of the screen is that Sony Ericsson has made it from Scratch Resistant Mineral Glass which keeps the display nice and new looking.  I wouldn't keep my phone in the same pocket as my keys, but I'm pretty sure it can handle daily wear and tear.  So no need for a screen protector.  Due to it's glossy nature, the ray's screen is a fingerprint magnet.  On that note, my X10 Mini Pro did have scratch resistant coating and it held up decently, but being a plastic screen, it does have micro scratches visible after only a year.

Now, some people are asking if the screen is too small.  It's not.  There are bigger screens out on the market, and there are smaller screens.  It all depends on what apps you intend to use often... if you use your mobile communicator as your primary entertainment device, then you will be better off with a larger screen... or even a small 7" tablet.  The 3.3" screen of the ray is more than adequate for surfing, email, SMS, and casual video playback .  Games are pretty decent to play... but the screen size does make finger accuracy an issue with Angry Birds... hahahaha...

In the next part of this Xperia ray review - Multimedia capabilities: Audio, Video, Photo...

**And for those of you asking... this is my weather widget***

Hub-a Hub-a, Apple's New Cinema Display

Since Apple's introduction of Thunderbolt, there has been a ton of hype... but no very few products on the market.  I feel this is wasted opportunity for so many manufacturers who could've cashed in on the initial excitement of Thunderbolt.

Apple was, of course, one of the first to update their Cinema Displays to the new Thunderbolt port w/ hub.  Why is this a big deal?

For Macbook Pro owners, attaching a regular LCD allows only ONE external monitor, along with the built-in LCD.

With Thunderbolt, the Macbook Pro 13" gains the ability to power 2 external TB displays, albeit disabling the internal LCD, while the 15" and 17" MBP with graphics cards can handle 2 TB displays aside from the built-in display!

Macbook Airs on the other hand are still out of luck, stuck with just one external display, regardless of whether it's a Thunderbolt or Mini Displayport LCD.

The new Apple Cinema Display also has a Thunderbolt port at the back to allow the daisy-chaining of the second Thunderbolt display, or other Thunderbolt accessories.
(Like Sonnet's new Thunderbolt to Expresscard adapters or hard drives)

Video Out: A Moshi Mini DisplayPort HDMI Adapter Review

One thing with the new Macs is that the new Mini DisplayPort requires adapters to work with non-Apple displays.  Although a bit of an inconvenience, I do appreciate the fact that the port itself is very small and doesn't make the side of my laptop look like a cheese grater when not connected to an external display.

Currently, Apple only makes MDP to DVI and VGA adapters.  Useful for legacy displays, but what about newer HDMI systems?  All Macs as of 2010, support HDMI output, including audio pass-thru even though Apple doesn't make adapters for it.  But now, thanks to Moshi, you can now connect your Mac to your LCD/LED TV and surround sound processor, all with one cable.

Sporting a similar aluminum enclosure as the Macbook Pro, Moshi's adapter looks good and is easy to use.  Just plug it in.

Plug in your HDMI cable to the adapter, then connect to your home theater, and play your video.

By default the displays are mirrored, but you can also use it to stretch your Mac display onto your TV if you prefer.

On my Macbook Pro 13", 1080p HD movies are a cinch!

The Moshi MDP - HDMI adapter is a great addition to your accessory kit for your Mac, or any other MDP PC.  It looks great too!

**Hallo, ich lerne Deutsch und ich kann ein paar Fragen zu beantworten.
Je parle un peu français aussi. Je peux répondre à des questions sur mes messages.**

ReKindling a flame

When I first heard about e-ink, I thought it was an amazing piece of tech.  The idea of electronic paper is a remarkable concept, let alone seeing it as a finished commercial product in Amazon's Kindle.

This is NOT an LCD screen.  Technically, it's not a screen of any kind.  It's ink.  Electronic ink that changes color from black to white (or light gray) depending on the electrical charge applied to it.

How this differs from regular screen tech, is that e-ink only uses power to change the display.  Once the image or text is displayed, the display no longer needs power to hold the image.  Unlike traditional LCD tech, where power is required all the time, e-ink is a thousand times more power efficient.  This is also why the new Kindle can offer 1 month of battery life on a single charge, as opposed to the iPad's 10 hour charge.

How different do the screens really look?  Well Keith Peters, who runs the blog bit-101 placed both under a microscope (literally) and came up with some interesting results.  The original blog entry of Keith Peters and source of the magnified screen photos is here.

This is the iPad's screen magnified

(The red, green and blue lights you see are how a traditional LCD screen displays the color white)

This is the Kindle's screen magnified

This is how newspaper print looks magified

This is standard book printing magnified

Of course, no tech is perfect.  E-Ink can only display black and white images and text, and isn't made for quick refresh time so video (even B&W video) is out of the question.  But what E-Ink can do is display text and images without power.  Once an image has been "printed" it remains on the display indefinitely... until a new charge is applied to change the image displayed.  E-Ink displays are also more durable and readable in bright sunlight.

This tech is not just limited to e-book readers.  Any B&W LCD display can now be replaced with a more durable, lower power, thinner, eco-friendlier display.

Lexar is a company that did just that by incorporating e-ink into their memory key as a capacity gauge.  The gauge doesn't require power when unplugged, and only refreshes when the key is plugged into a USB port.

Thanks again to Keith Peters for granting permission  to use his images and reference his blog!