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FullView displays explained from the perspective of a consumer

FullView displays are getting more and more popular among smartphone users these days and more companies are adopting them. Almost all smartphones these days are coming with FullView or 18:9 aspect ratio display. The trend was started with the full-screen display with minimal bezels around the screen and now it has reached a new level which is the ‘notch display’.

These displays with taller aspect ratio are better than the traditional 16:9 smartphone displays as they offer an immersive viewing experience. However, there are some disadvantages of the 18:9 displays as well.

Here we are explaining the FullView or 18:9 display from the perspective of a day to day smartphone user.

Big display, small form factor

The FullView display is what we call the display which comes with 18:9 aspect ratio and thin bezels around it. Smartphone brands did this so the extra wide content can be easily seen on the display with no black bars on the top and bottom of the video.

Samsung Galaxy S8 and LG G6 were the first smartphones to feature fullview displays

Another major reason to make smartphones with 18:9 display is that the users will get bigger displays on a small form factor. If you will compare a 6 inch smartphone from 2016 with a 6.2 inches full view display smartphone, you will see the difference in the form factor.

Notch display

Apple launched the iPhone X last year which came with a revamped design, a “notch” on the display. Apple did this so they can put FaceID related hardware on the notch part and still keep the display bezel-less, they even optimizef the iOS according to the notch.

All the Android smartphone brands did this on their smartphones to make it look like the premium iPhone X. There is no actual need for the notch display on Android smartphones and they look like a rip off of the iPhone X.

Samsung did the extraordinary

Samsung is another brand who makes their smartphones with stand out design and features. The Infinity display is trademarked display design from Samsung which is a Super AMOLED panel which is slightly curved on the two sides. The top and bottom bezels are super thin which gives the Galaxy S9+ a total of 84.2% screen to body ratio.Samsung kept the aspect ratio of the Infinity display 18.5:9 because the corners of the display are rounded. The smartphone looks absolutely gorgeous with Infinity display, although the curves do not have any use but give a nice bezel-less effect.

Is there a need for bezel-less smartphones?

After reading about all those displays above would have left you imagining a smartphone with all display at the front, no notch or bezels on the top and bottom. Well, Vivo has already created a smartphone which comes with no bezels around the display, there is no notch or chin on it.

Vivo Apex’s bottom half display work as fingerprint sensor

If there is no bezel, where does the company fit the front camera then? Vivo has added a retractable front camera on the top side of the Vivo Apex. The production cost of these type of displays and camera assembly is very high, this increases the total price of the smartphone.

The good

  • The 18:9 tall displays are best for multitasking, you will get more of both apps in split-screen mode.
  • These full view displays support the wide movies and videos perfectly on the display without cropping out anything and it also eliminates the black bars.
  • Gaming experience is better on the 18:9 displays than the traditional 16:9 displays because you get more space on the screen for controls.

The bad

  • The full view 18:9 aspect ratio displays make the smartphone taller which makes it difficult to use the smartphone with one hand.
  • The full view 18:9 aspect ratio is not always compatible with every multimedia content. While watching videos on YouTube, the videos show black bars on either side of the video.

Conclusion

The full view display is the future now and it comes with its own advantages and disadvantages. Every future smartphone including budget series are getting upgraded to 18:9 full view displays. The notch displays are almost useless and have “less-to-no” advantages over the full view displays.

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Abhishek Bhatnagar

Abhishek Bhatnagar, a known technology blogger & YouTuber from India. A Software Engineer by qualification, now he works as the editor-In-Chief, Webmaster, & Managing Director at Gadgets To Use. He runs a number of other technology websites as well.