TECH NEWS – New addition sees Steam Deck resolution jump to 1200p. Plus, it comes with an anti-glare coating and better colours.

 

 

The 7-inch display of Steam Deck with 1280 x 800 resolution and reportedly 67% sRGB colour coverage is pretty good. But it’s not necessarily comparable to the quality seen on PCs. Not as high resolution or as vivid as Asus’ ROG Ally panel, for sure. FX Technology has come up with its own 7-inch screen, though. This is designed as a retrofit replacement for the Deck’s panel to improve resolution and brightness and add an anti-glare coating to all models.

The new screen, which FX Technology calls DeckHD, jumps to 1920 x 1200 resolution and claims 95% coverage of the sRGB colour gamut.

The same 400 nits of claimed brightness and 60 Hz refresh rate remain. This means the latter will still be brighter when comparing the Steam Deck to the Asus ROG Ally. It also offers a faster 120 Hz refresh rate.

Perhaps the better colour coverage might be the most attractive. Reviews of the Deck typically measured the display between 60-70% of the sRGB colour gamut. That’s not such a combo. The 1920 x 1200 resolution makes menus and games sharper. But most games are certified 720p on Deck. It’s unclear how the Steam Deck’s “Aerith” chip, which uses AMD Zen 2 cores and RDNA 2 graphics, will handle the higher resolution in some games. Even with the ROG Ally’s 1080p screen, optimal performance is more likely to be around 720p.

The DeckHD is an anti-glare display. Let’s say the 512GB Steam Deck can do that. But Valve has gone glossy on the lower-end models. This replacement screen allows anyone to use a matte display. This is handy for outdoor gaming. Valve has talked before about the possibility of upgrading screens and batteries. However, it seems that outsiders implemented the ideas first. A release date is not yet known.

FX Technology predicts that the final product will cost $99 (about $34 00o), and you can sign up for a waiting list on their website for more information.

Of course, replacing the Steam Deck display is a bit of a complicated process. Valve has partnered with iFixit to sell replacement parts and provide repair guides. They’ve created a 43-step guide for replacing the display. If you don’t want to wait, iFixit already sells a 512 GB screen with an anti-glare display. (Although it doesn’t increase resolution or improve colour.) The DeckHD costs just $5 more than iFixit’s official screen (or the same if you get iFixit’s kit with tools).

At least one person seems to have already tried out the new panel. Twitter user Balázs Triszka posted a video of the Deck HD. Among other things, he shows Stray running on the new screen.

The DeckHD Twitter account retweeted others who claimed a June or July release date. These new screens could be on the market this summer.

Source: DeckHD

Are you ready for some truly high definition, 1200p gaming on the go? We are getting there! https://t.co/AQohJatMKl #SteamDeck pic.twitter.com/qiLLmmLJhs

— Balázs Triszka (@balika011) May 18, 2023