What Makes A Good Smartphone Screen

Modern smartphones are a great way of communicating with the world. One of the most important aspects that allows the world to communicate back is the screen. Like most other technologies, screen technology has generated a lot of jargon and tech-speak.

Beyond all of this, it is important that the consumer understands some of the basic concepts in order to ensure that the phone they are buying has the right screen to meet their needs. Here we attempt to portray the important aspects of screen technology in a way that can be understood and link them to the requirements that make up a good smartphone screen.

Screen Size

No further explanation required here other than to advise that in order to be able to see a screen properly the size of the screen should be at least 2.5”. Anything below this size will be very difficult to see and make things hard to read.

The most popular size is around 3.5” which gives enough room to display contents in a way that can be read reasonably easily. Screen measurements are taken across the diagonal of the screen rather than height or width. Having too large a screen would make a phone unwieldy and hard to fit in the hand so determining ideal screen size is a personal choice.

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Contrast Ratio

This measures the difference between the brightest white and the darkest black that the screen is able to display. The higher the ratio the better the display will be. A high contrast ratio will produce clear and crisp images as well as reproduce color variations easily.

A standard screen is likely to have a ratio above 1000:1 but a high-end phone may have a contrast ratio as high as 10000:1. if you are looking to judge the readability of a smartphone screen before you purchase then looking at contrast ratio will give you a good indication.

Luminance

You may have seen people squinting at their phone screen in bright sunlight trying to make out the contents. The luminance of the screen is what dictates how easy it can be seen in sunlight. The range of luminance in most smartphone screens is between 200 and 550 cd/m2 (candelas per square meter). Once again, the higher the luminance the better you will be able to see the screen in bright light.

Resolution and Pixel Density

The resolution of a phone is also sometimes called the pixel count and is another good way of assessing the quality of a screen. Basically it tells you the number of pixels on a screen. Generally, the higher the number, the better the screen, but you also need to take account of the pixel density.

The density is the number of pixels combined with the screen size. What this actually means is that if you are trying to choose between two smartphones that are very similar, a higher pixel density will indicate that you are likely to have a better screen viewing experience

These are your main considerations when comparing screens on a smartphone to decide which one is best for you. The viewing experience you get from the screen is a very important aspect of usage and should not be overlooked.

    Sam Jones

About the Guest Author:

Sam Jones is the author of this article. When looking at iphone deals recently, his attention was drawn to the high spec screens that feature in most models.