LG announces the world's first 2560 x 1440 smartphone display

LG has sent out a press release this evening that is going to get more than a few people excited — especially fans of big, beautiful screens on their smartphones. They unwrapped the first QHD (Quad High Definition, not the qHD of old) 5.5-inch 2560 x 1440 display.

LG says the panel, which is only 1.21mm thick, will have a minimum bezel of 1.2mm. This makes the new display 12 percent thinner compared to the 5.2-inch display they showed off on the LG G2 last month. The panel will also be significantly brighter, checking in at 430 nits. And for all you resolution-junkies, this works out to a whopping 538ppi.

Is the world ready for a phone with a display sporting four times the resolution of the current Full-HD screens we see now? You bet it is. 1280 x 720 is so 2013. The full press release is after the break.

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LG Display Develops World’s First Quad HD LCD Panel for Smartphones

New panel will deliver optimal viewing experience on larger smartphone displays

Seoul, Korea (August 21, 2013) – LG Display [NYSE: LPL, KRX: 034220], a leading innovator of display technologies, announced today that it has developed the world’s first Quad HD AH-IPS LCD panel for smartphones. At 2560X1440 with 538ppi, the new 5.5-inch Quad HD panel is the highest resolution and ppi (pixel per inch) mobile panel to date, and provides a glimpse at what’s next after current Full HD smartphone panels, critical given the growing trend towards larger displays.

“LG Display, which pioneered the high resolution mobile market with introduction of the world’s first Full HD smartphone panel in 2012, again opens new possibilities with the successful application of QHD technology,” said Dr. Byeong-koo Kim, Vice President and Head of LG Display’s IT and Mobile Development Group. “With this breakthrough, LG Display will continue to raise new standards for mobile resolution and lead the mobile display market.”

LG Display’s Quad HD panel for smartphones realizes clearer images with 4 times more pixels than HD at 1,280X720, thereby reproducing more delicate colors as well as improving contrast and vividness when compared to current mobile displays. This advancement will enable consumers to fully enjoy more life-like and crisp images, and even Blu-ray equivalent video, on their smartphones. The panel also features the highest ppi among current mobile device displays.

In addition, the new Quad HD panel will enable users to enjoy a full view of PC-version web pages at a single glance without image distortion; a contrast to current Full HD displays which only realize 3/4th of a full screen. Also, even when enlarging the screen, users will be able to enjoy undistorted and sharper text.

Only 1.21mm thin with a 1.2mm bezel measured in LCD modules (LCM), LG Display’s new Quad HD panel is both the world’s slimmest and narrowest panel, with 12% reduced thickness compared to the company’s 5.2-inch Full HD panel released last month. Based on Low Temperature Poly-Silicon (LTPS) substrate, the panel also realizes superior brightness of 430nit with improved transmittance and larger aperture opening size.

LTPS-based smartphone displays are expected to record 765 million units in shipments next year according to research firm DisplaySearch, as displays with larger screens, higher resolution, and less power consumption prove key to competitiveness in the premium model segment.