Reports point to high-def Samsung/LG touch screen for Apple iPad 3

Samsung and LG will manufacture a high-definition touch screen display for the next version of the Apple iPad, according to media reports.

The Korea Times cited unnamed industry sources in reporting that the companies are looking to secure deals with Apple to provide the LCD display hardware for the third generation of the tablet.

The report claimed that the displays will be 4.3 ratio QXDA screens with a top resolution of 2,048x1,536 pixels.

If true, the screens would bring an improved picture quality to the next version of the iPad, which has dominated the overall market, racking up an estimated 80 per cent share.

Apple has seen the emergence of new challengers in recent months, however. HP recently threw its hat into the ring with the webOS-based Touch Pad tablet, while long-time tablet vendors such as Archos are unveiling new models as well.

Enderle Group principal analyst Rob Enderle told V3.co.uk that the larger screen size of tablets means that an improved resolution for the iPad will have less of an impact than the introduction of the iPhone 4's Retina display.

Enderle sees the functionality of tablets having a larger impact than display or hardware specifications, and that input methods and creative tools will be more important factors.

"The next big thing we are seeing is bringing digitisers into the display," he said. "The next generation really moves the tablet from a consumption device and drifts it closer to a creation device."

The Samsung and LG partnership comes as Apple and Samsung are involved in a bitter legal dispute. Apple has sued Samsung claiming patent infringement in its Galaxy line of devices.