Apple eyes set on Sharp IGZO tech for iPad 3 screen
Brighter, more energy efficient panels ahoy!
Apple's iPad 3 may not be thicker than its predecessor after all, thanks to a smart display tech from screen partner Sharp.
With the new tablet expected to sport a 2048 x 1536 display - double the pixel count in each axis compared to the current iPad's 1024 x 768 screen - a number of analysts and pundits predicted the iPad 3 would require dual-backlight technology to be suitably bright.
That, in turn, would add to the thickness. As, we'd note, would the addition of the beefier batteries to maintain the tablet's runtime in spite of the extra lighting and boosted pixel count.
But, says analyst Peter Misek of Jeffries, an investment bank, Sharp is providing Apple with a "modified IGZO (indium, gallium, zinc) technology" LCD screen that negates the need for the extra backlight, Forbes reports.
The upshot, according to Misek, will be an iPad 3 that's should deliver a better battery life than the iPad 2 - and be thinner still.
Sharp announced its IGZO displays for "smart phones and tablet terminals" back in April 2011, though it didn't say at the time what resolutions would be on offer. The technology, it said, makes for "high energy performance LCD panels" that are "made possible by downsizing the transistor and by increasing the light transmittance for each pixel".
Apple may also be using Sharp LCD tech for its much-rumoured Apple-branded television. ®
COMMENTS
There are transistors, but they control whether the pixel is on or off, the LCD itself is more than just transistors so, there is another factor which is that the larger you make a screen the greater the possibility of faults, and the more pixels you make the larger the possibility of faults, so when you try to make a very high resolution large display you get truly terrible yields.
It took years for LCD panels at larger sizes to be economically viable.
Yes
IPad 3, thinner, faster, retina, camera upgrade, for the same money as existing iPads, and 2+ versions of the iPad2 at a discount.
What's in a screen?
I asked a question a while ago of a friend, why are laptop screen resolutions still sucky, when iPhone 4 can get such a mad resolution? Doesn't Moore's Law apply to screens?
He said no, because screens have no transistors. But...now I read they do? (being lazy I've not researched it and my knowledge ends here).
What's the truth? Does Moore's Law apply or not?
Do we really need
a new Apple rumor "article" everyday? Really?
I dunno, the number of times I've wanted to just get my damned Xcode layouts from the 30" monitor to work on my 15" macbook screen. Sod readability, I want to see my layouts! :-p
