Understanding Samsung Galaxy Tab screen density

Question

One would say that if the Galaxy Tab screen resolution (in portrait mode) is 600px and the screen width is 3.55inch, the screen density would be

Answer 1

Galaxy Tab (7") doesn't report its real density. To understand this issue, read the following article:

http://realmike.org/blog/2010/12/21/multiple-screen-sizes-with-processing-for-android/

Apparently, that’s also what Samsung found when they made the Galaxy Tab. The Galaxy Tab has a 7″, 1024×600 screen with 170 dpi. Yet, the Tab does not report its density as “mdpi” but as “hdpi”, so the layout looks exactly as in the second screenshot. If they used “mdpi”, the icons would be .28″ wide, with “hdpi”, they are .42″ wide—not a big deal, and I must admit, the layout does look prettier this way.

The article contains some images that will make you understand the problem.