A little less than 2 weeks ago Google and Samsung got on a stage in Hong Kong and showed off both the next version of Android, dubbed Ice Cream Sandwich, and the first device that’ll be running it, the Galaxy Nexus. One of the “features” in Ice Cream Sandwich is that it’s optimized to run on a 720p screen, that is a screen with a resolution of 1280 pixels across by 720 pixels high. The Galaxy Nexus that’ll ship later this month in both North America and Europe has a massive 4.65 inch screen because that’s the smallest the South Korean handset vendor and component supplier can make such a high resolution screen. Earlier in October LG also announced a 720p phone, albeit one that runs Gingerbread, the “old” version of Android. Said display in the LG measures 4.5 inches, which is a much welcome reduction, but it’s still not enough for those of us who want to have a compact device.
This is where the Chimei Innolux Corporation (CMI) steps in. They’re in Yokohama, Japan this week for the Flat Panel Display Exhibition. The pièce de résistance at their booth is a 4.3 inch 720p screen, which means it’s the first smartphone display to have a higher DPI than that of the iPhone 4/4S; 341.54 versus 329.65. Not stopping there, this display is also 3D capable, which admittedly very few people actually care about, but hey, you can’t fault these guys for trying to blow our minds. Oh and in case you’re wondering, yes, the 3D technology implemented in this display doesn’t require the use of 3D glasses.
Sadly we have no idea when this ultra sharp screen will hit smartphones, but we do know that it’s an inevitability. If we had to make a bet, we’d say Samsung is working on not only smaller 720p displays, but 720p displays that don’t use PenTile technology. We’ll likely hear about them in February 2012 at Mobile World Congress.