Only two more days until Apple finally reveals what's up its sleeve. At this point, it's all but fact the public will get its first glimpse at the next iPhone, but until September 12, there's still plenty of room for speculation. Enter DisplayMate expert Dr. Raymond Soneira, providing some educated analysis on how the iPhone's screen needs to stack up to the competition.
Sure, the iPhone 4 (and 4S) Retina Display is wonderful. But as smartphone competitors like Samsung have also increased their own mobile displays, Apple will need to make a few upgrades to the iPhone 5 screen to stay on top. As Dr. Soneira notes on the DisplayMate site, "The iPhone 4 display is no longer state-of-the-art."
So, what kind of specs does the sixth-gen iPhone need? Upgrades to resolution, size, aspect ratio, and even screen reflectance. Of course, some of the upgrades are a consequence of moving to a widescreen display.
"The current iPhone 4 Screen Resolution is 960x640 pixels. In order to maintain compatibility with existing apps, the iPhone 5 can't stray too far from this," writes Dr. Soneira. "Since the Aspect Ratio is increasing from 3:2 to 16:9, the best guess is that the iPhone 5 will keep the same 640 pixels and just increase the 960 pixel value based on the new aspect ratio. In that case, the screen resolution will be 1136x640 pixels."
Moving to the new resolution -- and the 16:9 aspect ratio -- means older apps would need letterboxing to maintain appearance. Soneira also notes a 1280x720 resolution would bring the iPhone 5 to true HD, with the added bonus of lower processing requirements from side-stepping scaling issues.
If the screen is -- we also hope -- 1280x720 with 326 pixels-per-inch, the screen size could increase to 4.5 inches. And if you're frequently irritated by the reflection on the iPhone's screen, Soneira believes Apple will have to significantly adjust the display's reflectance and contrast to compete with the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S III.
Be sure to check out DisplayMate's full list of iPhone 5 predictions for a deeper explanation. There's even a rundown on color gamut. Mac|Life will have all the iPhone 5 news this Wednesday, as Apple finally blows the lid of its next device.
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elderjlward
September 20, 2012 at 9:10am
As mentioned above the iPhone 5 could have achieved true HD with a screen resolution of 1280x720. It however fell short this true HD mark coming in at only 1126x640 and 326 PPI display on a 4 inch display.
Both the Nokia Lumia 920 PureMotion HD+ display at 1280x768 and 332 PPI (4.5 inch display) and the HTC 8X at 1280x720 and 341 PPI(4.3 in display) come in higher than the iPhone 5.
Note the Lumia 920 also sports super sensitive touch which with gloves(for those cold days), fingernails, as well as the common fingertip. Better display and better interface.Wireless charging built in with the Qi standard. NFC. And what is not really getting the coverage it deserves from even a purely technical perspective WP8 allows third party app access to the API for voice interaction. The potential for voice interaction now goes beyond the constraints of the OS and are bound almost only by the limits of the app developers imagination. Innovation in the smartphone market is happening on other fronts other than Apple this year. Maybe we should at the very least take a look.
brandonwalkermedia
September 10, 2012 at 6:17pm
"The iPhone 4 display, is no longer state-of-the-art."
Wow really name one company who has a better quality screen? Name one who has more PPI
Also does this not contradict the resent reports of just a taller screen? Rumors need to be more appealing, they need to think out side the box! its Apple "Think Different!"
elderjlward
September 20, 2012 at 9:38am
As mentioned above the iPhone 5 could have achieved true HD with a screen resolution of 1280x720. It however fell short this true HD mark coming in at only 1126x640 and 326 PPI display on a 4 inch display.
Both the Nokia Lumia 920 PureMotion HD+ display at 1280x768 and 332 PPI (4.5 inch display) and the HTC 8X at 1280x720 and 341 PPI(4.3 in display) come in higher than the iPhone 5.
Note the Lumia 920 also sports super sensitive touch which allows interaction with the screen with gloves on(for those cold days), fingernails, as well as the common fingertip. Better display and better interface than the iPhone 5.Wireless charging is built in with the Qi standard. NFC. And what is not really getting the coverage it deserves from even a purely technical perspective WP8 allows third party app access to the API for voice interaction. The potential for voice interaction now goes beyond the constraints of the OS and are bound almost only by the limits of the app developers imagination. Innovation in the smartphone market is happening on other fronts other than Apple this year. Maybe we should at the very least take a look.
