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Sharp does the 5″ IGZO dance on new panel
[CEATEC 2012] We have heard word on the ground that Sharp has started to crank up production of their 5” Full HD LCD panel from the IGZO range which might just see action in upcoming phablets, or from smartphone manufacturers who want to make sure their upcoming devices will not fall behind the technological rat race in terms of hardware specifications. Well, the Sharp 5″ IGZO panel was spotted on CEATEC’s showfloor this year, so how could we just leave it at that without doing anything about the situation?
The whole point of this high resolution and yet tiny display is its ability to deliver crisp, crystal clear images without missing a beat, all the while consuming as little power as possible. This will definitely be a boon, as that would mean future devices that use the 5″ IGZO panel from Sharp will be able to capitalize on a longer battery life, which is always a good thing in our opinion.
Now here is an upcoming device from Sharp that has made its way to the FCC, although the description given in the FCC filing does claim that it is a “Dual mode hand held Mini Phablet.” This would raise the question – does this mean that this will be a smartphone, since a phablet straddles the “land” between that of a smartphone and a tablet? Hence, a mini phablet would mean it would have a form factor that is closer to, yup, you’ve guessed it right – a smartphone.
Ah well, all in all, we will just have to wait until additional information is revealed on an official basis, although for now, we will have to make do with the fact that it supports the likes of quad-band 4G LTE, tri-band WCDMA 3G, Bluetooth, WiFi, GPS. and NFC. Sharp themselves are not too big on the US market, having just a handful of devices released to date, as opposed to their home country in Japan, but we do think that this model will most probably run on the Android platform when it arrives.
It does look as though the days of a Full HD display on your smartphone are going to be more rare in the future – especially when you have Sharp coming up with this engineering marvel of a 4.1” Quad HD IGZO LCD panel. Right now, when it comes to pixel density, the Samsung Galaxy S5 LTE-A is right there at the top of the proverbial food chain, sporting a count of 576ppi. This 4.1” display is definitely an accomplishment to be celebrated, as it boasts of a resolution of 1600 x 2560 pixels, resulting in a minimum pixel density of 736ppi, which is a whole lot more compared to any other Quad HD display that is out there in the market.
Sharp claims that this particular Quad HD display will feature a similar pixel density as that of a 6” display that has a resolution count of 2160 x 3840 pixels. Sharp will hopefully be able to enter the manufacturing of such displays some time in 2016, although the very first design samples will only be made available to manufacturers from next year onward.
[CEATEC 2012] Sharp is really on to something here with their 6.1″ IGZO display that is touted to carry a whopping WQXGA resolution, and just in case letters in caps do not do it justice, how about breaking it down into numbers? We are looking at a 6.1″ display which is hardly found on desktops and living rooms, but rather concentrated more on mobile devices, that carries a 2,560 x 1,600 resolution. And just in case you have yet to remove your head from the clouds, citing the Apple iPhone 5 and new iPad displays to be the best thing you’ve laid your eyes on, bear in mind that this 6.1″ IGZO display comes with a pixel density of 498ppi, far outstripping whatever Retina Display marketing claims from the fruity company.
To put things into perspective, the 6.1″ IGZO display from Sharp is akin to a 30″ desktop monitor of the same resolution, except that it has been shrunk down to a highly portable form factor.