Samsung shows Retina-like 2560x1600, 10-inch LCD for tablets

Samsung and its frequent partner Nouvoyance said on Thursday they would show an ultra-sharp LCD optimized for tablets. The 10.1-inch, PenTile RGBW-based (red, green, blue, white) screen reaches an unprecedented resolution of 2560x1600. At 300 pixels per inch, the panel's sharpness is double the 1280x800 on most early Android 3 tablets and 2.25 times sharper than the 132PPI of an iPad 2 screen.

PenTile's ability to 'share' color pixels, instead of having separate pixels in stripes, still gives it performance at least as good as a much lower-resolution LCD, the two said. The panel can put out 300cd/m2 of brightness but uses up to 40 percent less power. Outdoors, the panel can kick up to 600cd/m2. Color accuracy is also as good as better mobile screens at 72 percent of the NTSC color range; most tablet screens hit 55 percent.

Samsung anticipated making the screen available to use for shipping products before the end of 2011. Companies still usually have to integrate the hardware and might not have shipping tablets until early 2012. Any tablet shipping with the hardware may need a quad-core processor, quad-core graphics, or both to smoothly drive the extra resolution, though Qualcomm, and graphics core makers like Imagination Technologies are expected to come through at the same time.

The development is most likely to lead to a new version of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 given its manufacturer, but Samsung's willingness to manufacture displays on contract could lead to at least other Android tablet makers signing onboard. Apple uses Samsung for iPad 2 displays but would have to get Samsung to cut the display down to 2048x1536 if it were to double its existing pixel density.

Regardless of manufacturer, the LCD should be the first to offer an effect similar to Apple's Retina Display at tablet sizes, creating a "pixel-free" image better for 1080p video, photos, and text.

Electronista

10-inch BlackBerry PlayBook reportedly already seen live

First mention of a 10-inch BlackBerry PlayBook just this week has been quickly followed up by a sighting mentioned Friday. A reportedly credible traveller on a flight from Dallas to Toronto saw a device he said looked virtually identical to the seven-inch version but with a visibly better display. It was described to CrackBerry as unmistakable since it was using the same BlackBerry Tablet OS and was running Need For Speed, one of the bundled PlayBook games.

The rumor is unconfirmed but would line up with historical sightings. RIM employees have frequently been seen carrying pre-release devices on flights as engineers and executives fly back to Toronto and Waterloo from meetings with partners. For RIM, tablets are relatively new, but the launch of the PlayBook could mean staff are now comfortable carrying unreleased models.

A launch for the 10-inch PlayBook is rumored for the fall and would be a quick response to concerns that the current version is too small. RIM has claimed that the PlayBook can be an advantage for its pocketable size, but the it may be concerned that Steve Jobs was accurate about the problems associated with a seven-inch tablet. Its approach would follow that taken by Samsung, which tried out a seven-inch tablet at first but scaled up to larger sizes to hedge against customers preferring larger screens.

Electronista