Quad HD vs 1080p displays: closeup comparison

The Find 7 launched today, and one of the its defining features is its ultra-sharp display.

The Find 7’s 5.5-inch IPS LCD display is made with low temperature polysilicon technology, using the Touch on Lens (ToL) technique, which enables a thinner design, higher shock resistance, and improved sensitivity to touch. But the most impressive specification of the device is definitely its resolution: the OPPO Find 7 is the first smartphone to launch internationally with a 2560 x 1440 display, also known as Quad HD or 1440p resolution.

Cramming 3,686,400 pixels on a 5.5-inch display makes possible a whopping 538 ppi pixel density, way above the previous record held by the HTCOne, at 469 ppi.

Putting a Quad HD display on a smartphone is an impressive technical achievement, but we have to ask ourselves, are the returns worth the investment? Some argue that even Full HD (1920 x 1080, also known as 1080p) is overkill on a smartphone screen, so how about Quad HD ? Is it just an upgrade for the sake of upgrading or is it a true value adding improvement?

OPPO actually released another version of the Find 7, called Standard, which comes with a Full HD display of the same dimensions. We compare the two displays below to see how significant the difference between Quad HD and Full HD is.

Note: the devices we received from OPPO are pre-production units. Their displays have not been properly calibrated, so please disregard the color differences.

Click on the images to enlarge them.

Closeups fully reveal the difference between Full HD and Quad HD on the two versions of Find 7.

However, as these side by side shots show, the difference between Quad HD and Full HD is much harder to observe from a normal viewing distance. (Quad HD model on the right)

What’s your take on Quad HD on smartphones? Is the 2560 x 1440 pixels display of the Find 7 a true selling point or just a bullet point for the marketing team? Tell us in the comments.