Note 5 to have UHD display

[Brian Stirling]

Just picked up the Note 4 a couple weeks ago and there's rumors that the next Note, the Note 5, will have a 5.9" UHD display. I've been predicting this for a while and also predicting the backlash from those that argue 1080P is enough and that higher resolution kills battery life.

OK, so it's too soon to say if the rumor is true but it does seem plausible. The resolution would be over 700ppi and it's likely there will be few if any that would notice the difference with the current resolution in the Note 4 at 1440P. While I think there will be a few that will be able to see the difference I don't think that's the reason to go with a 4K display -- matching 4K resolution of the 4K video the camera can record and being able to output 4K video to 4K TV's is the reason.

If you're a gamer then a 4K screen might be a bad choice as the high frame rates would tend to suck the battery faster owing to the processing power required to drive it more than the display itself which is driven more by the physical size than resolution.


Brian

 

[zCypher]

More is always better. Plus just because you have a device capable of higher resolution, doesn't mean everything you do will be utilizing that higher res. If the app or game you're running is only running in 1080p, you're still just getting 1080. So it wouldn't be completely accurate to outright state that having the capability of higher resolution would lead to worse battery life. Not to mention battery tech will continue improving.

I'm glad to see the tech always improving. As to whether anyone would notice? For sure. We always have this exact same debate with every iteration. Bottom line is a better screen is better, and once you get used to it, you never want to go back and the old one looks like shit in comparison !

I for one can't wait for all the UHD goodness.

 

[Bateluer]

I'm all for ever increasing specs and improvements, but sometimes one aspect is pushed to an absurd level for no good reason at all. A 6in UHD display falls under that heading. Like building a water cooled quad 290X gaming rig. Its strictly an epeen measuring contest at that point.

 

[rcpratt]

Yeah, I disagree with those that say that QuadHD isn't worthwhile, but UHD is questionable. There are a lot of other areas that I'd rather see improvements in mobile devices first.

 

[dawheat]

I'm all for ever increasing specs and improvements, but sometimes one aspect is pushed to an absurd level for no good reason at all. A 6in UHD display falls under that heading. Like building a water cooled quad 290X gaming rig. Its strictly an epeen measuring contest at that point.

Totally agree- the 1440p screen on the Note 4 is fabulous but GPUs are struggling to keep up with it. The S810 should go a long way towards improving that next year, but at best they'll be at parity.

Having the Note 5 jump again to 2160p would probably have it outstrip the ability of the best GPU of the day by an even larger margin than the Note 4.

Improve specs all around and never stop, but do it when it makes sense for the entire device.

 

[vi edit]

Bleh. Can't say I've ever looked at modern smart phone and said "this needs to be higher res!". And that's even with a lowly MotoX that isn't even 1080p.

Give me brighter screens for outdoor visibility, longer battery life, and stutter free performance over any stupid marketing metric any day.

 

[A5]

More is always better. Plus just because you have a device capable of higher resolution, doesn't mean everything you do will be utilizing that higher res. If the app or game you're running is only running in 1080p, you're still just getting 1080. So it wouldn't be completely accurate to outright state that having the capability of higher resolution would lead to worse battery life. Not to mention battery tech will continue improving.

I'm glad to see the tech always improving. As to whether anyone would notice? For sure. We always have this exact same debate with every iteration. Bottom line is a better screen is better, and once you get used to it, you never want to go back and the old one looks like shit in comparison !

I for one can't wait for all the UHD goodness.

Higher res hurts battery life for a variety of reasons, even if your app is running at a lower res. Takes more power to control all the pixels, brighter/more backlighting due to lower light transmission area, etc.

 

[PokerGuy]

Bleh. Can't say I've ever looked at modern smart phone and said "this needs to be higher res!". And that's even with a lowly MotoX that isn't even 1080p.

Give me brighter screens for outdoor visibility, longer battery life, and stutter free performance over any stupid marketing metric any day.

My thoughts exactly. There are lots of other things I'd rather see improvement on before I start clamoring for an even higher resolution screen on my phone. Give me batter time, smooth menus and sensors etc any day over a quad giga mega ultra 870,000 ppi screen

I do want the phone to be able to output high res video so you can hook it up to a big tv etc, but the phone screen itself doesn't need to be that high def IMO.

 

[Red Storm]

It's funny, every time we hear about a resolution bump it's the exact same arguments. People have been saying smartphone screen resolution is perfectly fine since the 720p days. I personally welcome any and all advances in tech, even ones that seem like obvious overkill, because progression in one area also leads to progression in others. Let's not forget that we've made some pretty nice strides in battery life these past few years, all while greatly improving CPU/GPU performance and screen resolution.

 

[zerogear]

Resolution bump is fine as long as it doesn't affect battery life. I rather have a 1-3 day battery life than UHD/QuadHD.

 

[Oyeve]

Loving my note 4.

 

[Ravynmagi]

I've been all for the previous spec bumps, even the 1440p seems like it should provide some benefit once your eyes got trained to see it.

But even I'm now questioning the need for a 700ppi display.

I'm going to say, while the rumor is certainly plausible. I'm thinking it's not based on anything other than some spec junkies wishful thinking at this point.

 

[Midwayman]

4k is just silly on a phone. I'm more than happy with 1080p. I can't really ever see justifying more than 1450p except for the fact that you can render to 1080p for 3d games without weird interpolation.

 

[Brian Stirling]

Once again, there are likely to be very few people that will actually be able to tell the difference between a 1440 screen and a 2160 screen (4K) so on the basis of what you can see with your eyes there would be little need to go 4K on a phone, even a large phone. BUT, that isn't the only reason you would put a 4K screen on a phone.

We've had phones with 4K video recording for more than a year now and it's likely that most new phones will offer 4K video recording. Also, having native 4K built in and having the hardware to drive it will make displaying 4K, on a UHD TV, more practical so having 4K built in will make a phone more capable of sourcing 4K video.

Will going 4K eat up the battery faster -- probably a little, but remember the largest power draw for a display is either the back-light on an LCD or driving the OLED screen area to a given brightness level. The size of the screen matter most, not the resolution but the area. It will take more CPU/GPU power to process more pixels and the higher number of transistors needed for the display will also eat more power, but the biggest factor is physical screen size not the pixel count.

Now, if you're a gamer and plan to use the phone for gaming then perhaps the performance hit to drive all those pixels and the increased battery draw might make a difference to you, but for someone like me who's not a gamer I wouldn't worry about that.


Brian

 

[Lyfer]

What about the Note 7? 5k?