Google and LG detail 1443 PPI screen for VR (Updated)

Google and LG’s recent tease of a breakthrough 1443-pixel per inch (PPI) screen for virtual reality headsets raised plenty of questions, and a new research paper (spotted by Road to VR) answers many of them ahead of the screen’s debut today at Display Week. The upshot: Incredibly high-resolution screens are coming, but they will depend on software tricks to replace pixelization with less objectionable blurring.

According to Google and LG, the new 4.3-inch OLED display boasts an 18-megapixel resolution with a refresh rate of up to 120Hz and is designed to be used in left-right pairs, with one for each eye. The supported field of view is 120 degrees by 96 degrees per eye, versus a 160 by 150 maximum. Notably, placing over 18 million pixels in such a small area almost entirely eliminates the eye’s ability to see the black grid of gaps between pixels that’s commonly known as the “screen door effect.”