With the advent of smartphones with full-HD 1080p display resolutions, we will likely see manufacturers in the near future trying to outdo each other by boasting how their creations’ display will make photos and videos pop at users.

However, a display expert has come out saying full-HD 1080p displays on smartphones likely won’t matter that much to most people’s eyes.

In a nutshell, what Dr. Raymond Soneira, president and CEO of DisplayMate, is saying is that photos and videos are inherently fuzzy having a full-HD display on a smartphone won’t make sharper photos and videos.

In an interview with ArsTechnica, Dr. Soneira says that “Even the tiniest image detail in a photograph is always spread over more than one pixel. The image detail is never perfectly aligned with the pixel structure of the display.”

ArsTechnica says further that the expert pointed out that videos are even worse because they are not static like photos. Because of this nature of videos, a person cannot focus on details of videos on such a small display.

“For ordinary viewing of videos, 1920×1080 is really not going to make a visual difference,” the doctor added.

That’s not to say that some will not see the difference a full-HD display on a smartphone brings to the table.

Nonetheless, you’d have to have special interest in screens and a very, very good eye to do so, says the expert.

“For some people, it is possible to tell the difference if we were to sit down and study a [1080p] display and a [720p] display, side-by-side,” ArsTechnica quotes Dr. Soneira as saying.

“If you’re really a fanatic and you study images, or you have some professional applications and you’re really into displays, then it may make a visual difference for you,” the expert added.

Dr. Soneira explains though that a full-HD 1080 display benefits content made by computers.

“Where a 1080p smartphone display could really make an impact is with computer-generated content—that is, the user interface, buttons, and text,” ArsTechnica writes.

“Only computer-generated images make full use of the pixel resolution of the display. For graphics and text, maybe you want that kind of sharpness,” Dr. Soneira tells the publication.

The first full-HD 1080p display smartphone has already been announced with the HTC J Butterfly which was launched for the Japanese market just this week.

The HTC J Butterfly uses a 5-inch full-HD 1080p display which is said to be the same display Chinese smartphone maker Oppo will use for its Oppo Find 5 smartphone.

Images from Lennart Tange on Flickr (CC)

About Solon Harmony Dolor

A passion for technology and journalism makes this upcoming writer very interested in social media and technology news. Fresh from finishing an English and Journalism degree from the University of the Philippines Diliman, he aims to bring interesting news to our readers .