At each presentation, manufacturers pay attention to which camera is installed in their smartphones. They can talk about her for 20-30 minutes out of 40, which are all events. But have you noticed how little has been said about screens lately? It seems that they are no longer of interest to manufacturers. Yes, this information is indicated in the characteristics, but they do not pay attention to it at all during the presentation. They can only say if this indicator is something outstanding. For example, as was the case with Sony when they drowned for 4K screens. As it turned out, no one needed it. But what resolution should the screen have if so little is said about it?
Upon closer inspection, the pixels look like this.
What resolution should the phone screen have
Just a few years ago, everything was different and companies talked a lot about what resolution their smartphones have. As usual, I pushed them to this Apple. By and large, no one even thought about resolution until the Cupertinians began to tell everyone that its Retina Display is superior to anything that shines. At the same time, the company, in its style, has never focused on specific numbers.
Against this background, manufacturers began to bring the resolution of their smartphones to the values of the resolution of TVs. This made it easier for consumers to understand. There is HD, there is FullHD, 4K. It also made no sense to introduce additional values due to the fact that all video content was converted to these formats.
This permission is more than enough now. Few will see the graininess that was common on devices six to seven years ago. Therefore, even new items do not hesitate to come out with FullHD + resolution. This resolution appeared when the screens stopped having an aspect ratio of 16: 9 and stretched out. At the same time, the number of pixels on the smaller side remained at 1080, and on the larger side increased in proportion to the elongation of the screen.
Should you buy a phone with a QHD screen
The selling point of Quad HD displays is about sharper images. This is more important for large displays where pixel spacing and pixel size becomes too large and the drop in definition becomes very noticeable.
It's always nice to look at a good screen. However, it is not necessary to have a large resolution for this.
There is such an indicator as pixel density (referred to as dpi or ppi). The more there are, the clearer the image. This is more important than just the number of pixels on the sides of the screen.
A large number of pixels is relevant in games where detail is important, but drawing a couple of million extra pixels at a frequency of several dozen times per second is not an easy task for the processor. As a result, this leads to heating, lower frame rates and increased battery consumption.
However, there is one aspect to resolution and pixel density. The human eye can only distinguish a certain number of pixels. Further increase does not lead to any positive result and it is worth choosing displays with QHD resolution, starting from 6.5 inches, or even more. There are even special formulas that allow you to calculate from what resolution and how what is happening on the screen will be seen.
Even for devices ranging in size from 6 to 7 inches, FullHD resolution is more than enough to not distinguish individual pixels when viewed from a distance of 30 centimeters. The latest WQHD + resolutions such as those found in the Samsung Galaxy S20 series go far beyond our visual capabilities, even on very large mobile screens. And why then is it necessary?
Is FHD enough for a phone
FHD + is great for any content in normal device use. Problems can only arise if you insert your smartphone into VR glasses. But in this scenario, the pixels will be visible on both QHD and even WQHD +.
Another important point is the resolution of the content being viewed on your smartphone. Most of the video content streamed online is still 1080p (FHD). Some content is released in 4K. Scaling both to 1440 pixels on the smaller side will result in severe loss of quality. As a result, having a higher screen resolution, you will get a picture of lower quality. Therefore, again, the best option would be a FullHD or FullHD + screen.
But the loss of quality is not as critical as the battery, which drains much faster when using a higher resolution screen. These are not just unnecessary dots that should be highlighted, but also a serious load on the processor, which requires much more power. The work of the screen already consumes the most energy in the phone, and the work of the screen with a huge resolution – even more so. On average, for different screen sizes, the difference in power consumption between FullHD and QHD screens is 10-15 percent. This is not so small. From ten hours of autonomy, this is immediately minus 1-1.5 hours only at the screen. In games and when watching videos, the difference in autonomy can be even greater.
Frame rates are more important than prohibitive resolution.
Many smartphones offer high resolution, but with the option to lower it to save energy. In this particular smartphone, there will really be savings if you lower the resolution, if you compare its autonomy in a reduced resolution mode, the one that initially has a FullHD resolution will definitely win.
Should you buy a phone with a higher screen resolution?
In conclusion, we can say that manufacturers are simply obliged to put a FullHD display in their flagship smartphones due to the fact that buyers simply will not understand if the resolution is lower. Paying $ 1,000 or more, you want the best.
If for you the numbers in the characteristics are not so important and you do not plan to constantly watch VR content by inserting your smartphone into special glasses, then do not even chase the QHD resolution. Especially if you buy a device with a diagonal of up to 6-6.5 inches.
Another proof of my words is that manufacturers, even with a screen with QHD resolution, initially set it to FullHD. This is what Huawei, Samsung and even OnePlus do.
If you want more clarity, pay more attention to frame rates. Even at the same resolution, the picture will be much sharper at 90 or 120 Hz. If you don't believe me, just shoot a video on your smartphone at 30 frames per second and 60 frames per second, then watch them and you will understand a lot about picture clarity and how it is achieved.