Samsung Galaxy Tab using IPS now, AMOLED in 2011

Samsung's Galaxy Tab is already using an LCD on the level of the iPad's and should jump to AMOLED in the future, Digitimes analyst Mingchi Kuo claimed today. Both Samsung itself and E Ink's Hydis division have been supplying the seven-inch tablet with a display that uses the same combination of IPS (in-plane switching) and FFS (fringe field switching) as Apple's tablet, just in a smaller size. The addition will give it both color accuracy and the wide viewing angles that have been credited to the iPad's success.

The move could help drive the use of IPS panels among tablets, Kuo thought. Some less expensive tablets have used cheaper TN (twisted nematic) panels like those in some notebooks and low-end desktops, which often don't show true 24-bit color and wash out at anything but a head-on viewing angle.

He was conservative about Samsung's goals this year and didn't see it shipping anymore than 2.2 million Galaxy Tabs in the remainder of 2010, or less than what Apple sold in two months. He did expect a significant display upgrade in 2011 to AMOLED that would give a future tablet the better contrast and thinner design inherent to the organic screens, although he didn't speculate whether this would involve Super AMOLED.

Samsung's choice of IPS was likely dictated by its own shortages of AMOLED displays, which have forced companies like HTC to use LCD alternatives. Many of these problems should be solved by July next year, when Samsung anticipates having 10 times more capacity.

By Electronista Staff