Photo: HTC

HTC is noted for having among the most gorgeous displays in all of the smartphone industry. That’s been partly attributed to the HTC OLED displays the company has used in its high-end phones. HTC has now had its hand forced by an OLED display shortage and will now make all its displays with an SLCD screen.

Why the  shortage?

The problem with OLED display is it is notably more expensive than LCD displays. And, more importantly, only Samsung, LG and CMEL supply it. Add this limited supply chain to the growing demand for this technology – spearheaded by Samsung growth and HTC’s unbelievable performance – HTC has been forced to search for alternate solutions.

What does this mean?

In short the incoming crop of HTC smartphones will use SLCD dispalys in lieu of the HTC OLED displays it has in its current crop of top-notch smartphones like the HTC Desire and the Google Nexus One. HTC puts the switch down to better battery life performance and more accurate contrast levels, but the company’s CEO makes it clear this has all got to do with product volume. In a press release,Peter Chou says that “HTC is experiencing high demand for many of our phones, specifically our phones with 3.7-inch displays,” before adding that “The new SLCD display technology enables us to ramp up our production capabilities quickly to meet the high demand.” High demand is certainly a nice problem to have.

What’s the difference?

The big question, of course, is whether there is a significant difference in display quality and imagery. In words, little is different if you aren’t searching for disparities. The differing screen types have strengths ands weaknesses, as is the case with anything, but the quality concession isn’t huge. The people over at Mobile Tech World have done a video comparison covering the various forms of display technology to show exactly.

In short, there’s nothing to see here, really. While the HTC OLED display is slightly superior to SLCD display, HTC fans have nothing to worry about.