Spin 13 display resolution very disappointing? Am I doing something wrong, or unrealistic?

These devices served me very, very well for several years, and in a rough, strange twist of fate, both essentially died on exactly the same day. 

This led to a desperate scramble to replace both, urgently needed.  Because I’m on very tight budget, I figured that since these are models from about 2012-2014, I could probably count on a single higher end 2018-2020 convertible, 2-in-1 device replacing the two in one shot, with no loss in display quality so long as I sought out a device on the relatively upper end, with excellent reviews fir display quality.

I landed on a used Spin 13, which seller indicated was a 2019 model. It just came in ABSOLUTELY pristine shape, looked like it just came from the factory, down to the pristine packaging. That “new car” look, smell, everything sparkling new. I’m sure it’s really like that, not a doctored-up appearance. Not a scratch or anything. 

But as I powered it on, a sinking feeling as I read the initial prompts on the screen. The letters seemed jagged, pixelly on the edges, like on those 1280 x 720 screens I thought I’d never have to see again. I’d thought, with my Samsung and modestly priced 1080 Lenovo, I WAS DONE LOOKING AT LETTERS LOOKING LIKE THEY WERE BUILT OUT OF LEGOS.

My sinking feeling deepening, I went on the internet and pulled up YouTube, starting with random cable news videos, then some concert footage, then cinematography award movies. 

I’m sure I’ve taken several steps back: the videos are jerky and fake looking, none of the naturalness I’d taken for granted with the Lenovo or Samsung tablet. Those images changed faster than the eye could detect, and this is like looking at a flip book. The worst (or most blatant) part on the videos is people’s clothing as their limbs move: the edges would seem to have these waves of tiny squares moving about as the computer decided which pixel color to use; and, vacillating between choices, would fluctuate in pattens that screamed “DIGITAL video”.

Then I went to the newspaper and other text media, and again it feels like I’ve take steps backward to 1920-1080 displays. Just plain UGLY, whereas images in the Samsung and Lenovo seemed like beautiful paintings. In fact, when I got my Samsung several years ago, I downloaded hundreds of free paintings, Rembrandt, Vermeer, impressionists (Renoir & Monet) to bask in the beauty and revel in the glory of the display.

This is, frankly, garbage by comparison. I’d sooner download a picture of a festering ulcer on this display than a painting, for the enjoyment it would give. When I googled a Renoir to get an idea of how vast the difference from my old devices, I cringed. The eyes look like you would expect on a 40 year old magnavox TV: a couple little black squares to tell you were the (eye) pupils are, a bunch of little yellow dots on a Monet signaling (but looking nothing like) a flower petal.

So am I missing something? Is this just how Chromebooks are (unless I get a Pixel book)? Is it because the pixels are spread over a slightly bigger area, decreasing their density due to 3:2 having higher surface area compared to 16:9, for the same 13.5” diagonal? (I suspect that’s it: the same number of pixels, even a high number, spread out over a more square with the same diagonal is a bigger area to cover, and gets diluted). So to get the same sharpness over a square-er (3:2) screen, even with the same 13.5 diagonal, you need a lot more pixels. So 2256x1504 (3,393,024 pixels) on a 13.5” 3:2 is going to be much less sharp/dense ppi) than the same 3,393,024 pixels on a 13.5” 16:9 display, and possibly worse than 1920x1080.

Did I get fooled by the 2256x1504 into thinking it would be an upgrade over 1920x1080?

As to the videos, it is only an i3-813ou processor; is that the issue, or part of it? (Hard to imagine, because the still images and text I read have such poor resolution). 

Well so much for my “rant”; should I have had lower expectations either because my 3.4 million pixels are spread over a larger area (incidentally: probably a stupid question, but can I do something to tighten the images over smaller area to overcome this density deficiency? I’d assume not, but I’d much rather have smaller images with higher def; I’m sure a pixel is a pixel, they can’t just be squeezed tighter together or distilled down...) 

Please, ANY feedback on this super-appreciated. How can the display, supposedly higher end, be so disappointing compared to older, cheaper devices from 2012-2014?