Pentile OLEDs: introduction and market status - Page 3

Yesterday I posted about the Galaxy Note 2 subpixl scheme, with the 5.5" 1280x720 HD Super AMOLED display featuring 267 ppi (with three subpixels per pixel). Our readers pointed out that the new scheme used in the Note 2 looks very much like Ingis Innovations' patented HR pixel structure (as part of their AdMo-p technology). This may explain how Samsung managed to get good enough lifetime at such a high PPI without PenTile.

Just as a reminder, here's how the Note 2 pixels are arranged. It's not exaclty the same as in the HR structure as the red and green sub-pixels have the same size. In any case:

When Samsung announced the Galaxy Note 2, with its 5.5" 1280x720 HD Super AMOLED display, I assumed it was a Pentile display. But it seems that the Note 2 actually uses an RGB matrix in a unique arrangement (see the photo below). Samsung calls this new matrix S-Stripe. This is rather confusing on several accounts - mostly because up till now Samsung used the brand Super AMOLED Plus for non-pentile OLEDs.

Just a few weeks ago we explained that Pentile OLED displays enable higher lifetime, and we were told that for an RGB OLED with over 230 PPI, lifetime becomes too low for Samsung and they choose Pentile in those displays. But the Note II has a PPI of 267 - the highest PPI non-Pentile OLED. This means it has a lower lifetime compared to a Pentile display (but the advantage is that there's no visible Pentile pattern of course).

Samsung announced the successor to the popular "Phablet" Galaxy Note, the Note 2 - with a 5.5" HD Super AMOLED display (1280x720, non-Pentile). Yes - this is a 'regular' glass based AMOLED panel, and not a plastic-based flexible YOUM panel as earlier rumors suggested. I guess we'll have to wait some more for Samsung's first flexible-OLED device, due in 2012 (it'll probably have a much smaller panel).

A few months ago Samsung said that the new Galaxy S3 has a Pentile display (a 4.8" 1280x720 HD Super AMOLED one to be exact) because PenTile increased the lifetime of OLED panels. I have discussed this with Joel Pollack, an Executive VP at Nouvoyance (Samsung's company that developed the PenTile matrix scheme), and he explains this claim further.

An OLED display is made from colored (RGB) sub pixels. A blue OLED has the lowest luminous efficiency (lower then red and green) and so needs to be driven at higher current - which means a lower lifetime.

According to Amazon, the Galaxy S3 is now shipping for AT&T for $189.99 (including a contract of course). I think that's the first carrier to actually ship this phone in the US. The Galaxy S3 US model has a 4.8" 1280x720 HD Super AMOLED (with Pentile), a dual-core 1.5Ghz CPU, 2GB of RAM and an 8 mp camera (1080p video) and lot's of new software features. The phone weighs 133 grams and is only 8.6 mm thick.

The S3 pre-order numbers were very strong, and it seems that Samsung has another winner at their hands, we'll be sure to hear from Samsung about actual sales numbers soon.

Update: We discussed this with Nuovoyance's VP, he explains better why PenTile displyas lasts longer...

Some people really dislike Pentile displays, but Samsung keep producing AMOLED with PenTile - even in their flagship devices such as the new Galaxy S3 (which sports a 4.8" 1280x720 HD Super AMOLED). Today we hear that Samsung says that one of the major advantages of PenTile AMOLED displays is increased lifetime.

In PenTile displays, there are twice as many green subpixels as there are blue suxpixels. Blue OLEDs feature the lowest lifetime, and so Pentile displays "tend" to last longer, according to Samsung. In any case, as the resolution gets higher, it's getting harder to actually notice the "fuzziness" caused by the Pentile Matrix...

Samsung announced two new cameras today, and both of them has the same display: 3" VGA AMOLED (with PenTile). The NX20 is Samsung's flagship interchangeable lens camera. It has 20.3 mp APS-C CMOS sensor, has a built-in SVGA EVF, Wi-Fi, Full-HD video and the ISO range is up to 12,800.

The second camera, the NX210 is a minor upgrade to the NX200: it adds Wi-Fi and a tweaked image sensor. Other features stay the same - a 20.3 mp sensor, Full-HD videos and the same AMOLED display.

LG Display is touting their 4.5" True HD IPS-LCD display (which does not support Full-HD, mind you, the resolution is 1,280x720). The company posted some slides comparing the HD IPS-LCD display to Samsung's Super AMOLED HD (as used in the Galaxy Nexus and other devices). LG Display says that the LCD is more sharp and clear (due to the Real Stripe matrix vs the Pentile one used in Samsung's AMOLED):

Samsung's Galaxy Nexus is now shipping in the UK (with a contract). It will be available sim-free on December 2nd, for £519 (you can pre-order now). The Galaxy Nexus is the first Android v4 (Ice Cream Sandwich) smartphone. It features a 4.65" HD Super AMOLED display (1280x720, using PenTile technology) with a curved glass, a dual-core 1.2Ghz CPU, Full-HD video encoding, 5nmp camera, NFC, 1GB of RAM and 16/32GB of internal memory.

Samsung announced two new Galaxy SII variants - both with LTE, and both for the Korean market. The more interesting one is the Galaxy S II HD LTE which offers a 4.65" Super AMOLED HD display - offering 1280x720 resolution (316ppi, most likely with Pentile). The second phone is the Galaxy S II LTE which has a 4.5" 480 x 800 display (207ppi).

Beside the display, both phone feature LTE of course, a 1.5Ghz dual-core processor, 8mp camera (1080p video), 16GB of internal memory, Wi-Fi, GPS and NFC.