Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2009/02/03
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]2009-02-03-21:11:36 Ric Carter: > all this broken screen talk is making the sapphire glass sound better Well... it's making me wonder if it'd be better or worse. I'd expect it to be far more resistant to scratching, as advertised -- but that's an entirely different quality from toughness, resistance to shattering. Often materials which are harder and more resistant to scratching or wear are also more brittle. Just ask metallurgists, for example those coming up with steel for knife blades, what they've always been fighting with; or (to dive back to a favorite/hated LUG subject but one that much more directly applicable here) folk familiar with different watch-crystal materials. Sapphire crystals are beautifully resistant to scratching (unless there's a softer optical coating on top), but they can chip if subjected to a sharp knock. It'd be great if there were someone from whom we could get a straight answer about the resistance of the new sapphire screen to cracking relative to the old, instead of just theorizing. It'd depend on the material, and on whether any changes had been made in thickness, shape or mounting. -Jeff