As the anticipated Apple iPad 5 is being talked about, analysts are suggesting that we could see changes to the aesthetics. Apple is said to be making the iPad 5 thinner and lighter and may make the LED backlight smaller.
Attempts to reduce the thickness of the iPad 5 may accompany the LED shrink. Reducing the size of the LED will help to improve the display and be more efficient.
As CNET reported, "It's likely that part of the thinner/lighter design will be reducing the size of the LED backlight, partly by making the display more efficient and partly by using more efficient LEDs," Paul Semenza, an analyst at NPD DisplaySearch, said.
The Retina display of the previous generations of iPad added weight and thickness to the devices. The iPad 2 was slightly lighter and thinner than its predecessors of the third and fourth generation iPads.
"The other significant change that we feel is likely is a shift to a film-based touch sensor," Semenza said.
Whether the iPad 5 will feature the new IGZO technology from Sharp is not clear. IGZO, short for indium gallium zinc oxide is new semiconductor material used for LCD displays. Analysts mention that the iPhone 6 may be using this sort of display.
As for the iPad 5 and the possible use of Sharp's new state-of-art technology display, "It is not yet clear if there will be a big change to the display -- such as using IGZO, Semenza said.
The IGZO display was once rumored to be featured in the third generation iPad, which never happened. IGZO technology is used in the Japan market in small devices.
