Eurogamer has heard from their sources a number of things about the Nintendo Switch which is coming in March 2017. The publications source says that the Nintendo Switch features a 6.2″ 720p screen which is multi-touch based. The source also backs up Laura Dale’s report that the Nintendo Switch right-hand JoyCon has a short-range IR sensor in its base which gives the system Wii-like capabilities. You can read the full report here. For now here’s a few choice extracts that you might find interesting!
A number of sources, including those who informed me of the Switch’s design and detachable controllers back in July, have all confirmed other capabilities which Nintendo is currently keeping quiet.
Let’s start with the Nintendo Switch’s screen. It is 6.2″ in size, 720p and – for the first time in any Nintendo device – boasts a capacitive multi-touch screen.
(Both 3DS and Wii U featured resistive touchscreens, reliant on pressure and less precise. They were also single-touch only.)
So, how will the touchscreen work when the Switch is docked? While connected to your TV the Switch itself is out of reach – you play either with both JoyCon controllers attached to the system’s grip or with a Pro Controller. The Switch’s touchscreen is almost entirely obscured within the console’s dock.
The answer may lie hidden in the right-hand JoyCon, which houses a short-range IR sensor in its base. This could be used to point at the TV to replicate basic touchscreen functionality, picked up by a corresponding IR sensor in the Switch’s dock.
Good enough for me. A screen that small doesn’t need to be 1080p because at that size you would be hard pressed to tell the difference.
Right… in fact no screen up to 32″ really has to be… this also cuts down on power necessity I imagine.
You can tell the difference between the switch and the Wii U quality resolutions.
You probably can tell the difference if you have a similarly sized 1080p screen right next to it, but at the distances the NS is used, I doubt it matter much.
Sounds about right to me.
Having 1080p in any screen size is noticeable compared to 720p,but 720p will be sufficient. Battery life might be the reason why they chose to go for less pixels as rendering at 1080p would drain the better a lot faster.
No, its not… you’re used to gaming on a 30 to 40 inch tv. 1080 is overkill for six inches, its still going to look amazing. As long as its 60fps.
The image is sharper at 1080 but its not a huge difference. Specially on a smaller screen. Its definitely noticeable though.
Well I care about frame rate far more than resolution…a game cube game playing at 60fps will always be preferable to a wii u game at 30 fps.
No, actually it’s not. However you would need a very small screen for it not to be at all noticeable without the use of magnification.
Just for reference though, the resolution on the switch is 240ppi. A 24″ 1080p computer monitor is 92ppi and a 32″ 1080p TV is 69ppi. You’re viewing each of those at a further distance than the Switch tablet, but 240ppi at arms length will look fantastic!
The reason why it’s not 1080p is simply because the portable mode of the games won’t support it. There’s no point in having a full HD screen when the games are just 720p.
There is no such thing as portable modes of the games. Nintendo already stated the games run EXACTLY the same whether it’s in the cradle or not. The cradle has no extra processors to boost performance, it is only the relay source for the feed. The screen isn’t 1080p because it’s not necessary with that small of a screen, saves power and money.
Wait, really? It’s been confirmed that the cradle does nothing to improve performance? Where did you read that?
It really hasn’t been confirmed IMO. Wait till Jan. 12th for all solid confirmations.
Are you an idiot?! Of course there’s a portable mode! That’s when the graphic chip outputs 720p. When docked, it will output 1080p, or else it would be a downgrade from the Wii U. This means that the game’s graphic engine has to adapt to each MODE! Don’t argue with me, I understand more about hardware and how games are programmed than you do!
Yes, there is actually. When the unit is in tablet mode, it will display at 720p on the tablets screen…this is in part to conserve battery life. When docked (no the dock doesn’t add anything other than a power source, USB ports and HDMI out) the unit will display up to 4k on the TV for streaming videos. It’s believed that games should be able to run close to native 1080p give or take and will display on the TV at 1080p. With a connected power source, this is no longer an issue with battery life. If it wasn’t for cost, battery life and little noticeable improvement in visuals, the built in screen would be 1080p.
720p portable display and 1080p TV display is fine with me.
Me as well. And 60 frames.
Do we know these sources are reliable?
They’re the same sources that got the Switch details correct down to a T, so I’d say yes. Buy of course its a rumor so still take it with a grain of salt.
Eurogamer got a lot of the NX roumours right, so yeah, its safe to assume they are reliable at 90%
*Rumours, and i meant to say 60%
mynintendorumours.com xD
As always: get your Salt Shaker Machines on standby.
I wonder if i can mount the docking station on top of my tv. hmmm….
That’s a reach, but the grip thing that you put the joycons while NS is docked may have a trackpad, I seriously doubt, but…
As many said above. This is fine.
There is literally no reason for the tablet screen to be any higher def than that. Cheaper, probably saves battery life and you can’t tell a difference at that size anyway.
Eurogamer: Oh hey you guys! We are certain NX will be revealed in September!
Oh it wasn’t…? Well… Øøhhh IT WAS GOING TO BE! Just… Hmmm… Mario wasn’t ready!
So I’m assuming that this only means the screen is 720p, and that the games themselves actually support higher resolutions. That would give us 720p on the go and at least 1080p at home.
Pretty much exactly what I expected and hoped for. 720p should cut down on cost and help keep the battery life in check.
For those of you thinking the games will run exactly the same as powered when portable… Have you ever unplugged a gaming laptop?
This thing will definitely down clock when not plugged into the dock. The power requirements to run at full speed and power the active cooling (check the vents on this thing) would kill a battery in under two hours and be noisy.
Sounds good to me. Only thing I’m wondering is if the ir sensor is on the dock then would I have to point my remote to the left or right in order to get to the center. Because the dock is certainly not going to be in the center of my TV. Maybe if I place it on the shelf under on the center it won’t be a problem lol I prefer an actual sensor bar tbh. Who knows we will see in January
I’m thinking you’ll tell the system where the dock is in relation to the TV like you would with Wii or Wii U’s sensor bar, but it may be able to be placed to the left or right also.
So … Pretty much wiiu gamepad only type specs and when docked its 1080,p
Gamepad is 480p.
you mean the motion sensor in the controller right? I think it is the same as the Wii. And I see the switch is manage to do more higher resolution like the Wii U. Even if the switch has a 720p multitouch touchscreen I want to see how many Fps does the switch runs.
What’s wrong with the author? Did he just call resistive touchscreens less precise compared to a capacitive?
…what?
Well eurogamer was right in the past so I’ll believe them. As long as the frame rate is good and the graphics are around 1080p on the TV I’ll be fine.
What I really care about though is that new mario game as it looks very much like a 64 spiritual successor.
All this speculation does nothing but damage Nintendo’s credibility, in my opinion. We won’t know what the specs, etc are until Nintendo’s official release. They would have been better off either revealing nothing or everything.
Not to worry the screen my be small but the console overall is for people like me not short but quite tall. Heheheheheh
People here must be blind if they can’t tell the difference between 720 and 1080 even at 6 inches, these are probably the same people who can’t tell the difference between 30 and 60 fps. Anyways 720 is fine with me as long as the battery is good enough to justify it and hopefully doesnt end up being another gamepad where the resolution was complete shit with horrible battery life.
Man, 2″ sure isn’t that wide, vertically. Even the Wii U Gamepad’s screen is a little over 2 1/2″.
What?!? The screen on the Switch is roughly 5.5″ x 3″. No idea what you’re talking about with 2″?!?
Rumors here they come again!!!!
6.2″ screen at 720p is 236 ppi.
27″ 4k monitor, omgz graphics, is 171 ppi.
hard cores aka butthurts destroyed 720p at 6.2 inches is higher than 4k at 27
Hold on: this is just a rumour so we don’t know for sure.
Wait until it’s confirmed. Once we know it’s true, THEN you can start with the name-calling.
Just for reference, the Switch has the exact same screen size as the Wii U Gamepad. The difference is that the Gamepad only has a resolution of 480p. The better looking Wii U games on the Gamepad still look fantastic even though the resolution is only 158ppi. Now, the lcd screen on the Switch will have a resolution of about 237ppi, so games will look even more incredible on it’s display.