Topic: Would it matter if the Switch 2 Lite had a 720p screen?

Many Switch 2 games in portable performance mode have a final resolution of 720p and some Switch 2 games have a 360p, 540p and 720p initial rendering resolution anyway in portable mode. It feels to me especially if the Switch 2 Lite has a smaller screen like 7" that 720p is perfectly fine, no issue at all. The performance mode of Switch 2 is also 40fps so in theory the panel just needs to support 40, 80 or 120Hz I guess. Maybe 80Hz would be enough. It just feels this would be a good fit for a smaller screen. I personally don't think 1080p is necessary even on Switch 2 I think a OLED 720p screen would have been better personally just because the Steam Deck 800p OLED screen looks better than the Switch 2 1080p LCD I think. It looks smoother, brighter with better contrast with only a fractional reduction in sharpness when you view the handheld normally.

Do you feel like 720p would be acceptable on Switch 2 lite or do you think its going backwards in spec and something to be avoided?

What if Nintendo did something weird and the Switch 2 Lite was also the OLED model and had a 720p screen and was priced closer to the Switch 2 in price with a smaller screen and built in joypads than the original Switch lite compared to normal Switch. So it would be a little more premium in functionality so a smaller gulf in pricing.

Personally, I wouldn't mind one bit. I love the form factor of the Switch Lite and I find the screen to be better than the OG Switch's screen.

Saying that, I don't think it would sell as well at 720p, as the only difference between a Switch Lite and a Switch Lite 2 would be its ability to play Switch 2 games. Mouse controls likely wouldn't be a thing, so Nintendo couldn't sell that gimmick. HD Rumble 2 would be unlikely too, as the original Lite has no rumble.

So I think Nintendo would need to up the screen size and/or resolution of the screen in order for it to have more of a selling point. On OLED Switch Lite 2 is an interesting proposition though.

@Jack_Goetz

I think the Switch 2 can use a normal USB mouse too so I'm guessing the Switch 2 lite could as well so for mouse mode I don't think there would be an issue but personally I'm not convinced mouse mode is important to games at all. Lots of PC games support using mouse but personally I hate that I like normal game controller controls. There is that wheel chair game I forget the name of that uses mouse controls and I guess you would need two usb mice for that on Switch 2 lite but how popular and important that game will be is debatable. I'm sort of hoping for a some rumble support on Switch 2 lite. I feel Switch 2 lite will have a bigger screen than the original Switch lite. I'm sort of thinking the Switch 2 lite will have the same 6.2" screen of the original Switch rather than 5.5". Lastly what I want from the Switch 2 lite is hdmi output. I'm not expecting it to match docked performance but just allow the lower resolution graphics of portable mode to be shown on TV. This only costs a few cents to add and it was a shame the original Switch lite didn't get this feature. I would like a low quality output to TV for occasional use even if obviously inferior to a full Switch 2 model.

I would like to see it in 1080p screen...but that might be cost prohibited if they are looking to make a Switch2 Lite option but having a plug to HDMI would be a nice option. There are some Retro that has this to TV and making this work without Dock would be something.

It'd have to be 120hz 1080p, same as the current model, as that is what games are built around, and many games already are utilizing VRR in handheld up to 120hz, or natively hitting it.

As well as many games hitting well above 720p handheld, up to 1080p.

I personally think 720p would be supported without issue if it needed to be, with a few patches. Many games have dynamic resolution anyway and drop resolution when they need to. What happens when you connect a Switch 2 to a 720p TV or even 480p hdmi TV that dont support 1080p they drop resolution and no reason portable mode couldn't do the same. There are loads of people using 720p hdmi televisions that don't support 1080p input and I'm not hearing them say the Switch 2 is unusable.

The problem would be that Switch 2 games are going to target 1080p so you'll effectively be throwing away some performance going for a target you can't display. On the other hand, it's effectively super sampling, and even if you're doing DLSS to go to 1080p then scaling back to 720p that's DLAA which is how DLSS was originally intended to be used

I think 720p would be fine. Especially if it's closer to the size of the Lite. And because VGCs are a thing now I'd probably get one and leave my current Switch 2 just permanently docked. Especially if it was OLED

Also I keep forgetting to write it but obviously Switch 1 games on a Switch 2 lite with 720p screen will look better and possibly run better as it has the same native 720p screen. So for those still playing Switch 1 games and not paying for developer upgrade packs the games will look better.

It'd matter to me, yes.
Kind of hoping for a Switch 2 Lite with a 1080p OLED display myself. But that'll probably never happen.

As long as it is way more portable (smaller and better battery life) and can play Switch 2 games, I wouldn't care at all.

My biggest problem with the Switch 2 is that it's not truly a handheld anymore. It's a "house handheld," but it's not the greatest when it comes to travel and long times away from a charger.

I'd almost rather have a "Switch 1 Pro" that just always behaved like it was docked haha

It will matter to Digital Foundry. Not for most of us who'd like a cheaper, more portable version with better battery life to take out on the go.

@Suketoudara
In most of the speculation/discussion videos DF put out before the Switch 2 reveal they were actually talking up the prospect of a 720p screen. Saying that they would almost rather a 720p screen given the lower cost and general lack of benefit 1080p gives at this kind of size. Frankly I agree with that take

If anything it's generally the less tech savvy people pushing for the higher pixel densities. Because bigger number better. The more technically minded people, generally, are pushing for stuff like high contrast, low persistence, high peak brightness, VRR etc. Things which, somewhat unfortunately, the Switch 2 has largely missed the boat on (excluding VRR and 120fps)

To be perfectly honest I'm expecting a 1080p screen I was just asking the question if 720p would be acceptable. It would be for me but I was just trying to gauge how unacceptable that would be to many. I still feel a OLED smaller screen is a possibility although probably 1080p rather than 720p. I don't think it will happen until Nintendo have got a serious number of original Switch 2 consoles sales under their belt in order to justify the expense of shrinking the chipset with an improved fabrication process maybe 6Nm or 5Nm? This will run cooler and need less power which is pretty much a necessity for a Switch 2 Lite model. Nintendo will want to have all R&D costs repayed plus profit on top of the original 10/8Nm Switch 2 though. How many original Switches were sold before the Mariko based Switch, Switch OLeD and Lite models came out. I don't know the answer to that question and can't be bothered to google but Nintendo probably need to see 30-40 million Switch 2 consoles sold at least I would of thought before a PCB revision. 3 years minimum before a PCB revision I would think. However a simple OLED update model is possible using the existing 10/8Nm fabrication once a suitable OLED display panel becomes available that could be much sooner as only the panel has to change really. A smaller Switch 2 lite needs a lot more engineering work.

And almost like clockwork, clip from their DF weekly ep. From their podcast which was, admittedly, before I made this post but.... I don't watch that and only watch the occasional clip so I wasn't aware of it when I made that comment above

Also somewhat amusing their comments on the scaling issues here given the meltdown by @VoidofLight and @OmnitronVariant over this over in the other thread. Meanwhile the apparent perennial villain of Nintendo discussion, Digital Foundry, is making this video about scaling and the decision to go 720p and it's nowhere near as negative. Obviously, and I'd agree, it's not ideal but their choice of words is "some games" scale "not all that well" and specifically for titles that don't have any kind of AA. And the general view overall was that there are positives and negatives but the decision was a probably correct one in the long term

Kinda amusing how DF is often more muted in their criticism than people on this site are. Also before the usual suspects go on a rant about me posting DF clips again because that triggers them. Again, context. Watch the video. It's not negative. I don't know why people have this knee jerk reaction about DF

Anyways, yeah, if we had a Switch 2 Lite personally I'd rather it be 720p. Because the Switch 2 screen as is just barely, IMO, justifies the jump to 1080p given the size. If you went smaller I feel you lose a lot of that justification. The only real issue is that if you change the resolution then 3D titles will probably do fine, great even given you're effectively doing a bit of SSAA across the board. But sprite based 2D stuff? Could be rough. Because scaling 2D assets is always rough unless you're doing full multiples

@OmnitronVariant
I thought you were not going to comment anymore given you were only posting in the first place to complain about Switch 2. In any case it seems some are incapable of reading. I haven't once said that scaling doesn't cause blur or crawl or other visual issues. All I've said is that some people are overstating the impact somewhat by saying it made Switch compatibility unusable, unacceptable and literally headache inducing

I just found it amusing that DF, who are often derided by some Nintendo fans for being too critical/sceptical of Nintendo's hardware, was more muted in their response on it. And I found it particularly amusing to stumble across this video given @Suketoudara had concluded above that dropped to 720p "would matter to DF"

@OmnitronVariant

Definitely best ignored I did the same. I'm surprised someone like that is allowed to have an account on this forum. If you are abusive to others you have already lost the argument. Hopefully when they grow up they will understand the importance of respecting the opinion of others even if they disagree with it.

Yes definitely

Before Switch launched everyone said the screen should be 1080p. Now that its 1080p people are saying "should it be 720p though?"

I would be ok with 720p for a Lite but it will never happen. Games are already designed around a 1080p handheld screen. They're not going to have multiple devices with different resolutions. 720p screen is out of the question. That ship has sailed.

Not going to reward the above behaviour again other than to say nothing says "maturity" and "being open to different opinions" like publicly telegraphing that you've blocked/muted someone who disagreed

@JaxonH
FWIW in those countless speculation discussions I was always a voice in favour of a 720p screen. My view has always been that things like VRR, HDR, high framerate mattered more and 1080p would only really matter if Switch 2 became huge. 720p, IMO, would have been fine. But there's a reason why it always came up in speculation threads

You can't fault Nintendo for (rightly) recognising that the average consumer only talks about consoles in terms of screen resolution. Switch 2 to Joe Average isn't a T239 with DLSS and a fast storage subsystem. It's a 1080p Switch upgrade that does 4K docked and has Donkey Kong and a Mario Kart that's open world "like GTA". And for the size of screen? 1080p has some merit

I still wouldn't be opposed to 720p on a Lite if that's how it plays out. Because 1080p at around 5-6 inches would be a bit overkill