Why trust GreenbotSamsung said it’s doing it. Rumors say that is probably doing it. And elsewhere in the world, companies like China-based Oppo are already trying their h at making Quad HD displays a trend with hsets like the Find 7.
Those are just a few of the rumors lately suggesting that Quad HD displays are the next “big thing” to come to smartphone displays—literally. The term Quad HD, or 2K display, refers to a 1080p screen resolution that’s been doubled, which is about four times more pixels than a 720p HD display*. That means that a stard 5 to 5.5-inch smartphone will have the same display resolution as the TV in your living room.
However, a 2560 x 1440 resolution display sounds like a bit of an overkill on a palm-sized device, that’s because it is. 2K displays are really just an orchestrated effort on the manufacturers’ part to sell us something we don’t actually need, ultimately something you shouldn’t want.
Resolution sells
It’s only been a little more than a year since 1080p displays became the stard display resolution for smartphones, so why the sudden shift to 2K?
DisplaySearch, a research firm dedicated specifically to tracking trends within the display industry, attributes 2K’s uprising to company-manufactured dem. “If you look at the whole ecosystem—the Display driver, apps processor, memory interface, display interface— [they’re] all pushing for high resolution content,” said Tina Teng, a senior analyst.
Indeed, companies like processor-maker Qualcomm have been preparing for 2K’s arrival since it debuted the Snapdragon 800 SoC early last year. ” saw this trend that consumers were going to want better better quality,” said Michelle yden , one of the Senior Directors of eting at Qualcomm. “The SoC is only one part of the phone…How beautiful the images are is critical to users.”
ile it may be true that consumers are looking for a premium video viewing experience, is doesn’t seem critical enough to pack in a higher resolution display when most video is usually compressed or streamed over bwidth. Anyway, it’s doubtful that many consumers even care about that, given the number of mid-range to low-end phones sold overseas. It just sounds like another way for manufacturers to push more units.
Teng seemed to agree with me, adding that the proliferation of smartphones, their relatively quick update cycle contributed to consumers more quickly adopting phones only so that they can be a part of the next big trend. “Ever since Apple started their own smartphone business, the period of software evolution was over. Now you see these manufacturers showing more of the hardware enhancements,” she said. “The [companies] are looking for one or several features to highlight…so that they can focus on marketing that to the consumers.”
Resolution sells
Dr. Raymond Soneira, esident at DisplayMate technologists, also thinks the movement to get 2K screens on the next batch of flagship devices is coming on a bit too strong. “Everybody’s been riding on this ‘lets boost the resolution,’ I think we’re past the point where this makes visual sense,” he said.
Visually, the average consumer won’t be able to see the difference between 2K 1080p. “At 440ppi, you’re already at the limited where people with 20/20 vision just can’t make things out,” he continued. “Research papers that claim people can see the difference between 1000ppi 400ppi, but they’re [wrong].”
There are some advantages to a higher resolution display on a smaller screen, however. “You don’t have to rescale [images],” explained Dr. Soneira. “That keeps the image quality up. And you save the energy that you…process to rescale the image.” As for pushing smartphones toward a 4K resolution, Dr. Soneira cautioned, “Going up to 4K in principal…makes no sense visually,” he said. “You’d have to hold [your phone] more than 3 inches away. I don’t really see an objective technical reason for doing it.”
There’s also battery life to figure in, which smartphone manufacturers have been working to optimize since 1080p displays hit the market. Devices like the HTC Droid DNA were battery suckers because of their bright, high resolution displays, it’s unclear how each company will deal with having double—or quadruple—the pixels to power. Qualcomm said that it’s including better power management settings in its processors to help with this power shift. ” do a lot of power management across [chipsets],” tktk assured.
As for whether there is even content that take advantage of the powerful displays being packed into such relatively smaller packages: “Every step in processing degrades an image,” said Dr. Soneira. “From a streaming perspective, it really makes no sense.”
An inevitable trend
Qualcomm’s tktktk insists that there is a visible difference between a 2K 1080p screen. “en people see 1080p, they think it looks great. But when you look at it [next to a 2K display], you can really see the difference.”
‘ve yet to see the first smartphone equipped with a 2K display to hit the market here in the , but the buzz around it is getting louder louder. ” may wind up there for the same reason we have 16 megapixel cameras,” said Dr. Soneira. At least those 16 megapixel camera sensors, like the one featured on Samsung’s Galaxy S5, are getting better with every iteration are actually useful to those consumers who don’t have the luxury of having both a point–shoot a camera phone.
