Tablet for XCSOAR

On 06/11/2014 10:49 AM, Thermal wrote:

A Galaxy Note 3 is fairly readable in daylight. at full brightness it is about 600 nits. Plus it has a barometric sensor for the software vario. and the speaker does not face away from you like many devices.

I just Googled "Galaxy Note 3". It seems this has a "Super AMOLED"
screen. Other devices with super amoled screens that I have tested went
black when the sun was shining directly onto the device. Ie sun over
your shoulder and shadow of your head just next to the device. This is
the most challenging situation, especially if you are wearing
sunglasses. It is also 5.7", a bit big for my glider.

Ian

I haven't had any visibility problems with a Galaxy Note 2. However, before flying, I go to settings and change the brightness, from automatic to manual, and set it at full brightness.
Last weekend I lost the gps signal 3 or 4 times for a minute or two, and I think it was related to overheating. Warm and blue day.

On Wednesday, June 11, 2014 11:45:47 PM UTC-4, wrote:
I haven't had any visibility problems with a Galaxy Note 2. However, before flying, I go to settings and change the brightness, from automatic to manual, and set it at full brightness.

Last weekend I lost the gps signal 3 or 4 times for a minute or two, and I think it was related to overheating. Warm and blue day.

I am going to try to make a small plastic tunnel for mine and see if I can reduce the heat - also going to take it out of the rubber protective cover - it over heated twice when the sun was coming from behind me and once before I had a reflective canopy cover and had the canopy open, there by cooking the poor tablet.

WH

I hooked my Samsung galaxy tab 2 (7") up to ship's power. Good readability at full brightness, and I haven't had a problem with it getting hot and losing GPS signal. I figure that it must not be putting much of a load on the battery (causing the battery heating?.) Just a guess.

The 7" form-factor is a little big in the glider when climbing in, but I figure that if I needed to get back out in a hurry that I won't even notice just pushing it aside w/ the Ram-mount attachment to the sidewall.
~7U

On Wednesday, June 11, 2014 8:59:19 PM UTC+1, Ian wrote:

I just Googled "Galaxy Note 3". It seems this has a "Super AMOLED"
screen. Other devices with super amoled screens that I have tested went
black when the sun was shining directly onto the device. Ie sun over
your shoulder and shadow of your head just next to the device. This is
the most challenging situation, especially if you are wearing
sunglasses.

I've got no personal experience with the Note 3, but 'in defence of AMOLED displays':

If you were to compare an AMOLED display with an IPS (LCD) display of equal brightness, in theory the AMOLED display would be a little more readable; black areas of an AMOLED screen emit no light, which gives the displays better contrast. Unfortunately, washing out with the sun directly behind is a problem common to all the displays you'll find on recent Android devices; they're unable to make use of reflected sunlight and rely on the screen brightness to outshine the sun instead.

http://www.ecnmag.com/articles/2012/...ctive-displays is a good summary of why transflective displays as used on the Streak 5" have disappeared.

AMOLED displays have tended to be dim in the past, which probably explains your previous experience. There's an upward trend in brightness recently, and the Note 3 is apparently exceptionally bright; with the 'automatic brightness' setting it reaches 660 nits according to http://www.displaymate.com/Galaxy_Note3_ShootOut_1.htm .

It is also 5.7", a bit big for my glider.

Bezels have got a lot thinner, so you may be surprised by the overall dimensions:

Note 3:
151.2 mm (5.95 in) H
79.2 mm (3.12 in) W
8.3 mm (0.33 in) D

Dell Streak 5:
152.9 x 79.1 x 10 mm (6.02 x 3.11 x 0.39 in)

One word of caution: Apparently the more recent 'Note 3 Neo' display is not as bright as the Note 3. Similarly, from what I remember the Note 2 had a dimmer display than the original Note. Device names are really nothing but marketing these days.