The Samsung Galaxy S8 is going to feature a 4K display, at least according to one top research firm.
Market analysts at UBI Research predict that Samsung’s next flagship smartphone will feature a 4K/Ultra HD screen. It’s a rumour we’ve heard before, but experts say there’s plenty of evidence to support the theory. Researchers at the firm were quoted in a Korea Herald report as saying:
“Samsung Display showcased a 5.5-inch ultra-high definition 4K display with a pixel density of 806ppi for virtual reality devices at the Society for Information Display, a display trade show, in California in March. Considering various factors including the production yield rate for the next-generation display expected to improve in the coming months, the 5.5-inch AMOLED will be deployed in the next Galaxy smartphone, presumably, named the S8.”
Samsung’s current flagship smartphone – the Galaxy S7 – features a 5.1-inch display with a QHD screen. That was also the case with the Galaxy S6, which was the first flagship Samsung phone to upgrade from Full HD panels. While increasing display resolution has its downsides, most notably an increased burden on battery life, there’s a big, new argument for 4K screens on phones: virtual reality.
VR has taken off in 2016, and that boom is expected to continue in 2017 – IDC predicts that nine million VR headsets will be sold next year. Samsung was early to the game with its Gear VR headset, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see Samsung adopting a 4K screen.
The advantage of a 4K display is simple. When you use a Gear VR today, you’re looking at a QHD screen running in stereoscopic mode i.e. split images. That means the combined image you’re seeing is only Full HD resolution. With a 4K display, you’ll be getting a QHD VR image instead.
Don’t forget that the Snapdragon 820 chip built into the Galaxy S7 already supports 4K displays (at 60 frames per second), so the Galaxy S8 will almost certainly support hi-res screens too.
Related: Best Android Smartphones 2016
Galaxy S8: Everything we know so far
What would you like to see from the Galaxy S8? Let us know in the comments.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
