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Lets talk tablet brightness

Joined
Feb 9, 2015
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Location
South Florida
Hey everyone, straight to the point: I cant see a **** thing on my tablet screen when trying to fly in mid day Florida sun. It's like, look up at the heli, eyes are burning, look down at the screen, cant see anything from my tablet, it looks off. Is it off? Nope, it's cranked up to high and still isn't visible. Now, this is like a $550 tablet brand new so I'm a little bummed it's not usable unless it's a super early morning shoot, or evening.

The tablet: 2014 note 10.1 outdoor luminescence of 400 nit

The new iphone 6 outdoor luminescence of around 504 nit

Iphone 6 plus (same as above, only 5.5" instead of 4.7: outdoor luminescence of around 540 but looks the same as the smaller version to me, if not a little dimmer. Id get it, but I still think it's just a little too small to fly from, and a little to big to carry around everyday after carrying my note 2 for 2 years.

Im comparing these two because I just picked up the iphone 6 and have to say i'm so much more impressed on the full sunlight visibility, along with how much better the flight app runs on ios. I can actually cache my maps, use the simulator, and see my AE lock button. Because of this, I started thinking of selling my note 10.1 tablet and getting an ipad. I figured i'd be able to go to the apple store and see similar max brightness to my phone, but none of them even come close to the brightness level of my 6! The iphone 6 plus is rumored to have a slightly better nit rating. Yes, I know the plus has a better ppi rating and a better screen overall, but I really care about the max brightness at this point, over pixel ratio. Anyways, after seeing that all the ipads are way dimmer then my iphone I started trying to find the brightest tablet I could which brought me to the 2013 version of the Nexus 7 based off google research i've done. It looks like an 8" tablet will tuck perfectly into the slot in the hard inspire case where the owners manual and paperwork were tucked into. I wouldn't mind buying it just to tuck it into my flight case and always keep it there.

So lets talk about what you fly from, and its direct sun capabilities (a huge plus if you can wear shades and still see the screen like I can on my iphone)

I'm thinking about these following devices:

The iphone 6 plus ( maybe too small to fly from, too big to carry daily? however way better battery life than my 6 that leaves me at 40% by 3pm so this would also kill 2 birds with one stone)

The nexus 7 (rumored to be one of the brightest tablet screens still available in 2015, and has an SD slot to immediately view pics/video)

ipad air 2 (looked way dimmer than my iphone in the store) but is supposed to be the brightest ipad)

Like I said, I love the fact that you can use the simulator, and cache the maps on any IOS based tablet, but the screen brightness is holding me back from pulling the trigger on an ipad...What tablets are out there that i'm missing? What about you shield guys/girls? Thanks for the help and sorry for the long post!

Edit: looks like the iphone 6 plus might have polarized glass? Can anyone confirm this? Someone said in a youtube video that it does, and it helps direct sunlight viewing.
 
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Just get a decent sun-shade and almost anything will work properly. I've been making my own as this video shows. The plastic extrusions in this video are not available in the US or Canada but I've been selling the extrusion kits for $25 shipped to the US (or Canada)

 
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Just get a decent sun-shade and almost anything will work properly. I've been making my own as this video shows. The plastic extrusions in this video are not available in the US or Canada but I've been selling the extrusion kits for $25 shipped to the US (or Canada)

Already went that route no luck image.jpg
 
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I tried everything, ipads, n shield, hoodies, etc, finally gave up and bought a Cimemizer

Enjoy life and be nice
 
Brag to me about the goggles for a minute, I may have to go this route. If only you could head track the camera
Can't head track. I chose the N Shield because for one thing, it has an hdmi port that you can use to mirror the screen, to see the menu options. I configure my rc for pan, tilt(left) button, and return camera to front for fpv for right button, as well as the camera default. Easy to tap the bottom right of the monitor if you want to switch to map view, or you can look over the goggles to see the Inspire or monitor if necessary - or add the rubber sun screen to the goggles if too much sun. Much easier to see the monitor readouts and see the critical info, such as battery, map, whether you're recording, etc. This is the only way I can fly since my eyes are so bad and I can't see any monitor outside… especially if you want to see where you're going, avoiding obstacles such as tall trees - even though close enough to be considered los.

Enjoy life and be nice
 
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Brag to me about the goggles for a minute, I may have to go this route. If only you could head track the camera


CONCUR!! That would absolutely awesome for the cameraman/woman[emoji6]!! Just like the Apache helicopter.... I was having problems with my trinity tracker with my P2.. Either way, think it would be A SWEEEEET option..
 
CONCUR!! That would absolutely awesome for the cameraman/woman[emoji6]!! Just like the Apache helicopter.... I was having problems with my trinity tracker with my P2.. Either way, think it would be A SWEEEEET option..
There is a head tracker option but I don't have it and don't know if anyone's got it to work with the Inspire.
And, the warranty is excellent. First one I got had a spot of dust or bad pixel, I emailed Zeiss, they immediately emailed me an rma and fedx return label, soon as I notified them I had delivered it to local fedx, they put a new replacement in fedx to me, no questions asked and they didn't even wait to receive mine. Received new replacement in couple of days! Even though I bought from Amazon.

Enjoy life and be nice
 
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I think I might try the iPhone 6 plus and try to fly from that for now I guess. I'm hoping the next line of Samsung tablets will have a brighter display, along with rumored 4k video capabilities. It's so nice to be able to pop the sd card out and watch what you recorded right away without having to leave the inspire connected and view it through the flight app. I really wish someone made a brighter tablet! Its kind of a joke really after spending all this money, being limited to great shots due to not being able to see the **** screen on any tablet I've tried. My iPhone 6 is the only thing bright enough to see in full sun, but it's just so small. So you guys using video goggles have just the camera feed right? You don't actually see what the tablet sees do you? For example all the menu settings and such displayed on the pilot app
 
I think I might try the iPhone 6 plus and try to fly from that for now I guess. I'm hoping the next line of Samsung tablets will have a brighter display, along with rumored 4k video capabilities. It's so nice to be able to pop the sd card out and watch what you recorded right away without having to leave the inspire connected and view it through the flight app. I really wish someone made a brighter tablet! Its kind of a joke really after spending all this money, being limited to great shots due to not being able to see the **** screen on any tablet I've tried. My iPhone 6 is the only thing bright enough to see in full sun, but it's just so small. So you guys using video goggles have just the camera feed right? You don't actually see what the tablet sees do you? For example all the menu settings and such displayed on the pilot app
No, hooked to the N. Shields hdmi port gives an exact mirror of the monitor screen on the Cinimizer goggles.
Also has sd card, and native screen recorder so you can record everything that happened on your screen during the flight, all telemetry, flight video etc, which certainly is good backup to a flight log if something goes wrong

Enjoy life and be nice
 
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Any iPad users also using the Cinimizers? Can you get enough telemetry out of the HDMI port to safely pilot without a tablet you can mirror like the Shield?
 
Any iPad users also using the Cinimizers? Can you get enough telemetry out of the HDMI port to safely pilot without a tablet you can mirror like the Shield?
Yes, I use my cinimizers with my IPad. Lightning to HDMI adapter works fine or just use HDMI output on controller and change on screen display options.
 
Is Cinimizers the best googles you can get now?

Have Fatshark to my old Phantom 2 and want something better to the Inspire.
 
Yes, I use my cinimizers with my IPad. Lightning to HDMI adapter works fine or just use HDMI output on controller and change on screen display options.

Excellent -- thanks! Now I'm confused because I saw someone recommending the Sony HMZ-T3W over the Cinemizers. Anyone have any thoughts one way or another? I'm another old wreck with bad eyes, I wear progressive lenses and the iPad Air is barely bright enough for me to see outdoors in the shade...
 
Excellent -- thanks! Now I'm confused because I saw someone recommending the Sony HMZ-T3W over the Cinemizers. Anyone have any thoughts one way or another? I'm another old wreck with bad eyes, I wear progressive lenses and the iPad Air is barely bright enough for me to see outdoors in the shade...
I can't comment on other goggles, only cinimizer. Cinemizers have adjustable diapters for each eye so you can adjust for bad vision unless really bad. I have them cranked to the max, ok now if my eyes don't get any worse. I think you might be able to wear seeing glasses if necessary, of course contact lenses would be ok.

Enjoy life and be nice
 

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