Speaking of smart phone system, I believe we will all think of iOS and Android. Of course, the rising star Windows Phone also has great development potential due to Microsoft's "deep pockets". The mobile phones of these three systems represent the highest level of hardware configuration today, and of course, the screen is also unequivocal. Smart phones have entered the era of high-definition. This article introduces the resolution development of these three systems.

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Android

The Android platform is fragmented in terms of resolution due to the fragmentation of hardware. From 320 * 480 of G1, to 480 * 800 of the mainstream later, to 720 * 1280 of the mainstream now, to 1080 * 1920 of the strong debut at the end of 2012, we are amazed at the rapid development of Android. Let's start with G1.

320*480

To introduce the development of Android, we must not forget the "founding hero" HTC Dream (G1). Just like its name, it has created a dream kingdom of Android. The resolution of G1 is 320 * 480, the screen size is 3.17 inches, and the ppi is 182. The fineness of G1 is very problematic. At the same time, some mobile phones in Windows Mobile system have reached 480 * 800, and there is still a big gap in fineness.

480*800

Android entered 480 * 800 much later than Windows Mobile. At the Android conference in January 2010, Google officially launched its own brand phone Nexus One, which is also the first batch of Android phones to enter the WVGA (480 * 800) level. The screen size is 3.7 inches, and the ppi is 252. As the first work in the pro son series, it is also very meaningful for the development of Android.

540*960

Due to the pressure of the "retina" screen of the iPhone 4, Android has finally made a breakthrough after a long period of suppression of its resolution. In April 2011, Motorola launched the first Android 2.2 mobile phone, the Atrix 4G, which is the first screen to use the qHD (540 * 960) resolution. Compared with the 640 * 960 resolution of the iPhone 4, there is little difference. The Atrix 4G uses a 4-inch screen, with a ppi of 275, which is still different from the retina of the iPhone 4 in value. Moreover, its screen is the most "anti human" Pentile array tft, and the screen effect is actually very ordinary. The resolution of qHD was later used by some HTC models, and the effect is no less than that of the Atrix 4G.

720*1280

In November 2011, a mobile phone that shocked the world came on the scene, that is, the Galaxy Nexus, the third generation mobile phone of Google's own brand. It is the first Android 4.0 mobile phone. At the same time, it uses a 4.65-inch Super Amoled screen with 720P high-definition level, with a ppi of 316, but it still uses Pentile arranged screens, so it is not as good as the iPhone in terms of fineness. In the later period, with the explosion of high-definition IPS and SLCD screens, there were many 720P screens arranged in RGB, and the screen of Android phones can finally match that of iPhones.

1080*1920

In October 2012, HTC launched a 5-inch 1080P mobile phone, which shocked the mobile phone into the era of full HD. The screen effect of this mobile phone is extremely outstanding. The ppi reaches 440. The screen adopts SLCD3 (RGB array) technology, which also makes people sigh about the rapid development of mobile technology. Later, many domestic manufacturers launched 1080P mobile phones, such as OPPO Find5, Nubia Z5 and Huawei Ascend D2.

In addition to these mainstream resolutions, Android has many resolutions that are relatively unpopular or derived from the mainstream, which will not be described in detail here.

iOS

Compared with the diversity of Android, the situation of iOS is much simpler. For iPhone, the resolution is "three-step".

320*480

As in the early days of Android, the resolution of the iPhone is 320 * 480, the screen size is 3.5 inches, and the ppi is 165. This level of fineness is similar to that of the later iPad 2. Imagine the fineness on the phone is the same as that on the tablet. This resolution is still difficult to accept

640*960

This can be said to be a milestone in the development of mobile phone screens. On June 8, 2010, Apple's fourth generation mobile phone, the iPhone 4, made a strong debut, which brought an unprecedented visual feast. The concept of "Retina" retina was introduced for the first time, which directly led us to add a standard to measure mobile phone screens - ppi. There is no doubt that Apple achieved great success in the period of the iPhone 4. Before the 720P Android came out, the mobile phone screen was always the best of the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 4S.

640*1136

On September 13, 2012, Apple's sixth generation mobile phone, the iPhone 5, came on stage. It finally upgraded the screen to the mainstream 16:9, but it only "elongated" the screen of the iPhone 4/4S, with a resolution of 640 * 1136, a size of 4 inches, and a ppi of 326. Although we are not surprised by Apple's upgrade, it is a pity that it did not reach 720P. When Android officially entered 1080P full HD, the iPhone was still "struggling" in the stage of less than HD, which seemed to lack stamina.

Windows Phone

Speaking of Windows Phone, we have to mention its predecessor, Windows Mobile. From 2005 to 2007, WM system was really a very popular platform. Many business people and mobile phone players were interested in this mobile phone platform, which is similar to computer operation.

240*320

In the early days of Windows Mobile, the resolution was still at a relatively low level of 240 * 320. Many used 2.8 inches, and the ppi was only 143.

480*640

VGA resolution is also a milestone for mobile phones. The figure below shows the famous HTC "diamond machine" Diamond, with a 2.8 inch VGA screen and 286ppi.

480*800

Windows Mobile is a mobile phone platform that entered WVGA resolution earlier, and some 3-inch WVGA screens (310ppi) have reached the "retina" level. In the period of WP7, most mobile phones adopt a unified resolution of 480 * 800, which is also the result of the highly unified hardware of the WP platform.

720*1280

In the era of WP8, Windows Phone has finally entered the high-definition standard, which also makes the display effect of WP8 phones comparable to high-end Android phones. Of course, there are also 768 * 1280 "aliens" like Lumia 920.

The development of mobile phone screens has entered a very high-speed stage, and the competition between mobile phone hardware is also extremely fierce. The competition from CPU and GPU has gradually shifted to the competition of screen and product differentiation, which has also led to more and more picky eyes of users. The author believes that manufacturers should not deliberately pursue high resolution. High resolution will place too high demands on the GPU's ability, which may directly lead to the unsmooth operation of mobile phones. Will 1080P be the limit of mobile phone screen?

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Android

iOS

Windows Phone

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