A way to improve the physical screen?

[HP User]

It's probably impossible, but what can a user do to actually physically improve the screen? I specifically mean the viewing angles if lying flat. (From the top (90°) and from the the upper part it's good, but from the lower part the screen can be hardly correctly seen.)

[eried]

Any particular reason why you need the screen to be visible at those angles?

As an "user" there is nothing you can do, but as a "hacker" you could replace the LCD, but it might be a long journey of learning and experimenting.

[KeithB]

Make a little stand that will let it be propped at an angle.

[TheLastMillennial]

(12-04-2019 09:18 PM)eried Wrote:  Any particular reason why you need the screen to be visible at those angles?

Because those are normal viewing angles when it's lying on a desk?

Quote:As an "user" there is nothing you can do, but as a "hacker" you could replace the LCD, but it might be a long journey of learning and experimenting.

That might be fun to attempt. Is there a full teardown of the Prime somewhere? I found some images on TI Planet but they didn't go past just taking off the back cover.

[HP User]

Thanks, guys.

Yeah, on a desk it lies flat. Now I have to hold it in the hand most of the time just to see the screen properly.

Making a little stand is a nice idea, but is not like changing the thing itself.

Why on earth did they release it like this?

[rprosperi]

(12-05-2019 07:28 PM)HP User Wrote:  Why on earth did they release it like this?

Since it's made for students, where 'thou shalt not let your neighbor peek at your calculator' is a fundamental requirement, they may have been thinking about this.

Which is the same reason HP intentionally limited the IR range of the 50g and other models.

[HP User]

(12-05-2019 09:06 PM)rprosperi Wrote:  

(12-05-2019 07:28 PM)HP User Wrote:  Why on earth did they release it like this?

Since it's made for students, where 'thou shalt not let your neighbor peek at your calculator' is a fundamental requirement, they may have been thinking about this.

Which is the same reason HP intentionally limited the IR range of the 50g and other models.

Maybe. It's a nice thought that didn't occur to me, but that they then mess up the viewing angle from below? From the side I would understand or am I missing something?

[Tim Wessman]

Unfortunately, this was something I fought to try and get corrected, but could not do so. The screen is not custom for Prime, and the connector placement normally is at the top. In Prime however, it came out the bottom so the screen is essentially flipped. The viewing angle for horizontal had the polarizer designed for it to be flipped the other direction basically.

[mfleming]

Hummm, correctable through open-case surgery, perhaps? G1, G2, or both models?

[Joe Horn]

Prime's "Light" Color Scheme (Home Settings, page 2, bottom) is much easier to read at a low angle than the "Dark" Color Scheme. So, if you use Prime as a desktop machine, and not in a calculator stand, then avoid the Dark Scheme.

[cyrille de brébisson]

Hello,

"Since it's made for students, where 'thou shalt not let your neighbor peek at your calculator' is a fundamental requirement, they may have been thinking about this."

Yes, yes... of course we did!!!!
Let me make sure that I have it written on my performance evaluation somewhere :-)

As Tim said, the screen was basically a take it, or leave it situation :-(

Cyrille

[StephenG1CMZ]

If the viewing angles are limited because the screen is upside down, there may be another solution:

Carefully take out all the keys and put them back in upside down.
Hold the calculator the other way up.
The physical viewing angles are now better.
You might want to add a video flip/invert option into the current beta.

Actually, seriously now, that might be useful to show someone your results in a face-to-face setting...and they would get the better view.

Even better, the marketing guys can then quote the better viewing angles, even if you can't see them yourself

[HP User]

Hah hah hah! Funny.

But let me be serious. Who was responsible? Who was the shot caller? the approver? Give us a name!



Joe, the light scheme does use more battery and may be more tiring on the eyes. This is my reason to avoid it.

[eried]

(12-06-2019 02:10 AM)mfleming Wrote:  Hummm, correctable through open-case surgery, perhaps? G1, G2, or both models?

There are two polarizer films, the "cristals" in the lcd in the middle of those polarizers work in tandem to block or let the difussed backlight pass... it is an impossible hack

I only see two doable hacks:

1) Extend the flex cable and flip the screen, patching (i.e. https://www.hpmuseum.org/forum/thread-6090.html) the firmware to "unflip" the output

2) Write a display driver for another display, i.e. an FPGA outputing to a oled display

[TheLastMillennial]

Wow, I had no idea so much thought had been put into the display. It's too bad you weren't able to get the display flipped, however I really appreciate that you tried your best! Perhaps it can be a feature of the G3?

I don't exactly understand how the anti-cheat is supposed to work since the side to side viewing abgles are honestly pretty good?

Although I don't plan on tampering with my Prime, how would you go about extending the ribbon cable? Also, could you please tell us exactly what display is in the G2?

HP User, I think I should point out that since the Prime's display is just an LCD, there's no battery savings at all by leaving it in dark mode. I foresee a huge burn-in issue if you were to have a Calc with an OLED screen. Hopefully when micro-led becomes commonplace we can get those battery savings without the risk of burn in!

[HP User]

Quote:HP User, I think I should point out that since the Prime's display is just an LCD, there's no battery savings at all by leaving it in dark mode. I foresee a huge burn-in issue if you were to have a Calc with an OLED screen. Hopefully when micro-led becomes commonplace we can get those battery savings without the risk of burn in!

I think you are right.

That would leave the possibly greater fatigue.

[Joe Horn]

(12-06-2019 06:55 PM)HP User Wrote:  That would leave the possibly greater fatigue.

That's one of the reasons that Prime has four brightness levels built in. Just press and hold down the On key, then tap the - and + keys to raise or lower the brightness level to the optimum level for your comfort. One thing is certain: Looking at a Prime at a low angle in "Dark" mode will most assuredly cause eye fatigue, as you struggle to focus on the illegible characters. When viewed at a low angle, "Light" mode, possibly darkened one or two steps, is less strain on the eyes than "Dark" mode at any brightness setting.

[eried]

(12-06-2019 04:26 PM)TheLastMillennial Wrote:  Although I don't plan on tampering with my Prime, how would you go about extending the ribbon cable? Also, could you please tell us exactly what display is in the G2?

Maybe soldering an extension like https://www.aliexpress.com/item/33026103...b201603_55

But I am not sure about the pitch, etc. I am not really bothered by the viewing angle of the screen.

[ijabbott]

(12-06-2019 01:47 PM)eried Wrote:  I only see two doable hacks:

1) Extend the flex cable and flip the screen, patching (i.e. https://www.hpmuseum.org/forum/thread-6090.html) the firmware to "unflip" the output

You'd also need to twist the flex cable by 180 degrees, perhaps by a sequence of three flat folds of 120, -60, 120 degrees. (The key points are that an odd number of folds is required, and the ends of the cable need to be on the same line and pointing in opposite directions, something like _/\_.) I'm not sure what the minimum folding radius is on these cables, but there probably isn't enough room between the back of the display and the back of the case to fold the cable without violating the minimum radius, and maybe not enough vertical space to do the folds. It needs about 3.5 times the width of the cable (2*sqrt(3)) of vertical space to do the folds without having more than two layers of overlap.

[HP User]

(12-06-2019 10:48 PM)Joe Horn Wrote:  

(12-06-2019 06:55 PM)HP User Wrote:  That would leave the possibly greater fatigue.

That's one of the reasons that Prime has four brightness levels built in. Just press and hold down the On key, then tap the - and + keys to raise or lower the brightness level to the optimum level for your comfort. One thing is certain: Looking at a Prime at a low angle in "Dark" mode will most assuredly cause eye fatigue, as you struggle to focus on the illegible characters. When viewed at a low angle, "Light" mode, possibly darkened one or two steps, is less strain on the eyes than "Dark" mode at any brightness setting.

Hey Joe

I know of the brightness settings. One of the first things I checked.

I had already tried different situations and had noticed some of what you correctly said, but I am used to and prefer a dark theme, because (in the right circumstances) it looks very clear and nicely contrasted to me. I just hold the device in one hand looking straight at it, and use the other to operate it (sometimes the other hand with thumb of the holding hand). I noticed that using the light theme causes me to use more physical energy somehow.