Is it worth it to have a 2K screen on your smartphone?

The pixels of smartphone screens have reached a level that we could not imagine before. A few years ago, TVs, monitors or projectors with 4K resolution were very advanced technologies. Since the beginning of the 21st century, the concept of 4K has always existed in the display field. In 2013, a large number of 4K resolution TVs suddenly began to appear in front of us at expensive prices. The world's first 4K ultra-high-definition TV was launched at the end of 2012. Sony's XBR-84X900, with a size of 84 inches and a price of $25,000, began to impact the 4K display market.

Around the same time, 720p resolution had become the mainstream configuration in the smartphone industry. At that time, there were many voices from the outside world questioning whether 720p HD was really necessary for the small screen of smartphones. Many people could not understand why such a small screen had such a high resolution clock. At that time, WVGA could actually meet the needs of most consumers.

However, it wasn’t long before 1080p smartphones began to gradually replace 720p resolution. Although 1080p is a clear improvement over 720p in terms of the human eye, it also brought extra power consumption and GPU burden. At that time, many technology websites and opinions began to question whether 1080p was necessary for smartphones.

It achieves power consumption comparable to 720p resolution, and does not require too much GPU resources to drive this high-definition screen. Even if it has a slight impact on power consumption, the price is worth it for consumers in exchange for a clearer display effect. However, due to the limitations of the human retina, for most users, the difference between 720p and 1080p in primary visual perception is not obvious.

Despite this, the entire mobile phone industry is still pushing the advancement of display technology and starting to further reduce costs. OEMs such as LG, Samsung, and Motorola have begun to launch products with QHD resolution. For example, Samsung's latest Galaxy Note 4 is equipped with a 5.7-inch Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 2560×1440 pixels. LG G3, Nexus 6, and Oppo Find 7 all have screens with similar resolutions.

This time, there are doubts again. Whether it is consumers, mobile phone enthusiasts or critics, they all want to know why manufacturers are so keen to increase the resolution of the screen. Some people believe that manufacturers should focus on improving other parameters such as screen white balance, color reproduction and outdoor visibility. So simply increasing the resolution on a 5.5-inch display, how much improvement can it bring compared to 1080p, is once again full of doubts.

However, all doubts have not stopped the pace of development, and now there is news about the use of 4K resolution on smartphones. Earlier this year, Sharp demonstrated a 4K ultra-high-definition screen smartphone and said it is expected to be officially launched in 2016.

At this point, there are actually many doubts about QHD resolution. For example, many 1080p smartphones have very short battery life, and further increasing the resolution means increasing power consumption, which is not a good trend. In addition, although many people say that the screen effect of LG G3 is indeed very good, the overall improvement is not obvious compared with 1080p phones. Although LG and other manufacturers will make further optimizations for QHD resolution, it is still a problem that consumers need to face.

However, many people still have many misunderstandings about smartphones using QHD resolution. First of all, high resolution means greater power consumption. Theoretically, under the same other conditions, higher resolution does consume more power, but from the actual test results, it is not completely accurate. For example, according to the test results of DisplayMate, putting the Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy Note 4 together for a series of tests, it will be found that the Note 4 is actually more power-efficient. The average power consumption of the Galaxy Note 4 screen is 0.85w, while that of the Note 3 is 0.90w. When both are displayed at white peak, the maximum power consumption of the Note 4 screen is 1.8w, while that of the Note 3 reaches 2.0w.

The test results show that under the same screen pressure, the Galaxy Note 3 consumes more power. Although the resolution of the Note 4 is twice that of the former and the screen size is the same, the display efficiency is improved by 14%.

Of course, this is an isolated case, and Samsung's Super AMOLED screen has many other technologies to further reduce the power consumption of the screen. Therefore, in general, the display technology used by manufacturers and the optimization of software play a very important role in reducing the impact of resolution on power consumption. In comparison, it comes back to the old question that sacrificing a certain amount of power in exchange for a better display effect is generally worthwhile for consumers.

Some users put the QHD and 1080p screens side by side for direct comparison. Although both screens look good when viewed separately, the difference between them can be immediately discerned when put together. Whether it is black level, white balance, viewing angle, or brightness, the LG G3 is better than the G2 in terms of overall effect.

Therefore, if manufacturers can enhance the overall screen performance by increasing resolution while continuing to develop technology and deeply optimize the system, consumers are still more willing to sacrifice a little power. Although I am not a "pixel lover", although 1080p is good, I still prefer to see higher and higher resolutions on smartphones and tablets.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.