What is quad high-definition and why you should care

Get ready: quad high definition (QHD) is about to set a new precedent for display technology.

 LG Display announced last week that it is getting ready to launch a 5.5-inch QHD LCD panel for smartphones, saying it will represent a “quantum jump” in color gamut, brightness and contrast ratio, touch function, power consumption, and thinness. 

The company’s high color gamut technology will provide the user with more accurate colors in red and green. Specifically, LG reports a 20% improvement in color gamut using its technology, with a total 120% color gamut reporting, which surpasses the 100% color gamut on the conventional panels for today’s mobile devices.

“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,” the company explained in a release. It added that a higher contrast ratio, which contributes to deeper blacks and brighter colors for a sharper picture quality, is 50% higher than conventional QHD LCD panels and brightness, 30%, without any increase in power consumption. 

In terms of specs, LG’s QHD display has 1,440 x 2,560 resolution. Putting this into perspective, that’s four times higher than HD resolution, which is 720 x 1,280. Additionally, the number of pixels per inch on a 5.5-inch QHD display is an astounding 538. 

Along with QHD, touch sensitivity via Advanced In-Cell Touch (AIT) technology is also worth paying attention to, as it’s a solution that will likely go hand in hand with new QHD displays. Per LG, placing a touch panel atop an LCD was not how its developers wanted to design their displays; instead, they opted to embed the touch sensor within the LCD itself. This results in a significantly thinner design which, in turn, allows for additional space for other touch functions

“AIT technology is differentiated from the existing on-cell method, which adds the transparent electrode film on the glass substrate with transparent glue,” said AIT developers in a statement last October. Chief Research Engineer Hong-Chul Kim pointed out that one of the benefits of this technology is the ability to operate the touchscreen display even with gloves on. 

Mass production of the QHD LCD panel has already begun, and LG Electronics plans to formally promote the technology in conjunction with the announcement of its forthcoming flagship smartphone at the end of the month. 

Via LG Display Newsroom