Sharp announced in a Japanese-language press release earlier today that it has begun mass production of a series of 5-inch smartphone displays which will bring desktop HD resolution to mobile devices. The displays will max out at an impressive 1920×1080 pixels—the same resolution as many HD televisions and widescreen computer monitors—and with a dot pitch of 443 PPI, they will hold the top spot for the highest pixel density ever featured on a smartphone.
The HTC Rezound and Sony Xperia S currently top the pixel density leaderboard at about 342 PPI, with the iPhone 5 trailing behind at 326 PPI.
According to Unwired Review, Sharp isn't the first to announce the impending arrival of 5-inch smartphone displays. China-based Oppo recently confirmed that it will feature high-resolution displays on its own line of smartphones. A few days ago, LG also announced that its Optimus Vu II will sport with a 5-inch, 4:3 ratio HD display. The HTC One X 5 "phablet" is also rumored to come equipped with a 1080p display when it launches sometime next year.
It's unclear which smartphone manufacturer will be the first to ship devices featuring the high-resolution displays, but Samsung or HTC seem the most viable candidates due to each company's arsenal of Android offerings. Android phone screens currently top out at 1280x720, and it's debatable whether Android users could realistically get any use out of a smartphone with 2.25 times as many pixels. However, as long as developers follow the hardware's lead, future iterations of Android will be able to handle the screen size.
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