Retina Display: Chill Out

[donster28]

On a 3.5 inch display? Point is 9.7 inch 'retina's' don't exsist in real life, nor do we have the technology to drive one if they did exsist.

I don't know why people keep describing Retina Display as this hard to achieve, expensive feature.

I'm not an expert but if there is anyone here who can prove that Retina Display is un-achievable on a bigger screen now, please chime in...and oh, don't forget to include your title in the industry.

Retina Display (or call it something else if this name gives you the chills) is here now and I have it in the palm of my hands and I didn't pay $1,000 for it, it came with my iPhone.

I can't wait to come here a few months from now, after Apple introduces the next iPad (with Retina Display).

 

[blackNBUK]

The cost to produce a panel that size and that pixel density would be outrageous and would require seriously more CPU and gpu horsepower, with more heat and more power draw... And you wouldn't event tell the difference unless you hold the iPad right up to your face...

I don't know enough about hardware to know if an iPad retina display could be produced. However I do remember when it was first rumoured people saying that Apple couldn't add such a hi-res display to the iPhone and them doing it anyway.

I think there maybe a way around the CPU and GPU requirements though. The real difficulty is in rendered the OpenGL/3D graphics; in comparasion rendering the 2D user interface and text is relatively easy. On the iPhone4 App developers already have to opt-in to hi-res OpenGL, Apple could simply do the same on a Retina iPad.

 

[mixvio]

Yeah, I know, iOS 4 doesn't offer "true" multi-tasking. But it works 10x better than Backgrounder. Using Backgrounder generally makes the entire setup unstable and forces the OS to work in a way it wasn't designed to work.

The fast app switching in iOS 4 is fantastic. It creates the illusion of multi-tasking and lets me pick up exactly where I left off in apps. And its perfectly stable, unlike Backgrounder.

With iOS4 I can switch between apps quickly without ever having to actually leave apps. With backgrounder I still have to leave the app, find the one I want, open it. It slows things down dramatically.

And those who are against a resolution bump on the iPad or say "theres no need" have never used an iPhone 4. The screen is gorgeous. It really puts the iPad to shame. The app that would benefit the most from a resolution bump is iBooks. If that had the same pixel density as the iPhone 4 it would be the ultimate eReader.

I don't have any of these problems with Backgrounder. In conjunction with ProSwitcher (which I like personally) or Circuitous, you have a decent task manager with little fuss.

I've seen/used an iPhone 4. It's a pretty screen. For a phone. It's not necessary on a larger device. I have no trouble reading books on my iPad and my Kindle library is already getting to almost 100 titles in just two months. I also don't have the world's greatest eyesight in the first place. Apple would need to do a lot more to the iPad to make it the "ultimate eReader," but considering that's a bonus application of the device and not a dedicated intent, I don't see that happening. The display is the least of it.

Having had iOS 4 on my 3GS since it was available, however, I am not really in a rush to get it on my iPad. The fast app switching is really overrated and, especially if you are using an app that hasn't been updated to support it, usually in the way.

I'd certainly welcome a higher resolution for more screen estate, but the people needing higher pixel density are really losing their minds here.

 

[jamesryanbell]

I'm not disputing the necessity of higher pixel density, but every time I see "retina display" I want to bash my head against some sort of hard inanimate object.

I think it's a bad name as well.

 

[zhenya]

EXACTLY!!!! Everyone complaining that they NEED a retina display on the iPad is the typical dot who THINKS they know tech, but in reality just looks at a spec sheet and thinks that higher numbers automatically mean better...

There is ZERO need for a retina display on the iPad....

The cost to produce a panel that size and that pixel density would be outrageous and would require seriously more CPU and gpu horsepower, with more heat and more power draw... And you wouldn't event tell the difference unless you hold the iPad right up to your face...

Funny, I read books on my iPad just fine and the text doesn't look fuzzy at all...

As far as the RAM on the iPad.... Would it have been better to have 512? Sure... But it's not like the device doesn't work just fine with 256... It amazes me how spoiled we've become, and how bloated software has gotten... My top of the line desktop machine 10 years ago barely had 512mb, and now people are complaining that a handheld table built around a very efficient embedded os cant live comfortably in 256???

You have any credentials to back up that hyperbole or are you just playing Internet windbag?

Of course nobody NEEDS a display with that much resolution, but once you've used one, everything else is just sub-par. You could read on my WinMo phone 5 years ago too, but it sucked. Even reading in the old iPhones was not fun for any period of time. I was on the verge of buying an iPad until I went to use one in person and realized that the display, while very good, doesn't hold a candle to the ip4. It would be a major surprise if the next revision iPad did not have a higher resolution screen. I know I'm waiting for it.

 

[ntrigue]

Another case of the vocal, yet still retarded, Apple fan.

+1

 

[mixvio]

You have any credentials to back up that hyperbole or are you just playing Internet windbag?

Of course nobody NEEDS a display with that much resolution, but once you've used one, everything else is just sub-par. You could read on my WinMo phone 5 years ago too, but it sucked. Even reading in the old iPhones was not fun for any period of time. I was on the verge of buying an iPad until I went to use one in person and realized that the display, while very good, doesn't hold a candle to the ip4. It would be a major surprise if the next revision iPad did not have a higher resolution screen. I know I'm waiting for it.

There isn't any question that future iPad refreshes will have better specs. That's how tech goes.

The discussion is more about people being total nutso ninnies now as to how their iPad somehow sucks because it doesn't have uber pixels compared to a cell phone.

Future iPads will probably have higher resolution screens and cameras and 4G and optional attachments that let you get a blowjob (but not to porn, as we all know there is no porn on iDevices.)

Who cares? Use what you have now instead of being constantly unsatisfied as to what may be available in a year or five.

 

[tunerX]

I'm not considering buying one till it has a Retina Display.

The iPhone 4 made the iPad Obsolete.

P.S. 128MB RAM? EW.

obsolete?

Not if you are looking at 11x17 interconnection diagrams. The iPhone, no matter how good the resolution, doesn't offer the same real estate for seeing multiple connections between network devices on such a little screen.

Also try running iSM on the iphone while watching 30 stocks, it sucks...

And then try reading a standard PDF technical book while having the whole page displayed, all at once. Not going to happen. You can pan and zoom, but that doesn't fit the experience of looking at a book with diagrams.

I am getting good use with the iPad and if they do put a retina in it I will buy that one as well and will still be wielding my 9.7 incher around.

 

[MrWillie]

I don't know why people keep describing Retina Display as this hard to achieve, expensive feature.

I'm not an expert but if there is anyone here who can prove that Retina Display is un-achievable on a bigger screen now, please chime in...and oh, don't forget to include your title in the industry.

Retina Display (or call it something else if this name gives you the chills) is here now and I have it in the palm of my hands and I didn't pay $1,000 for it, it came with my iPhone.

I can't wait to come here a few months from now, after Apple introduces the next iPad (with Retina Display).

Okay, scale the 3.5 inch 'retina display' you are holding in your hands and tell me what the resolution would need to be and think about it. Go to a high end audio video store and tell them you want a 300 dpi display... Wait

Better idea... Draw a three inch by three square. Make tiny circles, in a row 1/300 th of an inch in diameter. You should end up with 900 rows with 900 dots in each row. You now have a 900x900 resolution screen. 810,000 dots.

Now draw a 10x10 inch square. Again 300 dot per inch. You now have 3000 rows with 3000 dots in each one. 3000 x 3000. Do you see the difficulty in making a screen with that high of a resolution work. 9,000,000 dots.

Basically you are confusing dpi and resolution. Ipads 1024x768 screen is a higher resolution than the iPhones 960x640, but the iPhones display is smaller, therefor the pixels are smaller giving it a higher dpi.

And nobody is bashing you (at least I am not). If you don't understand any of this, just ask.

 

[HommePomme]

After getting my iPhone 4, my iPad looks like a screen door. I still enjoy the iPad, but it has honestly been outdone, at least on the display front, by the iPhone 4, no question.

 

[toxic]

I don't know why people keep describing Retina Display as this hard to achieve, expensive feature.

I'm not an expert but if there is anyone here who can prove that Retina Display is un-achievable on a bigger screen now, please chime in...and oh, don't forget to include your title in the industry.

Retina Display (or call it something else if this name gives you the chills) is here now and I have it in the palm of my hands and I didn't pay $1,000 for it, it came with my iPhone.

I can't wait to come here a few months from now, after Apple introduces the next iPad (with Retina Display).

the problem isn't making one. the problem is 1) making it affordable, and 2) driving it. a mobile device will not have the power to push 4 million pixels, whether you like it or not.

 

[sapporobaby]

the problem isn't making one. the problem is 1) making it affordable, and 2) driving it. a mobile device will not have the power to push 4 million pixels, whether you like it or not.

He runs from thread to thread evangelizing his Retina Display theory while seeming to have very little understanding how it works. Your attempts to placate or educate are wasted.

 

[MrWillie]

+1

Again, he is not an Apple fan

 

[yegon]

the problem isn't making one. the problem is 1) making it affordable, and 2) driving it. a mobile device will not have the power to push 4 million pixels, whether you like it or not.

Exactly. Those expecting an iPad 2 with a res of 2500x1500(or whatever the figure is) on a 10" screen next year are going to be very, very disappointed. Plus, Apple are historically very slow at upping screen resolutions. Its not that long ago that 15" mbps were only available at 1440x900 ffs.

Thinking on, it wouldn't surprise me at all if Apple saved any kind of screen res bump for v3, as they love holding back the odd feature to incentivise future upgrades.

 

[colmaclean]

Retina display is so incredibly overhyped it's not even funny. Gotta love Apple's marketing though to suck so many in.

I find the fact I can VNC from my iPhone onto my Mac desktop and legibly view a very high proportion of the screen quite hype-worthy!

 

[Mars478]

woooooooow wee. sorry i made a mistake in the iPad thing, I meant 256.

And yes I know it's crazy for the iPad pixel density to be that high, but Apple has done other wonders before... so? The Retina display is marvelous.

The iPhone 4 also made the iPad obsolete because of Facetime, which the iPad will most likely get in gen 2. So might as well wait right?
sorry for the flamebait guys...

 

[thedarkhorse]

I don't think with the current tech(on the market) the ipad can drive a display with 4x the pixels, but in the next year or two I could see it happening.

 

[japanime]

The iPhone 4 made the iPad Obsolete.

Did you just say what I think you said?

 

[jamesryanbell]

The iPhone 4 also made the iPad obsolete because of Facetime, which the iPad will most likely get in gen 2. .

That is a really dumb comment...sorry, but it is.

iPhone and iPad are drastically different products. One doesn't make the other obsolete.

 

[sapporobaby]

The iPhone 4 also made the iPad obsolete because of Facetime, which the iPad will most likely get in gen 2. So might as well wait right?
sorry for the flamebait guys...

I wish common sense and logic, with just a hint of education thrown in would make utterly stupid comments like this obsolete.

This is either flame-bait or shows that the poster has a true lack of understand of the difference between the two devices.

 

[Don Kosak]

I think the pixel density on the iPad is just about right.

They could probably go up to 1280x1024 -- the DPI wouldn't be "Retina" level. As others have pointed out, you hold the iPad farther from your eyes, so the perceived pixel density would be close.

The big issue for increasing the display density is the graphics chip in the iPad. The chip is pretty amazing. It delivers soild 3d rendering performance with minimal power and low heat output. That said, it's really at its limits at 1024x768. That's a lot of pixels to push around.

Games will probably look better, and run smoother at 1024x768 than they would at much higher resolutions -- unless Apple designs a much more efficient graphics chip.

Oh, and speaking of games, the WeRule/WeFarm developers were under a lot of time pressure to meet the iPad's launch. But it's been months, and it's time they fixed those memory leaks. Xcode comes with a good profiling/leak detecting program called "Instruments". [object release] is your friend!

 

[obamtl]

whichever way one cuts it. as a user of both an iPad and iPhone 4, I can say without any doubt that the iPad is now a lot less impressive and I use is a lot less than I did when I had a 3GS. The screen is markedly poor compared to the iPhone, but what really kills it is the slowness of the device and the operating system. Not being able to multitask really sucks... Having so many pages of Apps too stinks. Retina display? I don't know if it needs it, but I'd like to see a marked improvement in the screen.

 

[spinedoc77]

I find the fact I can VNC from my iPhone onto my Mac desktop and legibly view a very high proportion of the screen quite hype-worthy!

I use Jump desktop with my work and my home desktops with my 3gs. I'm all for clearer text, but it's not making the text any larger as the screen size is still the same. I just don't see the big deal when putting my 3gs next to a ip4, the text is a bit clearer and that's about it, but certainly nothing to be so excited about IMO. It's a MUCH bigger deal for me to whip out my ipad and run Jump on it, now that excites me.

 

[shen]

That is a really dumb comment...sorry, but it is.

iPhone and iPad are drastically different products. One doesn't make the other obsolete.

Not only are you totally wrong about our ability to compare different products, but the new Bugatti totally makes the iPhone 4 obsolete...

 

[2002cbr600f4i]

Credentials? Let's see....

Computer science degree from Georgia Tech... Working on a masters in Cs from Drexel University... Specialized in computer hardware and computer graphics as an undergrad. Work in an r&d lab at a fortune 100 company... Published author of one programming book and tech editor of several others... Yeah I think I know a bit more about this stuff than the typical person on this site...


Now, that being said, YES I DO have an iPhone 4... Yea the display is nice compared to my older 3G... But.... Hold them both at 1-1.5 ft away from your face side by side and you won't see that much more sharpness. The reason for the retina display is to make things sharper because you are looking at a display only 6" from your face! You use the iPad 1-2 ft from your eyeballs. The drop off in sharpness isn't that noticeable at that distance...

Look at it this way... Take 3 tv sets... A 52" 1080P, a 32" 1080P and a 32" 720P... Set them all 10 ft away from your face... The 52" is going to look fuzzy because with the same resolution as the 32"1080P the pixels are like 75% larger. BUT, you can move that 52" set farther away and it will look just as sharp aa the 32".

Compare the 1080 and 720P sets at that distance and you probably won't notice much difference. Move in closer, and yes the 1080 will look better, it has higher pixel density at the same size display.

You guys are wanting a retina display on an iPad... That will cause the display to be something like 5200x3000... You don't even get that on high end computer monitors today. The higher the resolution the screen is, the larger the graphics files for bitmapped resources have to be, the bigger the frame buffer (both displayed and backing) have to be to address all those pixels, and the more pixels 3D routines have to calculate and draw to. That requires more RAM, faster CPU and GPU, and thus more power draw and heat.

Now, I could see apple maybe making MODEST improvements to the display... Maybe taking it up to 1280x1024 (or 1080 to get full HD even though the aspect ratio is a bit wrong). But something up to retina display density is just pointless and wasteful and neither needed nor cost effective.

Are you telling me that you get THAT much more eye strain reading on your iPad vs your iphone4??? Maybe you shouldn't be holding it so close to your face!