Wrong aspect ratio

[icarusi]

Just got a Scroll Excel 7" ICS tablet (same OEM as Coby) and the aspect ratio is wrong. It's a 15x9 display stretched to fit a 16x9 screen.

Is there any fix for this? Can't see anything obvious in 'settings'.

If you want to check your own screen, browse or d/l a pic of a circle, zoom up to fill the screen if necessary, and measure the circle horizontally and vertically with a ruler. The two values should be equal, if not, the difference will aid finding the fault.

 

[mikedt]

How visible is the aspect ratio problem? Do things appear really squashed or stretched, or is it something you have to determine by showing a circle and measuring it's roundness with a ruler?

Cheap Chinese tablet, don't know if there's anything you can do about it.

Is it definitely the same OEM as Copy, or one of thousands of other Shenzhen tech product makers?

 

[icarusi]

How visible is the aspect ratio problem? Do things appear really squashed or stretched, or is it something you have to determine by showing a circle and measuring it's roundness with a ruler?

Circles look like eggs in portrait mode, and faces change shape in 'gallery' when switching between landscape and portrait. The ruler was just to get the numbers for the problem. I would expect it's a simple fix providing Google and/or the OEM have included the correct 16x9 a.r. command in their builds. It may be finger trouble or that Google haven't designed the ICS GUI to display correctly on a 16x9 screen without squashing the a.r.

I'll check any other 16x9 ICS tablets I see for this problem (or lack of).

 

[mikedt]

Circles look like eggs in portrait mode, and faces change shape in 'gallery' when switching between landscape and portrait. The ruler was just to get the numbers for the problem. I would expect it's a simple fix providing Google and/or the OEM have included the correct 16x9 a.r. command in their builds. It may be finger trouble or that Google haven't designed the ICS GUI to display correctly on a 16x9 screen without squashing the a.r.

I'll check any other 16x9 ICS tablets I see for this problem (or lack of).

I'm sure it's not an inherent problem with ICS 4.0 and/or Google, otherwise we'd have heard many people howling about it by now. I think much more likely the Chinese OEM screwed-up with this particular device, whoever they are. Probably didn't test the thing properly with the particular screen they're using. Most likely a software update would fix the aspect ratio problem, good luck finding that though.

The Scroll Excel is not even a Google enabled tablet is it? ...things like Play Store and other Google apps. Many Android tablets coming from China are not "With Google".

 

[icarusi]

The Scroll Excel is not even a Google enabled tablet is it? ...things like Play Store and other Google apps. Many Android tablets coming from China are not "With Google".

AFAIK they were initially but then withdrew presumably for costs. I put the a.r. problem back to the seller and distributor but.............??

 

[mikedt]

AFAIK they were initially but then withdrew presumably for costs.

It's actually more political than financial. Google has never really been 100% welcome here in the PRC. Many Google products and services are blocked and censored here, e.g. Blogger, Docs, Youtube, Plus, etc. A couple of years ago they where on the verge of pulling out of China completely, shutting their Beijing office and closing down google.cn. Just about all Android devices sold here don't have anything Google on them, except in Hong Kong. Most people in China use Baidu for search and other things, not Google.

I put the a.r. problem back to the seller and distributor but.............??

Suggest you get a refund or exchange it for something that's not flawed.

 

[icarusi]

Suggest you get a refund or exchange it for something that's not flawed.

Just checked some other 7" 16x9 screen makes today, mainly Archos and Arnova and most had the same fault, in fact one had a screen pic on the front of the box showing egg shaped 'circular' icons. The shop guy said there was a 7" Samsung but it was discontinued.

Now I've checked it's still available and it's display is 1024x600 =15.75x9. My Excel is 800x480 = 15x9 but the screen is actually 16x9 so it must be non-square pixels to do the job.

I was checking other tablets, actually measuring the screens heights and depths, but didn't check the screen res.

I need an example of an 800x480 res screen in 16x9 a.r. running Android in an a.r. properly compensated for that 1/16 a.r. discrepancy.