Samsung says 4K on phones not a gimmick, has real uses for VR

Last year, the world got its first smartphone with a super-high-res 4K screen: the Sony Xperia Z5 Premium. And while that handset represented a real milestone, this implementation of 4K wasn't without its drawbacks – namely, that most of the time all those extra pixels were going unused. Now with Sony ditching the Xperia Z line for its new Xperia X family, a group of phones whose resolutions top out at 1080p, what future is there for 4K on smartphones? We can't say what Sony's plans are, but Samsung looks very interested in the tech, as we hear some very positive comments not just about 4K in general, but its possible applications for virtual reality.

It's easy to hate on really high-res smartphone screens when you're thinking about arm's length use cases; sure, there's little benefit to 4K, or even quad HD, when such a small screen is so far away from you. But bring that screen up close, and suddenly those extra pixels start having the opportunity to really deliver – just like they can when pairing a high-res phone display with a VR viewer like Google Cardboard or Samsung's Gear VR.

Samsung UK's Kyle Brown admits that his company's considering use cases just like that, although there's no telling yet when Samsung might be ready to deliver its own 4K handset.

Brown compares the move to 4K with the transition to USB type-C, saying that Samsung will keep an eye on both the price to implement the tech and the ultimate benefit the change promises to bring consumers – and that it won't move forward until it's clearly the right time to do so.

Source: Tech RadarVia: phoneArena

Source: Samsung says 4K on phones not a gimmick, has real uses for VR

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