3:2 Display and Customizable Bezels

It’s the BOE panel, uses the 40 pin eDP connector.

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@Josh_Cook are you the one that bought that display off aliexpress and reviewed it? if so, is that display actually matte? (or is it just listed wrong)

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No I have not bought the matte display

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@martiandeath It is actually matte. Its my daily driver and still working fine.

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@Davy_Bell oh cool, thanks

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Fractional scaling is great in applications that support it. The big disappointment so far is Electron. All electron apps are still blurry. There’s experimental Wayland support in Electron, but even once that’s released, it’ll take time before applications update and add support for it.

That means Discord, Slack, VS Code, and so many other super popular apps.

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For fractional scaling on linux, im running kde with wayland on my current 1080p laptop, which i keep at 100% scale because if i change it, discord and microsoft edge especially stand out as apps that do not like it at all. However, using X11, scaling actually works near flawlessly, i only noticed a couple little errors here and there

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As someone who’s currently using an older Dell XPS 13 with a 3200x1800@200% display (and not enough RAM), the screen of the framework laptop could be currently the major deal breaker for me. Going down to 2256x1504 would be a major step down, not because the resolution is terrible, but because fractional scaling isn’t working well at 150%. I’m currently investigating if i could live with 100% scaling and increased font size or other workarounds.

The other major problem I see is the form factor. While I like 3:2 screens, the major problem I see is that very few screens of that size are manufactured, so there’s not really the option of using a higher dpi screen. And if BOE discontinues the model, it will be very hard to find a screen replacement elsewhere. If Framework offered off the shelf 16:9 displays in multiple resolutions and other options (like matte/touchscreen) this would have been an instant buy for me.

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This is precisely what I do and I highly recommend it.

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I’m currently looking into the possibility of creating a upgrade kit for framework owners who want a matte display with a trade in system.

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I’m running fractional scaling in Fedora / Cinnamon right now and no complaints at all.

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I’ve been using the laptop for a few months and really enjoy the display. Am looking to buy/configure a 4k monitor to give me a similar experience on the big screen. Any suggestions to make the colors pop like they do on the framework display?

Just wanted to throw my voice in for a hi-resolution display.

I have two laptops for now: Lenovo x280 with 1920x1080 and MacBook Air M1.

Every time I switch between them, at M1 my eyes just shout out loud: why can’t we have that display everywhere?!
I’m ready to give up the batter live or to buy a batter extender (the one I used to use with old IBM T41), but, please, give me a pleasant screen!

The reason I believe it’s pretty much about the resolution is that I used to use some old Chromebook from Google, after installing GalliumOS (Ubuntu with XFCE with proper Chromebook tweaks) I experienced the screen resolution as is and with 2:1 ration. I never ever came back to a more screen estate, as doubled ration (or Retina) is so much joy for the eyes!

So, please, please, consider a better screen; with an extended battery, if requires :wink:

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In the meantime, I bought a 12th gen Framework laptop, and it’s even better than I expected it to be. @cassidyjames’ solution for the screen resolution is, as he says, close to perfection. Comparing it side by side to my old XPS 13 with a 4k monitor, I can see that the Dell is slightly sharper, but only if I’m 10 cm away from the screen. So it’s not at all an issue.

I’m very happy with everything about this laptop. The screen itself is even better than my external 4k monitor. The colours are more natural, and it’s a lot brighter.

For what it’s worth, my partner has a MacBook Air M1, and the Framework’s screen is definitely better. It’s brighter, and the colours are more natural.

The resolution of the MacBook also isn’t that much higher, with 2560x1600 compared to 2256x1504 on the Framework. Only with your nose to the screen can you see the slightest difference, but it’s unnoticeable from a normal working distance.

The vividness of the Framework’s screen makes the MacBook look dull anyway. It’s easily the best screen in our house at the moment.

My initial concern was with the resolution on Linux, considering only LoDPI or HiDPI at the native resolution. But with the scaled resolution of 3000x2000 at HiDPI, it’s truly great. Even if they released a native 3000x2000 panel, I probably wouldn’t buy it now.

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My M1 is 1680x1050. In a way I understand, it’s actually twice of that scaled down. At least I get a similar experience in a PC’s screens, when I scale it down to 2.

Framework’s 2256x1504 scaled down would 1128 x 752, which is hardly enough for a proper work, at least in my area (software engineering).

Color’s representation is very personal and could be fine tunes in most of the cases, as I experienced from the times when I used to buy professional color calibrators, so I can’t comment on that.

What I’m saying, it’s that I do feel difference between Apple and non Apple devices, and it’s an order of magnitude. I believe I’m not the only one, so anything that would give me a way to buy a nice Linux computer with a screen that is kind to my eyese, I would embrace it promptly, gladly replacing my Lenovo.

I just looked at the info on the Apple website :slight_smile: :

13.3-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit display with IPS technology; 2560-by-1600 native resolution at 227 pixels per inch with support for millions of colors

Supported scaled resolutions:

1680 by 1050
1440 by 900
1024 by 640

Apple does fractional scaling on all their devices; it’s hardly every x2.

I’ve been a Mac user for over 30 years until I switched to Linux four years ago. I’ve owned almost every model they released, laptops and desktops. The biggest struggle with Linux has been finding a machine that would fit my needs and wasn’t horrible to look at. That’s also why I used my Dell XPS 13 since I switched to Linux, even if the 16 GB ram was not enough for my development work.

The Framework laptop is the first one that ticks all the boxes for me. It’s very well-built, nice on the eye, has great performance and is upgradeable. The build quality of this machine is on-par with Apple’s.

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With MacOS they’re reducing the resolution, so if you select 1024x640, that is literally the number of pixels being sent to the display and that’s why it looks fuzzy. Compare that with iOS and Linux and Windows, each of which scales the rendering, so higher DPI gives you crisper and clearer lettering.

MacOS is in many ways an antiquated OS. It feels like driving on a smooth road, but maybe not a road to a place everyone wants to go to. Whereas Linux is definitely a rocky road, but one that leads to the promised land. And Windows of course is a road to hell, where Microsoft claims it is protecting you but isn’t.

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Sharing some photos of the gray bezel to give an idea of what it can look like in lighting conditions different from the product photos. These photos are representative of what it looks like to my eyes at home. For comparison the color matches the gray plastic on the expansion cards. It didn’t match the aluminum chassis as well as I thought it would. I was dreaming of the aluminum bezel on my 2011 MacBook Air.



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@wwh , thank you for the real world pics. Makes me glad to stick with basic dark whatever color.

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