Pixel Mania:

LG announces world's highest resolution phone display

Everybody likes higher pixel density, just like everybody likes higher resolution camera sensors. But with the megapixel count on smartphones cameras recently, there's a limit to what is actually useful. Well now we can add pixel count on smartphone displays to the approaching-overkill category as LG announce a Quad-HD display for 5.5-inch smartphones.

Quad-HD simply means there's four times as many pixels as found on a HD screen. So that's basically four HD panels (1,280x720p) stacked on top and beside one each other. Except they're squeezed into the same physical display size, so you're actually getting four times the pixels in the same space as you were previously. But can the human eye even measure that kind of resolution?

Yes and no – the science of optics comprehension relates to the ratio of rods and cones in your eyes, your visual acuity, receptor density, focal points, arcs and angles, viewing distance and so on. Suffice to say, it's over my head. But that sexy number of 538 pixels per inch (ppi) sure sounds great, right? It's basically Blu-Ray quality visuals on your smartphone and who wouldn't want that? Added to that, the display is just 1.21 mm thin with a 1.2 mm bezel, making it the thinnest, slimmest display in the world.

You may be saying the more the merrier, but keep in mind that Quad-HD resolution is normally the domain of 27-inch displays, not 5.5-inch displays. I did a little looking around on the web, and found that a 1,440p display at 10-inches has an optimal viewing distance of 1 foot. That means the new LG display is still basically double the pixel count of what could possibly be considered optimal, considering few of us use our smartphones closer than a foot from our eyes (the conclusion is based on an extrapolation, so please don't attack my maths). My point is simply do we really need super-dense pixel counts when we can't really perceive the difference, and drain the battery even faster?

Do you think this is just overkill? Or do you think this new display resolution will become the standard?