23 April 2007

It's not necessary 2B perfect 2B famous!

Apart from the attractive GPS, famous 5mpx camera sensor, DVD like video recorder and large screen, TV out is the one of the most exciting feature of this device.

Small, ~2 or ~3 inch displays which are common on smartphones nowadays are huge barrier for enjoying in multimedia content because they limit the user viewing experience.

Nokia knows that and has the solution; same as N93 and N93i. Nokia N95 features TV out, but while N93 uses wobbly pop-port for TV out, N95 has much better solution and provides TV out over the improved 3,5 mm audio jack that features one more contact and therefore can be used for the TV out with stereo sound.

Phone transfers signal over the supplied cable that provides composite video out via the 3-way RCA connectors. All you have to do is to connect phone to TV and screen will immediately appear on the TV without need for any additional settings in most situations. As usually, I have something to complain about, situation is the same as with N93, connector is definitely positioned from the wrong side, it should be from the opposite, right side, which would make using TV out feature easier. Nothing especially but I just have to mention it as it seems that Nokia still didn’t realize mistake with TV out position.

TV out basically means that we are not limited on the small phone screens anymore and that we can share captured moments, images and videos with our friends or family on large TV screen. It is really nice to know that you can capture videos and immediately enjoy in them with your friends and leave them to rate your video directing skills.

*click to enlarge

Of course, it is mainly aimed to be used for playing multimedia contents like images, recorded or downloaded video clips or even music over your home audio system but in practice it offers much more. It allows you to browse the phone and particularly use all of the available applications through TV screen, you can browse the net, play games or edit office document with some nice music in the background and in most situations, actually in all situations apart the gallery, TV provides exactly the same picture as phone screen. It’s even possible to use TV as camera’s viewfinder which is extremely cool feature if you want to impress your friends ;)

PLEASE don’t be hesitate to ask anything

Quality of the video clips on TV screens is acceptable, but video definitely doesn’t look as good as on the phone’s screen. Images can be watched in slideshow mode with some music in the background and same as with N93 it’s impossible to zoom in an image in TV mode. Also, it’s important to say that phone works in different mode and provides different output resolution in gallery application which is very handy welcome feature because multimedia material looks much better than on the native phone resolution.

Gaming on the TV screen is also pretty useful, although I have to admit that it cannot be compared with Play Station ;) I’ve tried System Rush, Sky force Reloaded, and a few emulators so far. I can say again, it is pretty nice way to impress your friends and show how powerful piece of hardware you have and what is OMAP2420 capable to do in practice.

I’ve tried something even more impressive on the video below. I used TV out for connecting phone on the projector and projecting content of screen on the wall. Result is better than I had expected.

TV out

*click to watch it

Also, speaking of projectors, I would like to mention that projector technology has improved considerably in the last few years, but although brightness, contrast, and color are better than ever, size still remains an issue for those looking for a truly portable device.

I’ve already wrote a few times about mini projectors and I truly hope that we’ll get projector small enough to fit inside our pockets or maybe even built-in in further mobile devices, allowing us to truly enjoy the big picture wherever we are.

.:[ Nokia N95 - Technical Specifications ]:.