Super AMOLED HD exists, tip industry insiders, big screen smartphones coming from Samsung in the fall

Today seems to be high-resolution mobile displays news day, after we posted that Apple is allegedly moving to Sharp for its future screens.We have to admit we almost broke the chair when we got this tip, but industry insiders, one of them a Samsung supplier, have seemingly confirmed the existence of those elusive high-resolution Super AMOLED displays we've been hearing about ever since Eldar Murtazin said there will be another flagship Samsung Android phone with a high-res screen by the end of this year.

The above sources have said to expect 5-6" Super AMOLED HD smartphones as soon as this fall, and 7" tablets announced by year-end. Some of this ties up nicely with the rumored 5.3" Samsung Galaxy Q handset, and hints at the reality of an Ice Cream Sandwich phone with HD resolution screen that was listed in the recently leaked Samsung roadmap, which could very well be the Nexus Prime.

The sources have clarified that this eventual 720x1280 pixels resolution is not yet achieved by the laser-based LITI production method, but rather with the current Shadow Mask (FMM) lines, and some clever utilization of the PenTile matrix, similar to the Super AMOLED display on the first Samsung Galaxy S. For more info, you can read our in-depth comparison of the RGB and PenTile matrices on Super AMOLED displays - it's a bit disappointing that PenTile will be used to achieve the HD resolution, but we are saving judgement until we see the final units.

The disadvantage of Shadow Mask was that it was pretty expensive, especially for larger AMOLED screens, but through better uniformity and new materials Samsung has managed to bring costs down for Super AMOLED screens to just 20% more than a regular Super-LCD one, and allow for HD ones, which is remarkable. 

The new Samsung Mobile Display OLED factory is said to be sitting now on a lot of spare capacity anyway, since HTC moved to LCD due to AMOLED shortages last year, and Nokia isn't selling as much smartphones as expected. The IFA expo in Berlin is fast approaching in just two weeks or so, and it is widely expected that Samsung will be showcasing this new gear at the event.