# HTC 1 in sunlite = FAIL **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 11, 2013, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/htc-1-in-sunlite-fail/658055 "2013-05-11T05:31:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/htc-1-in-sunlite-fail/658055/21 "2013-05-12T16:27:51Z")
> [@yabob](#): > > I’ve followed the “transflective display” story with interest for some time. A couple years ago I compared the transflective display on my handheld GPS to the AMOLED on my smartphone: > > [http://infracanis.com/yggdrasil/framepage.jsp?YggContentFrame=Articles%2Fgear%2Fgarmin550%2Fvsphone.html&ContentName=bob.articles&NotMainContent](http://infracanis.com/yggdrasil/framepage.jsp?YggContentFrame=Articles%2Fgear%2Fgarmin550%2Fvsphone.html&ContentName=bob.articles&NotMainContent) > > Note that was done a few years ago when the Epic 4G was closer to the “cutting edge”. It’s still a pretty good display. That was interesting. Unfortunately it means I still have to but a bag over my head… _Oh… wait… I meant… ::: sigh :::_ ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2013, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/htc-1-in-sunlite-fail/658055/22 "2013-05-14T03:13:59Z")
> [@si\_blakely](#): > > Have you turned up the brightness? > > I don’t use Auto-brightness, and keep the backlight turned down to extend battery life. But if I need to use my phone in bright sunlight, I just whack up the brightness. That’s what I do, in addition to moving to a nearby shady spot, if possible. If there’s no shade nearby, merely turning my back to the sun, or holding the phone in the shadow of a light standard will work, too. I also have a Galaxy S2. ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/htc-1-in-sunlite-fail/658055/23 "2013-05-15T16:33:33Z")
> [@Jake\_Jones](#): > > Sunlight readable displays take a metric ass-load of power to run. High Nit displays are simply not conducive to the design or typical use of consumer mobile phones where battery life is critical. > > It’s never going to happen. You should know better than to say “never” in regards to technology, with few exceptions (like a perpetual motion machine). ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/htc-1-in-sunlite-fail/658055/24 "2013-05-15T17:07:14Z")
What \*\*SoP \*\*said: turn around so the shadow from your head blocks direct sunlight. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/htc-1-in-sunlite-fail/658055/25 "2013-05-15T17:24:02Z")
BTW, one of the points with transflective displays are that they DON’T take a butt load of power to run in reflective mode, which is how you’re intended to read them in sunlight. In fact, low power consumption is a point in their favor. One trouble with transflectives is that when backlit, the contrast and saturation compare unfavorably to a standard LCD screen. That may be an equitable trade for certain devices. For instance, the handheld GPS I mentioned which you are very likely to want to read in direct sunlight, and don’t need an exquisite photo quality display to read. It would make sense to use them on dumb phones or “feature phones” which you aren’t going to watch movies on (personally, I don’t want to watch a movie on a dinky phone screen no matter HOW good the display is, but that’s just me). It’s interesting to note that [Pixel Qi](http://pixelqi.com/) is now selling replacement display kits for installing their sunlight readable, low power display on existing devices. They seemingly have yet to score an OEM deal with a large vendor, though they have a lot of smaller ones, mostly for specialty devices. ---
**Author:** ![eltro102](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@eltro102](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eltro102)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/htc-1-in-sunlite-fail/658055/26 "2013-05-15T17:43:15Z")
You could get that phone with the dual e-ink and lcd display [http://www.yotaphone.com/](http://www.yotaphone.com/) e-paper (and e-ink) displays work very well in sunlight (see : kindle) because they use reflected light, not a backlight ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/htc-1-in-sunlite-fail/658055/27 "2013-05-15T17:43:23Z")
I just watched a tips and tricks video for the GS4, and one thing they mentioned was to switch to auto brightness in the sun. Something about the most bright setting being reserved for when it’s really needed in bright sunlight and that brightness isn’t available in manual settings because the manufacturer doesn’t want the display turned up that high all the time. Eh. Worth a try. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/htc-1-in-sunlite-fail/658055.md?page=1)