New app: Display Check

Yesterday I've made a little app for performing some basic screen resolution / color tests. With the ever increasing pixel densities on high-end smartphone and tablet displays, I wanted to see the size of a single pixel on different devices. The most certain way to do that was to write the app myself. The rest of the functions came after that, of course they're pretty standard and can be found in any similar tool. Nevertheless, I've tried to keep everything nice and user-friendly.

The app itself basically supports all possible Android display resolutions (from 240*240 and above) in both portrait and landscape modes. There's a main menu that displays all the different tests that you can choose from. After selecting one, the only way to return to the menu is by pressing your device's Back button. Here is the complete list of features:

Check the pixel density - Displays a few numeric values and some graphics to illustrate the size of a single pixel.

Find dead pixels - Fills the screen with a changing color, to help you find any defective parts. To pause the animation, tap and hold anywhere on the screen.

Test display contrast - This option shows a few scales of linearly increasing RGB values. A good screen should be able to display all of the bands with roughly equal steps in brightness increase.

Test white saturation - A few almost white rectangles are displayed on a white background. 

Test black levels - A few almost black rectangles are displayed on a black background. 

Test gradient banding - Displays two greyscale gradients. These transitions should look perfectly smooth with no visible vertical lines or bands.

To try the app on your Android device, use the button above. I've also made a new section on the blog for this app and maybe any future projects that won't be very complex, you can find it here.