Toshiba unveils 4-inch 367ppi 720p display

Posted in iPhone News by admin. Published May 19th, 2011

Toshiba unveils 4-inch 367ppi 720p display

It looks like Apple has some competition in the smartphone display department. Apple previously reigned supreme as having the best smartphone display in the iPhone 4. However, there’s a new contender in the ring bringing a full 720p HD display to the market: Toshiba.

Showcased at the Society for Information Display (SID) tradeshow in Los Angeles, the Toshiba 4-inch display blows Apple’s 3.5-inch screen out of the water. And that’s saying a lot seeing as the iPhone 4’s display was the highest resolution display ever built into a phone — until now. Well, at least close to now. The Toshiba display is still just a screen waiting to be put into a phone, which is expected to happen later this year.

The low-temperature polysilicon (LTPS) display has a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels, which equals 367 pixels per inch. Just like typical HDTVs, it can play full resolution video in 720p. The iPhone 4, in contrast, has 326 pixels per inch. The iPhone’s display is also a “retina display,” which Apple describes as having such a high pixel density that your eye isn’t able to see the individual pixels, making the text on your phone look as sharp as the print on a piece of paper.

The Toshiba display also trumps the iPhone 4 in contrast ratio, with a 1,500:1 contrast ratio compared to the iPhone’s 800:1. The Toshiba model still seems better in every way, but we won’t be able to truly compare them until Toshiba gets this in a handset.

Though the average person probably will not be able to tell the difference between a 326-ppi and a 367-ppi display, sources at SID said the screen is in fact pretty impressive in real life.

We have to wonder if the Toshiba display could be used for the next iPhone, be it the iPhone 4S or the iPhone 5. If so, that would mean that Apple is ditching LG, its current display partner.

[Thanks: http://www.geek.com]