Samsung Gets to Work on 11K Resolution

At 11K and 2,250 pixels per inch, such a display would blow 4K and 8K out of the water.>

4K is here. We’ve heard it time and time again, and many industry folks have spent the last couple of years working to get on board with the new resolution standards.

As technology improves to make screen resolutions more crisp and clear than we ever imaged, some companies have even begun making headway into the next frontier, 8K. But none are taking as big a leap as Samsung, which recently partnered with the South Korean government to begin development of the world’s first 11K super-resolution display.

With a goal of 2,250 pixel-per-inch density and a resolution of 11,264 х 6,336 pixels, it might be hard to believe that this impressive display will be purposed for mobile use, especially since the new resolution will be about three to four times higher than Samsung’s existing quad-HD mobile displays.

At the Display Field National Research Development Business General Workshop in South Korea, Samsung announced that the 11K plans have earned a government investment of $26.5 million in the next five years, as well as the support of 13 companies around the world. The company predicts that a prototype will be ready by the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, says Chu Hye Yong, executive director of Samsung’s Base Technology Department.

Samsung execs are also saying that an 11K display will have ‘3D-like effects’ giving the illusion of 3D without the need for glasses.

“If a display panel’s resolution increases [drastically], there is an optical illusion [that creates a similar effect as] watching a 3D screen,” according to the Samsung announcement.

Interestingly enough, the ongoing debate over whether the human eye can even tell the difference between 720p and 1080p begs the question, is 11K overkill? Samsung doesn’t think so.

“Although some might think that 11K is ‘over specification’ that consumers do not need, this can work as a basis for the Korean display industry to [take additional leaps in the field],” says executive director Hye Yong.

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