LG 5.5-inch QHD LCD Smartphone Display Offers Up 20% Color Gamut

LG Display unveils new smartphone display with enhanced color gamut and brightness.

LG Display announced today the QHD (Quad High Definition) LCD panel for smartphones with improved color gamut, brightness, contrast ratio, touch function, power consumption and thinness.

The display maker has started the mass production of the 5.5-inch QHD LCD panel with IPS technology for mobile devices that will be used in LG Electronics’ forthcoming flagship smartphone, the LG G4, to be unveiled at the end of the month.

Mr. Byeong-Koo Kim, Vice President of the IT/Mobile Development Group at LG Display said, “The company has maximized the essential display functions for mobile devices from touch to color gamut by using the latest technology and accumulated expertise.” He added, “LG Display will continue to develop products that can offer the best user experience not only for smartphones, but also for tablets and notebook PCs.” 

The display provides richer and more accurate colors with a 120% color gamut, exceeding the 100% gamut offered on conventional panels, for mobile devices (based on sRGB). The QHD display has 1,440 x 2,560 resolution, four times higher than HD resolution (720 x 1,280), and the number of pixels per inch is 538 PPI (Pixels Per Inch) on the 5.5-inch panel size.

The new panel also adopted Advanced In-Cell Touch (AIT) technology which offers excellent touch sensitivity so that it can respond to touch commands even with water drops on the screen. The display boasts advancements in other major image quality features, with a contrast ratio that is 50 percent higher than conventional QHD LCD panels, while the brightness has increased by 30% without any increase in power consumption. A brighter screen and higher contrast ratio makes it easier for users to view the smartphone display in bright outdoor conditions.

The high color gamut LED technology provides more accurate colors in red and green by combining a blue LED chip with red and green phosphors instead of combining the blue LED chip with a yellow phosphor used in conventional LED backlights. LG Display has achieved a 20 percent improvement in color gamut with this technology.   

Developed by LG Display, AIT represents an improvement over conventional ‘In-Cell touch technology’. Instead of placing the touch panel on top of the LCD, the touch sensor is embedded within the LCD. This results in a slimmer design and an excellent touch response as the thickness of the panel is reduced by eliminating the need for an additional space for touch functions.

The photo-alignment technology uses UV light to form a liquid crystal alignment layer in the display panel, which helps achieve a higher contrast ratio by aligning the liquid crystals evenly to reduce light leakage. The higher contrast ratio contributes to deeper blacks and brighter colors that create a sharper picture quality.

Samsung and LG are beating Apple in display quality in their flagship smartphones, but that is not enough to keep the iPhone from gaining more market share. A great screen is nice to have, but the iPhone 6 screen is good enough for most consumers.