Beyond the massive marketing budget, through all the gadget spam and past the dozens of distracting Apple-bashing ads (like this ridiculously bizarre one), Samsung is still the best in the business when it comes to smartphone displays. And in 2014, it looks like we’re going to get a pretty huge reminder of exactly why Samsung is king when it comes to screens. While there has been plenty of back and forth regarding the specs on the upcoming flagship Galaxy S5 smartphone, a new report claims that Samsung has just begun mass-producing the brand new quad HD (2K resolution) display panels that will be featured on the upcoming Galaxy S5.
Korean-language Digital Daily News on Tuesday reported that Samsung’s display arm has begun manufacturing 5.25-inch display panels for the Galaxy S5 with 2,560 x 1,440 resolution, also referred to as quad HD or “2K.” That works out to an absurdly tight pixel density of 560 ppi.
The new panels will pack twice as many pixels as the full HD 1080p displays on current high-end Android phones, and they reportedly utilize the newer diamond sub-pixel arrangement Samsung used on the Galaxy S4 and Galaxy Note 3.
Reports on the Galaxy S5’s display resolution have conflicted in recent weeks and months. Several reports from sources with decent track records have suggested that the S5 will indeed include a new quad HD display while others point to a standard 1080p panel instead.
Our guess: There will be many different versions of the Galaxy S5 in 2014 and Samsung will include a quad HD display on at least one of them, while others will likely sport full HD displays.
Beyond the industry leading display, Samsung’s Galaxy S5 is expected to feature either a quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor or Samsung’s new 64-bit eight-core Exynos processor depending on region, a 16-megapixel camera, 3GB of RAM, a 4,000 mAh battery and Android 4.4 KitKat. Another recent report suggested that the new flagship phone might also include an integrated eye scanner for enhanced security. At least one version of the S5 is expected to be housed in a premium metal case.
Samsung is expected to unveil the new Galaxy S5 sometime in the first quarter next year.
