Learn About Mobile Displays

What is it?

It is an output device that displays all the visuals generated by your mobile. The display is one of the most important parts when choosing your mobile.

How does it work?

Displays work by doing the following (over simplified) steps:

1. Receive instructions from GPU
2. Render visuals on the display

Look for

• Pixel Density

  The higher the pixel density the better

  It is usually measured in Pixel Per Inch (PPI). It is very important to get a high pixel density (more than 220 PPI) display in your mobile.

• Contrast Ratio

  The higher the contrast ratio the better

  Also known as "Typical Contrast Ratio". It is the difference between the darkest blacks and the brightest whites the display is capable of producing. Do not confuse it with dynamic contrast ratio.

• Brightness

  The higher the brightness the better

  It means how bright can the display get. Brighter displays are easier to see in brighter environments or in direct sunlight. Some displays have different peak brightness and sustained brightness specs.

• Sustained Brightness

  Check if the display sustains peak brightness

  Modern displays with HDR advertise very high peak brightness, unfortunately, many cannot sustain the peak brightness for long. Also, some displays have Automatic Brightness Limiting (ABL), which makes the display brighter when most of the display is dark, but when all the display is white, the peak brightness will be much less.

• Colour Accuracy

  Make sure the display is colour accurate

  There are many colour spaces such as sRGB, Adobe RGB and DCI-P3. Make sure your display is capable of representing the colour space you need accurately.

• Viewing Angles

  Check viewing angles

  Viewing angles are very important when the display is used with multiple people viewing it at the same time.

• HDR

  Check the HDR type if any

  HDR (High Dynamic Range) is one of the greatest things that happened to displays recently. Unfortunately, not all HDR are equal. Make sure the display has high peak brightness and high contrast ratio so that it can output good HDR.

• Refresh Rate

  Check the display refresh rate

  For most people, 60Hz is more than enough. However, 120Hz makes the mobile feel faster and makes handwriting with a stylus more accurate.

• Variable Refresh Rate

  Check if it has variable refresh rate

  Variable refresh rate can help extend battery life.

Avoid

• Low Brightness HDR

  Avoid HDR displays with low brightness

  One of the most important metrics in producing good HDR is high brightness. If the display is not very bright, HDR output will be very poor.

• Low Contrast Ratio HDR

  Avoid HDR displays with low contrast ratio

  One of the most important metrics in producing good HDR is high contrast ratio. If the display does not have high contrast ratio, HDR output will be very poor.

• Low Pixel Density

  Avoid displays with low pixel density

• Burn-In

  Avoid displays that can burn-in

  Some displays can burn-in if they keep the same content on the display for extended period of time.