Apple’s New Retina Display: Do All Those Pixels Matter?

URL: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/03/ipad-retina-display-comparison/

At 2048 x 1536, the new iPad has the highest pixel density of any tablet to date. Photo: Christina Bonnington/Wired

Apple is calling the screen in its third-generation iPad a “Retina display,” even though the new screen’s pixel density is significantly less than that of the display in the iPhone 4 and 4S. Sure, the new iPad beats all competing tablets in terms of screen resolution, but if you hold a new iPad next to an iPhone 4S, how do they compare?

Dr. Raymond Soneira, creator of the DisplayMate screen calibration utility and a leading expert on display quality, aims to erase the confusion. On March 19, he’ll be publishing an “iPad Retina Display Shootout” that includes an in-depth analysis of the new iPad’s ultra-high-resolution display. Here are are some highlights we pulled from a brief preview of the analysis, which Soneira published Wednesday.

To start, Soneira addresses the fact that the iPhone 4/4S Retina display has a pixel density of 326 ppi (pixels per inch), whereas the new iPad comes in at just 264 ppi. “To qualify as an Apple retina display, the new iPad does not require the same ppi as the iPhone 4 Retina display because it is typically held further away from the eye,” Soneira writes. (In case you were wondering, the original iPad and iPad 2 have a pixel density of 132 ppi.)

Considering the distance an iPad is held from one’s face — 15 to 18 inches as opposed to 12 to 15 inches with the iPhone — the iPad could have a pixel density as low as 240 ppi, and still be considered a Retina display by Apple’s standards, Soneira writes. He also notes that given the average recommended distances we sit from 1080p TVs (6 feet for a 46-inch set; 8 feet or more for a 60-incher), these large-screen devices would be considered Retina displays as well — at least by Apple’s definition.

In his shootout preview, Soneira also challenges the notion that we even need a Retina display in the new iPad. He points out five reasons:

• Most adults don’t have true 20/20 vision, which the Retina display is optimized for.
• If you’re holding the iPad further than 18 inches from your eyes, you’re not at the optimal distance to appreciate the display’s high resolution — “that high resolution is wasted.”
• Photographic images are “inherently fuzzy, with the sharpest image detail spread over multiple pixels.”
• Improving sub-pixel rendering, and ordinary full pixel rendering (Apple’s approach), is actually the most efficient way to improve display sharpness.
• Most people are perfectly happy with display resolutions below 1600 x 1200 on their notebooks and desktop monitors.

Despite these factors, Soneira says, consumers should still notice a big difference between the new iPad, the iPad 2, and other tablet competitors.

All text (small text in particular) will be much improved, reducing the need to zoom in for legibility. High-quality photographs will also be rendered with much greater noticeable detail. And the new iPad’s 9.7-inch display — much larger than the iPhone’s 3.5-inch screen — will help you better appreciate high-resolution images in all their showy brilliance.

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