'Air Display' to Let You Use the New iPad as a HiDPI 'Retina' Display for Your Mac

[MacRumors]

Avatron, the makers of the popular Air Display app for iOS, revealed today that they will be updating their utility to fully support the 3rd Generation iPad.

Air Display allows you to use your iPad (or iPhone/iPod Touch) as an extra display for your Mac or Windows computer. This old video shows how the app works.

The iPad acts as a wireless second screen that can be used by OS X in the same manner as any other monitor.

The developers were able to get their screen-extending app working with the new iPad with good performance. But using a 2048x1536 iPad as a secondary screen computer screen would result in very small windows, text and user interface elements. So, the team has also included support for Lion's new HiDPI mode. We've covered HiDPI mode in the past. HiDPI mode allows OS X to support high resolution monitors while retaining the same relative size for user interface elements, such as windows and buttons.

HiDPI mode will let the new iPad act like a 1024x768 point screen where each point is made up of 4 pixels. Apple has already built in support for HiDPI and some of their Apps, such as Messages, already include Retina-sized artwork that work in this mode. Users simply have to choose "1024x768 (HiDPI)" mode in their System Preferences to take advantage of the new mode.

Air Display is a $9.99 Universal App in the App Store. [iTunes] The Retina-enabled version will be included in a forthcoming update.

Article Link: 'Air Display' to Let You Use the New iPad as a HiDPI 'Retina' Display for Your Mac

 

[Macman45]

Bring this to me NOW!!!

 

[todd2fst4u]

Would work pretty good for Photoshop palettes, I wish you could select things on the iPad's screen using your finger instead of the cursor however.

 

[Battlefield Fan]

Now this news!!! Update the app ASAP!

 

[puckhead193]

Would work pretty good for Photoshop palettes, I wish you could select things on the iPad's screen using your finger instead of the cursor however.

would it work as a touch screen?
I could use this in FCP to have my bin/effects on a sepreate screen to give my viewer and canvas windows more room

 

[FFArchitect]

Yes. yes. yes.

 

[ayala421]

Would work pretty good for Photoshop palettes, I wish you could select things on the iPad's screen using your finger instead of the cursor however.

You can use your finger...that's what she said

 

[applesith]

I have the App but rarely use it. Will definitely give it a try after the update.

 

[mrkgoo]

I use DisplayPad, which dies the same thing. I would hope tet do an update aswell.

 

[aardwolf]

Just what I need... a 9.5" third monitor for my Mac

 

[jlc1978]

Anyone know if this will let the iPad act as a 3rd monitor? That'd be great for having books / manuals / email app open while I am working.

 

[MRU]

I just wish they could increase the refresh rate and reduce the noticeable lag that the app has.

I would use it a lot more if it wasn't so laggy.
Will pushing more pixels to it over the air result in further lag ?

 

[moebis]

That is great, I can use this with my iBackFlip as a portable palette and sketchup for Photoshop.

 

[robvas]

I just wish they could increase the refresh rate and lag that the app has,

I would use it a lot more if it wasn't so laggy.

Will pushing more pixels to it over the air result in further lag ?

786,000 vs 3,145,000? Yea it might be a little bit laggier

 

[charlieegan3]

the HiDPI mode looks so good...

 

[MRU]

786,000 vs 3,145,000? Yea it might be a little bit laggier

LOL. Well that's what I was thinking

 

[janstett]

Unsupported on the dual nVidia 7400/7600 (like my 2008 Macbook Pro). Dang.

 

[dashiel]

Would work pretty good for Photoshop palettes, I wish you could select things on the iPad's screen using your finger instead of the cursor however.

Adobe has something similar (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/adobe-nav-for-photoshop/id426614130?mt=8) I downloaded it immediately because it sounded prefect. What I discovered – after years of learning keyboard shortcuts plus the additional homing time to move my hand from the keyboard/mouse to the iPad my workflow was slower.

 

[lowbatteries]

Just what I need... a 9.5" third monitor for my Mac

According to DisplayMate, it would be the best monitor you have. https://www.macrumors.com/2012/03/19/displaymate-praises-new-ipad-screen-sharpness-and-color/. Would be awesome for proofing prints and color palettes (as long as Air Display doesn't alter colors in some way).

But there’s more…the new iPad’s picture quality, color accuracy, and gray scale are not only much better than any other Tablet or Smartphone, it’s also much better than most HDTVs, laptops, and monitors. In fact with some minor calibration tweaks the new iPad would qualify as a studio reference monitor.

 

[avanpelt]

would it work as a touch screen?
I could use this in FCP to have my bin/effects on a sepreate screen to give my viewer and canvas windows more room

It works as a touch screen now. AirDisplay was one of the first apps I downloaded when I purchased a third-gen iPad over the weekend.

So far, I'm very impressed with it and can't wait for the HiDPI update. Aside from the obvious benefits of having a portable second monitor when on the road, I think it's pretty amazing that I have the capability now to be able to drag any windows in OS X that I want to control with touch to the iPad and then I can control them from anywhere in the house via the iPad.

Ain't technology grand?

 

[distemp]

I have Air Display, but my stupid ass didn't read the description fully and I didn't realize that my Macbook Pro isn't compatible with it. BLAH!

 

[iSee]

Wow, the first hidpi monitor available for the Mac is an iPad!

(widely available anyway)

 

[Wang Foolio]

Now that's an app I would consider paying for. Still hate the idea of paying for something I'll probably never use, but this has some real utility to it.

How easy/difficult is this to set up? I see that it supports Windows as well, which is cool... although Aero and DirectX will be temporarily disabled while the app is connected...

 

[Moonjumper]

Looking forward to proper HiDPI monitors.

 

[BigJohno]

Just downloaded the mac client for this and my photoshop stopped working. My display would go dark then back to normal every few minuets. Anyone else run into this? I didn't even have it running just open because I don't have my iPad at work.