Hitachi knows that you’re using your cell phone for more than just making phone calls these days, especially if you happen to be out Japan way. Surfing the net on a mobile phone may just be a little more practical, because Hitachi has issued an all-new cell phone display that isn’t just QVGA, isn’t just VGA, but an incredible 800 x 480 pixels.

The company is claiming that this is an industry first in the area of “mobile phone display panels”, not only in terms of resolution, but also illumination. This new screen — which measures 2.9-inches diagonally — is nice and bright at 250 cd/m2 and there’s plenty of contrast too (400:1 ratio). They’ve also improved power consumption and the viewing angle (170 degrees). Now, we just have to wait until someone actually plops this thing into a phone.