Corning Lotus XT Glass May Lead To Even Better Smartphone Displays

Corning’s newest type of glass, the second-generation Lotus XT Glass, will make it easier for smartphone manufacturers to produce better displays.

The new Lotus XT Glass is Corning’s follow-up to the original Lotus, a glass made for high-quality displays, but wasn’t easy to work with. The new glass will work with the high temperatures manufacturers work with for modern devices, making it possible to produce “faster, thinner, brighter, and higher resolution” displays.

Lotus XT Glass should also make it possible to create slimmer and more efficient phones. As displays are typically the biggest power draw on smartphones, the new glass should result in better battery life for smartphones.

With Lotus XT Glass Corning focused on letting manufacturers push display technology forward as opposed to making it as durable as possible like Gorilla Glass. Gorilla Glass 3 is Corning’s other top-of-the-line glass for mobile devices, made with durability in mind.

It takes a lot to break Gorilla Glass 3, which is why the glass and its predecessors are found in many smartphone displays, and even a few notebooks. The glass shouldn’t break after a drop or two, and doesn’t scratch easily.

Lotus XT Glass may have some durability features, but Corning’s big push doesn’t focus on that aspect. It’s hard to imagine the company producing a display that will scratch easily, however.

Without any devices using it yet, its hard to say how good Lotus XT Glass looks on a smartphone or tablet display. But those should come sometime in the near future. The glass should result in displays that look even better than those on the HTC One, Samsung Galaxy S4 or iPhone 5.

While many smartphone manufacturers are upfront about the glass they use in their smartphones, Apple is typically silent about the glass it uses on its devices. It’s believed the company uses Gorilla Glass on the iPhone, but with its focus on sharper, better quality displays, Apple may use Lotus XT Glass in future iPhones, iPads or MacBooks.