Related
So it has been mentioned throughout a lot of threads but I figured I would give a step by step and overview for the people who do not know about this or are unsure what it means and does. You must be rooted to use this.
When you compare our phones to a phone that has a qHD display you will see that the qHD display will have smaller text and will allow you to view more on the screen at one time then our WVGA screen allows. Well this is how you can even the playing field and view your phone like it was a qHD or even a 720p screen.
No more super large text like your phone was built for the blind. Also, a great feature if you use an alternate launcher you can set the screen to 5x5 or even 6x6 depending on the resolution you pick.
You will need the 2 apps from below.
First you need to install busybox. Download the app and then open it. From there it will ask you to install. Just choose okay for all the defaults and don't change anything.
https://market.android.com/details?...t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsInN0ZXJpY3Nvbi5idXN5Ym94Il0.
Next app is lcd resolution. This is where you change the resolution.
https://market.android.com/details?...NvbS53ZW1vYnMuYW5kcm9pZC5sY2RyZXNvbHV0aW9uIl0.
There are 2 settings I use, 200 which is almost identical to qhd. qHD is 960x540 and the app allows you to set it at 960x576. You can also set it at 160 which is 720p. You can use all the settings in-between as well but I stick to these 2. You can do your own testing and see what works best for you. Make sure when testing that you do not click save on boot in case your Rom does not play nice with that resolution. I have found that 200 works almost everything but 160 can be a little more tricky, especially with certain themes. You top bar will be all blurry. A reset will put you back to stock if your Rom does not like the resolution as long as you did not click set on boot.
By doing this hack, TW launcher will not play nice so you must use an alternative. All other launchers will work. The stock dialer will also not work. You can use Go contacts, dialer one or Ex Dialer. They all look and function great. You will also need an alternate calendar and calculator app. Their are a ton to choose from.
When setting your system to 200, you might encounter an error message saying certain apps are not compatible with your phone in the market. This is because this setting while close to qhd is not exactly the same resolution so the market app does not think is is compatible as it is not a standard resolution. There are 2 ways around this. You can install the app through Amazon market as it does not know the resolution you are running on your phone or you can switch back to stock (240) then clear market data and you can download the app. Then switch back to 200. This won't happen with every app as a lot will still download when st to 200.
When running at 160 (720p) you will not have this issue in the market as this is a native resolution of Android and is recognized by every app.
I think that covers it all for now and I cannot imagine going back to a WVGA resolution as it looks sooooooo much better running at a near qhd res.
Below are 2 picks showing the difference. One is stock, one is set to 200 (qhd) and the other to 160 (720p).
Stock (240)
qHD (200)
720p (160)
I like 720p. Also, you can edit your build.prop manually and modify:
ro.sf.lcd_density=240
Does anyone know how to modify a theme to make it work with this?
bertm13 said:
I like 720p. Also, you can edit your build.prop manually and modify:
ro.sf.lcd_density=240
Does anyone know how to modify a theme to make it work with this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah TW theme built for 720p setting would be a keeper.
bertm13 said:
I like 720p. Also, you can edit your build.prop manually and modify:
ro.sf.lcd_density=240
Does anyone know how to modify a theme to make it work with this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That works as well but the app makes it much quicker to jump between resolutions then having to edit the file.
When i changed it with LCD density the resolution changed but there was lots of space under the home screen # indicator, can you do a shot of your home screen and wallpaper to see what it looks like?
xlGmanlx said:
When i changed it with LCD density the resolution changed but there was lots of space under the home screen # indicator, can you do a shot of your home screen and wallpaper to see what it looks like?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you can't use Touchwiz. Need another launcher, and dialer. On some roms the camera and music apps break too if you go too low (like 720p), likely others.
I am confused, if the resolution can be improved via software, then how come the manufacturers are not doing it, what is the catch?
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk
kingsway8605 said:
I am confused, if the resolution can be improved via software, then how come the manufacturers are not doing it, what is the catch?
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was going to take issue with OP's terminology but decided to not be 'that guy'...
...but here we are.
This doesn't actually change the resolution of the panel at all. You always have the same amount of pixels. Period. All this does is scale the UI. at a screen density of 160 our screen will display things at the size that a 720p screen of identical size would display them. However we lose detail on fonts whereas a 720p screen would have the same amount of detail at 160 as we would at 240....roughly. If you can live with smaller and slightly blocky fonts, go for it.
I can. It's awesome.
another confusing but interesting tidbit: LCD Pixels are made up of red green and blue subpixels. Our panel and the 720p Galaxy Nexus panel have an identical amount of subpixels. But the 720p panel achieves a higher resolution by using less subpixels for each pixel. That is why it is said to have a "pentile" display, as each pixel is composed an arrangement of 5 sub-pixels whereas we have 12 sub-pixels for each pixel. This also explains why 800x480 (WVGA) "pentile" panels look like crap...err...ahem...receive so much criticism. (See: motorola displays)
EDIT: Also, more sub-pixels per pixel means better 'sub-pixel hinting'...which is an effect used to enhance text on LCD panels. The fact that we have so many sub-pixels is probably the only reason why we can pull this off. Of course I'm assuming that android takes advantage of subpixels.
Just a reminder to everyone to nandroid before doing anything like this;
My phone won't boot after doing this. I can get into CWM, but anytime I try to reboot it gets stuck in a loop at the Sprint / 4g animation. I suspect it has something to do with busybox installation but who knows.
I did NOT have the "Set on Boot" selected in the LCD density app. I think I already had busybox support... maybe trying to install the market busybox app borked something.
Anyhoo... always do a nandroid, kids!
As Dan mentioned, it does not actually change the resolution in the true sense but for the purpose of this thread I didn't get into that detail.
I think our screens look 10x better then the Evo 3d and the photon screens when our screens are set to WVGA compared to their qhd display. This only makes it better. With a screen this large it only makes sense to shrink things down to get more on the screen.
Now the Galaxy Nexus screen, I am expecting that to be a killer screen.
Ok thanks, it was leaving like choke real estate under the page number on the screens, I actually like Touchwiz but thanks for the heads up
daneurysm said:
you can't use Touchwiz. Need another launcher, and dialer. On some roms the camera and music apps break too if you go too low (like 720p), likely others.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
xlGmanlx said:
Ok thanks, it was leaving like choke real estate under the page number on the screens, I actually like Touchwiz but thanks for the heads up
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think if we could yank touchwiz off of a Galaxy Note it would do 720p (160) and if not whatever the density setting is on the Galaxy Note would make it fit perfectly.
As far as I've seen, touchwiz isn't ingrained in Android at all. I could be wrong, but, it seems like just a launcher. It's nothing like Sense which has it's big fat tentacles way up Android's ass.
...though I'm not a fan of Touchwiz, so, it really doesn't bother me at all. It's not that I hate touchwiz--I was actually astonished to find how nice it was after all of the Sense-o-philes bashed the crap out of it--I just love me some Launcher Pro and/or ADWex, depending on the time of day....though every now and then I throw on Launcher7 for giggles.
I think you are right on all accounts. I actually like its styling (well with ICS + ICS Twist) but the fact that the launcher is hardware accelerated is too much to give up
daneurysm said:
I think if we could yank touchwiz off of a Galaxy Note it would do 720p (160) and if not whatever the density setting is on the Galaxy Note would make it fit perfectly.
As far as I've seen, touchwiz isn't ingrained in Android at all. I could be wrong, but, it seems like just a launcher. It's nothing like Sense which has it's big fat tentacles way up Android's ass.
...though I'm not a fan of Touchwiz, so, it really doesn't bother me at all. It's not that I hate touchwiz--I was actually astonished to find how nice it was after all of the Sense-o-philes bashed the crap out of it--I just love me some Launcher Pro and/or ADWex, depending on the time of day....though every now and then I throw on Launcher7 for giggles.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
xlGmanlx said:
I think you are right on all accounts. I actually like its styling (well with ICS + ICS Twist) but the fact that the launcher is hardware accelerated is too much to give up
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Has this been verified? I stopped caring about it once I got LP/ADW up and running and it seems supernaturally smooth. Though I have to admit that the transition to the app drawer in TW is phenomenally smooth...aside from that, though, I don't really see it.
...and if only TW is hardware accelerated that must be via an API. Samsung proprietary? Considering the popularity of the SGS2 worldwide I'd imagine there would have to be another launcher that would take advantage of these hooks.
Honestly if we do, in fact, have hardware acceleration (and I believe we do) why wouldn't that be system wide? Once you go into settings you are out of the launcher and if anyone remembers Cupcake or Donut holy crap was that a painful experience for what was at the time super fast 528-800mhz phones (g1/hero and moment).
this is a great find I think, I really like the tight resolution, not too keen on having to change the type of launcher either
Has anyone noticed the jacked up notification on the notification bar?
And too bad there's not a way to make the dialer and home screens fit the screen now!
Thanks for the hint
Tried this at 160 using go launcher on starburst 1.9.8r with the beta ICS theme and it looked great except the status bar was screwed up. Do you think it might be the theme or rom?
psych2l said:
Tried this at 160 using go launcher on starburst 1.9.8r with the beta ICS theme and it looked great except the status bar was screwed up. Do you think it might be the theme or rom?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Was it a theme you added on to the Rom? If so, you can try it without the theme.
I am running Calk's 1.5a Rom and it works at 160 by itself, with the honey theme and the ICS mixup theme as well...
Tried it at 200 but didn't like how it screwed the dialer up and went back to 240.
tenaciousj said:
Tried it at 200 but didn't like how it screwed the dialer up and went back to 240.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Download GoContacts, it comes with GoDialer. Both better than stock apps and free and work at any density.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA App
Anyone figure out a way to replicate a true qHD resolution? Being that it is a little off you get the apps not compatible message in the market. If you were able to replicate the exact res like 720p does you would not get that message.
I posted a similar guide for my Galaxy SII, so I figured I would share the love here. Hopefully this helps out a few folks who want to better utilize the amazing screen on the GSIII. I am manually copying this from my post in the now closed combined GSIII forums. Please feel free to comment and make suggestions and please "thank" if you appreciate the post!
General Info for Beginners:
The Galaxy SIII comes with a gorgeous 4.8 inch, 1280 x 720 (albeit pentile) screen. As great as the screen looks, I couldn't help but feel that there is a lot of "wasted space" at the existing resolution. The best example of this fact is the app drawers default 4 x 5 layout. In my opinion, things look much better when the the icons are a bit smaller and more tightly grouped. For those that feel the same way, there is a simple build.prop edit you can do to "trick" you phone to thinking it is set to a higher resolution
How-To Change the Density Setting:
To accomplish this, all you have to do is change the build.prop setting for "ro.sf.lcd_density". There are multiple programs out there that makes this much easier but I have found the best results with "ROM Toolbox". Feel free to buy the full version to support the dev but if all you are looking to do is change the density setting, the lite version will do just fine.
1. download and install "ROM Toolbox" from the Google Play Store
2. go to the "Performance" tab
3. click "build.prop tweaks"
4. change the "LCD Density" slider to whatever DPI you like
5. reboot
As mentioned, there are multiple programs out there but based on my personal experiences, DO NOT USE "LCD DENSITY MODDER" from the play store. This app is known to cause soft-bricks/bootloops. However, I have been told that LCD Density Modder CAN still help with the Play Store app issue, but you will have to buy the pro version for that feature. Thanks uber_mike! (more on that later)
What Setting to Choose:
This is matter of personal opinion so try out different setups and see what you like best. Remember, the lower you set the number, the smaller your icons/text will appear but will also give you more screen real estate. I suggest starting from about 280 or so and working your way down and find something you like.
You may also notice that text and icons appear less sharp when messing with these settings. Keep in mind that because you are not truly changing your screen resolution, the translation will not be perfect. Personally, given the natural sharpness of AMOLED screens, I think most people while not be bothered by this or even notice.
"Phone Mode" vs "Tablet Mode"
As some posters have reported, going to 240 dpi or below will result in Android thinking your device is a tablet. I have been running 240 for a few days now and I'm loving it. In my opinion, may apps look a lot better in Tablet mode but if there are certain phone only apps you MUST have, please keep this in mind.
Potential Issues and Workarounds:
You will inevitably run into some compatibility issues so here are few final thoughts
Which ROM to use?
TouchWiz-based Roms: All roms based on stock Samsung TW for the GSIII were written with only the native resolution in mind. This means that certain apps and aspects of the OS will not scale well with a higher resolution::
- TouchWiz UX Launcher: If you are dead-set on using the default TW launcher, this mod may not be for you. The proportions will look way off and because you cannot edit things like margin or grid layout, it is not fixable. Aftermarket launchers like Apex handle the conversion much better (more on that later)
- The Phone Dialer: The dialer looks like small box that fills up only a portion of the screen. To resolve, you can use an aftermarket dialer app like "exDialer" from the Play Store
- TW E-mail App: The TW e-mail app (not gmail) also doesn't scale well. You can flash the AOSP version of e-mail as a workaround
- Stock Camera App: You will notice some of the border coloring and margins doesn't scale very well but the functionality is still perfect
- Notification Bar: I have noticed the little lines in the pull-down become off-center after you adjust the dpi. Again, a minor annoyance which doesn't effect functionality
- Twitter:*You may have profile pictures show up in 2 different sizes (Thanks Msilvame!)
Some additional feedback from other posters(thanks mhtruth!) but note that I personally do not have all of these issues
*status bar quick toggles DON'T scroll (stuck with just the 1st 5)
*status bar "remove all (X)" missing (swiping still works)
* in call speaker boost doesn't work...(only stops you from hearing not the person on the other end)
* some apps go into tablet mode (ex. HBO GO)
AOSP ROMs: CM9 and AOKP handle the conversion a bit better. You won't run into the dialer or e-mail issue like with TW ROMs but there are still some bugs.
- Certain pictures of contacts may appear too zoomed in, i.e. messaging notification pictures or the favorites tab
- Other aspects of the OS may become hard to read when scaled down so much, i.e. lock screen add-on buttons, notification pull down buttons
- I recently had a chance to mess with some JB ROMs and found that the lockscreen slider/phone answer slider does not scale well and is oriented towards the right of the screen. Boo
The Play Store Doesn't Show All Apps? - This is the biggest pain in the a$$ when you mess with the lcd density settings. There is a bug in the play store that prevents you from seeing certain apps when you change the lcd settings away from default.
I have seen a few "hacked" versions of the vending.apk out there that makes the play store think you are always set to a stock dpi but for some reason, this only works for a little while. LCD Density Modder Pro has a feature where it can install a "fixed" Play Store app that can help with this issue also, but there is also a workaround.
Here are the steps to get the market working again:
1. Change LCD Density back to stock (320)
2. Reboot to take effect
3. Clear the data for the Google Play Store AND Google Services Framework
4. Open the Play Store app and you should see everything again
5. Change LCD density back to whatever you like.
6. Reboot
I know this is a bit cumbersome but it's the best solution for now. I haven't quite nailed down what triggers the market to "break" but hopefully you won't have to do this fix too often. In opinion, this small annoyance is worth it.
Also, one thing I noticed when using Rom Toolbox is that after you set your dpi to a lower setting using the "build.prop tweaks" menu, if you go back and try to set it to the stock 320, it will max out at 280 or so. Not sure why this is the case but to do this manually, go to "build.prop editor" instead and change the "ro.sf.lcd_density" to 320.
I have been told that setting your dpi to 240 will also help with Play Store issues, since 240 is a stock resolution on other devices (GSII comes to mind). Feel free to try this out, but the size of icons and fonts may be a bit too small for some tastes (thanks DutchDogg54 and chakra!)
Everything Looks Too "Stretched Out"? - Having an aftermarket launcher will help with this tremendously, as the TW launcher does not scale well at all. I personally use Apex Launcher and there are some settings you can change to make the proportions look better
1. Homescreen Settings: Change the Vertical and Horizontal margins to medium or large
2. Dock Settings: Same as above.
You may also want to mess with different homescreen grid configurations now that you have extra room. I have bumped up mine to 5 x 5 and it looks great.
Bumping up the font size can also help even things out. At 240 dpi, I put mine to "normal", but at stock I used "tiny" (thanks falconator!)
List of all the ICS compatible launchers that will work for this mod:
- Apex Launcher (my fave)
- Nova Launcher
- Go Launcher
- Atom Launcher (new!)
- Holo Launcher (new!)
And that's it. I hope this will help you out so that you won't have to go through all the trial and error I did. I promise you, after you do this, it will be impossible for you to go back to the stock resolution (everything looks HUGE)
Update: I have added some of my and mhtruth's screenshots for those who are interested. I also added a screenshot of HBO GO in tablet mode
My setup:
- 240 dpi (Tablet Mode)
- AOKP M6 R3, Black Exodus Theme
- Apex Launcher
- Homescreen: 6 x 5 grid, Horizontal Margin: Medium, Vertical Margin: Large
- Dock: Horizontal Margin: Large, Vertical Margin: Medium
- Font Size: "Normal"
Feel free to show off your own homescreen screenshots! I will update OP and add yours too!
I was just complaining about this to myself this morning. Thank you for sharing this. I'm definitely going to try messing with this.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
I find that ROM toolbox is kind of buggy on the GS3.
There use to be an app o the market that did this and it stuck on boot. I hate messing with build prop myself. Someone should whip up a new app.
-me being lazy lol
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
Update:
Since 8/10 I have been running the AMAZING Paranoid Android ROM and I am in love with this. For anyone who liked the LCD Density Mod posted above, you should definitely check out this ROM. I got to experience it just a bit with my GSII and continue to be impressed with my GSIII.
I suggest you try "Phablet" Mode at first. The advantage to this ROM is that it allows you to individually adjust the density of each app separately as well as prevents market incompatibility issues. This is a MUST for people who like things at a setting other than 240.
Hope this helps!
Stuck in boot
after 3 hours of getting it rooted, i got the density app, i may of gotten the lcd density modder , i didnt know there was 2 kinds. but i put it to 200, rebooted and now i try to turn on and it goes to samsung logo but then just turns off again, what do i do?
Well, if it didnt back up your build.prop then the easiest thing would be to flash a rom.
Or if you have a nandroid restore just the system part.
Otherwise plug up to your computer and oull your build.prop, set it back to default and push it back to system.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
I'm running AOKP milestone 1 on my SGSIII, when I change my density I get screen flashes. Is this the incompatibility your talking about? I've tried different DPIs with the same result. I've used the density changer built into ROM control, as well as ROM toolbox, both with the same results. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.
Let me make a few notes:
First, stock ics touchwiz ROMs do not like anything lower than 240. This means any ROM that is touchwiz based off stock ics will result in boot loops.. trust me been there -.-
Secondly, don't waste your money on the LCD density mod app to fix the market. I've already fixed the market. Just flash my zip found [MOD][APP][UPDATE 3.10.10] 320DPI GoogleServicesFramework and google play and you should be golden. Don't have a custom recovery, then extract the files from the zip and use a root file browser to copy them to the system/app directory.
Oh and 240 isn't tablet mode. I'm currently at 210 and it's not tablet mode.. I don't remember what it was.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2
So..... Any recommendations on the screen flashing after changing the density?
elterible said:
I posted a similar guide for my Galaxy SII, so I figured I would share the love here. Hopefully this helps out a few folks who want to better utilize the amazing screen on the GSIII. I am manually copying this from my post in the now closed combined GSIII forums. Please feel free to comment and make suggestions and please "thank" if you appreciate the post!
General Info for Beginners:
The Galaxy SIII comes with a gorgeous 4.8 inch, 1280 x 720 (albeit pentile) screen. As great as the screen looks, I couldn't help but feel that there is a lot of "wasted space" at the existing resolution. The best example of this fact is the app drawers default 4 x 5 layout. In my opinion, things look much better when the the icons are a bit smaller and more tightly grouped. For those that feel the same way, there is a simple build.prop edit you can do to "trick" you phone to thinking it is set to a higher resolution
How-To Change the Density Setting:
To accomplish this, all you have to do is change the build.prop setting for "ro.sf.lcd_density". There are multiple programs out there that makes this much easier but I have found the best results with "ROM Toolbox". Feel free to buy the full version to support the dev but if all you are looking to do is change the density setting, the lite version will do just fine.
1. download and install "ROM Toolbox" from the Google Play Store
2. go to the "Performance" tab
3. click "build.prop tweaks"
4. change the "LCD Density" slider to whatever DPI you like
5. reboot
As mentioned, there are multiple programs out there but based on my personal experiences, DO NOT USE "LCD DENSITY MODDER" from the play store. This app is known to cause soft-bricks/bootloops. However, I have been told that LCD Density Modder CAN still help with the Play Store app issue, but you will have to buy the pro version for that feature. Thanks uber_mike! (more on that later)
What Setting to Choose:
This is matter of personal opinion so try out different setups and see what you like best. Remember, the lower you set the number, the smaller your icons/text will appear but will also give you more screen real estate. I suggest starting from about 280 or so and working your way down and find something you like.
You may also notice that text and icons appear less sharp when messing with these settings. Keep in mind that because you are not truly changing your screen resolution, the translation will not be perfect. Personally, given the natural sharpness of AMOLED screens, I think most people while not be bothered by this or even notice.
"Phone Mode" vs "Tablet Mode"
As some posters have reported, going to 240 dpi or below will result in Android thinking your device is a tablet. I have been running 240 for a few days now and I'm loving it. In my opinion, may apps look a lot better in Tablet mode but if there are certain phone only apps you MUST have, please keep this in mind.
Potential Issues and Workarounds:
You will inevitably run into some compatibility issues so here are few final thoughts
Which ROM to use?
TouchWiz-based Roms: All roms based on stock Samsung TW for the GSIII were written with only the native resolution in mind. This means that certain apps and aspects of the OS will not scale well with a higher resolution::
- TouchWiz UX Launcher: If you are dead-set on using the default TW launcher, this mod may not be for you. The proportions will look way off and because you cannot edit things like margin or grid layout, it is not fixable. Aftermarket launchers like Apex handle the conversion much better (more on that later)
- The Phone Dialer: The dialer looks like small box that fills up only a portion of the screen. To resolve, you can use an aftermarket dialer app like "exDialer" from the Play Store
- TW E-mail App: The TW e-mail app (not gmail) also doesn't scale well. You can flash the AOSP version of e-mail as a workaround
- Stock Camera App: You will notice some of the border coloring and margins doesn't scale very well but the functionality is still perfect
- Notification Bar: I have noticed the little lines in the pull-down become off-center after you adjust the dpi. Again, a minor annoyance which doesn't effect functionality
- Twitter:*You may have profile pictures show up in 2 different sizes (Thanks Msilvame!)
Some additional feedback from other posters(thanks mhtruth!) but note that I personally do not have all of these issues
*status bar quick toggles DON'T scroll (stuck with just the 1st 5)
*status bar "remove all (X)" missing (swiping still works)
* in call speaker boost doesn't work...(only stops you from hearing not the person on the other end)
* some apps go into tablet mode (ex. HBO GO)
AOSP ROMs: CM9 and AOKP handle the conversion a bit better. You won't run into the dialer or e-mail issue like with TW ROMs but there are still some bugs.
- Certain pictures of contacts may appear too zoomed in, i.e. messaging notification pictures or the favorites tab
- Other aspects of the OS may become hard to read when scaled down so much, i.e. lock screen add-on buttons, notification pull down buttons
- I recently had a chance to mess with some JB ROMs and found that the lockscreen slider/phone answer slider does not scale well and is oriented towards the right of the screen. Boo
The Play Store Doesn't Show All Apps? - This is the biggest pain in the a$$ when you mess with the lcd density settings. There is a bug in the play store that prevents you from seeing certain apps when you change the lcd settings away from default.
I have seen a few "hacked" versions of the vending.apk out there that makes the play store think you are always set to a stock dpi but for some reason, this only works for a little while. LCD Density Modder Pro has a feature where it can install a "fixed" Play Store app that can help with this issue also, but there is also a workaround.
Here are the steps to get the market working again:
1. Change LCD Density back to stock (320)
2. Reboot to take effect
3. Clear the data for the Google Play Store AND Google Services Framework
4. Open the Play Store app and you should see everything again
5. Change LCD density back to whatever you like.
6. Reboot
I know this is a bit cumbersome but it's the best solution for now. I haven't quite nailed down what triggers the market to "break" but hopefully you won't have to do this fix too often. In opinion, this small annoyance is worth it.
Also, one thing I noticed when using Rom Toolbox is that after you set your dpi to a lower setting using the "build.prop tweaks" menu, if you go back and try to set it to the stock 320, it will max out at 280 or so. Not sure why this is the case but to do this manually, go to "build.prop editor" instead and change the "ro.sf.lcd_density" to 320.
I have been told that setting your dpi to 240 will also help with Play Store issues, since 240 is a stock resolution on other devices (GSII comes to mind). Feel free to try this out, but the size of icons and fonts may be a bit too small for some tastes (thanks DutchDogg54 and chakra!)
Everything Looks Too "Stretched Out"? - Having an aftermarket launcher will help with this tremendously, as the TW launcher does not scale well at all. I personally use Apex Launcher and there are some settings you can change to make the proportions look better
1. Homescreen Settings: Change the Vertical and Horizontal margins to medium or large
2. Dock Settings: Same as above.
You may also want to mess with different homescreen grid configurations now that you have extra room. I have bumped up mine to 5 x 5 and it looks great.
Bumping up the font size can also help even things out. At 240 dpi, I put mine to "normal", but at stock I used "tiny" (thanks falconator!)
List of all the ICS compatible launchers that will work for this mod:
- Apex Launcher (my fave)
- Nova Launcher
- Go Launcher
- Atom Launcher (new!)
- Holo Launcher (new!)
And that's it. I hope this will help you out so that you won't have to go through all the trial and error I did. I promise you, after you do this, it will be impossible for you to go back to the stock resolution (everything looks HUGE)
Update: I have added some of my and mhtruth's screenshots for those who are interested. I also added a screenshot of HBO GO in tablet mode
My setup:
- 240 dpi (Tablet Mode)
- AOKP M6 R3, Black Exodus Theme
- Apex Launcher
- Homescreen: 6 x 5 grid, Horizontal Margin: Medium, Vertical Margin: Large
- Dock: Horizontal Margin: Large, Vertical Margin: Medium
- Font Size: "Normal"
Feel free to show off your own homescreen screenshots! I will update OP and add yours too!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im running a stock rom on a Chinese phone (W9208) and i dont have LCD density...apps dont work either...is there hope for me?
rndm said:
Im running a stock rom on a Chinese phone (W9208) and i dont have LCD density...apps dont work either...is there hope for me?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not too familiar with that model. pardon me if this is a stupid question but i'm assuming you mean "stock android"?
if so, then you're fine. download an app that will let you change the LCD density manually in the buildprop (i.e. Rom Toolbox). find the line "ro.sf.lcd_density" and change to whatever you like.
The tricky part here is to find the right number. I wrote this guide a while back for my Galaxy S3, which ran 320 dpi natively at it's 720p resolution. To achieve tablet mode (and retain compatibility with the Google Playstore), I changed it to 240. My current device (nexus 5) runs 1080p which has a stock dpi of 480. To achieve tablet mode, i changed to 320. Does this make sense? Again, it's tricky b/c i'm not sure what resolution your phone is
Well, i hope this helps, good luck!
elterible said:
I'm not too familiar with that model. pardon me if this is a stupid question but i'm assuming you mean "stock android"?
if so, then you're fine. download an app that will let you change the LCD density manually in the buildprop (i.e. Rom Toolbox). find the line "ro.sf.lcd_density" and change to whatever you like.
The tricky part here is to find the right number. I wrote this guide a while back for my Galaxy S3, which ran 320 dpi natively at it's 720p resolution. To achieve tablet mode (and retain compatibility with the Google Playstore), I changed it to 240. My current device (nexus 5) runs 1080p which has a stock dpi of 480. To achieve tablet mode, i changed to 320. Does this make sense? Again, it's tricky b/c i'm not sure what resolution your phone is
Well, i hope this helps, good luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wish it was stock android:crying:
Star's (Chinese manufacturer) manipulation of android to copy Samsung's touchwiz.
my device is 720p and has a 6.4 inch screen...hence me wanting to change the dpi...not sure what the dpi currently is but the drop-down status bar toggles labels are squashed.
I rooted and installed loads of dpi apps and none worked. Then I looked for "ro.sf.lcd_density" and realised I don't have one in my build prop. Know any fixes?
rndm said:
I wish it was stock android:crying:
Star's (Chinese manufacturer) manipulation of android to copy Samsung's touchwiz.
my device is 720p and has a 6.4 inch screen...hence me wanting to change the dpi...not sure what the dpi currently is but the drop-down status bar toggles labels are squashed.
I rooted and installed loads of dpi apps and none worked. Then I looked for "ro.sf.lcd_density" and realised I don't have one in my build prop. Know any fixes?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you should be able to manually add in the line yourself.
but a word of warning, given that i have no experience with "Star" and no idea what version of android is on there, I would proceed with caution if you do that
since you have it rooted, is there any way you can flash a completely stock custom version of android on there? is there any development support for it here on XDA?
rndm said:
I wish it was stock android:crying:
Star's (Chinese manufacturer) manipulation of android to copy Samsung's touchwiz.
my device is 720p and has a 6.4 inch screen...hence me wanting to change the dpi...not sure what the dpi currently is but the drop-down status bar toggles labels are squashed.
I rooted and installed loads of dpi apps and none worked. Then I looked for "ro.sf.lcd_density" and realised I don't have one in my build prop. Know any fixes?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can use "Build.prop Editor" app and add that entry yourself. That's least painful way.
Perseus71 said:
You can use "Build.prop Editor" app and add that entry yourself. That's least painful way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great didn't know I could do that, however i might leave it now...
I installed texdroider and I couldn't type any numbers in the dpi change box (probably because it directly edits the lcd density registry, which i didn't have)
Then after that I installed LCD density modder app which put my phone into a bootloop after setting 300dpi
So I assume even after adding the entry I wont have much room to play with anyway?
---------- Post added at 10:37 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:35 AM ----------
elterible said:
you should be able to manually add in the line yourself.
but a word of warning, given that i have no experience with "Star" and no idea what version of android is on there, I would proceed with caution if you do that
since you have it rooted, is there any way you can flash a completely stock custom version of android on there? is there any development support for it here on XDA?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tried searching Mediatek LCD desnsity change but to no avail. Thanks anyway.
rockyhas said:
after 3 hours of getting it rooted, i got the density app, i may of gotten the lcd density modder , i didnt know there was 2 kinds. but i put it to 200, rebooted and now i try to turn on and it goes to samsung logo but then just turns off again, what do i do?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As mentioned, there are multiple programs out there but based on my personal experiences, DO NOT USE "LCD DENSITY MODDER" from the play store. This app is known to cause soft-bricks/bootloops. However, I have been told that LCD Density Modder CAN still help with the Play Store app issue, but you will have to buy the pro version for that feature. Thanks uber_mike! (more on that later)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're screwed. Do a reset.
I did the LCD changes through playstore i ddint see this thread and now my phone logo comes but black screen after hard rest nothing working help HTc Sensation xl
Hey,
so i have my Note 2 for a couple of days now and i´m loving it, but well, there´s one thing that keeps bugging me and i have seen random "complains" about that here and in several other forums: Everything (especially apps like the sms/message/email ones) plain and simply look way too huge.
So, what i´m wondering about are mainly 2 things:
1. What´s the optimal DPI Setting in which all apps (including the camera) still work.
2. Can this also be achieved with a DPI setting which is normaly for tablets?
3. Is there any custom rom i can install that would do the job without messing up the S-Pen stuf (which is the main reason for me to own this device)
Would be nice if anyone could give me a helping hand with this one.
u can install any custom rom base on touchwiz, just search it in development section
im using 280 dpi and seems all touchwiz apps work, 240 have problem with camera, alarm and browser as i know
I just tried 280 but the page indicator dots now sit in the middle of the screen with wasted space underneath. Also tried 300 and whilst it looks a bit better, the dots still sit too high above the docked icons.
Hi all, please see the below thread. Only sharing the info as this was posted on the Verizon N4 forum.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/note-4-verizon/general/root-want-to-modify-dpi-t2960644
Hope this helps...
As indicated below some touchwiz native apps are affected.
List of known affected applications by changing DPI settings:
S-View (for S-View covers -- slightly misaligned but functional)
Touchwiz Stock Dialer (slightly misaligned but functional -- other non-stock options exist such as Hangouts or ExDialer)
Fingerprint lockscreen (arrow pointing to finger print scanner off center)
Exchange email (stock Samsung Email)
Stock Camera App
Just FYI to get some easy download links:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/note-4-verizon/general/root-want-to-modify-dpi-t2960644
Enable USB debugging on yer phone
-> http://www.mediafire.com/download/a4hd8y0c1iakysk/Samsung-Usb-Driver-v1.5.49.0.exe
Samsung USB drivers you'll need installed
-> http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=48915118#post48915118
ADB / Fastboot installer
navigate to C:\adb\ and then run the command they give in the thread
adb shell wm density 540
(not confirmation will be sent but your phone should prompt you to 'allow' your computer to send adb commands to it.).
Restart phone
DPI settings are now at 540. original DPI settings are 640 BTW
imnoob55 said:
Hi all, please see the below thread. Only sharing the info as this was posted on the Verizon N4 forum.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/note-4-verizon/general/root-want-to-modify-dpi-t2960644
Hope this helps...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I came across that thread a few hours ago. It's pretty neat to be able to drop the density and make more use of display space (could even drop it down to 384 and make it look more like a tablet), but it has its problems. Samsung apps (Dialer, camera, S Note, S-View, etc) will lose their screen alignment and/or only cover a portion of the screen when altering the density. Finding an alternate dialer was easy enough, but I'm having trouble finding a camera app similar to stock in quality, and was unsuccessful at replacing the S-View...
redphazon said:
I came across that thread a few hours ago. It's pretty neat to be able to drop the density and make more use of display space (could even drop it down to 384 and make it look more like a tablet), but it has its problems. Samsung apps (Dialer, camera, S Note, S-View, etc) will lose their screen alignment and/or only cover a portion of the screen when altering the density. Finding an alternate dialer was easy enough, but I'm having trouble finding a camera app similar to stock in quality, and was unsuccessful at replacing the S-View...
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Click to collapse
Yup unfortunately that is a side-effect of doing this. Only way to do it that I am aware of conventionally would be via xposed or loading in custom TW apps, both not possible. Hangout dialer works well, for this. TW stock browser is not affected. My S-Note is not affected either, too. Dialer and S-View are (not unusable, they just are not center-aligned any longer as their height/width are set on static widths rather than proportional % when Samsung set up the layout.) Maybe they'll change that in L.
BTW I use Nova for launcher and Hangouts as my dialer. I do use an s-view case, though, which is of course impacted.
imnoob55 said:
Yup unfortunately that is a side-effect of doing this. Only way to do it that I am aware of conventionally would be via xposed or loading in custom TW apps, both not possible. Hangout dialer works well, for this. TW stock browser is not affected. My S-Note is not affected either, too. Dialer and S-View are (not unusable, they just are not center-aligned any longer as their height/width are set on static widths rather than proportional % when Samsung set up the layout.) Maybe they'll change that in L.
BTW I use Nova for launcher and Hangouts as my dialer. I do use an s-view case, though, which is of course impacted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm also using Nova Launcher. I did download ExDialer at first, but I went to Hangouts Dialer instead since ExDialer has a trial period and costs money.
S Note is largely unaffected yes, but when you open the camera for copying documents, the square used for aligning the camera with the document is off-center. It doesn't seem to hurt functionality in any way, though. Oddly enough, the camera when used in S Note is fullscreen...
As far as S-View goes, I'm thinking about removing the flip cover. S-View is nice, but I'm always trying to not get smudges on the cover screen on top of the phone display, so the cover is a little bit cumbersome to me when holding it. Seeing how much better the phone looks at a lower density makes me lean even closer to just getting rid of it. That leaves me with just the camera replacement...
Exchange email is also broken... when you reply to an email, the screen font is set to eleventybillion.
-----
Sent with my Galaxy Note 4
Can anyone confirm if this impacts the play store? Typically changing the dpi on the whole device would prevent the play store from downloading some apps.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using XDA Free mobile app
jfenton78 said:
Can anyone confirm if this impacts the play store? Typically changing the dpi on the whole device would prevent the play store from downloading some apps.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't seen any problems with the Play Store yet, though I haven't been installing much of anything, either. The few apps I've installed so far gave me no trouble.
Also, just found out that the stock camera has no problems with accurate button detection when the phone is turned sideways for landscape rotation, though it's still not fullscreen. You have to guess where the buttons are on the screen in portrait when the density is changed.
Couple of tips:
if you get an error about the device being offline make sure you've got the current ADB installed. The link provided for the adb and fastboot didn't work for me because the file didn't install. The program is just an auto run zip file. you can open with 7-zip and just extract the adb files.
also if you get an error about the device being unauthorized you must select no action on the windows pop up and always perform this action. the phone should then get a pop up with the RSA key number and ask you to authorize. hope this helps.
540 DPI is pretty nice.
I was okay with the dialer and lockscreen, but the camera made me go back to 640. In vertical shooting mode, the touch points for all the icons, including the shutter button, is misaligned and is very annoying. What a shame as 540 looked AWESOME.
cj00ta said:
Exchange email is also broken... when you reply to an email, the screen font is set to eleventybillion.
-----
Sent with my Galaxy Note 4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! Just added to the top thread under impacted apps
Does this effectively change the resolution? I'm curious if lowering the DPI would give positive improvement to high-end game performance. Can anyone shed some light here?
Conkrete said:
Does this effectively change the resolution? I'm curious if lowering the DPI would give positive improvement to high-end game performance. Can anyone shed some light here?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It doesn't change the resolution. What it changes is the drawing size of on-screen content which is directly from the 'dpi setting' of the phone.
It's a little complicated to explain but this is how it works;
The phone's default screen density (DPI) setting 640, this is done because that's how many dots per inch of the physical screen there is (a phone of similar screen size would have a similar dpi). This value is stored in your phone's build.prop and is read by numerous applications, it might not match exactly the 'real' dpi of the screen but its normally very close to it.
By changing it lower in dpi you're instructing to applications you actually have a smaller screen size, thus to fit content (i.e words not being HUGE on a small screen) content is drawn to that dpi setting you're providing in build.prop.
Now to go into why we have certain issues when changing the dpi.
This is basically due to how the app did its layout sizing (do I base content on "actual size" of the screen-size or do I base it on "actual density" of the screen density in build.prop? Most apps, since they're targeting to be used with dozens of devices of all sorts of different sizes, will be designed where the layout of content is dependent upon dpi. A layout would be I want a rectangular box on the bottom that has height 10px and width 100%, so that effectively means the width is based on the proportion of the screen size (the OS controls this, its just a matter of scaling). This is why you once had 5 items to show now has 8 items to show in a listbox. The size of the listbox in this case would be based on actual density while the content (text etc.) inside would be based on actual size (scaling I would think is limited to a min/max actual size for text).
Samsung can get away with this on their stock apps because in their mind when they build their roms they are only going to be used on that specific device. They're starting to go away from this, however, and are starting to make their layouts more typical that of a normal application. You have somewhat less control of the layout going from actual size to actual density.
*keep in mind you can actually set parameters for both. Such as if I wanted something to be 10% in width but only up to 2.5 inches in actual size this effectively means that it will scale until it reaches 2.5" and then scale no longer.
I hope that makes sense. Resolution really doesn't have a role at all in this, you're always at the same resolution (4K) and this is handled by the lower-level kernel and GPU firmware. I don't think there's a way to change this at the app layer but than again I have really no background in android development.
*please if anything comes off as inaccurate please point out, I am from a XAML/.NET development background and linux/unix embedded systems and really I focused on back-end/databases/services and not really front-endy stuff. This is how it is handled in XAML though and I have seen android uses the same principals.
imnoob55 said:
It doesn't change the resolution. What it changes is the drawing size of on-screen content which is directly from the 'dpi setting' of the phone.
It's a little complicated to explain but this is how it works;
The phone's default screen density (DPI) setting 640, this is done because that's how many dots per inch of the physical screen there is (a phone of similar screen size would have a similar dpi). This value is stored in your phone's build.prop and is read by numerous applications, it might not match exactly the 'real' dpi of the screen but its normally very close to it.
By changing it lower in dpi you're instructing to applications you actually have a smaller screen size, thus to fit content (i.e words not being HUGE on a small screen) content is drawn to that dpi setting you're providing in build.prop.
Now to go into why we have certain issues when changing the dpi.
This is basically due to how the app did its layout sizing (do I base content on "actual size" of the screen-size or do I base it on "actual density" of the screen density in build.prop? Most apps, since they're targeting to be used with dozens of devices of all sorts of different sizes, will be designed where the layout of content is dependent upon dpi. A layout would be I want a rectangular box on the bottom that has height 10px and width 100%, so that effectively means the width is based on the proportion of the screen size (the OS controls this, its just a matter of scaling). This is why you once had 5 items to show now has 8 items to show in a listbox. The size of the listbox in this case would be based on actual density while the content (text etc.) inside would be based on actual size (scaling I would think is limited to a min/max actual size for text).
Samsung can get away with this on their stock apps because in their mind when they build their roms they are only going to be used on that specific device. They're starting to go away from this, however, and are starting to make their layouts more typical that of a normal application. You have somewhat less control of the layout going from actual size to actual density.
*keep in mind you can actually set parameters for both. Such as if I wanted something to be 10% in width but only up to 2.5 inches in actual size this effectively means that it will scale until it reaches 2.5" and then scale no longer.
I hope that makes sense. Resolution really doesn't have a role at all in this, you're always at the same resolution (4K) and this is handled by the lower-level kernel and GPU firmware. I don't think there's a way to change this at the app layer but than again I have really no background in android development.
*please if anything comes off as inaccurate please point out, I am from a XAML/.NET development background and linux/unix embedded systems and really I focused on back-end/databases/services and not really front-endy stuff. This is how it is handled in XAML though and I have seen android uses the same principals.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Extremely helpful and great info. Possibly the best response I've received from XDA. Thank you for the info. I have found a couple root apps that claim to change resolution but I've been hoping to find a non-root alternative.
One of the first things I have noticed with the Tab Pro 8.4 is a severe imbalance between the font sizes of Samsung UI elements and non-Samsung. For example in Play Store when I enter text in the search box it's crisp but quite small. Yet the text in the Settings menus is a very comfortable size compared to the Google font size. If I increase the font size system-wide then the Google font size becomes comfortable and the Samsung font size becomes cartoonishly big.
Has anyone else noticed this and/or come up with a reasonable solution?
Perhaps one culprit is the fact that the true DPI of this device is 359 and Samsung has programmed 320 into the build.prop. That means it's lying to the OS that the screen is 9.4" not 8.4". So apps are drawing text and graphics a bit too small, but Samsung decided to jack up their own font sizes to a comfortable range. If I were to edit the DPI to 320 that still wouldn't be likely to help as then Samsung would just remain cartoonishly big.
I agree 100% with this problem and have tried changing the DPI in the build.prop. Big mistake as it causes crashes everywhere in Sammy apps.
The only work-around I have found was to use the Xposed framework with the App Settings app. This way you can adjust each app individually.
Its not a perfect solution, but its the best I have found in the 5 days I've owned this tab.
cmstlist said:
One of the first things I have noticed with the Tab Pro 8.4 is a severe imbalance between the font sizes of Samsung UI elements and non-Samsung. For example in Play Store when I enter text in the search box it's crisp but quite small. Yet the text in the Settings menus is a very comfortable size compared to the Google font size. If I increase the font size system-wide then the Google font size becomes comfortable and the Samsung font size becomes cartoonishly big.
Has anyone else noticed this and/or come up with a reasonable solution?
Perhaps one culprit is the fact that the true DPI of this device is 359 and Samsung has programmed 320 into the build.prop. That means it's lying to the OS that the screen is 9.4" not 8.4". So apps are drawing text and graphics a bit too small, but Samsung decided to jack up their own font sizes to a comfortable range. If I were to edit the DPI to 320 that still wouldn't be likely to help as then Samsung would just remain cartoonishly big.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
tpowell.ca said:
I agree 100% with this problem and have tried changing the DPI in the build.prop. Big mistake as it causes crashes everywhere in Sammy apps.
The only work-around I have found was to use the Xposed framework with the App Settings app. This way you can adjust each app individually.
Its not a perfect solution, but its the best I have found in the 5 days I've owned this tab.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, I've used it before on other devices. I used the newly released FlashFire to take a backup of my system to external SD before installing Xposed. I currently have a dpi of 360 assigned to all of: Chrome, Dropbox, Gmail, gReader, Google Maps, Netflix, News & Weather, Nova Launcher, Plume, Root Explorer, Tapatalk, Titanium Backup, PressReader, and the App Settings app itself (as everything was a bit too small). That puts these apps in the same range of screen element size as on Nexus devices. Feel free to pick a bit higher for a bit bigger as we do tend to hold tablets further from our faces than phones.
In fact the Nexus 5 itself (which is my daily phone) has a build.prop that is too large for the real screen size, 480 instead of 445 (factor of 7.8%). But it does make the UI a bit more comfortable without sacrificing too much screen space. So theory if you want any apps on the Tab Pro to display their UI elements at least as large as they physically appear on a Nexus 5, you'd assign a DPI in the 380-385 range to those apps.
tpowell.ca said:
I agree 100% with this problem and have tried changing the DPI in the build.prop. Big mistake as it causes crashes everywhere in Sammy apps.
The only work-around I have found was to use the Xposed framework with the App Settings app. This way you can adjust each app individually.
Its not a perfect solution, but its the best I have found in the 5 days I've owned this tab.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Old thread but thanks! My GF has the 8.4" model and in the latest Facebook app the font is like 1/32" and she cannot read it
I read here and there the forum, rooted the tablet, installed xposed, installed AppSettings and changed the DPI, it worked! :good::good::good: