pentile

PenTile is a brand-name technology for subpixel layout and rendering used in flat-panel displays. It is designed to increase perceived resolution and brightness without increasing the physical subpixel count, by using non-standard subpixel arrangements and specialized color reconstruction.

In PenTile layouts, the grid of subpixels is not the conventional RGB triplet. The common RGBG arrangement uses more green subpixels and shares red and blue subpixels among adjacent pixels. This allows higher luminance efficiency since green contributes most to perceived brightness. The display's driver applies algorithms to reconstruct full-color values from the nonuniform subpixel data, a process known as subpixel rendering or color management.

History and adoption: The technology was developed by PenTile Technologies. It has been used in various consumer displays, most notably in many smartphones and OLED TVs from Samsung and other manufacturers. PenTile patterns appear in both OLED and LCD panels, though implementation details vary.

Advantages and criticisms: The approach can deliver higher perceived resolution and brighter images at similar panel densities and power draw. However, it can produce color fringing or reduced sharpness for text at small sizes unless compensated by processing. Users sometimes perceive differences in color uniformity or grayscale rendering between PenTile and conventional RGB displays.

See also: Subpixels, Subpixel rendering, Display technology.