When the human eye is not supposed to be able to distinguish much past 300 pixels-per-inch (PPI), one has to wonder just how far the display manufacturers will go in developing pixel density on our smartphone displays. Full HD (FHD) with resolutions of 1920 x 1080 was a welcomed upgrade from HD at 1280 x 720 pixels. Next we were astonished and equal surprised to see the new Quad HD or QHD displays start to show up this year with an astonishing resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels…is there really a need to go further, which means more material expense and battery life to drive this craziness. If rumors from Japan are true, it looks like Sharp is ready to take our displays to another level – 4K displays with a resolution of 4096 x 2160 pixels.
Sharp is reported working on displays from 5-inch to 6-inches that would carry this new 4K display – meaning that a 5.5-inch 4K display will have a pixel density of 842 PPI! Sharp claims they will have this technology ready to go into mass production in 2016. Many techies are questioning the need for such a display, and even Sony had said a couple of months ago that even QHD was not needed…but you can be sure that their next Xperia flagship will be sporting one. It is all a numbers game and once one manufacturer uses the new technology, the other OEM have to jump on board or forever be thought of as using ‘last year’s technology’ – after all, more is always better in the consumer’s mind.
The report from Japan also has a couple more pieces of information worth noting – they claim that Sharp already has a 600 PPI smartphone display panel ready to go now and it should be hitting the China markets in July of 2015. Sharp has really focused on displays of late and their new Sharp AQUOS Crystal display that is virtually bezel-less, lends credence to these rumors as well.
Maybe more importantly is that Sharp is working on improving the quality of the ‘low-temperature poly silicone (LTPS) on the LCD display by using a new in-house developed process in an effort to produce a more vibrant display…possibly closer to the AMOLED technology. Many forget that Sharp is the world’s second largest LCD panel makers – only Japan Display Company does more.
Please hit us up on our Google+ Page and let us know if you think that 4K displays are worth the research, money and battery life or is it turning into a gimmick at this point…as always, we would love to hear from you.