Fuzzy Nexus One AMOLED Running At Just 392x653?

When is WVGA not WVGA?  When it's the display resolution of the Google Nexus One, apparently.  For anyone who has wondered why text and sharp-edged graphics on their Google smartphone look unduly fuzzy, the answer might be in the AMOLED display technology.  According to Luke Hutchison (and his trusty magnifier), the PenTile tech used in the panel results in less than the number of true RGB pixels you'd expect from what's billed as an 480 x 800 display.  Instead, he thinks Nexus One owners are getting more like 392 x 653.

Close examination of the Nexus One's screen shows that, rather than each pixel being made up of red, blue and green, they're actually either a red/green or blue/green pair; the red or blue part is double the width.  Known as PenTile, the technology is apparently billed as resulting in greater screen longevity, as blue pixels are known to fail quicker than their red or green counterparts.

Problem is, without all three in place there's some fudging going on, taking true-WVGA images and displaying them on a panel that, when you count the actual numbers of RGB pixels, works out to more like 392 x 653 resolution.  That's why, while a Motorola DROID's LCD panel isn't as bright or as color-saturated as the AMOLED of the Nexus One, it does manage to be crisper.  Hutchison feels (legitimately) misled by Google and HTC; since he looks at more text than images on his phone, he'd rather have picked a device that was better at crisp edges than it was color reproduction.  Anyone else out there feel the same way?

[via Android Community]