Samsung is getting ready to show its new 2560×1600 10.1-inch LCD screen next week at the SID Display Week 2011 International Symposium in Los Angeles. The industry’s first WQXGA format PenTile display is a prototype, but Samsung is hoping to have it available for commercial applications later this year.
“Samsung’s PenTile display technology is the only display technology that operates at 40 percent less power yet provides twice that of Full HD-viewing performance for consumers compared to legacy RGB stripe LCDs. There is no other commercial display technology on the market today that offers this high of a resolution and pixel density in a 10.1-inch size display,” said Dr. Sungtae Shin, Senior VP of Samsung Electronics in a press release. Screens using PenTile technology are currently found in OLED form on the Samsung Galaxy S, and RGBW LCD form in phones like the Motorola Atrix.
Samsung’s new screen has a pixel density of 300 dpi, which is slightly lower than the iPhone 4 screen which has a pixel density of 326 dpi, but is still high enough that the moniker ‘Retina display’ could be applied to it. In any case, the availability of such high resolution screens has up till now been the limiting factor in whether or not the next iPad would have a Retina display. Although this is just a prototype demonstration, Samsung’s new screen signals that high resolution tablets are right around the corner.
The power savings (40% less power consumption) is not insignificant, as battery life is a major design consideration when it comes to tablets. It’s not likely that Apple would use this exact screen, as it’s too large for the current iPad form factor (using a 9.7-inch screen), but it makes it more probable that an increase in screen resolution for the iPad will come in the next revision, either in the fall, or more likely next year.
Article Via TUAW
