measure smartphone display screens price
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The screen size of mobile cell phones is given as the diagonal measurement of the phones screen. When the size of a mobile phone is in pixels, then it is the measurement of the phone screen size in pixels of the sides of the phone screen, the width and height of the mobile phone in pixels and is called "Resolution".
The diagram of a phone here shows the smartphone screen dimensions in centimeters and inches. The phone screen is in light blue color and the screen size is the diagonal distance from the top or bottom corner to the opposite corner at the bottom or top of the screen
The screen sizes of smartphones are normally published in inches, but in many countries following the metric system, like Europe and India, mobile phone screen sizes are also specified in centimeters. To convert inches into Centimeters multiply the inch value by 2.54 (1 inch =2.54 cms or centimeters). To make screen size in inches from centimeters, divide by 2.54.
In the smartphone screen image here, the screen size is marked as 10.2 cms or 4 inches which is the measurement from the bottom left corner to the top right corner. Smartphone screen sizes can be specified in two different ways: one by the screen diagonal measurement in inches and, two: by the pixel count on the two sides of the phone screen, that is the width and height of the phone screen.
The pixel density or PPi of a phone screen depends on phone screen size in inches and the pixel measurement of the phone screen. More on this from our page about smartphone pixel density PPi
The screen pixel size of smartphones is the number of pixels in the x-axis by the number of pixels in the y-axis. In the picture on this page, the mobile smartphone screen size in pixels is 720x1080.
The number of pixels along the "X" axis or horizontally is shown as 720 pixels and along the "Y" axis or height is shown as 1080 pixels. This is the orientation of the "X" and "Y" axis when the phone is held vertically. When the phone is viewed held horizontally the wider width of phone screen becomes the X-axis and the shorter height of screen becomes the Y-axis, when the smartphone resolution is 1080x720.
Common Standard Screen size of smartphones now average between 4.7 to 6.5 inches. The iPhone-8 has a 4.7-inch IPS LCD screen with 1,334x750 pixels at 326ppi and the iPhone-8 Plus has a 5.5-inch full HD screen of 1920x1080 pixels at 401 ppi. This is smaller than the most sought after Android phone, the Samsung Galaxy S8 with 5.8 inch Super AMOLED screen with 1440x2960 pixels at 570ppi and the Samsung Galaxy S8+ screen size of 6.2 inches with 1440x2960 pixels at 529 ppi. Just a couple of years ago the standard practice was to call any smartphone with a screen size of over 6 inches a PHABLET - a cross between a phone and a tablet, but now the Phablets are a thing of the past. It is either a smart phone or a Tablet.
Cell phone screen size is measured diagonally as shown in the image here. This diagonal screen size measurement of phone screens is given in inches. The standard screen sizes of cell phones available today can be anywhere from 4 inches to 6 inches diagonally. Just 2 years ago the largest phone screen size was about 5.5 inches diagonally. Phones with over 5.5 inch screen were called a phablet – a cross between a phone and a tablet. Now this has changed, the size of a phablet now starts at 6 inches diagonally.
The pixel size measurement of mobile phones are the number of pixels on the phone screen in the X and Y direction, that is the number of pixels in the horizontal direction into the number of pixels in the vertical direction.
To know how the size of cell phone screen, you must measure the phone screen size in inches between to diagonally opposite corners. For example, measure from bottom left corner of screen to top right corner of phone screen. This is the diagonal measurement of cell phone screen as shown in the image here.
The screen size is measured in inches, but in countries which have the metric system of measurement, it will be given in centimeters. To convert inches into centimeters, the inch size is multiplied by 2.54, since 1 inch equals 2.54 centimeters. The phone in the image has a screen size of 4”, which when converted to centimeters equals 10.2cms.
PPI stands for Pixels Per Inch and is a measure of or how tightly packed the pixels in a mobile cell phone are. PPI is actually the Pixel Density of the display screen of the mobile cell phone. The PPI of mobile cell phone screens is got by dividing the number of pixels along either the vertical or horizontal axis by the length in inches of that side.
We can calculate the length of any side of a phone screen from the diagonal size of the phone screen and the pixel ratio between X and Y axis. Thus we can calculate the sides of a 4 inch phone display screen to be 2.63 and 3.945 inches. The PPI thus works out to 273 (720/2.63 or 1080/3.945).
Right now the Sony Xperia XZ is the highest PPi pixel density mobile phone with a PPI of 806. The Sony Xperia XZ is the only Ultra HD 4K screen cell phone available now. The Apple iPhone 7 with Retina 5.5-inch HD display of 1920×1080-pixels has only 401 PPi. The Samsung Galaxy S8 has a 5.8″ Quad HD+ Super AMOLED screen with a 2960×1440 pixel resolution and 570 PPi.
The two most popular types of phone screens in the latest smartphones are the IPS LCD display screen or Super AMOLED display screen. The full form of ‘LCD’ is Liquid Crystal Display and ‘AMOLED’ is Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode. These are without doubt the best smartphone display types to date. It is difficult to decide which cell phone screen type is best. We compare the advantages and disadvantages of IPS LCD and Super AMOLED cell phone display screens in the following table chart.
Mobile Cell Phone screens IPS LCD and Super AMOLED comparedCriteriaSuper AMOLED cell phone screenIPS LCD cell phone ScreenPicture QualityThe picture quality of both Super AMOLED and IPS LCD screens are very good. It is very difficult for human eyes to judge whether the picture on a Super AMOLED or IPS LCD screen cell phone has a better pictureBoth IPS LCD and Super AMOLED display cell phones have super resolutions and very high quality picture and only advanced instruments can make out the difference between the picture quality of IPS LCD and AMOLED cell phone screen mobiles
Picture BrightnessThe pixels in a Super AMOLED mobile cell phone screen are self illuminating and does not require a backlight. There is a limit on how bright Super AMOLED screens can be and so out in the sunshine Super AMOLED cell phone screens are difficult to see, but indoors they are excellent with better contrast ratios than the IPS LCD screens.Since cell phones with IPS LCD screens has a backlight, the brightness of which can be adjusted, so outdoors in bright sunshine, IPS LCD screen phones are easier to see than the Super AMOLED screens.
Thickness of PhoneCell Phones with Super AMOLED screen are thinner than phones with IPS LCD Screens since Super AMOLED screen works without a backlight.Cell phones with IPS LCD screens tend to be slightly thicker since they require a backlight. But the newer IPS LCD screens have become very thin.
Want to know more about mobile phone screen size in-depth? The screen size of mobile cell phones is provided as a diagonal measurement of the phone’s screen. If the size of a mobile phone is represented as pixels, Further, the measurement of the phone screen size in pixels of the sides of the phone screen, the width & height of the mobile phone in pixels and is known as ‘Resolution’.
Typically, the diagram of a phone can represent the smartphone screen dimensions in centimeters and inches. The phone screen is generally shown as light blue color and the screen size is effectively the diagonal distance from the top/bottom corner to the opposite corner at the bottom/top of the screen.
You can distinguish the size of the smartphones and are probably published in inches, but in numerous countries that show the metric system, like Europe and India, mobile phone screen sizes are also stated in centimeters. To convert inches into Centimeters multiply the inch value using 2.54 (1 inch =2.54 cm or centimeters). To receive the screen size in inches from centimeters, try to divide by 2.54.
Smartphone screen image: Here, the screen size is measured at about 10.2 cm or 4 inches which can be measured from the bottom left corner to the top right corner.
As per the current era, we live with smartphones every time and every individual seconds. Result of this, our phones can be utilized for listening to music, snapping pictures, studying, working, or even paying. You can get them with you in all forms of your work like standing, walking, on the way to work, or anything regarding your daily routine. Everyone prefers to keep their phones in their hands. So, we need to ensure the screen size to hold and use your phone.
Before 2 years, the standard practice was under basic usage to make a call with a smartphone ranging the screen size of over 6 inches, a PHABLET among phones, and a tablet, but the Phablet is the previous one.
It’s also, objectively, not very small. Here’s something that really happened: when I unboxed the Google Pixel 6A, I gushed to the rest of the Verge reviews team over Slack about what a cute, small phone it was. A little baby Pixel 6! They quickly reminded me that 6.1 inches is not tiny, cute phone territory. When you spend most of your time using huge Android phones, you can lose your sense of what’s a small display and what’s just normal.
The index for telephone hardware, calculators, and other consumer information items reflects price changes for a wide variety of telecommunications items. The sample breakdown for this category is approximately 50 percent cell phones and 50 percent other items within the category. Within cell phones, approximately 90 percent are smartphones, with the remainder composed of feature or basic phones.
If the replacement is essentially the same as the predecessor item, the CPI can treat any price difference between the replacement item and its predecessor as pure price change. If the characteristics of the item changed and the reported change is one that provides little value to the consumer, the CPI will show the unadjusted price change. For example, a color change for a particular smartphone is not truly a change in quality of the device.
Of the items in the telephone hardware, calculators and other consumer information items category, smartphones are the only items which are quality adjusted due to the rapid rate of technological advancements and improved quality to consumers. Note that the price collected for a smartphone is the entire cost of the phone, with any promotions or sales taken into account. Although consumers may purchase a cell phone at the same time they sign up for wireless service, only changes to the purchase price of the hardware are captured in this category. Wireless services are captured in the wireless telephone services category. If a smartphone is purchased at a wireless carrier, and the cost of the phone can be paid in monthly increments as part of the consumer"s monthly service bill, the CPI still collects the price for the phone as if the consumer had bought it outright. Collecting the full transaction price of the phone each month assures uniformity of prices within the sample.
If a replacement smartphone is different from its predecessor and the value of the difference in quality can be accurately estimated, a quality adjustment can be made to the previous item’s price to include the estimated value of the difference in quality. For example, CPI analysts have estimated the value of smartphone features such as screen resolution. So if a manufacturer provides a higher resolution screen to the latest model in their smartphone line, the CPI adds the value of additional resolution to the price of the predecessor item. Similarly, should the screen decrease in resolution, the value of the higher resolution would be subtracted from the predecessor’s price.
The estimated values for the quality adjustments for smartphones were generated using hedonic modeling methods. The data used to construct the model were obtained from a secondary source that specializes in capturing smartphone prices from a wide variety of retailers who sell these devices. In addition to providing all of the detailed specifications needed to create a useable model, the secondary source data also provided the full (non-contract) price of each phone which is the price collected in the CPI. Using this auxiliary dataset provided us with five times the amount of observations available from CPI collected data, allowing for a robust model to be created.
Typically an item in the CPI is priced until it is no longer available, but in the case of directed substitution, we will continue to price the current phone or substitute to the latest model, even if the current model is still available. With April 2018 data, directed substitution is employed for smartphones in order to bring the CPI sample of smartphones more in line with what consumers are purchasing. Directed substitution is based on statistics on how often consumers upgrade their smartphones and will take place approximately twice a year to coincide with new hardware releases from manufacturers. If a smartphone in the sample is two years old or older, random sampling will be used to determine if the current phone should continue to be priced or if a substitution to the latest model should be made.
Access data for telephone hardware, calculators, and other consumer information items in our online database. In addition, BLS also produces a special relative calculation (SRC) for smartphones which is also available in our online database. This SRC data should be interpreted with care because it is produced from a small sample of data and does not meet standard publication criteria.
When you purchase a device, both the screen size and the resolution specified in the specifications are often displayed. Screen sensitivity is the diagonal measurement of the screen diagonally in inches. This should not be confused with the resolution, which is the number of pixels on the screen, often displayed in terms of width in height (i.e., 1024×768). Because devices of the same screen size can have very different resolutions, developers use display windows when creating easy-to-use mobile pages. Viewports have smaller versions of resolution, which allows you to view websites on different devices more consistently. Viewports are often more standardized and have a lower resolution than resolution.
Although desktop and laptop monitors are horizontal (higher), many mobile devices can be rotated to display sites in horizontal and vertical orientation (higher than width). This means that designers and developers have to design with these differences in mind. While desktop and laptop monitors are horizontal (higher), many mobile devices can be rotated to display sites in horizontal and vertical orientation (higher than width). That means designers and developers have to design with these differences in mind.
Group styles into the most common sizes for phones, tablets, and desktops. In this case, anything larger than 7 inches is typically displayed with a desktop resolution or… Use breakpoints (defined by the width of the pixels, which the display will adjust according to the screen size) depending on the design and location. Sometimes the developer can combine both methods if he or she finds it necessary. It is recommended that you start by grouping the typical device sizes.
Knowing that it is important to consider different devices when designing websites, we have compiled a list of the most modern devices with corresponding pixel sizes and display windows, which is given below. This is a condensed list, you can find a more comprehensive list which includes pixel density, physical and CSS resolutions (pixels per square inch, ‘ppi’) here.
Resolution and aspect ratio is also important. That’s because the resolution of different screens can affect how designers build their apps. Based on this information, there are certain
Understanding size and resolution can help you optimize your mobile app for a variety of devices. This refers to both smartphones, tablets, and even smart TVs or other screens where users can download your app.
Not every mobile cell phone is the same. Some of smartphones have bigger screens. I’ve seen smartphone screen sizes that won’t even fit in my pocket. All of this impacts pixel density, pixel size, width, and more.
Here’s how to measure phone screen size. You need to use diagonal measurement. Start from top left corner of the screen and measure the length to the opposite diagonal corner. It’s pretty straightforward, and anyone with a ruler can do this.
Screen resolution is a little bit different. The resolution is measured by the number of distinguishable pixels that can be displayed in each dimension.
Basically, you’ve got to realize that since screen size and screen resolution both play a role in determining the PPI, it can tell you how well an image gets displayed on that particular device.
If these trends continue, which I expect them to, QHD screens will become a thing of the past. But for now, you should still make sure your app, images, and designs can accommodate as many devices as possible.
There’s also a difference between HD and QHD screens. Even though screen sizes are moving toward a standard resolution, app designers still need to be aware that their app will be seen on many different kinds of screens.
When it is time to settle for an upgrade or a replacement of your existing phone, other than the price factor, there are many other attributes that go a long way in influencing your decision to buy a new smartphone.
One of the important considerations that will more often than not play a decisive role in your selection of a smartphone is the choice of an appropriate screen size that is conducive to your distinct usage patterns.
With modern smartphones bringing the world to your fingertips, it is not surprising that the importance of the phone’s screen size has increased manifold since the multipurpose smartphone of today is not only limited to its basic functionality of making and receiving calls and messaging but also acts as an entertainment device-cum-gaming console for its owners.
Choosing an ideal display size can be a tricky affair as the market is flooded with smartphones that boast screen sizes of various dimensions. Other than the screen size, you should also know how to check the specifications and select the best smartphone for yourself
In this article, we will review the advantages and disadvantages of few of the trending smartphone screen sizes of 5”, 5.5” and 6” or even more bigger in order to help you make an informed decision that takes into account your specific needs and your individual preferences too.
Well-suited for day-to-day basics use, a 5-inch display size is the new normal that befits you when you are desirous of a functional phone that flaunts a large display but is compact enough to fit into your hand easily.
Apart from enabling you with the flexibility and comfort to use your phone single-handedly, such a moderated screen size ensures that activities such as browsing the net, playing games, watching movies, reading e-books and responding to emails do not seem cumbersome anymore when performed on the spacious display.
Features, ergonomics and aesthetics are not compromised either with an optimally sized screen size that leaves adequate space to pack in more features into your smartphone.
Additionally, opting for a 5-inch screen will allow you to experiment with smartphones of diverse makes and models from industry players such as Apple, Samsung, Google, Huawei, Oppo, Xiaomi, etc.
While a 5-inch screen size is a safe bet for you when elements like your phone’s portability, usability and productivity score high on your wish list, yet, a 5 inches display would imply that you have to make do with a viewing experience that can be enhanced manifold with the larger display variants.
Unlike the 5.5 inches and 6 inches models, a 5-inch screen size may also be indicative of a lower pixel count – a vital aspect that warrants deliberation, especially when you need superior display resolution to enjoy animated wallpapers and backgrounds and high definition games and movies.
Moreover, the restricted screen space can hinder your creativity to some extent as creating presentations and compressing HD videos is much more seamless on a bigger screen as opposed to a 5-inch display.
Also deemed as a phablet for its innovative take on a smartphone and a tablet, a 5.5 inch screen size should be your ‘go-to’ option when both productivity and entertainment are non-negotiable for you.
Much sought after by the gaming enthusiasts who crave for an expansive display to manoeuvre through the treacherous turns like a pro, it is also a preferred choice for the movie buffs who swear by a big screen for a cinematic experience right in the comfort of their homes.
Apart from delighting you with a better read, seamless typing functionalities and the flexibility to multitask across multiple windows, a 5.5 inches display makes handling of a gamut of apps and editing of spreadsheets and documents surprisingly effortless and comfortable.
Thus, workaholics who are heavily reliant upon their smartphones for Office and other applications will find a 5.5 inches screen size more relevant to their needs as opposed to the smaller displays. Apple, Samsung, LG and Xiaomi Redmi are few of the well-known brands that manufacture smartphones with a 5.5” display.
A 5.5 inches screen size can impede your comfort quotient as it is may not be compact enough to fit into your hand or pocket easily. Since a larger display size means a bigger battery for your phone, hence, owning a 5.5-inch smartphone could imply that your phone will take more time to charge unlike those with smaller batteries.
A popular fad in the ever-evolving world of smartphones, a 6 inches display is perfect for users who seek a canvas-like display to relish the latest blockbusters and graphic intensive games without having to squint for an up close and personal view of the distant images and swift and complex video actions.
Owing to its high resolution and amplified pixel density, a 6+-inch display is a better deal when you desire matchless clarity and sharpness of pictures to magnify your multimedia experience. Surfing the net is also a sheer delight when you engage in your browsing activities on your smartphone’s broad 6 inches screen.
Bibliophiles will strike a chord with this screen size as they can satiate their love for books to the fullest in the form of e-book apps. Since a bigger screen has the capacity to display more content in one go, hence, it endows the users with a continuous and comfortable read and eliminates the need to scroll down the screen frequently.
Smartphones with a commodious 6-inch screen size are also apt for the creative souls who aspire for a bigger canvas to let loose their imagination. Apple, Samsung, Huawei, Oppo, Vivo, Sony and Xiaomi are few of the renowned manufacturers of smartphones with 6 inches screen sizes.
Portability is the main concern with phones that flaunt super-sized 6-inch screens. Large screen phones are also not very convenient during travelling. Moreover, if your 6+” display is damaged or broken, replacing it can burn a hole in your pockets faster than a small screen that will usually cost you less.
Also, those with petite hands or ones who have an eye for compact phones may find it awkward to use such large phones for making and receiving calls. Lastly, it goes without saying that one has to be prepared to shell out more if they want to splurge upon a smartphone that provides them with a generous 6” display that literally leaves nothing to the imagination anymore!
But now as the displays have become longer and narrower, even 6+ inch screens are more convenient than phones of earlier generations. (Earlier smartphone screens had ratios of 16:9, while now screens of 18:9, 18.5:9 and even 20:9 have made head ways making them more convenient to use)
At Prizm Institute, the students enrolling into mobile servicing course are taught about all major smartphone specifications to consider and check while buying them.
With technology rapidly changing and making way for cutting-edge innovations in the realm of mobile computing, there is nothing called a best fit anymore as mobile companies are constantly on the lookout to design and develop smartphone models that score over their predecessors in terms of their usability and with respect to their features, performance and functionality. It is up to you as a consumer to decipher your distinct usage pattern and zero-in upon a screen size that complements your lifestyle effortlessly.
The first iPhone, released way back in 2007, featured a 3.5 inch screen with a resolution of 320x480 pixels and 163 DPI. Smartphone screens have come a long way since then, with the latest iPhones offering up to 1242x2688 pixels and 485 DPI (the iPhone XS Max).
DeviceAtlas allows you to detect the viewport, resolution, screensize and DPI of almost 53,000 devices in real-time, giving your content optimization efforts the edge over your competitors.
In recent years, smartphone displays have developed far more acronyms than ever before with each different one featuring a different kind of technology. AMOLED, LCD, LED, IPS, TFT, PLS, LTPS, LTPO...the list continues to grow.
As if the different available technologies weren"t enough, component and smartphone manufacturers adopt more and more glorified names like "Super Retina XDR" and "Dynamic AMOLED", which end up increasing the potential for confusion among consumers. So let"s take a look at some of these terms used in smartphone specification sheets and decipher them.
There are many display types used in smartphones: LCD, OLED, AMOLED, Super AMOLED, TFT, IPS and a few others that are less frequently found on smartphones nowadays, like TFT-LCD. One of the most frequently found on mid-to-high range phones now is IPS-LCD. But what do these all mean?
LCD means Liquid Crystal Display, and its name refers to the array of liquid crystals illuminated by a backlight, and their ubiquity and relatively low cost make them a popular choice for smartphones and many other devices.
LCDs also tend to perform quite well in direct sunlight, as the entire display is illuminated from behind, but does suffer from potentially less accurate colour representation than displays that don"t require a backlight.
Within smartphones, you have both TFT and IPS displays. TFT stands for Thin Film Transistor, an advanced version of LCD that uses an active matrix (like the AM in AMOLED). Active matrix means that each pixel is attached to a transistor and capacitor individually.
The main advantage of TFT is its relatively low production cost and increased contrast when compared to traditional LCDs. The disadvantage of TFT LCDs is higher energy demands than some other LCDs, less impressive viewing angles and colour reproduction. It"s for these reasons, and falling costs of alternative options, that TFTs are not commonly used in smartphones anymore.Affiliate offer
IPS technology (In-Plane Switching) solves the problem that the first generation of LCD displays experience, which adopts the TN (Twisted Nematic) technique: where colour distortion occurs when you view the display from the side - an effect that continues to crop up on cheaper smartphones and tablets.
The PLS (Plane to Line Switching) standard uses an acronym that is very similar to that of IPS, and is it any wonder that its basic operation is also similar in nature? The technology, developed by Samsung Display, has the same characteristics as IPS displays - good colour reproduction and viewing angles, but a lower contrast level compared to OLED and LCD/VA displays.
According to Samsung Display, PLS panels have a lower production cost, higher brightness rates, and even superior viewing angles when compared to their rival, LG Display"s IPS panels. Ultimately, whether a PLS or IPS panel is used, it boils down to the choice of the component supplier.
This is a very common question after "LED" TVs were launched, with the short answer simply being LCD. The technology used in a LED display is liquid crystal, the difference being LEDs generating the backlight.
Despite the improvement in terms of contrast (and potentially brightness) over traditional LCD/LED displays, LCD/mini-LEDs still divide the screen into brightness zones — over 2,500 in the case of the iPad and 2021 "QNED" TVs from LG — compared to dozens or hundreds of zones in previous-generation FALD (full-array local dimming) displays, on which the LEDs are behind the LCD panel instead of the edges.
However, for even greater contrast control, done individually at each point on the screen, it is necessary to go to panels equipped with microLED technologies – still cost-prohibitive in 2021 – or OLED, which until recently were manufactured on a large scale only in sizes for smartphones or televisions.Affiliate offer
AMOLED stands for Active Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode. While this may sound complicated it actually isn"t. We already encountered the active matrix in TFT LCD technology, and OLED is simply a term for another thin-film display technology.
OLED is an organic material that, as the name implies, emits light when a current is passed through it. As opposed to LCD panels, which are back-lit, OLED displays are "always off" unless the individual pixels are electrified.
This means that OLED displays have much purer blacks and consume less energy when black or darker colours are displayed on-screen. However, lighter-coloured themes on AMOLED screens use considerably more power than an LCD using the same theme. OLED screens are also more expensive to produce than LCDs.
Because the black pixels are "off" in an OLED display, the contrast ratios are also higher compared to LCD screens. AMOLED displays have a very fast refresh rate too, but on the downside are not quite as visible in direct sunlight as backlit LCDs. Screen burn-in and diode degradation (because they are organic) are other factors to consider.Affiliate offer
OLED stands for Organic Light Emitting Diode. An OLED display is comprised of thin sheets of electroluminescent material, the main benefit of which is they produce their own light, and so don"t require a backlight, cutting down on energy requirements. OLED displays are more commonly referred to as AMOLED displays when used on smartphones or TVs.
As we"ve already covered, the AM part of AMOLED stands for Active Matrix, which is different from a Passive Matrix OLED (P-OLED), though these are less common in smartphones.
Super AMOLED is the name given by Samsung to its displays that used to only be found in high-end models but have now trickled down to more modestly specced devices. Like IPS LCDs, Super AMOLED improves upon the basic AMOLED premise by integrating the touch response layer into the display itself, rather than as an extra layer on top.
As a result, Super AMOLED displays handle sunlight better than AMOLED displays and also require less power. As the name implies, Super AMOLED is simply a better version of AMOLED. It"s not all just marketing bluster either: Samsung"s displays are regularly reviewed as some of the best around.
The technology debuted with the obscure Royole FlexPai, equipped with an OLED panel supplied by China"s BOE, and was then used in the Huawei Mate X (pictured above) and the Motorola Razr (2019), where both also sport BOE"s panel - and the Galaxy Flip and Fold lines, using the component supplied by Samsung Display.Affiliate offer
Resolution describes the number of individual pixels (or points) displayed on the screen and is usually presented for phones by the number of horizontal pixels — vertical when referring to TVs and monitors. More pixels on the same display allow for more detailed images and clearer text.
To make it easier to compare different models, brands usually adopt the same naming scheme made popular by the TV market with terms like HD, FullHD and UltraHD. But with phones adopting a wide range of different screen proportions, just knowing that is not enough to know the total pixels displayed on the screen.Common phone resolutions
But resolution in itself is not a good measure for image clarity, for that we need to consider the display size, resulting in the pixel density by area measured by DPI/PPI (dots/points per inch).Affiliate offer
Speaking of pixel density, this was one of Apple"s highlights back in 2010 during the launch of the iPhone 4. The company christened the LCD screen (LED, TFT, and IPS) used in the smartphone as "Retina Display", thanks to the high resolution of the panel used (960 by 640 pixels back then) in its 3.5-inch display.
The name coined by Apple"s marketing department is applied to screens which, according to the company, the human eye is unable to discern the individual pixels from a normal viewing distance. In the case of iPhones, the term was applied to displays with a pixel density that is greater than 300 ppi (dots per inch).
With the iPhone 11 Pro, another term was introduced to the equation: "Super Retina XDR". Still using an OLED panel (that is supplied by Samsung Display or LG Display), the smartphone brings even higher specs in terms of contrast - with a 2,000,000:1 ratio and brightness level of 1,200 nits, which have been specially optimized for displaying content in HDR format.
As a kind of consolation prize for iPhone XR and iPhone 11 buyers, who continued relying on LCD panels, Apple classified the display used in the smartphones with a new term, "Liquid Retina". This was later applied also to the iPad Pro and iPad Air models, with the name defining screens that boast a high range and colour accuracy, at least based on the company"s standards.
Nit, or candela per square meter in the international system (cd/m²), is a unit of measurement of luminance, i.e. the intensity of light emitted. In the case of smartphone screens and monitors in general, such a value defines just how bright the display is - the higher the value, the more intense the light emitted by the screen.
The result is smoother animations on the phone, both during regular use and in games, compared to screens that have a 60 Hz refresh rate which remains the standard rate in the market when it comes to displays.
Originally touted to be a "gimmick" in 2017, with the launch of the Razer Phone, the feature gained more and more momentum in due time, even with a corresponding decrease in battery life. In order to make the most of this feature, manufacturers began to adopt screens with variable refresh rates, which can be adjusted according to the content displayed - which is 24 fps in most movies, 30 or 60 fps in home video recordings, and so forth.
The same unit of measurement is used for the sampling rate. Although similar, the value here represents the number of times per second the screen is able to register touches. The higher the sample rate, the faster the smartphone registers such touches, which results in a faster response time.
To further muddy the alphabet soup that we"ve come across, you will also run into other less common terms that are often highlighted in promotional materials for smartphones.
TFT(Thin Film Transistor) - a type of LCD display that adopts a thin semiconductor layer deposited on the panel, which allows for active control of the colour intensity in each pixel, featuring a similar concept as that of active-matrix (AM) used in AMOLED displays. It is used in TN, IPS/PLS, VA/PVA/MVA panels, etc.
LTPS(Low Temperature PolySilicon) - a variation of the TFT that offers higher resolutions and lower power consumption compared to traditional TFT screens, based on a-Si (amorphous silicon) technology.
IGZO(Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide) - a semiconductor material used in TFT films, which also allows higher resolutions and lower power consumption, and sees action in different types of LCD screens (TN, IPS, VA) and OLED displays
LTPO(Low Temperature Polycrystaline Oxide) - a technology developed by Apple that can be used in both OLED and LCD displays, as it combines LTPS and IGZO techniques. The result? Lower power consumption. It has been used in the Apple Watch 4 and the Galaxy S21 Ultra.
LTPO allows the display to adjust its refresh rate, adapting dynamically to the content shown. Scrolling pages can trigger the fastest mode for a fluid viewing, while displaying a static image allows the phone to use a lower refresh rate, saving the battery.
Among televisions, the long-standing featured technology has always been miniLED - which consists of increasing the number of lighting zones in the backlight while still using an LCD panel. There are whispers going around that smartphones and smartwatches will be looking at incorporating microLED technology in their devices soon, with it being radically different from LCD/LED displays as it sports similar image characteristics to that of OLEDs.
A microLED display has one light-emitting diode for each subpixel of the screen - usually a set of red, green, and blue diodes for each dot. Chances are it will use a kind of inorganic material such as gallium nitride (GaN).
By adopting a self-emitting light technology, microLED displays do not require the use of a backlight, with each pixel being "turned off" individually. The result is impressive: your eyes see the same level of contrast as OLED displays, without suffering from the risk of image retention or burn-in of organic diodes.
This is one of the reasons that explain the adoption of such technology to date remains rather limited in scope. You will see them mainly in large screens of 75 to 150 inches only, which enable 4K resolution (3,840 x 2,160 resolution, which is close to 8.3 million pixels or 24.8 million RGB subpixels). This is a huge number of pixels to look at!
Another thing to be wary of is the price - at 170 million Korean won (about US$150,330 after conversion), that is certainly a lot of money to cough up for a 110-inch display.
Each technology has its own advantages and disadvantages but in recent years, OLED screens have gained prominence, especially with the adoption of the component in high-end flagship smartphones. It gained an even greater degree of popularity after the launch of the iPhone X, which cemented the position of OLED panels in the premium segment.
As previously stated, OLED/AMOLED screens have the advantage of a varied contrast level, resulting from individual brightness control for the pixels. Another result of this is the more realistic reproduction of black, as well as low power consumption when the screen shows off dark images - which has also helped to popularize dark modes on smartphones.
In addition, the organic diodes that give OLED screens their name can lose their ability to change their properties over time, and this happens when the same image is displayed for a long period of time. This problem is known as "burn-in", tends to manifest itself when higher brightness settings are applied for long periods of time.
In the case of LCD displays, the main advantage lies in the low manufacturing cost, with dozens of players in the market offering competitive pricing and a high production volume. Some brands have taken advantage of this feature to prioritize certain features - such as a higher refresh rate - instead of adopting an OLED panel, such as the Xiaomi Mi 10T.
A phablet (mobile device combining or straddling the size formats of smartphones and tablets. The word is a portmanteau of phone and tablet.Android smartphones constitute the phablet form factor, as they utilize a minimum of 6.5-inch screen size and a height of 160 mm or higher. This was first popularized by Chinese brands Oppo and Infinix in 2019, which began producing larger-screen budget smartphones for developing markets such as Bangladesh, India, South Africa and Indonesia. Samsung also started producing large-screen budget smartphones since 2020, with the introduction of Samsung Galaxy A21.
Phablets feature large displays that complement screen-intensive activity such as mobile web browsing and multimedia viewing. They may also include software optimized for an integral self-storing stylus to facilitate sketching, note-taking and annotation.Android 4.0 and subsequent releases of Android were suited to large as well as small screen sizes, while older consumers preferred larger screen sizes on smartphones due to deteriorating eyesight.
The definition of a phablet has changed in recent years due to the proliferation of larger displays on mainstream smartphones, and smartphones designed with thin bezels and/or curved screens to make them more compact than other devices with similar screen sizes. Thus, a device with a "phablet-sized" screen may not necessarily be considered one.
Current phablets typically have a diagonal display measurement between 6.5 inches (170 mm) and 7 inches (180 mm).iPhone 13 Pro Max, Pixel 6 Pro, and Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G) using over 6.6 in (170 mm) displays.PhoneArena argued that the S7 Edge was not a phablet, as it has a narrow and compact build with a physical footprint more in line with the smaller-screened Nexus 5X, due primarily to its use of a display with curved edges.
In 2017, several manufacturers began to release smartphones with displays taller than the conventional 16:9 aspect ratio used by the majority of devices, and diagonal screen sizes often around 6 inches. However, in these cases, the sizes of the devices are more compact than 16:9 aspect ratio devices with equivalent diagonal screen sizes.
However, the form factor did not become popular until the arrival of the Galaxy Note in the 2010s. The Android-based Dell Streak included a 5-inch (130 mm), 800×480 display and a widescreen-optimized interface. Reviewers encountered issues with its outdated operating system, Android 1.6, which was not yet optimized for such a large screen size, and the device was commercially unsuccessful.
The Samsung Galaxy Notestylus functionality, the speed of its 1.5 GHz dual-core processor, and the advantages of its high resolution display. The Galaxy Note was a commercial success; Samsung announced in December 2011 that the Galaxy Note had sold 1 million units in two months. In February 2012, Samsung debuted a Note version with LTE support.Galaxy Note II, featuring a 1.6 GHz quad-core processor, a 5.55 inches (141 mm) screen and the ability to run two applications at once via a split-screen view. The Note II also incorporated a refreshed hardware design based on the Galaxy S III, with a narrower, smoother body.LG Optimus Vu used a 5-inch (130 mm) display with an unusual 4:3 aspect ratio – in contrast to the 16:9 aspect ratio used by most smartphones.LG Optimus G Pro, released in April.
In late-2012 and early 2013, companies began to release smartphones with 5 inch screens at 1080p resolution, such as the HTC Droid DNA and Samsung Galaxy S4. Despite the screen size approaching those of phablets, HTC"s design director Jonah Becker said that the Droid DNA was not a phablet.HTC One Max – a smartphone with a 5.9 in (150 mm) screen and a design based on its popular HTC One model, in October 2013.
Examples of Android phablets with screens larger than 6 inches began appearing in 2013 with the Chinese company Huawei unveiling its 6.1 in (150 mm) Ascend Mate at Consumer Electronics Show and Samsung introducing the Galaxy Mega, a phablet with a 6.3 in (160 mm) variant, which has midrange specs and lacks a stylus compared to the flagship Galaxy Note series.Sony Mobile also entered the phablet market with its 6.4 in (160 mm) Xperia Z Ultra.
In September 2018, Apple released the iPhone XS Max; the first phablet iPhone to feature the reduced bezel form factor with the larger 6.5-inch display, utilizing the OLED screen found on it"s predecessor and replacing the Touch ID into the new facial recognition system called Face ID which is enabled by the TrueDepth front facing camera since the iPhone X doesn"t have a larger variant due to the smaller dimension with the 5.8-inch display larger than the 5.5-inch iPhone 8 Plus (the final phablet iPhone to feature the Touch ID introduced in 2017) and it"s predecessors.
In October 2022, Apple released the iPhone 14 Plus; the first phablet iPhone to reduce the price as well as lacking the telephoto camera lens and LiDAR sensor since iPhone XR, iPhone 11, iPhone 12 lineup and iPhone 13 lineup doesn"t have a larger display size as the iPhone XS Max, iPhone 11 Pro Max, iPhone 12 Pro Max and iPhone 13 Pro Max due to the smaller dimension available with 6.1-inch and 5.4-inch display size options.iPhone 14 Pro Max remained as the higher-priced phablet iPhone counterpart to the iPhone 14 Plus which these iPhone models with larger 6.7-inch display are the first time available in both affordable and expensive tier price options.
In January 2021, Samsung Electronics announced the Galaxy S21 Ultra; the first phablet despite the Samsung Galaxy Note series, it supports the S Pen accessory, albeit sold separately and with limited functionality. It features a 6.8" 1440p "Dynamic AMOLED" curved display with HDR10+ support, "dynamic tone mapping" technology, and a variable 120 Hz refresh rate.
In April 2013, Doug Conklyn, vice president of global design for Dockers told Fox News that the company reworked the size of its pants pockets "to accommodate the growing size of smartphones".handbag can easily accommodate a phablet, but not most tablets.
In Q1 2014, phablets made up 6% of US smartphones sold. In the first quarter of 2015, phablets accounted for 21% of all smartphones sold in the US, with the iPhone 6 Plus making up 44 percent of those phablets sold.
‘Lagging’ is known for causing frustration, leading to dissatisfaction for the device users. Measured in milliseconds, the response time to a tap on a smartphones screen might not be an issue that can not be overcome, but a delay between an action and its reaction in mobile gaming industry can make an important difference.
Helping in providing a user experience without lags, MATT performs in a testing protocol meant to determine the touch- to- display response time, additionally being an essential tool in benchmarking between different phone brands.
Building MATT to be a robot adaptable to as many testing scenarios as possible was a mandatory requirement from the initial stages of its development. Having this in mind, MATT was built as a universal tool, being able to integrate with as many external devices as possible (cameras, light modules, measurement devices, sensors and much more). This brought an advantage to easily testing multiple mobile phone brands, as well as simplified the integration of the gear required for the latency measurements.
Generally, in the everyday use, a good reaction time from a finger tapping a smartphone’s screen affects the user experience in many technological products. There are industries that represents the ideal testing scenarios for the pursued analysis, such as the mobile gaming field. The described use-case follows three variables: touch to display response time, display refresh period, touch sampling period (full explanation of each variable can be found by clicking the link below). Being measured in time increments as small as milliseconds, through MATT’s versatility, a high- speed camera is integrated with the robot in order to capture each frame as it is displayed on a smartphone’s screen. Therefore, the observation and processing of the touch time response is performed seamlessly.
One of the use-case’s objectives is to compare response time of devices, regardless of the phones manufacturing characteristics. As MATT stores created programs, by using test robust computer vision techniques, it allows for the same testing cycles to be performed on diverse smartphone brands. Having the devices tested under the same conditions, benchmarking the different touch- to- display response times is easily achieved.
Until now, MATT’s implications in the testing protocol were explored, as well as the most important aspects of the use-case. But there is more. Find out the details behind how a MATT fleet has been used in the measurement and benchmarking of touch-to-display response time and the results to the conducted study by reading our client’s display protocol for measuring the touch response time on smartphones.
What constitutes a great phone display? Is it the high resolution and pixel density? Well, that, and great screen quality test numbers, that"s why the Sony Xperia 1 IV specs with the 1644p 4K panel top our list. What about the high brightness and contrast that offer good outdoor visibility in the sun outdoors? That"s certainly important, but most of today"s flagships have HDR-certified panels that breach the 1000-nit barrier upwards to fit the standard, and their OLED tech ensures practically infinite contrast ratio, so it"s hard to pick on that merit alone.
Ditto for credible color gamut presentation, as per-unit display calibration is no longer a prerogative of Apple"s iPhones, while said HDR display flagships now cover both the standard RGB, and the wide P3 color gamut. Is it the actual white balance and DeltaE numbers then? It"s getting warmer, but throw in dynamically-adjusted refresh rate based on the content displayed, and you"ve narrowed it down to only a few choices when it comes to the best phone displays that we round up below.
Not only does Sony make the only phones with 4K display resolution, but it also calibrates them to a near perfect level. The flagship Sony Xperia 1 IV carries a 6.5" 4K display with the whopping 643 PPI pixel density, and our display benchmarks returned class-beating brightness, white balance and wide gamut color representation credibility levels, some of the best we"ve measured. Add the high dynamic refresh rate, and the Sony Xperia 1 IV has probably the best panel on a phone so far.
The CIE 1931 xy color gamut chart represents the set (area) of colors that a display can reproduce, with the sRGB colorspace (the highlighted triangle) serving as reference. The chart also provides a visual representation of a display"s color accuracy. The small squares across the boundaries of the triangle are the reference points for the various colors, while the small dots are the actual measurements. Ideally, each dot should be positioned on top of its respective square. The "x: CIE31" and "y: CIE31" values in the table below the chart indicate the position of each measurement on the chart. "Y" shows the luminance (in nits) of each measured color, while "Target Y" is the desired luminance level for that color. Finally, "ΔE 2000" is the Delta E value of the measured color. Delta E values of below 2 are ideal.
The Color accuracy chart gives an idea of how close a display"s measured colors are to their referential values. The first line holds the measured (actual) colors, while the second line holds the reference (target) colors. The closer the actual colors are to the target ones, the better.
The Grayscale accuracy chart shows whether a display has a correct white balance (balance between red, green and blue) across different levels of grey (from dark to bright). The closer the Actual colors are to the Target ones, the better.
Pay attention to that "brightest" part and the 1Hz-120Hz specs at the full 1440p resolution. Yes, that means that the S22 Ultra is equipped with the newest LTPO OLED display technology that allowed for both the record 1750nits of peak brightness, 15% less battery consumption than what"s on the S21/S21+, and the dynamically-allocated refresh rate that can go down to 1Hz when you are looking at static images, or rev up all the way to 120Hz when you scroll.
This brightness is what makes the S22 Ultra display, in particular, stand out, as the granularly adaptive refresh rate has been on Oppo and OnePlus phones before it.
If you are looking for the best foldable phone display, it"s again Oppo that delivers with its Find N line, rather than Samsung. We tested the Find N2"s display to be one of the most color-credible panel among all phones, not only bendy ones, and the brightest on a foldable phone.
The CIE 1931 xy color gamut chart represents the set (area) of colors that a display can reproduce, with the sRGB colorspace (the highlighted triangle) serving as reference. The chart also provides a visual representation of a display"s color accuracy. The small squares across the boundaries of the triangle are the reference points for the various colors, while the small dots are the actual measurements. Ideally, each dot should be positioned on top of its respective square. The "x: CIE31" and "y: CIE31" values in the table below the chart indicate the position of each measurement on the chart. "Y" shows the luminance (in nits) of each measured color, while "Target Y" is the desired luminance level for that color. Finally, "ΔE 2000" is the Delta E value of the measured color. Delta E values of below 2 are ideal.
The Color accuracy chart gives an idea of how close a display"s measured colors are to their referential values. The first line holds the measured (actual) colors, while the second line holds the reference (target) colors. The closer the actual colors are to the target ones, the better.
The Grayscale accuracy chart shows whether a display has a correct white balance (balance between red, green and blue) across different levels of grey (from dark to bright). The closer the Actual colors are to the Target ones, the better.
As usual with Oppo, ever since its partnership with Pixelworks, there is a per-unit factory Delta E calibration, color-blindness presets, and camera-to-display wide color management system. The LTPO panel is factory-calibrated and delivers one of the best color credibility Delta measurements we"ve ever taken, with only Google"s Pixels being better here.
Moreover, the Find X5 Pro has the best white balance score, nearest to the 6500K reference point that means the screens colors are spot on in terms of warmth, neither too yellowish, nor cold and blueish. Adding the high typical or peak brightness levels, the company has managed to beat its own best phone displays record.
The CIE 1931 xy color gamut chart represents the set (area) of colors that a display can reproduce, with the sRGB colorspace (the highlighted triangle) serving as reference. The chart also provides a visual representation of a display"s color accuracy. The small squares across the boundaries of the triangle are the reference points for the various colors, while the small dots are the actual measurements. Ideally, each dot should be positioned on top of its respective square. The "x: CIE31" and "y: CIE31" values in the table below the chart indicate the position of each measurement on the chart. "Y" shows the luminance (in nits) of each measured color, while "Target Y" is the desired luminance level for that color. Finally, "ΔE 2000" is the Delta E value of the measured color. Delta E values of below 2 are ideal.
The Color accuracy chart gives an idea of how close a display"s measured colors are to their referential values. The first line holds the measured (actual) colors, while the second line holds the reference (target) colors. The closer the actual colors are to the target ones, the better.
The Grayscale accuracy chart shows whether a display has a correct white balance (balance between red, green and blue) across different levels of grey (from dark to bright). The closer the Actual colors are to the Target ones, the better.
To take full advantage of its excellent display panel"s abilities, the Find X5 Pro employs a "multi-brightness color calibration," meaning that the screen is as color-credible in all lighting conditions, be it on the beach or in the dark.
Google managed to catch up with factory calibration and its Pixel 6 Pro display now delivers not only one of the most feature-rich panels in the Android universe - 1440p resolution, dynamic 120Hz refresh rate, and high brightness, but it is also in the top three in terms of color representation in our display benchmark database.
Birds of a feather, the OnePlus 10 Pro and Oppo Find X5 Pro, as they sport the same 6.7" 1440p LTPO OLED panel with dynamic refresh rate and individual display calibration at the factory level courtesy of the imaging specialists from Pixelworks. Thus, you get a near-perfect color accuracy, wide gamut coverage, and high average brightness, all for less than $900 barring any running OnePlus 10 Pro deals.
The CIE 1931 xy color gamut chart represents the set (area) of colors that a display can reproduce, with the sRGB colorspace (the highlighted triangle) serving as reference. The chart also provides a visual representation of a display"s color accuracy. The small squares across the boundaries of the triangle are the reference points for the various colors, while the small dots are the actual measurements. Ideally, each dot should be positioned on top of its respective square. The "x: CIE31" and "y: CIE31" values in the table below the chart indicate the position of each measurement on the chart. "Y" shows the luminance (in nits) of each measured color, while "Target Y" is the desired luminance level for that color. Finally, "ΔE 2000" is the Delta E value of the measured color. Delta E values of below 2 are ideal.
The Color accuracy chart gives an idea of how close a display"s measured colors are to their referential values. The first line holds the measured (actual) colors, while the second line holds the reference (target) colors. The closer the actual colors are to the target ones, the better.
The Grayscale accuracy chart shows whether a display has a correct white balance (balance between red, green and blue) across different levels of grey (from dark to bright). The closer the Actual colors are to the Target ones, the better.
These measurements are made using Portrait Displays" CalMAN calibration software.The high dynamic refresh rate is the best thing that happened to mobile displays since the introduction of the OLED technology, and there is no looking back once you"ve tried it while browsing and scrolling. Here"s the answers on our question how does it all work exactly:
The display is also basically able to do what MEMC TVs do, automatically increasing frames in video to up the rate, and take better advantage of the high refresh rate even with content that is usually shot with 24fps or 30fps. Detailing the panel"s virtues in a blog post, the OnePlus CEO also mentioned that:
In order to reach industry-leading color accuracy standards, we have added an additional automatic color calibration machine to the production line. By adding an extra 30 seconds to the production time, each display panel is automatically calibrated for color accuracy before it’s released.
Apple"s finest finally found the 120Hz refresh feature (say that 3 times quickly) and if you are already invested in the iOS ecosystem, there is nothing better than the brightest, toughest displays on an iPhone so far, the one on the iPhone 14 Pro Max and iPhone 14 Pro.
Apple advertises it as having a record for a phone peak brightness level of 2000 nits, or more typical brightness of 1600 nits when consuming HDR content and 1000 nits otherwise. This is exactly what we measured and these displays are so advanced that only Samsung can make them at the moment with its 12th-gen OLED technology.
The CIE 1931 xy color gamut chart represents the set (area) of colors that a display can reproduce, with the sRGB colorspace (the highlighted triangle) serving as reference. The chart also provides a visual representation of a display"s color accuracy. The small squares across the boundaries of the triangle are the reference points for the various colors, while the small dots are the actual measurements. Ideally, each dot should be positioned on top of its respective square. The "x: CIE31" and "y: CIE31" values in the table below the chart indicate the position of each measurement on the chart. "Y" shows the luminance (in nits) of each measured color, while "Target Y" is the desired luminance level for that color. Finally, "ΔE 2000" is the Delta E value of the measured color. Delta E values of below 2 are ideal.
The Color accuracy chart gives an idea of how close a display"s measured colors are to their referential values. The first line holds the measured (actual) colors, while the second line holds the reference (target) colors. The closer the actual colors are to the target ones, the better.
The Grayscale accuracy chart shows whether a display has a correct white balance (balance between red,