Posts Tagged ‘lcd makers’

Apple Allegedly Testing Retina Display for iPad 3

A lot of people feel Apple missed the mark when it released the iPad 2 without the much heralded Retina Display found on the iPhone 4. According to The Korea Times, low-res displays will soon be a thing of the past, as Apple is already testing retina displays for an unreleased iPad, with a impressive resolution of 2048×1536 – four times as many pixels as the first and second generation iPads.

Apple’s upcoming iPad 3 will feature an improved display to support quad extended graphics (QXGA), a display resolution of 2048×1536 pixels with a 4:3 aspect ratio to provide full high definition (HD) viewing experience. [...] Apple has traditionally preferred to use the same providers of the same parts for the same device, even as they evolve to different versions. I don’t see any fundamental change to that approach.

The screens will be made by both LG and Samsung, which already supply the screens for both first and second generation iPad.

The imminent deals would assure that Samsung and LG continue to be the biggest providers of flat screens to Apple for the foreseeable future. [...] Samsung and LG are two of the few LCD makers that are at ease with highly-advanced LCD screens.

Interestingly enough, and despite the fact that Samsung and Apple are currently involved in several lawsuits over patent infringement, Samsung seems to remain a preferred partner when it comes to displays for iOS devices – most likely because only few companies are able to supply screens with such a high pixel density.

The testing phase should be completed within the next couple of months, but note that at this stage, it is still unclear whether Apple will use this display to launch an iPad 2 HD later this year, or a completely new iPad sometime next year.

» Related posts:

• No High-Resolution Display for iPad 2?
• Samsung’s New Display Technology Making It to iPad 3?
• iPad 3 Destined to Have Retina Display?

OLED Displays in iPads – Not Before iPad 3

Taiwan-based news outlet DigiTimes once and for all squashed rumors about the potential introduction of OLED screens for the iPad 2: according to a note published in today’s edition, while Apple tried to feature OLED screens in the tablet, major supply constraints and quality-related issues prevented Apple from making the move.

An Active Matrix OLED (AMOLED) display would offer significant advantages to iPad users, namely higher refresh rates, and lower power consumption, when compared to the TFT technology currently used in the iPad. The switch to AMOLED would translate into better battery life and better picture quality at the same time.

OLEDs enable a greater artificial contrast ratio and viewing angle when compared to TFT LCDs, because OLED pixels directly emit light. OLED pixel colors appear correct and unshifted, even as the viewing angle approaches 90 degrees, a feat no TFT screen can achieve today. Also, the amount of power AMOLED displays consume varies significantly depending on the color and brightness shown. For example, an OLED display that consumes 3 watts while showing black text on a white background, will only consume 0.7 watts showing white text on a black background. In comparison, a similar TFT screen will constantly use anywhere between 3 and 5 watts of power.

While OLED offers major benefits, the technology is still far from being mature, and current LCD makers are simply unable to produce enough screens for a mass market device such as the iPad. Moreover, concerns about the lifespan of such screens have been raised over the last years, as OLED screens tend to deteriorate much faster than their TFT counterparts.

Simply put, while the fact that Apple will eventually switch to OLED screens for its iOS line of devices is almost a certainty, the move will not occur before 2012 at the earliest, and the upcoming iPad 2 will feature a TFT screen just like the original iPad. Everything’s not lost though, as the iPad 2 display is expected to offer a higher resolution than the screen currently featured in the iPad.

[Photo Credit: HowStuffWorks]

» Related posts:

• iPad 2 Reported to have LCD Screen Instead of OLED
• More Rumors About the Next Generation iPads
• Touchscreen Production – The Reason for Delays?