Difference Between AMOLED and Retina Display

AMOLED vs Retina Display

Ever since smartphones came into existence, there has been a constant improvement in their display systems. Display of a smartphone has been made a parameter to judge or rate its performance against other smartphones. Two of the latest display technologies in smartphones are retina display (adopted by Apple in its iPhone 4) and AMOLED and super AMOLED (used by Samsung in its Galaxy series smartphones). For some, use of these technologies is confusing as all they want is bright screen and vivid colors. Let us see what these two different technologies mean to a buyer of a smartphone.

AMOLED Display

It is a technology also referred to as active matrix organic light emitting diodes, mainly used in smartphones and televisions. Active matrix is the system of addressing the pixels whereas OLED is a thin film technology that contains compounds that help in producing display. This display technology uses less power and is a cost effective means of display in large televisions. AMOLED displays, which consume less power and have higher refresh rates have become very popular as any power saved is critical in the context of mobile phones. However, it is difficult to view properly in AMOLED display under direct sunlight. Also, the compounds used for display are prone to degradation in a short period of time than LCD display.

Retina Display

This is the name given to the technology used by Apple in its latest smartphone iPhone 4, and is a very high resolution display technology. This display is able to pack considerably larger pixels in a screen of a mobile phone than is possible with any other display technologies. As a result, retina display boasts of 326 pixels per inch that produces high definition images on the screen. This display is possible with chemically treated glass of the screen and LED backlighting that improves the resolution of the images.