Questions (and answers) about VGA appear in multiple forums. There's a ton of info, but it's hidden in many places. A search yields a lot of hits--it's a little overwhelming. A VGAtutorial could include clarifying what the 'out of the box x50v' is (vs ozvga), the advantages and disadvantages of double pixelling, how and why to use ozvga and/or sevga (advantages of each), how to switch back and forth and whether this is necessary, how to adjust the screen to make the 1/4 screen full in ozvga, etc.
In short, I abandoned the palm platform and got the latest new toy, which I love. But I'm still learning a lot of basics and need a rulebook. There are no tutorials specifically for the X50v. A basic primer (like the Gigi general ones) would be very much appreciated.
Thanks for all the help so far. I think I speak for many newbies in that.
Amen to all! I currently have no earthly idea what mode my X50v is in!! And when apps say they are VGA-compatible, some look OK, some don't. I think that some are referring to the native VGA that comes with the unit, and some mean the VGA "hacks" as they're called.
Real VGA, True VGA.....there are quite a few terms being thrown around. A tutorial would be great.
QVGA (Quarter VGA - standard for all Windows Mobile 2003 First Edition and some 2003 Second Edition devices) has 320 by 240 pixels. Note: I'm talking about the mode, not the screen - read on. Also, sometimes older applications aren't VGA aware and require a QVGA screen. VGA device can emulate a QVGA screen by 'pixel doubling'.
VGA - otherwise known as true VGA, real VGA. It is only available to selected devices such as the Axim x50v, HX4700, Asus My Pal, Loox 720, etc. It has 640 by 480 pixels - exactly four times the number in QVGA. Only utilities such as SE_VGA, ozVGA can activate this mode because Windows Mobile uses the following:
Pseudo VGA is the default mode for VGA devices running Windows Mobile 2003SE. It is almost identical to VGA but all of the common elements such as buttons, fonts, icons have been replaced by high quality versions that uses four times as much pixels to represent. So rather than appearing a quarter of the size (since VGA pixels are 1/4 the size of QVGA pixels) they appear to be a similar size as other QVGA devices. But, remember - that VGA icon still has four times more pixels therefore looks miles better.
There is a great example 2/3 down on this page: http://www.mobile-review.com/pda/rev...-a730-en.shtml
You can see that twice as many pixels are used to display the same elements to give an sharper picture. Also, you can see that you can fit twice as much more information into the same area.
Another thing, when you execute an application which isn't VGA aware then Windows Mobile will use pixel doubling. This simply tricks the application into thinking that its running on a device with a standard 320x240 QVGA display by using 4(2x2) pixels to represent 1 in that 320x240. The downside is that you kill the advantage of the VGA screen and the program looks blocky compared to the rest of the programs.
SE_VGA and ozVGA both toggle the 'pretty' mode (for lack of better description). The consequence is that Windows Mobile 2003SE no longer uses high definition elements but rather, it uses the exact same elements found on QVGA devices. So 64x64 icons are replaced by the standard 32x32 ones, toolbar heights and fonts sizes are halfed (although ozVGA has options to keep the font, scrollbar sizes the same by doubling them at the same time as you switch mode).
And because you've shrunk everything by a half - a factor of 2 - you get four times more area (2x2) to play with. A boon for browsing, spreadsheets, mapping, etc.
But if the application is VGA aware, then the need to switch modes is reduced. For example, Pocket IE shows pictures in pages as twice the actual pixel size. i.e., a 100x100 pixel picture is actually shown on the PDA occupying 200x200 pixels. Why? Because the fonts, icons, are all replaced by high definition substitutes which take twice as much screen real estate as the 1:1 QVGA versions. The picture, if shown as 1:1 would appear to be shrunken next to the high resolution text.
That is to say, Pocket IE is VGA aware, but doesn't use it to its fullest extent. Rather than display everything at 1:1 scale, it shows everything at 2:1 and as a consequence, pictures look pixellated, but fonts look very smooth (having 4 times more pixels to represent them)
But in true VGA mode, both the text and the picture are 1:1 and of course, there is 4 times more area as a result.
QVGA (Quarter VGA - standard for all Windows Mobile 2003 First Edition and some 2003 Second Edition devices) has 320 by 240 pixels. Note: I'm talking about the mode, not the screen - read on. Also, sometimes older applications aren't VGA aware and require a QVGA screen. VGA device can emulate a QVGA screen by 'pixel doubling'.
VGA - otherwise known as true VGA, real VGA. It is only available to selected devices such as the Axim x50v, HX4700, Asus My Pal, Loox 720, etc. It has 640 by 480 pixels - exactly twice the number in QVGA. Only utilities such as SE_VGA, ozVGA can activate this mode because Windows Mobile uses the following:
Pseudo VGA is the default mode for VGA devices running Windows Mobile 2003SE. It is almost identical to VGA but all of the common elements such as buttons, fonts, icons have been replaced by high quality versions that uses four times as much pixels to represent. So rather than appearing a quarter of the size (since VGA pixels are 1/4 the size of QVGA pixels) they appear to be a similar size as other QVGA devices. But, remember - that VGA icon still has four times more pixels therefore looks miles better.
There is a great example 2/3 down on this page: http://www.mobile-review.com/pda/rev...-a730-en.shtml
You can see that twice as many pixels are used to display the same elements to give an sharper picture. Also, you can see that you can fit twice as much more information into the same area.
Another thing, when you execute an application which isn't VGA aware then Windows Mobile will use pixel doubling. This simply tricks the application into thinking that its running on a device with a standard 320x240 QVGA display by using 4(2x2) pixels to represent 1 in that 320x240. The downside is that you kill the advantage of the VGA screen and the program looks blocky compared to the rest of the programs.
Apologies if this is patronising -
Not at all--great answer. The link you provided shows qVGA vs VGA--worth a look just to remind us of how hot our ppc is! Question: is that true VGA or pseudo VGA? Or, put another way, is there a big difference in appearance between true and pseudo vga.
Those are excellent descriptions!! Kudos to you. :approve:
The only mistake that I see is the following statement:
Originally Posted by Ward
It has 640 by 480 pixels - exactly twice the number in QVGA.
Actually, it's four times the number of pixels of QVGA. And that is why it is "Quarter VGA" since it is one quarter of what true VGA is. 640x480 versus 320x240. Making our x50v even more valuable.
Ok, beyond that, I think this is excellent information and should become a sticky.
Not at all--great answer. The link you provided shows qVGA vs VGA--worth a look just to remind us of how hot our ppc is! Question: is that true VGA or pseudo VGA? Or, put another way, is there a big difference in appearance between true and pseudo vga.
The example compares the old QVGA against pseudo VGA. You can see the much improved definition of the icons and text since they use four times as many pixels. If real VGA mode was activated, you would have the exact same font, same icons each using the same number of pixels, but since the pixels are 1/4 the size, the icons and text would appear to be 1/4 the size.
I'll see if I can get more pitures later. I need to find a screen cap utility...
Originally Posted by Munk
Ward,
Those are excellent descriptions!! Kudos to you. :approve:
The only mistake that I see is the following statement:
Actually, it's four times the number of pixels of QVGA. And that is why it is "Quarter VGA" since it is one quarter of what true VGA is. 640x480 versus 320x240. Making our x50v even more valuable.
Ok, beyond that, I think this is excellent information and should become a sticky.
-Munk
You're right - I tried to mix my numbers - I was using the factor 2 to denote that the pixel dimensions are different by a factor of 2, lengthwise and height - 2 times 2 = 4 time more area.
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