Sharp announced that it has successfully manufactured a 4.1-inch display with a resolution of 2560 x 1600. Called “IGZO,” the Japanese manufacturer claims that it has the same PPI of a 6-inch, 4k display.
The mind-blowing resolution is achieved through the use of transparent crystalline oxide semiconductors which is made up of indium, gallium, zinc, and oxygen; hence the name. Sharp has said that it is the first company to be able to mass produce this type of display.
A very real concern when it comes to powering such a pixel-dense display is power consumption and performance. Sharp, however, said that in regard to IGZO’s power consumption, it actually “reduces power consumption to a fifth or even a tenth that of conventional screens.” However true this may be, performance would still be an issue. Providing a smooth performance for a display of near 4k resolution might not be feasible yet with current mobile processors.
The IGZO display is interesting nonetheless; though one might argue that at 736PPI with pixels of 11.5µm in size, no one can really tell the difference when compared to an equally impressive 2k display.
