keyword: LCD

quick-look:-lamptron-hx070-7″-hardware-monitor

Quick Look: Lamptron HX070 7″ Hardware Monitor

Lamptron HX070

I would like to thank Lamptron for supplying the review sample.

Lamptron has been around since the early 2000s and is well known for its slew of fan controllers. In recent years, with the disappearance of external 5.25″ slots, Lamptron has expanded the line-up to internal components for both fan and RGB control, as well as several LCD monitors and RGB accessories. In this article, we will take a quick look at the Lamptron HX070, which is a 7″ display that may be used internally or externally.

Packaging and Contents

The Lamptron HX070 display comes in a brown cardboard box with a sticker on top to let you know what is inside. While the HC070 variant ships with AIDA64, this HX070 includes Lamptron’s own Hardware Monitor Software.

Taking a look at the display out of the box, it feels really sturdy with its metal housing. On the back, you can see that the controller board for the HX070 is also encased in the same material. In comparison, the Lamptron also offers an HC070 that comes with an exposed board. There are three connectors in the top. The Micro-USB and HDMI ones are for power and video, but what the third one is for is not clear.

You will receive an HDMI cable and a Micro-USB to USB-A cable to plug everything in properly. On top of that, Lamptron ships the HX070 with a desktop stand as well as a bracket for internal mounting within your chassis. The software comes stored on a Kingston USB drive with Lamptron branding.

Software

There are two parts to the Lamptron software kit. On one hand, it gives you direct access to your system’s sensor data. Out of the box, this comes as a 30-day trial with a user code. You have to email Lamptron the code to receive a unique registration code for the software. I am assuming this is due to the fact that this hardware monitor utilizes a 3rd-party code base with a per-user cost to Lamptron, so this is their way of ensuring the software is not freely passed around.

The second element of the software focuses on the screen and utilizes a total of ten templates, eight for landscape use and two for portrait mode. Below are the landscape ones, which were easy to screenshot, while you are able to take a peek at portrait mode in action further down. While some of these are made by Lamptron, several templates came from fans of Lamptron products. One even has an anime character dancing away for you on screen. I am sure there are fairly easy ways to edit the template, as many visual elements are just part of a static background image, so you should be able to replace outdated product or brand icons with little effort.

Display in Use

The coolest way to use the screen is certainly inside your system. While it is not nearly as bright as your desktop or notebook screen, it should do just fine without nearly 1000 W of studio lights fighting it. The sturdy bracket holds the unit in place nicely, and there is still ample room for bulky GPUs behind it. The HDMI and USB cables need to be routed outward, so an expansion slot bracket with holes in it would have been nice. Once booted, you actually see a Windows screen, as the Lamptron HX070 is a traditional IPS display at its core.

Cycling through the above-mentioned templates can easily be done by clicking the left or right edges of the screen with your mouse. That said, I like the default screen seen in this picture the most.

You may also use the screen outside the case by employing the included stand. Unfortunately, it is not specifically made for the screen and pretty clunky. A small monitor foot instead would have been better, as it could have been screwed to the housing, for example. You may also utilize the screen in portrait mode, as Windows allows you to rotate your desktop accordingly as well.

Once it is set as such, the two remaining templates may be used properly as well. You may even conduct traditional tasks, like “surf” to TechPowerUp on the HX070. While its native resolution is 1024×600 pixels, scaling to 1080P works really well by the way.

Conclusion

The Lamptron HX070 is at its core a 7″ IPS panel with 1024×600 resolution running at 60 Hz. Lamptron has gone as far as figuring out an interface for it to utilize USB as power and HDMI for your video signal. Furthermore, Lamptron has built a steel enclosure for the screen and, in the case of the HX and HM series, the controller board as well.

To round out the total package and present a unique use case, Lamptron includes an internal mounting bracket, which is where the screen really seems to fit best. In terms of the software front, while simple, it is nice to have the templates which can be edited fairly easily by the user, and Lamptron’s simple yet functional Hardware Monitor Software.

Priced at $150, the HX070 is certainly not cheap for a screen, but could still be an interesting purchase for those looking to add something really unique and special to their build.

sony-reportedly-plans-psvr-successor-for-next-holiday-season

Sony reportedly plans PSVR successor for next holiday season

Sony’s next-gen PlayStation VR headset is likely to come out in late 2022, according to a new report. Bloomberg’s sources say Sony is “aiming to release the successor in the holiday period next year,” and that the headset will use OLED panels from Samsung Display.

A release in that timeframe wouldn’t be too surprising, since Sony has already started talking up the PS5 headset’s potential. Its existence was first confirmed in February along with some initial details, and Sony followed up by showing off the new controllers in March.

The headset itself hasn’t yet been revealed. But according to an UploadVR report from last month, it’ll have a total resolution of 4000 x 2040 and make use of eye tracking to enable foveated rendering, which should ease the processing load by using lower resolution imagery in your peripheral vision. The next-gen PSVR is also said to use inside-out tracking and include haptic feedback in the headset as well as the controllers.

Bloomberg’s report is more broadly focused on Japan Display Inc, an LCD specialist that has seen smartphone display sales slump as the market moved to OLED but now considers VR headsets “big business.” While OLED was initially the standard for VR, more recently manufacturers like Facebook and HTC have been moving to LCD panels because they’re more practical at higher resolutions, despite having lower contrast. Sony, however, appears to be sticking with OLED for the next PSVR.

nintendo-is-releasing-a-zelda-themed-game-&-watch-handheld

Nintendo is releasing a Zelda-themed Game & Watch handheld

For the 35th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda, Nintendo is releasing a Zelda-themed green and gold Game & Watch handheld console with four playable built-in games. You’ll be able to play the first entry in The Legend of Zelda series, followed by its sequel, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, and The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening. The fourth game is the Game & Watch Vermin game, but with Link’s character imposed over the original character. Additionally, it can be used as a digital clock or timer.

The handheld will release on November 12th for $49.99. The previous Game & Watch console released for Mario’s 35th anniversary had three games, including the original Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 2, and the Game & Watch Ball game.

This version has a similar design and color LCD display found in the Mario version, but it’s unique in that it has a start and select button for navigating the Zelda games. Unless Nintendo changed its strategy, it likely has a USB-C charging port.

samsung-galaxy-a32-5g-review:-5g-on-a-budget

Samsung Galaxy A32 5G review: 5G on a budget

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If you’re looking for a 5G Android phone and want to spend as little as possible, you can stop right here. At $279, the Samsung Galaxy A32 5G is your best bet right now, especially if you’re in the US where such options are scarce. It offers good 5G support (including the all-important C-band!), a huge battery, and four years of security updates. That’s a compelling package for under $300.

That’s not to say it’s perfect. The A32 5G’s screen isn’t great, performance is a little laggy, and though capable, its camera is limited. If you can spend just a bit more, you can get a phone that does better in at least one of these areas. And if you can hold off on your phone purchase for even a few more months, we should see many more very affordable 5G phones on the market to choose from, like the OnePlus N200. But if you don’t have time to wait and can’t spare the extra cash, I can’t find a good reason to talk you out of the A32 5G.

The A32 5G is a big device, housing a 6.5-inch screen and a large 5,000mAh battery.

Samsung Galaxy A32 5G screen, performance, and design

The A32 5G features a big 6.5-inch 720p LCD panel that’s best described as nothing special. Colors look a little flat and washed out, and though it gets bright enough to see in direct sunlight, the screen’s reflective plastic protective panel makes it challenging. It’s also a low resolution to be stretched across such a large screen, so you’ll see a little pixelization if you look close.

The phone uses a MediaTek Dimensity 720 5G processor that compares well with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 690 5G chipset for budget 5G phones, used by OnePlus Nord N10 5G. The Galaxy A32 5G combines the MediaTek processor with 4GB of RAM (decent) and 64GB of storage (skimpy but just enough to get by, and you can throw in a microSD card to expand it), and it performs well enough for its class.

There’s noticeable hiccuping with media-dense pages, brief pauses when diving into a demanding task like starting Google Maps navigation, and noticeable camera shutter lag. For the most part, though, I just didn’t notice slowdowns as I jumped between apps, scrolled through Instagram, and just generally went about using the phone normally. That’s about all I’d ask for from a sub-$300 phone.

The phone’s headline feature, 5G, still isn’t something we’d recommend you run out and buy a new phone to get. But the A32 5G has a couple of features that make it worth your time, even considering that good 5G is still a year or two away in the US. Crucially, the A32 5G has been cleared by the Federal Communications Commission to use C-band frequencies that Verizon and AT&T, in particular, will be utilizing for 5G in the coming years. Not all 5G phones can use C-band, so that’s a big ol’ checkmark in the A32 5G’s favor. There’s no mmWave support here, which is the fastest and scarcest flavor of 5G, but that’s no great loss.

The second factor here is that you can reasonably expect to keep using this phone for enough years to actually see 5G that’s meaningfully better than LTE because Samsung will keep offering security updates for four years. Many budget devices only get about two years of security update support, but the A32 5G’s lengthy lifespan should see it through to the actual 5G age in a few years.

Battery life is one of the A32 5G’s strengths. Its 5,000mAh capacity battery is big indeed, and I had no trouble getting two full days of moderate use out of it. My usage was more battery-friendly than someone else’s might be, with battery optimization on and the bulk of my time spent on Wi-Fi, but even the most power-hungry user would be able to get a full day — if not more — out of the A32 5G.

With a 6.5-inch screen, the A32 5G is a big phone for sure. It’s a little too bulky and awkward-feeling in my hand. What I dislike even more is that it feels slippery to me — the back panel plastic feels hard to get a decent grip on. On one occasion, I set the phone down on a softcover book, and it somehow shimmied itself across the cover and off of a side table when I wasn’t looking. (There’s a happy ending, though: it only fell about a foot into a box filled with hand-me-down baby clothes waiting to be put away, so there’s a good argument for keeping clutter around your house.) Anyway, get a case for it if you buy this phone, and know that if your hands are small, it won’t be very comfortable to use.

There’s a decent-quality 48-megapixel main camera on the A32 5G’s rear panel.

Samsung Galaxy A32 5G camera

There are two cameras of consequence on the A32 5G’s rear panel: a 48-megapixel standard wide and an 8-megapixel ultrawide. There’s a 5-megapixel macro camera that’s not very good and a 2-megapixel depth sensor that may or may not help with portrait mode photos. There’s also a 13-megapixel selfie camera around front.









  • Taken with ultrawide


  • Taken with ultrawide






Considering the phone’s price, the A32 5G’s main camera performs well enough. Like most any other phone, it takes very nice pictures in good lighting. That’s no surprise, even for a budget phone. But it reaches its limits quickly in less-good lighting, like interiors. That’s where optical stabilization or more sophisticated image processing would come in handy, neither of which the A32 5G offers. Instead, you may find some of your photos indoors are a little blurry, and you’ll be very challenged to get a sharp photo of a moving subject in anything less than bright daylight.

The ultrawide camera shows its shortcomings if you look close — there’s some distracting flare in direct sunlight, and some noise visible in shadows of high-contrast scenes. There’s no telephoto lens here, with shortcuts in the camera app to jump to 2x (acceptable), 4x (eh), and 10x (don’t use it) digital zoom.

The Galaxy A32 5G’s generous security support timeline means it’s a phone you can plan to use for the next few years.

It’s tough to say how the Galaxy A32 5G compares to the competition because it doesn’t have much yet. It’s among the least expensive 5G phones you’ll find anywhere. Its closest competition at the moment is the OnePlus Nord N10 5G, which is a little more expensive at $299 but offers some worthwhile hardware upgrades, like a nicer screen, a bit better camera performance, and faster charging. It’s a nicer phone in a lot of ways, but it’s only slated for two years of security updates.

Of course, if you only plan to hold on to your phone for a couple of years, then the N10 5G is worth strongly considering. If that’s the case, then 5G becomes a less important feature, too. If there’s room in your budget, consider the $349 Google Pixel 4A, which will get you a much better camera, cleaner software, and timely updates over the next couple of years, albeit without support for 5G at all. It’s a much smaller device, though. So if a big screen is part of the A32 5G’s appeal, you might want to look at something like the $279 Motorola Moto G Stylus.

If you’d like to avoid the hassle of phone shopping again in two years and you want a future-proof choice that’s easy on the budget, then the Samsung A32 5G will do the trick.

Photography by Allison Johnson / The Verge

playdate-handheld-cranks-up-the-fun

Playdate Handheld Cranks up the Fun

(Image credit: Panic, Inc)

It may look like the unlikely outcome of teleportation experiment involving a Sega Bass Fishing controller and a Game Boy Micro, but Playdate is a tiny, handheld games console with a novel form of input.

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(Image credit: Panic)

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(Image credit: Panic)

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(Image credit: Panic)

In case this is your first contact with the boxy yellow machine, it’s an extremely low-powered attempt to bring bite-sized games to a dedicated system instead of a cellphone. The crank on the side is a gameplay tool, and doesn’t charge the system or act as a Van de Graff generator. The only hair-raising will, hopefully, come from the games.

The specs are lower than a Raspberry Pi Zero W, but much more than a Raspberry Pi Pico. Playdate is powered by an Arm Cortex M7 CPU running at just 180MHz, 16MB of RAM, 4GB of flash (up from an initial 2GB), and a 2.7-inch, 400 × 240 1-bit Sharp Memory LCD that creates images in pure black and white, no shades of gray which means dithering is required to add texture and tone to a game. The screen lacks a backlight, relying on the reflective nature of the screen to illuminate your games. Anyone who had a Game Boy will be familiar with these principles, as the reflective screen and dithered graphics were part of Nintendo’s classic handheld. There’s Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on board, along with a headphone jack and a USB-C port for charging.



US software publisher Panic Inc. (that recently moved into games with titles like Firewatch and Untitled Goose Game) and Swedish industrial designer Teenage Engineering are the brains behind this quirky and interesting device. 

Games, which are being made by the likes of Bennett Foddy, Zach Gage and Katamari Damacy creator Keita Takahashi, will arrive as a ‘season’, with 24 (recently doubled from 12) of them delivered wirelessly to the handheld, two a week, for no extra charge. The platform is open source and will allow games that aren’t part of an official ‘season’ to be side-loaded. An SDK will be available for Windows, Linux and Mac OS, which will include a simulator and debugger, and will be compatible with the C and Lua programming languages.

In an in-depth interview with Edge magazine, reproduced by Gamesradar+, Panic Inc. co-founder Cabel Sasser describes the device’s inception: “The first question from the CEO was, ‘Do you really think anyone’s going to buy this?’ I was like, ‘I’m not sure. But it’s something we really want to do, if you can help?’ And then the consultants were like, ‘It’s going to cost you, bare minimum, a couple million bucks to even remotely get this thing off the ground.’”

The pre-order price has recently been raised (hence the increase in specs and number of games) and currently sits at $179. Pre-orders begin in July from play.date.