{"id":409908,"date":"2022-02-25T21:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-02-25T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/why-dont-smartphones-have-4k-screens-yet\/"},"modified":"2022-02-25T21:00:00","modified_gmt":"2022-02-25T18:00:00","slug":"why-dont-smartphones-have-4k-screens-yet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/why-dont-smartphones-have-4k-screens-yet\/","title":{"rendered":"#Why Don\u2019t Smartphones Have 4K Screens Yet?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3873493d528\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3873493d528\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/why-dont-smartphones-have-4k-screens-yet\/#4K_Smartphones_Exist\" >4K Smartphones Exist<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/why-dont-smartphones-have-4k-screens-yet\/#Sony_Xperia_PRO-I\" >Sony Xperia PRO-I<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/why-dont-smartphones-have-4k-screens-yet\/#4K_On_a_Smartphone_Is_Way_Beyond_%E2%80%9CRetina%E2%80%9D\" >4K On a Smartphone Is Way Beyond \u201cRetina\u201d<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/why-dont-smartphones-have-4k-screens-yet\/#Pixels_Are_Power_Hungry\" >Pixels Are Power Hungry<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/why-dont-smartphones-have-4k-screens-yet\/#Mobile_Hardware_Isnt_Ready\" >Mobile Hardware Isn\u2019t Ready<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/why-dont-smartphones-have-4k-screens-yet\/#Its_Money_Better_Spent_Elsewhere\" >It\u2019s Money Better Spent Elsewhere<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/why-dont-smartphones-have-4k-screens-yet\/#There_Isnt_Really_Much_Point\" >There Isn\u2019t Really Much Point<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p><strong>&#8220;#Why Don\u2019t Smartphones Have 4K Screens Yet?&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<div>\n<figure style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"type:primaryImage size-full wp-image-779372\" data-pagespeed-lazy-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Xperia-PRO-I.png?width=398&amp;trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1 400w, https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Xperia-PRO-I.png?width=1198&amp;trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, 400w, 1200w\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Xperia-PRO-I.png?width=1198&amp;trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"type:primaryImage imagecredit\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/electronics.sony.com\/mobile\/smartphone\/professional-smartphones\/p\/xqbe62-b\">Sony Electronics<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>4K televisions are quickly becoming the norm, but look through modern smartphones options and there doesn\u2019t seem to be a 4K smartphone in sight. Why are 4K screens in smartphones missing in action? There are several reasons for 4K\u2019s absence.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"4K_Smartphones_Exist\"><\/span>4K Smartphones Exist<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>To be clear, 4K smartphones exist and have been around for years. The <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.phonearena.com\/phones\/Sony-Xperia-Z5-Premium_id9612\">Sony Xperia Z5 Premium<\/a> in 2015 was the first 4K smartphone you could buy. Sony\u2019s flagship Xperia phones have featured 4K screens since, but other phone makers haven\u2019t followed suit.<\/p>\n<div class=\"product-box \">\nA 4K Smartphone<\/p>\n<div class=\"product-img \">\n<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\" role=\"presentation\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B09KCNZKX3?tag=hotoge-20&amp;linkCode=ogi&amp;th=1&amp;psc=1\" onclick=\"fbq('track', 'Buy Button'); if (fb_t_convert){fb_t_convert();}\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/m.media-amazon.com\/images\/I\/21mbxmadm-L._SL160_.jpg\" height=\"147px\" alt=\"\" role=\"presentation\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><br \/>\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"product-title \">\n<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Shop for Sony Xperia PRO-I\" aria-label=\"Shop for Sony Xperia PRO-I\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B09KCNZKX3?tag=hotoge-20&amp;linkCode=ogi&amp;th=1&amp;psc=1\" onclick=\"fbq('track', 'Buy Button'); if (fb_t_convert){fb_t_convert();}\"><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Sony_Xperia_PRO-I\"><\/span>Sony Xperia PRO-I<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"product-features\">Sony combines both a one-inch camera sensor and true 4K display into a smartphone&#8212;for a price.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>In a world where marketers love to boast bigger numbers as an easy way to market their new phone as being better than the competition, it seems an easy win to simply pump more pixels into the screen and call it a day. In practice, a 4K screen on a smartphone doesn\u2019t make sense for various reasons.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"4K_On_a_Smartphone_Is_Way_Beyond_%E2%80%9CRetina%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>4K On a Smartphone Is Way Beyond \u201cRetina\u201d<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">App<\/a>le realized that in a device such as a smartphone, arbitrary pixel counts don\u2019t mean much to users. Instead, they came up with a new metric referred to as \u201cRetina\u201c. This is a pixel density threshold beyond which users can\u2019t see the individual pixels of the display at normal viewing distances.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s clearly a subjective element at play here, but at 10-20 inches from the display, you reach \u201cRetina\u201d levels of image quality when you\u2019re comfortable past 300 pixels per inch or so.<\/p>\n<p>Using the \u201c<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.designcompaniesranked.com\/resources\/is-this-retina\/\">Is This Retina?<\/a>\u201d online calculator, it turns out that a 6.5 inch 4K screen becomes \u201cRetina\u201d at five inches and beyond. We doubt any smartphone users hold their phones closer than 5 inches from their face during normal use. A 4K phone screen would look indistinguishable from a lower resolution screen at typical viewing distances.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Pixels_Are_Power_Hungry\"><\/span>Pixels Are Power Hungry<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<figure style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-781450 size-full\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/ps5.jpg?trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"A person playing a PS5 on a TV.\" width=\"650\" height=\"433\" data-crediturl=\"https:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/image-photo\/toronto-canada-november-24-2020-person-1860839008\" data-credittext=\"Mohsen Vaziri\/Shutterstock.com\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"imagecredit\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/image-photo\/toronto-canada-november-24-2020-person-1860839008\">Mohsen Vaziri\/Shutterstock.com<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Unlike a TV mounted on your wall or a laptop screen with a large battery, smartphone displays have to take a strict approach to power management. A phone\u2019s display is typically the most power-hungry component in the device. When you add more pixels, you need more power to render and light those pixels.<\/p>\n<p>Even modern flagship phones with 1440p screens often default to a lower rendering resolution to balance battery life and image quality. A 4K screen running at its native resolution uses significantly more power than a lower resolution screen of the same size. Smartphone users (rightfully) put a high priority on battery life, and 4K displays need too many compromises in that department with the current state of mobile <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/technology\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"4\" title=\"Technology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">technology<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Mobile_Hardware_Isnt_Ready\"><\/span>Mobile Hardware Isn\u2019t Ready<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Rendering graphics at 4K isn\u2019t a trivial job even for the latest gaming consoles and gaming PCs. The CPU and GPU technology in flagship phones is powerful indeed, but 4K requires four times as many pixels rendered compared to Full HD. With the exception of video content and 2D content such as web pages or photos, most content will be scaled up from a lower resolution than 4K.<\/p>\n<p>Even when native 4K content is shown on your phone\u2019s 4K display, it will look the same as 1080p or 1440p content at normal viewing distances. pairing current mobile hardware with 4K displays doesn\u2019t make a lot of sense given the relatively limited amount of processing power on offer.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Its_Money_Better_Spent_Elsewhere\"><\/span>It\u2019s Money Better Spent Elsewhere<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>4K screens, particularly when manufactured at the small sizes used in smartphones, are not cheap. Smartphones have to offer a balance of features within their design budget. The additional cost of a 4K display will either result in a more expensive phone or one that has made cuts in other areas to maintain its price point.<\/p>\n<p>Since 4K displays in smartphones offer few if any tangible benefits to users, it makes more sense to use the portion of the budget in question for better battery life, performance, storage, or any of the other features that users will notice in practical day-to-day use.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"There_Isnt_Really_Much_Point\"><\/span>There Isn\u2019t Really Much Point<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>While 4K displays may one day be cheap enough and smartphones fast enough to use them, human beings will still be unable to tell, assuming that we don\u2019t get upgrades for our eyes at the same time.<\/p>\n<p>Smartphone screen sizes are also limited by our ability to hold and use these devices and aren\u2019t likely to get much larger. Even 13\u2033 devices such as the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/2021-Apple-12-9-inch-Wi%E2%80%91Fi-256GB\/dp\/B0932CJZ22?tag=hotoge-20\">12.9-inch iPad Pro<\/a> or <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Apple-MacBook-Chip-13-inch-Storage\/dp\/B08TCJ3QMQ?tag=hotoge-20\">13-inch M1 MacBook Pro<\/a> don\u2019t have 4K displays, although it makes marginally more sense at those sizes.<\/p>\n<p>You may be wondering why such small 4K displays exist at all. There are indeed legitimate uses for 4K on small display panels. VR is a prime candidate, where the screen is a mere inch or two from the user\u2019s eye. Film professionals also need 4K field monitors, which are scrutinized and used at very close distances.<\/p>\n<p>Do you need a 4K display for your phone? Certainly not today.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script>\n setTimeout(function(){\n  !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\n  {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\n  n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};\n  if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';\n  n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\n  t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];\n  s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s) } (window, document,'script',\n  'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n   fbq('init', '335401813750447');\n   fbq('track', 'PageView');\n  },3000);\n<\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Technology category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/779368\/why-dont-smartphones-have-4k-screens-yet\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#Why Don\u2019t Smartphones Have 4K Screens Yet?&#8221; Sony Electronics 4K televisions are quickly becoming the norm, but look through modern smartphones options and there doesn\u2019t seem to be a 4K smartphone in sight. Why are 4K screens in smartphones missing in action? There are several reasons for 4K\u2019s absence. 4K Smartphones Exist To be clear,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":409909,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Xperia-PRO-I.png?height=200p&trim=2,2,2,2","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-409908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=409908"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409908\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/409909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=409908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=409908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=409908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}