LG calls up 720p IPS screen smartphone for Verizon
Nitro by any other name
CES 2012
LG has just unwrapped the LTE-capable version of its Nitro HD smartphone: the Spectrum.
Designed for the Verizon network in the US, the Spectrum boasts a 4.5in, 1280 x 720 IPS LCD screen - specs that give it a dot density of 329ppi.
LG's pitching the handset as "true HD", and we wonder how many buyers will be disappointed to find that it's not, as they may have assumed, 1920 x 1080.
The handset has a 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S3 dual-core processor that runs Android 3.2 Gingerbread - though LG promised an Ice Cream Sandwich update. It has a 1080p-cable 8Mp camera on the back, Bluetooth 3.0 and 2.4GHz 802.11n Wi-Fi.
If the specs sound familiar, it's because they match those of the Nitro HD, the LTE phone LG announced for AT&T back in November 2011.
The LG Spectrum goes on sale through Verizon on 19 January, pricing TBC. ®
COMMENTS
True HD
Begging your pardon, but under the defined standards, 1280x720 IS an HDTV resolution (720p). 1920x1080 isn't the only defined HDTV resolution, and indeed is not possible under most broadcast television standards except when interlaced (which is unsuitable for high-motion scenes because of tearing) or for lower-rate film footage. OTOH, the same bandwidth can easily accommodate 720p at full progressive resolution, making it the resolution of choice for most sports networks.
That's great, but "true HD" still sounds a little too much like "full HD" for comfort. Perhaps they'd consider switching to "barely HD"?
329ppi is too high to be useful
They really needed to enlarge the screen to 5" give usable justice to the 720p.
High ppi is for dummies.
