LG brings screen smackdown to Samsung over Optimus G

LG has launched a pre-reveal attack on Samsung's favorite phone and tablet technology, AMOLED, hammering home the idea that its Optimus G display will be thinner, brighter, and more power-efficient. Announced last month, the Optimus G uses a new True HD IPS+ screen based on LCD not OLED technologies, and LG is keen to make clear why that's a specific advantage over Samsung's current Android flagship smartphone.

LG is using a suspiciously Galaxy S III-shaped wireframe to illustrate its AMOLED opposition, and though there's no branding to confirm the Samsung slap, if Apple can patent rectangles with rounded corners then we can probably safely assume that it's the 20m-selling smartphone the Optimus G is being compared to. Even if that's too great a leap, the fact that Samsung is pushing the market in AMOLED technologies makes it the obvious opposition.

According to LG, the 320ppi True IPS+ panel gives 1.6x clearer images than AMOLED – great for reading text on webpages and in ebooks – while its greater power efficiency when showing white pages (LG namechecks the backgrounds on websites as a good example) is another advantage over the rival tech. Overall thickness is 27-percent down on previous panels.

Slim screens aren't the only thing LG is relying on to differentiate the Optimus G, though. The company apparently spent 15 months developing and patenting the "Crystal Reflection" process which decorates the back of the smartphone, with a polarized 3D pattern sparkling and glistening in the light.

Whether that will be enough to convince would-be owners to give LG a try despite its less-than-impressive record in delivering Android updates remains to be seen. The LG Optimus G is expected to be officially shown off at the end of September.