1. Ulferini Schusterotti's Avatar
    I thought it would be good to have this in one seperate thread. The PRIV has a great qHD display but I don't think qHD resolutions make any sense on mobile devices. Problems like framedrops, low framerates, heat and battery draining can be the result.

    Luckily, although the PRIV is unrootable, the commands wm density and wm size still work when applied through adb shell with USB debugging turned on. (If you don't know how to do this, there are many tutorials out there).

    The PRIV has a native resolution of 2560x1440 @ 560ppi. We will change this to 1920x1080 @ 420ppi. To do so enter the following two lines:
    Code:
    adb shell wm size 1080x1920
    adb shell wm density 420
    Then reboot your device manually or simply enter:
    Code:
    adb reboot
    To reset everything to normal enter:
    Code:
    adb shell wm size reset
    adb shell wm density reset
    Then reboot.

    Hope this is helpful to you. Now I really like my PRIV and get stellar battery life and SoT:
    HOWTO: Reduce screen resolution, preserve battery life enhance framrate-screenshot_20161129-212118.jpgHOWTO: Reduce screen resolution, preserve battery life enhance framrate-screenshot_20161129-212121.jpg

    Edit: fixed the resolution, width and height were swapped.
    Last edited by Ulferini Schusterotti; 12-11-16 at 03:27 AM.
    12-01-16 02:48 AM
  2. Uzi's Avatar
    Thanks for the tutorial!
    12-01-16 02:55 AM
  3. yvpan1's Avatar
    ok just a question:
    1. when you changed your resolution from qHD down to FHD, did all your icons suddenly increase in size and they were dysmally arranged?
    2. did you notice that your navigation buttons were shifted a bit to the left when you downgrade the resolution to FHD?
    3. did your Hub turn into a whack after the change of the resolution?

    as all of these 3 were encountered on my PRIV.. so i had to roll back to the original qHD.
    12-01-16 03:01 AM
  4. Ulferini Schusterotti's Avatar
    I guess you didn't reboot then? Also make sure to enter BOTH commands. As you can see on my screenshots everythings fine, even the soft buttons.

    The only thing that will be scaled wrong is the second part of the boot animation. But thats not very important I guess.
    12-01-16 03:46 AM
  5. ihearlivepplz's Avatar
    A bit more help please? Where do I enter these adb commands?
    vptsff and andy957 like this.
    12-01-16 03:49 AM
  6. pineapple2607's Avatar
    Nice tweak
    12-01-16 04:37 AM
  7. yvpan1's Avatar
    I guess you didn't reboot then? Also make sure to enter BOTH commands. As you can see on my screenshots everythings fine, even the soft buttons.

    The only thing that will be scaled wrong is the second part of the boot animation. But thats not very important I guess.
    alright, i'm trying one more time, i followed all your steps and i rebooted my phone straight away. yeah, it finally worked! but still some caveats found:
    - in the Hub, the BBM chat window is like something weird
    - some icons got magnified but some got shrunk

    but overall, my phone is usable, feels a lot cooler to the touch while in use and yeah, improvements on the responsiveness of the screen as well.
    12-01-16 04:38 AM
  8. Ulferini Schusterotti's Avatar
    Great to hear that. Couldn't test the Hub because I disabled it (and other apps) right away.
    12-01-16 08:06 AM
  9. Ulferini Schusterotti's Avatar
    A bit more help please? Where do I enter these adb commands?
    Android Debug Bridge - XDA-Developers

    1. Install Minimal ADB and Fastboot
    2. Enable developer options
    3. Enable USB debugging
    4. Start Minimal ADB and Fastboot and enter those values
    vptsff and bitek like this.
    12-01-16 08:08 AM
  10. ihearlivepplz's Avatar
    Ran commands in ADB except the 1920x1080 seemed to give me a tiny landscape screen with black borders on top and below while in portrait. Switching it to 1080x1920 gave me the proper orientation. (Yup, restarted after doing the 1920x1080)

    Restarted again, the boot animation is messed up a lot. Once the OS started though everything works well. I can't find anything only resized or misplaced apart from the charge notification popup. It's a bit to the right.

    OS is definitely more fluid. Battery, I don't see any difference as of now but I will test over the next few discharges.

    Edit: problems with Whatsapp. If you want to crop a picture before you send it then you're going to have to use another app. The built in cropper enlarges the image and only shows you a tny portion which you're allowed to crop.
    Last edited by ihearlivepplz; 12-02-16 at 06:01 AM.
    12-01-16 01:00 PM
  11. Nguyen1's Avatar
    Do these commands work with any android phone?

    The Guide is definitive. Reality is frequently inaccurate.
    12-01-16 01:58 PM
  12. ihearlivepplz's Avatar
    Do these commands work with any android phone?

    The Guide is definitive. Reality is frequently inaccurate.
    Yes but you will need to mess around with the DPI to see which suits your screen size. Maybe google the phone model along with the terms screen resolution and adb and see what others have used.
    Last edited by ihearlivepplz; 12-01-16 at 02:43 PM.
    12-01-16 02:25 PM
  13. Nguyen1's Avatar
    I am interested to hear if there is a significant improvement with battery life.

    The Guide is definitive. Reality is frequently inaccurate.
    12-01-16 03:40 PM
  14. ihearlivepplz's Avatar
    I am interested to hear if there is a significant improvement with battery life.

    The Guide is definitive. Reality is frequently inaccurate.
    Rolled back. No difference in battery life. OS was more fluid but UI was affected in places I didn't want it to so had to roll back.
    12-02-16 04:01 PM
  15. Lawmen23's Avatar
    I am able to make these changes, but my screen orientation is constantly rotated to the left 90 degrees. Any idea how to fix that?

    edit: 1080x1920 fixed it. Messes up a lot of my stealth icons though. Will run with it for a day or two to see if there's battery improvement.

    Update :also rolled back. Appeared to mess up the combination of my picture password. I do not recommend this mod at all.
    Last edited by Lawmen23; 12-03-16 at 01:28 AM.
    12-02-16 04:13 PM
  16. whatsever's Avatar
    I think BlackBerry must work on this solution with a start up in two options :
    option 1 is standaard with resolution 1440 x 2560 pixels
    option 2 is HD save mode with resolution 720x1280 and also with clock back the cpu speed 1.4 Ghz and cut down some animation.

    They easily can make this work with a app that reboot and gives you two options.


    My idea is just a battery save mode where the cpu is downgrade in speed and lower resolutuin and the second is like we all ready using it.
    12-11-16 03:28 PM
  17. conite's Avatar
    It's amazing the lengths people will go to, and the performance people are willing to give up, to avoid finding 10 minutes to plug in.
    howarmat and AZN like this.
    12-11-16 03:37 PM
  18. The Big Picture's Avatar
    I thought it would be good to have this in one seperate thread. The PRIV has a great qHD display but I don't think qHD resolutions make any sense on mobile devices. Problems like framedrops, low framerates, heat and battery draining can be the result.

    Luckily, although the PRIV is unrootable, the commands wm density and wm size still work when applied through adb shell with USB debugging turned on. (If you don't know how to do this, there are many tutorials out there).

    The PRIV has a native resolution of 2560x1440 @ 560ppi. We will change this to 1920x1080 @ 420ppi. To do so enter the following two lines:
    Code:
    adb shell wm size 1080x1920
    adb shell wm density 420
    Then reboot your device manually or simply enter:
    Code:
    adb reboot
    To reset everything to normal enter:
    Code:
    adb shell wm size reset
    adb shell wm density reset
    Then reboot.

    Hope this is helpful to you. Now I really like my PRIV and get stellar battery life and SoT:
    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	Screenshot_20161129-212118.jpg 
Views:	534 
Size:	44.4 KB 
ID:	413225Click image for larger version. 

Name:	Screenshot_20161129-212121.jpg 
Views:	534 
Size:	64.1 KB 
ID:	413226

    Edit: fixed the resolution, width and height were swapped.
    Samsung has implemented native resolution changes natively with their newly minted "Samsung experience" Android os.

    Downscaling seems to be a good utility to have for saving battery if implemented properly
    12-11-16 03:38 PM
  19. pawnkiller99's Avatar
    That is like buying a car with V8 and disabling two of the cylinders.
    I bought a HD screen phone because I want vibrant amazing colors.

    This is why I have chargers and a power bank. Battery life is irrelevant to me. Power is abundant and plentiful.
    goku_vegeta and methodinsane like this.
    12-11-16 04:43 PM
  20. John Vieira's Avatar
    When I did this I didn't find a y huge improvements on battery life, but performance and overheating were much better.

    Your mileage may vary on each device (for example, don't bother on an LG device, their skin hates this and looks terrible.)

    It also helps to use a custom launcher, just make sure to set the dpi to what your like (I believe I used 500)
    12-11-16 05:11 PM
  21. Ulferini Schusterotti's Avatar
    You bought a qHD screen that makes no sense to be qHD. Colors are equally vibrant and amazing when displayed at FullHD resolution.
    Its all about improving performance and battery life as well as elminiating the heat issue.
    skinnymike1 and BlueOhSix like this.
    12-13-16 04:07 AM
  22. FF22's Avatar
    You bought a qHD screen that makes no sense to be qHD. Colors are equally vibrant and amazing when displayed at FullHD resolution.
    Its all about improving performance and battery life as well as elminiating the heat issue.
    I have not tried this mod. But I'd agree that IF it REALLY helped in some situations where extra battery power might be necessary - that go for it. But it does not sound like an on-the-fly mod. So you have to do it in advance and stay in that mode. If you know power will be a problem, drag along a small power bank if you will be remote.
    12-13-16 09:29 AM
  23. SenorPistachio's Avatar
    I tried it, not for a long period but still, my only problem is that the icon's are messed up and small. Also, is it possible to change the size to 1280x740 ( or 720 ) @ 280 ppi, or would that brick my phone?

    Also, to OP, very cool, never knew this was possible, and i always wondered if this was an option !
    12-13-16 11:34 AM
  24. qqmonkii's Avatar
    720x1280 at 280dpi works perfectly.
    However, I do find stickers hugely enlarged in Lines, photo thumbnail badly distorted in Twitter.
    I suspect App issues might require clearing cache or reinstall to cure the glitches, as I think Apps initialize graphics during installation or first run according to dpi and screen res. I have yet to confirm this.
    xandros9 and SenorPistachio like this.
    12-13-16 12:54 PM
  25. conite's Avatar
    Why don't you just change the resolution to 192x108. I'm sure battery life will be awesome.

    Better yet, keep the screen off at all times.
    12-13-16 12:56 PM
81 123 ...

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