Sharp announced
in a Japanese-language press release earlier today that it has begun
mass production of a series of 5-inch smartphone displays which will
bring desktop HD resolution to mobile devices. The displays will max
out at an impressive 1920×1080 pixels—the same resolution as many HD
televisions and widescreen computer monitors—and with a dot pitch of
443 PPI, they will hold the top spot for the highest pixel density ever
featured on a smartphone.
The HTC Rezound and Sony Xperia S currently top the pixel density leaderboard at about 342 PPI, with the iPhone 5 trailing behind at 326 PPI.
According to Unwired Review, Sharp isn't the first
to announce the impending arrival of 5-inch smartphone displays.
China-based Oppo recently confirmed that it will feature
high-resolution displays on its own line of smartphones. A few days
ago, LG also announced that its Optimus Vu II will sport
with a 5-inch, 4:3 ratio HD display. The HTC One X 5 "phablet" is also
rumored to come equipped with a 1080p display when it launches sometime
next year.
It's unclear which smartphone manufacturer will be the first to ship
devices featuring the high-resolution displays, but Samsung or HTC seem
the most viable candidates due to each company's arsenal of Android
offerings. Android phone screens currently top out at 1280x720, and
it's debatable whether Android users could realistically get any use
out of a smartphone with 2.25 times as many pixels. However, as long as
developers follow the hardware's lead, future iterations of Android
will be able to handle the screen size.