Zero-bezel display, but with toggle-able borders that act like bezels?

[nibunnoichi]

I have conflicting feelings about bezels.

On one hand, I want as little bezels as possible to maximize the display area for any given physical dimension. So I'd like a zero-bezel smartphone with a big screen (say a 5.5" display) that's physically the same dimension as a Galaxy S4.

On the other hand, I notice that I actually use the bezel a lot on my Nexus 7 (2013) to make it easy to hold in various ways without inadvertently touching the display. But there are situations where I wish it was a 9" display when I'm watching something and not holding it. (If the entire surface of the Nexus 7 is display area, it would be a 9" screen)

It struck me that it would be perfect if the display was indeed 9" and bezelless, but there's a physical side-button you can push to toggle virtual bezels, so that certain areas (the outer edges) become non-sensitive touch.

Would this be possible? It seems like a no brainer to me, and that this is easily doable even with current tech - just have a system function that ignores touch inputs at certain coordinates.

 

[desura]

That's the dumbest idea I've heard in a while.

 

[paperwastage]

NVR mind, sleep deprived brain wasn't thinking properly

 

[zaydq]

It would make sense since its viable to be done. But I'm afraid the catch would be that the extra screen real estate doesn't actually gain you anything.

 

[dguy6789]

Sounds like a good idea to me. That's the idea behind the face buttons on Android phones that are on the screen

 

[kimmel]

I have conflicting feelings about bezels.
Would this be possible? It seems like a no brainer to me, and that this is easily doable even with current tech - just have a system function that ignores touch inputs at certain coordinates.

http://www.digitaltrends.com/comput...-haswell-powered-prototype-laptop-north-cape/

 

[386DX]

I really we expected the surface pro 2 to use the smart frame technology that Intel demoed with has well, unfortunately it never happened. The surface pro 2 would of been the perfect device for something like this, 10.6" screen in tablet mode and about 12.5" screen when keyboard is out in work mode. Maybe the next iteration of surface will have this along with an AMOLED display. The pure black for the bezel would make AMOLED the display choice for this kind of device.

 

[Mopetar]

I wouldn't care much about it for a phone or tablet and the implementation probably leaves a lot to be desired (you'll likely have one mode with a weird aspect ratio or resolution) but if I could get PC monitors with no bezel I'd be all over it.

 

[rituraj]

That's the dumbest idea I've heard in a while.

Why the hell is it dumb!!?? I hope you were being sarcastic though.

I would love that in a phone with >5" screen. Having a big ass screen in a phone but having to deal with less physical width is really a bonus. The android 4.3 update for galaxy note 2 provides such a mode where the active screen area is resizable with some touch gestures. And yeah the idea of a physical button for toggle between the two modes is more convenient. Heck, I want screen rotation toggle to be a physical button.
But I don't think the phone and tablet makers care. They are too busy pushing more than necessary resolution, cloud for every freakin thing, premium feel, blah blah blah. ..

 

[Zaap]

Eventually we'll see bezel-less phones. Its a no-brainer. A virtual bezel that doesn't register touch but still displays the outer borders would probably work just fine.

When I hold my Note 3 I realize that the (side) bezels really don't do anything for it. They don't help me hold the device (the outer band and back do, but not the front bezels.) They don't prevent me from accidentally tapping anything. They're just a byproduct of conventional 2010's era design that someday will look as outdated as giant metal fins on automobiles.

 

[deathBOB]

I think context aware touch rejection would solve your problem. Watching a video? Reject all touch except near the controls, etc.

 

[nibunnoichi]

http://www.digitaltrends.com/comput...-haswell-powered-prototype-laptop-north-cape/

Glad to see something like this out there. Hope it's the beginning of a trend!

A big OLED display with smart virtual bezels would be amazing.

 

[nibunnoichi]

I think context aware touch rejection would solve your problem. Watching a video? Reject all touch except near the controls, etc.

That might work too, for video at least.

For other stuff like web browsing, where the controls are all on the edges, I feel we will still need black bezels and the effective display to shrink appropriately when bezels are enabled.

 

[nibunnoichi]

I really we expected the surface pro 2 to use the smart frame technology that Intel demoed with has well, unfortunately it never happened. The surface pro 2 would of been the perfect device for something like this, 10.6" screen in tablet mode and about 12.5" screen when keyboard is out in work mode. Maybe the next iteration of surface will have this along with an AMOLED display. The pure black for the bezel would make AMOLED the display choice for this kind of device.

Yeah, it'd be perfect for just about any tablet.

There is no current tablet that has a OLED display though, right? I wonder what's the hold-up there. Cost over LCD?

 

[nibunnoichi]

I wouldn't care much about it for a phone or tablet and the implementation probably leaves a lot to be desired (you'll likely have one mode with a weird aspect ratio or resolution) but if I could get PC monitors with no bezel I'd be all over it.

There's already plenty of different resolutions across various current display/devices:

http://www.rapidtables.com/web/dev/screen-resolution-statistics.htm

I don't see this as causing too big of an problem. The Android OS is pretty robust when it comes to supporting many different resolutions.

 

[dlock13]

Doesn't Apple have some sort of touch rejection built-in to the latest iPads? I recall seeing it last year on the Mini. If someone were to be holding it with their left hand, thumb on screen, and they are using the screen with their right hand, it would reject the touch of the left thumb.

Here is what I was looking for: http://www.slashgear.com/ipad-mini-thumb-rejection-technology-revealed-23253576/

 

[nibunnoichi]

Doesn't Apple have some sort of touch rejection built-in to the latest iPads? I recall seeing it last year on the Mini. If someone were to be holding it with their left hand, thumb on screen, and they are using the screen with their right hand, it would reject the touch of the left thumb.

Here is what I was looking for: http://www.slashgear.com/ipad-mini-thumb-rejection-technology-revealed-23253576/

Oh yeah, I remember reading something about this. This (along with the Intel hybrid demo) makes it not much of a leap to get to what I'm envisioning.

Now we just need to see some sexy true zero-bezel displays with smart-frames, virtual bezels, touch-rejection, or whatever.

This is about half-way there:

 

[gorcorps]

Oh yeah, I remember reading something about this. This (along with the Intel hybrid demo) makes it not much of a leap to get to what I'm envisioning.

Now we just need to see some sexy true zero-bezel displays with smart-frames, virtual bezels, touch-rejection, or whatever.

This is about half-way there:

That's about as close as I want them to be to the edge though. If the display went to the very edge, then any case I use will cover part of the screen.

 

[Kaido]

http://www.digitaltrends.com/comput...-haswell-powered-prototype-laptop-north-cape/

Wow, that's genius!

I know what the OP is talking about. I like bezels because I have fingers. My fingers need a surface to grab, especially if I'm on a laptop and moving around the house and need to adjust the screen constantly. But it'd also be nice to have a bezel-less screen to maximize screen real estate. The downside is fingerprints, of course. That prototype is pretty dang slick, especially since the 2-in-1 computers like the Asus T300 are getting pretty awesome.

 

[IntelUser2000]

http://www.digitaltrends.com/comput...-haswell-powered-prototype-laptop-north-cape/

For the Windows 8/8.1 based devices, bezels are necessary because the OS has "swipe" functions. But even then, I think we can cut the size of the bezels in half of what its now. Too much waste of a space.

BTW, the earlier driver for Haswell showed switchable bezel feature, but looks like no manufacturer so far is jumping the gun on it. It may be complicated especially in Windows with application support and weird resolutions.

 

[rituraj]

http://www.digitaltrends.com/comput...-haswell-powered-prototype-laptop-north-cape/

Why is this not out already? Its brilliant. I don't think it needs 7 months to be released.