AMOLED Dive Computers

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RobPNW

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Hey folks, I really like the Teric screen, especially underwater but it really does a lot more than I need. I’m a recreational diver and would like AI, a digital compass and and a rechargeable battery. Other than that, the screen quality is probably my top priority. Does anyone know of any other manufacturers that might be planning on making a computer with the AMOLED screen? I know one of the limitations is battery life but I don’t care too much about charging every few days on a trip and don’t plan on using it as a daily watch.

Thanks,
Rob
 
Is this a price issue? Because you can leave the Teric in Rec mode and it otherwise meets all your criteria.
 
Is this a price issue? Because you can leave the Teric in Rec mode and it otherwise meets all your criteria.
Yeah pretty much. Seems a an AMOLED computer with pretty standard recreational features could be made for about half the price. I may end up just buying it for the screen anyway.
 
Yeah pretty much. Seems a an AMOLED computer with pretty standard recreational features could be made for about half the price. I may end up just buying it for the screen anyway.
A compass and AI aren't standard rec features though. They currently only appear on premium-priced computers.
 
Yeah pretty much. Seems a an AMOLED computer with pretty standard recreational features could be made for about half the price. I may end up just buying it for the screen anyway.
It is made for half the price. The rest of the pricing comes from the value the brand brings.

Suunto have very nice displays in the Eon Steel and Core. There is a cheaper Shearwater without trimix, CCR and air integration but it is not in a watch format. The Suunto D5 has an ok screen (transformative so never as stunning out of the water) and is half the of a Teric.

This class of computer has a processor that costs several dollars at most. The code required to run a dive computer is not hard and not large. The case and screen, maybe buttons, will be the costly bits,
 
Well, having made a computer with an AMOLED screen (Atomic Cobalt1) I can say we would love to be still using them, but manufacturers stopped making them in the size we wanted- about 2.4" diagonal. Well, one manufacturer still made them, but they would not sell to you unless you were committing to ± 200,000 annually. Watch size screens are now another story, as they are becoming more available due to smartwatch demand.

AMOLED displays, given good interface design, actually use less power, as the pixels that are not lit (black) use none at all. That's more of an issue the bigger the screen gets. We lost battery life when we had to switch to a TFT display. The AMOLED displays were considerably (several times) more expensive, but had great benefits.

The diving market is incredibly tiny. It's in a completely different economic world than other consumer electronics. Parts and assembly cost more due to low volume, and design effort is amortized over a small number of sales. Molding tools & other tooling also need to be amortized over a small number of annual sales. For most computers, I suspect assembly and labor are the costly parts. I know if we could have sold the Cobalt for less we would have, but it's just costly to manufacture small volume products.

Coding a decompression algorithm is not difficult, but designing a dive computer system that accounts for an effective user interface and anticipates all of the unexpected things a diver might do, and does so reliably in real time, is not trivial.

Ron
 
i recently upgraded my computer,

the choices were between Viper, i470TC or Teric

I ended up biting the bullet and getting the teric, mostly because i was diving in a place where i didnt have to pay VAT and it was discounted at the LDS. and am very glad i did, one of the biggest pluses that i didnt think of when i was making the choice was the screen, now that i have it i would rate it as a must have, especially how it marks a compass position. Making the colours match my band is also fun.
 
As a vacation reef diver, more transflective LCDs are what I'd like to see: they beat AMOLEDs in sunlight and don't suffer from burn-out as much either.
 
We’re one into sunlight diving an LCD screen would be a great choice, I prefer my diving to be underwater where the Teric really shines :wink: I don’t use many of the features available but I can get everything I want on the home scree.
 
I’m just hoping for more options because as I get older, screen readability becomes more important. I’m sure some people here can relate.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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