Qualcomm: Future Smartphone Screens Will Push Resolutions to “6K, 8K, and Beyond”

Megalith

Megalith

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This is a great happening for mobile VR enthusiasts and PPI nuts, but not so much for those who simply want a phone that doesn’t drop dead at the end of the day. Qualcomm thinks that it’s only a matter of time before we start seeing phones with 8K screens. It seems like we will never get a flagship phone with truly great battery life, as a cutting-edge display will always be there to negate any improvements made toward power usage.

“We’ll see 6K, 8K and beyond” from future smartphone resolutions, envisions Tim Leland, Qualcomm’s vice president of product management. “It’s going to keep going.” That's an incredible leap in a world where most flagship Android Nougat phones have 2K screens and the iPhone 7 Plus is half of even that resolution, sporting a rather meager 1080p display. “It’s going to levels I wouldn’t have believed a few years ago,” he admitted. “These are all steps toward not even photo realism, but optical nerve realism. “It won’t be just in terms of pixels per inch, it’ll also be the width of the color gamut, color accuracy and the brightness of the display.”
 
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They got noplace left to go......
 
Well, if it's OLED, increased power from increased resolution shouldn't be much versus LCD; and it's not like increased resolution is otherwise a problem so long as they're not trying to use the full output resolution as a render target for high-detail 3D anytime in the near future.

And they can certainly do it. I'm just not entirely sure why- the color depth and so on stuff is more important than the resolution.
 
I can barely see the pixels on my iPad 3rd gen and that things 2048 by 1536 on a 9.7 inch display.

Unless next gen phones are contact lenses I'm not entirely sure what they're hoping to accomplish by going to 8k on a screen that's at most 6 inches.
 
This is stupid. Give me a good quality ~5-inch 1080p screen and I'm happy. Anything beyond that and it's a waste of battery life IMO. A VR headset is the only place where you'd benefit from the additional PPI, but i'm not about to strap my phone to my face. I'd much rather have a purpose-built VR headset and let my phone be a phone.
 
Why?

Between my Galaxy S7 and iPhone 6s I see no difference quality wise, but the S7 burns through power way faster due to driving a bunch of extra pixels that I didn't need.
 
But why?

As I type this I'm holding my 5" Pixel with a 1080p screen like 4 inches from my eyes, close enough that I can't focus on it without going cross-eyed, so I have to close one eye, and I still can't see pixelation.

Why the hell would you need to go higher than that? It's just going to result in wasted battery both from the screen and the GPU.

The only time I wish my phone had had higher resolution was for VR purposes, as I do get some of that grating effect.

That being said I've used my phone for VR, what, like twice?
 
Hell, I'm happy with a 1280x720 panel in a device, don't give a shit about higher resolution ones and I damned well know I'm gonna get better battery life because of it. I can deal with 1920x1080 but anything past that is just a waste of power no matter how damned efficient the panels become.

Having said that I keep going back and referring to the Galaxy S7 Active I had last year with the 4000 mAh battery in it and the Super AMOLED 2560x1440 panel and I was getting very close to 4 days of battery life on a charge, no bullshit, and 11+ hours of SOT with that thing. I really do miss that phone nowadays, might have to try and acquire another one at some point, I see that ZeroLemon has an 8500 mAh extended battery case available for it so I figure a full charge on the internal + a full charge on the external = 6 days between charges, maybe more who knows.
 
In general, I'd like to see the specs race subside a bit. Unless I'm missing something, phones are ridiculously overpowered these days. My Nexus 6p was faster than I needed it to be a year and a half ago, and it's still faster than I need it to be today. I'd be perfectly fine to see resolution, processor speed, and memory remain stagnant for a bit in favor of bringing down prices (because $700 cell phones are bullshit), and bringing some other "high-end" features to mid-range devices, like being waterproof, wireless charging, or having a decent camera.
 
Back in the day, regarding performance we used to say 'Intel giveth, Microsoft taketh away'. Now its 'Qualcomm giveth, Samsung taketh away'
 
Come on guys, they need some way of milking the stone! What else are they supposed to do? Planned obsolescence can only get them so much, they need new and innovative ways to "apply axial torsion to the total aggregate of applicative agents". I mean seriously, are you honestly saying that 640K resolutions ought to be enough for anybody?
 
Well of course they will. After all, they have to justify charging close too $800 somehow.
 
Eickst said:
I'd rather have 1080p and 48 hour battery life than 8k and 8 hours on a five inch screen. Of course sheeple will see OMG 8k PHONE!!!11!1!!!one!!!111!!1!
Click to expand...

Being fair the iPhone is the one actually not pushing resolution over everything. in this instance it is actually the android manufacturers pushing retarded resolutions for no reason. So..sheeple might be the wrong term here since that is most often associated with the iPhone buyers.
 
I could care less about 4k cell screens...Give me more phone options with a 6" screen.
 
HydrasunGQ said:
on such a small screen whats the point?
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Mobile VR, and that's about it.

Just looking at a screen normally, 1080p is plenty, but it's a whole different story when the screen is 1 inch from your face and magnified with lenses.
With a 1080 screen in a VR frame, not only can you see the individual pixels, you can see the tiny gaps BETWEEN the pixels too (this is the "screen-door" effect)

Qualcomm is betting that Android-based VR (or stand-alone VR systems powered by Qualcomm chips) is going to be a big seller in the future.
 
Things I actually want in a new cellphone:
Decent battery life
Better reception

Things I don't want in a new phone:
8k screen sucking battery life like a desperate alcoholic chugging windex
3mm thick phone with no room for a decent battery
50mp camera that still sucks because no matter how many megapixels it has, the optics are still crap
 
Merc1138 said:
Things I actually want in a new cellphone:
Decent battery life
Better reception

Things I don't want in a new phone:
8k screen sucking battery life like a desperate alcoholic chugging windex
3mm thick phone with no room for a decent battery
50mp camera that still sucks because no matter how many megapixels it has, the optics are still crap
Click to expand...


This pretty much sums it up.

Unfortunately these companies will keep competing with each other on "bigger numbers are better" metrics.

Screen resolution has become the new Megapixels :(

"I want the one with the bigger GB's"



Hopefully there will still be models made for people who know their shit too, but I kind of doubt it.
 
Heh, I'm definitely not part of the target audience. I've got a Moto E (first gen), with a 4.3 inch screen. I bought it for $59 but recently saw it on sale for $29. It works fine as a phone and handles the few apps I want to run. I usually only have to charge it once a week since I don't use cellular data or even turn on the WIFI unless I need it.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:


Hopefully there will still be models made for people who know their shit too, but I kind of doubt it.
Click to expand...


Old school video there. The HTC Evo (on Sprint network) was actually what made me leave Android and go to Apple. That being said, according to Wikipedia, I've been Apple happy for like 5 years now.

The Evo had all this cool shit, and it's what made me realize I didn't want/need all the cool shit. Not even the big ass 3rd party battery with big ass replacement back, that still only lasted through the day.
 
This is why the new Blackberry just announced really interests me..

I want something that has great build quality, but isn't trying to compete in the worthless spec war that current top-end phones do. I just want a well made phone, good enough resolution, nothing I can't easily use with one hand, and good battery life.
 
westrock2000 said:
Old school video there. The HTC Evo (on Sprint network) was actually what made me leave Android and go to Apple. That being said, according to Wikipedia, I've been Apple happy for like 5 years now.

The Evo had all this cool shit, and it's what made me realize I didn't want/need all the cool shit. Not even the big ass 3rd party battery with big ass replacement back, that still only lasted through the day.
Click to expand...

It's funny. I made the switch from Apple to Android at about the same time you made the opposite switch. (well, I switched maybe 2 years later)

I had had the original iPhone, and the iPhone 3g, and was now on the iPhone 4. I was getting increasingly frustrated with my iPhone4, and Apples attempts to foil my jailbreak with every software upgrade. I also wasnt too pleased with the AT&T exclusive network at the time. I also had a bad taste in my mouth from Apple being so slow to implement common sense features like copy and paste in the past. I played with a Galaxy S3 in the store, and was amazed with it's beautiful large display (for the time).

I switched, breaking my contract with AT&T and paying an ETF on the spot. A couple of weeks later I had put Cyanogenmod on the S3 and I was very happy with it.

While I do agree that some of these features have gone a little bit too far since then, at the time they really made a huge difference. After getting used to the screen on the S3, using a little 4" iPhone at the time was miserable. These days, I feel the phablets are too large, and camera and screen resolutions have gone crazy though. I could never go back to Apple though. Not in a million years. I hate having big brother controlling my user experience.
 
I'm starting to think that half the people commenting here have never even heard of GearVR, Cardboard, or Daydream.

It might be a bit of a number game as well, as some have said, but current smartphone screens honestly suck for VR.

Even if the phone does have a 4k display, I'm sure they will do some sort of reduced-resolution mode during regular non-VR use, just for the sake of battery savings.

Also, Qualcomm makes chips, not displays.
They could also be aiming for smartphones that act as the "computer" for a HMD that has it's own screen(s), such as the LG 360 headset, which would still require a 4k+ video processor inside the phone even if the phone itself doesn't have a 4k display.
 
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Mchart said:
This is why the new Blackberry just announced really interests me..

I want something that has great build quality, but isn't trying to compete in the worthless spec war that current top-end phones do. I just want a well made phone, good enough resolution, nothing I can't easily use with one hand, and good battery life.
Click to expand...

The KEYone should provide what you're asking for: solid build quality, decent resolution (1620x1080), they're marketing the "one handed" aspect pretty hard only 2 days into the release of info, and considering it's powered by the Snapdragon 625 it should have fantastic battery life IF it's anything like the Moto Z Play (I think earlier I mentioned it as the Moto G4 Play and I was mistaken on that, the Moto G4 Play is Snapdragon 410 powered). The Moto Z Play has been getting some pretty extraordinary battery life in reviews so considering that power sipping aspect of the SoC it's a good sign that the KEYone could do well in that respect as well.

The problem for me with the KEYone is the specs don't justify the pricing, it's literally a $299 device in my opinion, maybe a little bit more than that but nothing like the $549 asking price - again, my opinion but I'm not the only one with it as the CrackBerry KEYone forum is a raging war now with "success" and "failure" threads almost on top of each other literally over this device.

If it works out for them, fantastic, but for myself I'd still rather have a Priv I suppose, or the DTEK 60 which has better specs and is less expensive. Even the Priv can be found brand new these days for like $300 or less in some places, so the mid-range specs on the KEYone are just too bloated for me personally.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
I also wasnt too pleased with the AT&T exclusive network at the time.
Click to expand...

Ahh yes, I had vaguely forgotten about that. When I switched camps, Sprint was already selling iPhones. When I came on board with T-Mobile, they weren't officially supporting iPhone yet, but if you brought the phone in they would put it on the network. Although you were limited to 3G or lower on T-Mobile (until they officially enabled iPhones), it was still light years better then what I was getting on Sprint.

sprint_speed_slow.jpg
 
The upscaling tech in cellphones is the reason we can upscale 1080p to 4K today and have it look good. I remember when upscale 720p looked like crap.
 
Megalith said:
This is a great happening for mobile VR enthusiasts and PPI nuts, but not so much for those who simply want a phone that doesn’t drop dead at the end of the day. Qualcomm thinks that it’s only a matter of time before we start seeing phones with 8K screens. It seems like we will never get a flagship phone with truly great battery life, as a cutting-edge display will always be there to negate any improvements made toward power usage.
Click to expand...
*leaning down into the mic*

"WRONG." - Trump, probably

Samsung has already revealed adaptive display technology, so you get full 4K ultra-high res when you want it, and battery sipping lower resolution when you don't.
 
Ducman69 said:
*leaning down into the mic*

"WRONG." - Trump, probably

Samsung has already revealed adaptive display technology, so you get full 4K ultra-high res when you want it, and battery sipping lower resolution when you don't.
Click to expand...

It's still fucking pointless on a 5" device. I have a Oneplus 3t, my wife has an S7, even though my screen is larger, and lower resolution, you can not see any difference.
 
rgMekanic said:
It's still fucking pointless on a 5" device. I have a Oneplus 3t, my wife has an S7, even though my screen is larger, and lower resolution, you can not see any difference.
Click to expand...
VR, yo. Even if you don't game, its great for watching videos and 3D movies. Last flight I was on was so claustrophobic, but put that on, couldn't hear anyone around me, felt like I was by myself in a huge theater, and watched a movie in 3D and before I knew it was ready to land.

 
Tiberian said:
The KEYone should provide what you're asking for: solid build quality, decent resolution (1620x1080), they're marketing the "one handed" aspect pretty hard only 2 days into the release of info, and considering it's powered by the Snapdragon 625 it should have fantastic battery life IF it's anything like the Moto Z Play (I think earlier I mentioned it as the Moto G4 Play and I was mistaken on that, the Moto G4 Play is Snapdragon 410 powered). The Moto Z Play has been getting some pretty extraordinary battery life in reviews so considering that power sipping aspect of the SoC it's a good sign that the KEYone could do well in that respect as well.

The problem for me with the KEYone is the specs don't justify the pricing, it's literally a $299 device in my opinion, maybe a little bit more than that but nothing like the $549 asking price - again, my opinion but I'm not the only one with it as the CrackBerry KEYone forum is a raging war now with "success" and "failure" threads almost on top of each other literally over this device.

If it works out for them, fantastic, but for myself I'd still rather have a Priv I suppose, or the DTEK 60 which has better specs and is less expensive. Even the Priv can be found brand new these days for like $300 or less in some places, so the mid-range specs on the KEYone are just too bloated for me personally.
Click to expand...

I'm fine with the $500 price because it looks really well made.
 
Could say the same thing about the Priv or the DTEK 60 I suppose, it just seems overpriced to me personally based on the specs. Yes I realize BlackBerry didn't build it (TCL did) but BlackBerry did develop it in-house then farmed out the actual construction to TCL so I'm sure it'll be a great smartphone, but I can't justify that retail price based on the specs compared to other devices. I don't really care about the physical keyboard personally, I'd rather have the Priv if I had to choose between the two devices since on the Priv I can just slide it out of sight when I wouldn't be using it.

Anyway, it's two months away till it hits any store shelves so you can do a proper hands on, if you decide to get one make sure to look for and read or watch any hands-on reviews that are sure to pop up here soon and maybe also check out the KEYone subforum over at CrackBerry for more info as well.
 
sir-gold said:
I'm starting to think that half the people commenting here have never even heard of GearVR, Cardboard, or Daydream.

It might be a bit of a number game as well, as some have said, but current smartphone screens honestly suck for VR.
Click to expand...

Maybe half the people here don't care about VR, and see no reason to have a phone optimized for something they will never need.
I'd rather have longer battery life and a lower price.

Due to the motion sickness problems many people experience with VR, it's likely VR will never capture more than a small market, especially after the initial demand wears off.
 
Not to be off-topic too much but from what Mr. Mobile pointed out in his YouTube hands on with the BlackBerry KEYone it has the same camera sensor that the Google Pixel devices do, the IMX 378 f/2.0 12 Mpixel shooter so that could be something to take into consideration as well. Remains to be seen what the actual image quality is or will be but those reviews we'll be seeing soon are certainly going to cover that aspect.
 
sir-gold said:
I'm starting to think that half the people commenting here have never even heard of GearVR, Cardboard, or Daydream.
Click to expand...

I got a daydream headset free with my preordered Pixel.

It was cool I guess. I tried it twice in the - what - five months I've owned the phone. It's not something I'd see myself ever using other than to just test it out, and definitely not something I'd be willing to spend more on a higher res screen for, or sacrifice battery life.

It feels like a Wii-like gimmick. Cool and all for like 10 minutes, but no staying power.
 
HydrasunGQ said:
on such a small screen whats the point?
Click to expand...

I don't know but the crazy thing is there's always someone complaining that even 4k on a 23" desktop monitor is "just complete overkill and totally useless." Happened the last time high res desktop displays came up here. They were trying to argue that anything above 1440p is indistinguishable to the human eye and utterly worthless. Desktop icons were too small for them because they don't know how to use the Windows scaling feature or are living in the dinosaur ages using a no longer supported version of Windows that doesn't have high resolution scaling.

Point being.... well, I'm not sure. I guess I kind of went on a rant.
 
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