Know your new Lumias: mobile terms explained

The recently announced Lumia smartphones, such as the Lumia 430, Lumia 640, Lumia 640 XL, Lumia 532 and Lumia 435, are loaded with some serious impressive technology. Let’s learn about some features that you may have come across but may not know their full capabilities.

TrueColor (24-bit/16M)

Did you know that the human eye can discriminate up to 10 million colors?

Lumia 640 uses TrueColor also known as 24-bit color which allows the possibility of showing up to 16,777,216 (~16 million) colors on the display.

TrueColor in Lumia 640 supports 256 shades of red, green, and blue (RGB) colors and provides a method of representing and storing graphical-image information in an RGB color space.

For example, when you click a high-quality raw (DNG) format photo with a Lumia 1020 and view it on its TrueColor (24-bit/16M) display, very large number of colors, shades, and hues are displayed in that image. If you would then view the same image with an older phone having a 256K color display, you could really tell the difference.

Pixel density

Pixel density refers to the concentration of pixels on a smartphone display, measured in pixels per inch (ppi). Pixel density is a good indicator of the clarity of your smartphone’s screen.

To calculate pixel density, think of your phone’s screen as a grid in which the pixels line up in rows and columns and now divide the diagonal pixel resolution of a display by its diagonal size.

For example, the Lumia 640, which has a display resolution of 1280 x 720 and a 5.7-inch screen, has a pixel density of 259 ppi. To calculate the pixel density of your smartphone, check out this nifty tool here.

Tactile feedback

Tactile feedback refers to the technology embedded in electronic devices such as the new Lumia 430, Lumia 640, Lumia 640 XL or the Xbox One controller, which operates on touch.

Tactile feedback mechanisms respond to touch, simulating a sensation of tapping. For example, when you tap on the screen or type a word, the device will vibrate for a very short duration. This is accomplished with subtle and textured vibrations that do not interfere while you are using your Lumias.

GATT

GATT stands for Generic Attribute Profile, and it defines the way two Bluetooth Low Energy (BT LE) devices transfer data back and forth.

Most of the Bluetooth Smart Ready devices available, such as the Lumia 532 or the Lumia 435 are built per Bluetooth v4.0 specifications with GATT-based architecture and provide fast and low-power method of communicating.

GATT protocol allows these devices to efficiently receive data sent from classic Bluetooth devices and Bluetooth Smart devices and feed into applications such as the Microsoft Band or Surface Pro that turn the data into useful information.

MAP

MAP or Message Access Profile supports wireless communication between paired devices such as your Lumia 830 and your Bluetooth-ready car.

Thanks to the MAP support, you can enjoy popular in-car Bluetooth functions like having your car’s infotainment system read an SMS read aloud, answer calls on the speaker or change songs on voice command.

The MAP feature also lets you to set up the “do not disturb” automatic response message to your incoming text messages while you are driving.

What other specs would you like explained? Let us know and we’ll have part two!