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[Shai-Tan]

It's ok here if I have a bit of shade (or it's overcast). I play all the time at my pool. If the backlight was more powerful it would be better off but it doesn't have any of the recent innovations in displays that reduce reflectiveness that is in phones and tablets one would compare. My n7 with glass closer to the display is much easier to see. The thing with Sony is they were very concerned about battery life so they don't even let you use the relatively dim 100% brightness in some games.

 

[NEOPARADIGM]

I could ask the same thing of my iphone.

dealwithit, firstworldproblems, etc.

 

[rockx4]

I actually expected it to work better outdoors despite other other devices having the same issue... I saw a Vita trailer with people playing COD outdoors and figured it would since everyone was raving about the awesome screen.

 

[Midou]

Wait, why doesn't it work in the shade? I played mine in the shade a couple times, seemed okay.

 

[Afrikan]

Hori Face Cover.

I have had this since launch...and it can block out sun light when tilted a certain way.....and can be used as a stand.

I love this thing...cheap too...sooooooo worth it.

 

[Jeb]

What baffles me is that they also have poor battery life.
I had to have my P4G breakthroughs plugged in most of the time, if you need to charge more than once a day for your handheld system then you need to go back to the drawing board.

 

[Azriell]

Seems to work better outside than the 3DS, or at least in the car on a sunny day. Either way it's a limitation of the tech that nobody has solved that I'm aware of.

 

[vivftp]

In defense of this post the difference between max and min is like none

Very true when it comes to outdoor use. I wish there were some sort of special sunglasses you could put on that'd filter out other light sources and let you see a screen better. Such magical glasses would be very nice indeed

What baffles me is that they also have poor battery life.
I had to have my P4G breakthroughs plugged in most of the time, if you need to charge more than once a day for your handheld system then you need to go back to the drawing board.

You have to consider the graphical intensity of the games being played compared to say, your average smartphone game. Not to mention it's using hardware that's 2 years old now.

I'm quite certain if you take any current phone and put it through 3-4 hours of higher end gaming, it'd kill their batteries too. For those who are unsatisfied with the battery life you can always get the Nyko Power Grip like I did. It not only doubles the battery life, but it also makes it more suitable for my larger hands to grip it without cramping up.

 

[Salsa]

Vita 2 (lol) should totally be e-ink

 

[vivftp]

I'll keep saying it - Vita 2 should be a phone and run both Vita OS and Android simultaneously. Sure you CAN build another variant of Vita, but it still won't sell like hotcakes. Make a phone variant, give it Android so that no one can complain about the overall ecosystem, and you're set!

 

[Wehrwolf]

To quote an old penny arcade, Aren't there bears "outside"?

 

[geomon]

Wait a minute, you go outside?

 

[Sid]

I do wish the Vitas screen could handle ultra bright sunny weather better, but I fully understand and accept its limitations. Here's a photo from my vacation in Mexico earlier this year. The screen brightness is on max in this pic

DAT OLED!

 

[Speedy Blue Dude]

I do wish the Vitas screen could handle ultra bright sunny weather better, but I fully understand and accept its limitations. Here's a photo from my vacation in Mexico earlier this year. The screen brightness is on max in this pic

I've never played my Vita outside, but wow I didn't know this was a problem. Kind of lame to be honest haha, you can hardly see a thing outside.

It's okay though, my Vita works perfectly in doors <3.


Is this a common issue with anything that has an OLED screen, my next smart phone I get next month has a OLED screen, I'm worried now.

 

[kairu]

On the go for me means in planes, on trains, or otherwise being carted around. If I'm outside I'm generally either walking or at a place where I'm doing something so videogames don't factor into it.

User Error.

 

[Brokun]

I understand wanting to bask in beautiful weather while enjoying a hobby, but gaming generally isn't one of those hobbies that make that possible.

When you're playing games on your HD TV in your house do you open all of the curtains and blinds to let the sun glare wash over the tv screen?

 

[DracoBlade]

The same way I played my GBA.....

Spoiler

Inside/dark bedroom lol

 

[Carcetti]

Definition of a first world problem.

So, tired of 'first world problems'.

Having a working internet and enough games to play with are pretty much first world things, so this argument could be used to just close down GAF.

 

[fabricated backlash]

I do wish the Vitas screen could handle ultra bright sunny weather better, but I fully understand and accept its limitations. Here's a photo from my vacation in Mexico earlier this year. The screen brightness is on max in this pic

Lol I thought it was off...

Direct sunlight will never work, not with current screen tech anyway.

A little shade works wonders though. During our last 3DS Streetpass meeting we sat in the shade of some trees, and it worked perfectly, I'd assume the Vita would work just as well in the shade.

 

[RockmanWhore]

I can't think of any handheld device that is really nice to use outside, even the most expensive smartphone can't do shit against the power of the allmighty sun.

Maybe in a few years, with some evolved LCD screen technology that works more like "digital ink" display we have on readers...

 

[Ty4on]

Very true when it comes to outdoor use. I wish there were some sort of special sunglasses you could put on that'd filter out other light sources and let you see a screen better. Such magical glasses would be very nice indeed

I have to try polarized sunglasses with it. They reduce glare, but don't work with LCDs very well because the light from an LCD is polarized so from one angle it'll be perfect, but if you turn it 90 degrees it'll be black

 

[madmackem]

LCD screens 101

Pretty much, take any screen out into bright sunlight your going to struggle.

 

[viewtiful_dru]

Well back in MY day we had the exact opposite problem! We couldn't play the fuckers at night! Be grateful!
/crankykong

 

[345triangle]

at least it's way better than the PSP in that regard. i always found monster hunter on the train to be ten times more difficult if i had a seat by a window.

i am kind of nostalgic for the days of portable systems being at their best outside in the sun.

 

[Betta Lines]

Oh, I haven't tested that. Will try tonight and report back!

Reporting back... Nope... lowest brightness doesn't seem any dimmer on latest firmware. Or if there is a difference, it's marginal and still far too bright to play in darkness.

 

[Zok310]

It was intended to be played while on the toilet.
No, but seriously if you are crazy about playing outside, then just find a shaded area that blocks the sun.
I never play outside, if I do it's inside my car while I wait for my wife while she shops, otherwise if I am outside I end being too occupied to play my vita.

 

[Storm360]

I never had a issue, even when I was at college and we were lying down on the field with 3DS's and Vitae

 

[Oppo]

That picture is kind of bullshit. Either exposed weird or something else happened, because it is simply not that bad.

 

[vivftp]

That picture is kind of bullshit. Either exposed weird or something else happened, because it is simply not that bad.

Bullshit? It was taken while sitting under an umbrella, so obviously the sun was all around me. It was taken with a Sony RX100 on auto mode and it seems to have captured the scene pretty accurately to my recollection. Do note though that the screen is obviously reflecting some of the light behind me in that scene so that actually does make it look a bit worse than it was.

Under those conditions I was able to complete Plants vs. zombies, but I had to hold it just right to get the screen somewhat visible.

 

[Oppo]

Here's mine under direct sunlight, taken with an iPhone 4s

you camera probably has multipoint exposure turned on

 

[vivftp]

I think it has a lot to do with what the Vita screen is facing. In my case even though the Vita was under shade, it was facing the extremely bright wall behind me. That likely contributed a lot to that situation.

 

[CamHostage]

Sunlight-viewable / fast-refreshing screens aren't much of a thing yet, You can get cellphones with screens that are readable in the daylight if the conditions are optimal, but just barely readable, and not really ideal for concentrated use or multipurpose functionality. And none of these phones promote their screen's sunlight qualities, so I'm going to guess that this won't improve immediately since the market isn't demanding it.

That said, there were some really cool attempts at sunlight-viewable / fast-refresh screens a few years back. , and if any of them can get over the technological humps that they're saddled with, that tech could catch on as a breakthrough. The Mirasol screen has been on and off the radar over the years, with disappointing color qualities that amongst other factors have had Qualcomm slow to push for a consumer product. The Pixel Qi screen technology on the other hand has seen a market release (and had an infusion of interest from 3M,) but they were not able to go wide as they initially expected and reviews weren't glowing, so they're now mostly doing military hardware with a mod pack for netbooks available as well as a few lesser tablets.

Don't hold your breath for either technology (I was way into this stuff in 2009 and still don't own one,) but you never know what's coming down the pipe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1EDs1gaYcw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NotK4TVQ-6E

(Reflective screens is basically the operative word, by the way. An LCD or LED is a bunch of elements that light themselves up, and so they fight with the overpowering sun to be bright enough in contrast to see in daylight; a LED or transreflective screen reflects back the sun's sunlight, using all that daylight to its own advantage.)

 

[Seluhir]

I wouldn't say it's completely unusable out of doors, but it certainly isn't the easiest thing, especially in direct sunlight.

That being said, handheld consoles are mostly designed for things like bus/train/waiting room/etc.

Places where you're liking to be sitting in one place for 20-50 minutes with nothing to do but read or game... they aren't really meant for you to use while walking outdoors so much. That's what most people have smartphones to do.

(A quick note on battery life... my PSVita's battery life has never been an issue for me because it's sleep mode is SO fantastic. I don't expect more than 5-6 hours sustained use from a handheld since if I'm in a position to be using it for that long I usually have access to a power outlet... what I do expect, and I'm glad Vita is the first handheld to TRULY finally deliver, is a standby/sleep mode that conserves power damn-near indefinitely. After I finished P4G I left my console in sleep mode and, I'm ashamed to admit, almost forgot about it for about 6-7 weeks. I came back and it's power was still more than half full. THAT is what I like about my Vita's battery - and what I've hated about every other handheld I've ever used that featured a sleep mode)

 

[qko]

Here's mine under direct sunlight, taken with an iPhone 4s



you camera probably has multipoint exposure turned on

Also, one usually plays handhelds head on and not at some weird angle like in that picture

 

[Callibretto]

make something like this

 

[Valnen]

Definition of a first world problem.

Yeah, I normally hate that phrase but it definitely applies to that post.

make something like this

That is frightening. It's starting into my soul.

 

[x3sphere]

This thread kind of reminded me of when I was a little kid, and I'd play Game Boy in the back seat of my parents' car during long drives. When it got to be night, I couldn't see anything, so what I did was pause the game, wait for a car to come up behind us, then play during the brief moments I could get some light off the headlights of the car behind.

Fuck, that's really nostalgic.

I had this

 

[katsubento]

This isn't a Vita Specific problem. Smartphone much?

 

[Christhor]

Why are people just brushing this off? Handhelds are meant to be played anywhere, isn't that the appeal of them? This is coming from a guy who hasn't touched handheld game devices for years, because I have no desire of playing video games outside of my house.

It shouldn't be too hard for Sony to come up with a solution to this, should it?

 

[adamsappel]

make something like this

Wait, I have that (although I can't seem to find it at the moment). Was it some kind of 3D thing for Metal Gear Acid 2? Still, you'll look pretty ridiculous playing like that. Since I usually play my Vita by the pool, I might as well just put a towel over my head instead.

 

[CamHostage]

It shouldn't be too hard for Sony to come up with a solution to this, should it?

Yes, very hard. What are the solutions you're thinking of? I outlined the only two I know of, and I doubt anybody in this thread owns any devices with either of those solutions installed. Nintendo hasn't come up with a solution; Apple hasn't come up with a solution. If those systems are doing exponentially more business than Vita, I would look for the solution there first, it's hard to imagine at this time that Sony will have the money to find that solution first.

There's just not a great market solution to turn to yet for a sunlight-readable, fast-refreshing LED/OLED, and the ones that are out there don't have the "sexiness" of traditional screen technologies (they all either look washed out or struggle for viewing angles or just don't look great without some shade over them, so they all demo badly and people move on.) If you want to go back to Game Boy-quality screens, take a look around and maybe somebody has a nice MOD option for you (probably not for your Vita, but your iPhone might have some retro hacks,) but back in the day everybody complained about those screens until these came along, and nobody's going to be perfectly happy until we finally have the best of both worlds. We're not there yet.

 

[Gintoki313]

Most of the time I pull my Vita out somewhere that's not in my house is somewhere indoors away from the house (like waiting for an appointment, or at a mall), or in the car because I have to wait for something. Just going outside and playing my Vita on a bench or something in the bright sunlight is a big no-no for me.

The glare on the screen has been a problem on my handhelds ever since the GBA days.

 

[cakefoo]

Why are people just brushing this off? Handhelds are meant to be played anywhere, isn't that the appeal of them?

Yes, even underwater.

 

[Ricky_R]

OP lives in the sun.

 

[Frologic]

Play it in a tent. Solved

 

[xBuTcHeRx]

Putting an anti-glare screen helps against the sun

 

[GuitarGuruu]

Any screen really now is so self reflecting in the sun that you can't see anything really..

 

[Castcoder]

I'm hardly convinced a device that can barely hold a charge for 4 hours is decent enough for outdoor-use, anyway. I LOVE the Vita, but that battery is horrible. Same for the 3DS. It's a decent device for plane rides if you've got a laptop you can suck a battery out from via USB. I don't recall having much of a sun glare issue, though.

 

[NewGame]

They developed screen technology to displace the sun's light but it turns out it displaced peoples eyeballs.

I play portables in the shade.