Sharp’s new smartphone display has an insane 4K resolution
The 2K displays making their way into today’s flagship smartphones are already old news thanks to Sharp. The Japanese company today announced its new 5.5-inch IGZO display, which has an insane 4K resolution that boasts 806 pixels-per-inch.
To be precise, the resolution is 2160×3840 — the same resolution you get with today’s high-end “Ultra HD” TVs.
It’s incredibly sharp with a 50-inch screen when you’re sat back watching a movie, so you can imagine just how crisp the same number of pixels is when crammed into a display measuring just 5.5 inches.
In fact, it’s overkill for a smartphone, really; no one needs a 5.5-inch 4K screen in their pocket, and to the naked eye, it’s not going to look that much better than a 2K display — just like a 2K display doesn’t look that much sharper than a 1080p display at 5.5 inches.
But it certainly appears better on a spec sheet, and so manufacturers will use it anyway.
We’ll likely see the first smartphones with a 4K display later this year. Recent rumors have claimed Samsung’s Galaxy Note 5 will have an Ultra HD screen when it goes on sale in September, but we could see other handsets with Sharp’s IGZO screen before then.