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iPad mini screen actually show less than a Nexus?

R

RobNYC

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
May 28, 2008
573
125
New York, NY
This came up on Gizmodo and I was sort of confused.

http://gizmodo.com/5954863/the-ipad-mini-screen-sucks-compared-to-the-competition

In the presentation for the mini they were highlighting how you had more screen real estate compared to the Nexus or Kindle I think. According to that post you won't really have that as everything will just be larger on the iPad mini in comparison. I thought it would just be less sharp in comparison to other tablets with a higher pixel density.
 
So they are 100% correct about the pixel density being less so things will not appear sharper.

However (and forgive me if i'm mistaken about this -- my brain isn't fully "on" yet), number of pixels in this case doesn't matter for viewing webpages. All the tablet devices scale pages up and down to match the screen, so even though there are less pixels, there is is more viewing area (larger screen) so in the most zoomed out state you will absolutely see more webpage (though probably with some gutters on the side).

And even if Apple had gone with a retina screen, it would be a double density version of the current one, so it wouldn't have any more "useable" space, everything would just be retina (its not like webpages look x2 as small on your iPad 3)
 
It has the same pixel density as a 2007 era iPhone.

So you have 5.5 yr old display quality.
And 1.5 yr old CPU tech.
 
Menel said:
It has the same pixel density as a 2007 era iPhone.

So you have 5.5 yr old display quality.
And 1.5 yr old CPU tech.
Click to expand...

That's ridiculous....

The iPad w/ retina's display is about 80 ppi less dense than the current iPhone...does that mean its behind the iPhone? Of course not....

You people are infuriating. Use your brain.

EDIT: And that article is about as factual as a presidential campaign....Yes in GENERAL, a lower resolution would show less on the screen - but as the above poster mentions, the web scales everything to fit the screen so a larger screen would show more content without scrolling than a smaller one.

Don't believe me? Pull up Macrumors on your phone, then on your desktop. Which shows more content?
 
Menel said:
It has the same pixel density as a 2007 era iPhone.

So you have 5.5 yr old display quality.
And 1.5 yr old CPU tech.
Click to expand...

That's horrible! Why are people evening considering a mini over a iPad 3 refurb for just 50$ more. I don't get it, even if the mini is more portable. Don't people want better technoly, upgrading rather then Downgrading. I was in the market for a mini but how can I pass up on a iPad 3 refurb for only 50 more, it's my first iPad.
 
Fact: In landscape the Nexus shows less. In portrait they are similar. The red box shows 16:9 resolution when compared to the iPad Mini or 2. And this is in full screen.

attachment.php
 
Last edited:
Anyone who's ever compared a screen resolution on their computer could have figured that out.
 
Scott2345 said:
That's horrible! Why are people evening considering a mini over a iPad 3 refurb for just 50$ more. I don't get it, even if the mini is more portable. Don't people want better technoly, upgrading rather then Downgrading. I was in the market for a mini but how can I pass up on a iPad 3 refurb for only 50 more, it's my first iPad.
Click to expand...

I found the ipad 3 to be too heavy for my needs
 
Scott2345 said:
That's horrible! Why are people evening considering a mini over a iPad 3 refurb for just 50$ more. I don't get it, even if the mini is more portable. Don't people want better technoly, upgrading rather then Downgrading. I was in the market for a mini but how can I pass up on a iPad 3 refurb for only 50 more, it's my first iPad.
Click to expand...
Apple refurbs are practically new. New battery, new enclosure.

If you are already using an iPhone 4+, don't hurt your enjoyment by ordering a device with a quarter of the pixels per square inch.
 
Menel said:
Apple refurbs are practically new. New battery, new enclosure.

If you are already using an iPhone 4+, don't hurt your enjoyment by ordering a device with a quarter of the pixels per square inch.
Click to expand...

Depends what you take "enjoyment" in. For me, I use my iPad in bed mainly for reading and casual web browsing. I want to be able to hold it comfortably in one hand. My wife currently has a 3rd gen. iPad and I currently have a 2nd gen. Is the retina display nice? Yes.

Does reading and web browsing on hers create more enjoyment for me than reading and web browsing on mine? Not at all. Not everybody has the same needs or wants. It's nice to have a choice.
 
darngooddesign said:
Fact: In landscape the Nexus shows less. In portrait they are similar. The red box shows 16:9 resolution when compared to the iPad Mini or 2. And this is in full screen.

Image
Click to expand...

Fact: The Nexus has 1280x800 which is 16:10 and not 16:9.

Fact: You took a 1024x768 image and crammed a 16:9 box inside it to try to make it look bad. 16:9 is wider than 4:3 so its width would actually extend past the width of the 4:3 box when comparing relatively similar resolutions.
 
Last edited:
Scott2345 said:
That's horrible! Why are people evening considering a mini over a iPad 3 refurb for just 50$ more. I don't get it, even if the mini is more portable. Don't people want better technoly, upgrading rather then Downgrading. I was in the market for a mini but how can I pass up on a iPad 3 refurb for only 50 more, it's my first iPad.
Click to expand...

Good point...need to actually look at refurb prices before I preorder.
 
stupidnewb said:
Fact: The Nexus has 1280x800 which is 16:10 and not 16:9.
Click to expand...

That extra screen height is covered with the soft keys at the bottom of the screen. I didn't even account for those in my graphic.

stupidnewb said:
Fact: You took a 1024x768 image and crammed a 16:9 box inside it to try to make it look bad. 16:9 is wider than 4:3 so its width would actually extend past the width of the 4:3 box when comparing relatively similar resolutions.
Click to expand...

The browsers scale up to the width so it doesn't matter. Why don't you create a graphic showing how much of the same page the two screens will show bearing in mind that the page scales up to fill the width. If you can keep the browser in a window that does not fill the width of the screen you would have a point.

In portrait the Nexus shows more, in landscape it shows less. Because the Nexus' screen is physically narrower than the iPad you might have to zoom in more, maybe not because if the higher ppi. Zinio magazines are formatted for the iPad's screen so there will be black bars on the Nexus. HD Movies will have black bars on the iPad. It's really just a question of what you use your tablet for.
 
Last edited:
All the iPads will show the same amount on the screen, since retina just pixel doubles everything, effectively keeping the resolution 1024x768.

You don't get the full 2088 x 1536 resolution, the text just looks more crisp. Images not optimized for retina look blurry, but they take up the same amount of space on the screen.

I'm interested in seeing the iPad mini screen and if it is crisp enough, would not mind trading retina for a smaller footprint and lighter weight.

Also, to fit 2088 x 1536 pixels in a 7.9" display is different pixel size from the iPhone retina AND the 9.7" iPad retina screens. Since (apparently) the screens are just cut from sheets, would they have to design & fab new spools to make this, which doesn't seem to be cost effective right now?
 
This is where Apple fan hypocrisy comes in. 7mo ago people were screaming that their eyes were bleeding from having to look at that inferior non-retina screen but now its all about downplaying the importance of retina and slamming competitors by deflecting a lower ppi. Apple sure makes it hard to be a robot.

----------
Che Castro said:
I found the ipad 3 to be too heavy for my needs
Click to expand...
Same here. Retina would be nice but I value portability more. Im fine with the Mini and ill gladly replace it next year for a retina version.
 
jrswizzle said:
That's ridiculous....

EDIT: And that article is about as factual as a presidential campaign....Yes in GENERAL, a lower resolution would show less on the screen - but as the above poster mentions, the web scales everything to fit the screen so a larger screen would show more content without scrolling than a smaller one.

Don't believe me? Pull up Macrumors on your phone, then on your desktop. Which shows more content?
Click to expand...

It does not work that way. The Apple example was misleading as the Nexus has more resolution in both orientations than the iPad mini. I brought this up earlier in another thread but it has so far been ignored.

Compare a retina iPhone to a non-retina model; you see far more on the screen before zooming because you have more pixels. On the retina iPads, like the retina Macs, Apple has chosen to use the pixels for increased sharpness, but outside of those specific products, more pixels means more content displayed.
 
urkel said:
This is where Apple fan hypocrisy comes in. 7mo ago people were screaming that their eyes were bleeding from having to look at that inferior non-retina screen but now its all about downplaying the importance of retina and slamming competitors by deflecting a lower ppi. Apple sure makes it hard to be a robot.
Click to expand...

It's about tradeoffs. In this case they will put up with the lower res screen because they get other things they value, small size and reduced weight. You're assuming everyone who will trade to the Mini was someone who was ranting about Retina.

----------
zhenya said:
It does not work that way. The Apple example was misleading as the Nexus has more resolution in both orientations than the iPad mini. I brought this up earlier in another thread but it has so far been ignored.

Compare a retina iPhone to a non-retina model; you see far more on the screen before zooming because you have more pixels. On the retina iPads, like the retina Macs, Apple has chosen to use the pixels for increased sharpness, but outside of those specific products, more pixels means more content displayed.
Click to expand...

The iPad 3 has more resolution than the ipad 2, do you see more things or more detail? The Nexus has more resolution, so you see more detail but not more things and due to it being a taller screen in landscape you see more detail but fewer things.
 
zhenya said:
In which context? The retina iPad, I agree. Vs. the Nexus 7, you will get more 'things' and they will be sharper.
Click to expand...

Allow me to clarify. When I say more detail I mean things like type are sharper. When I say more things I mean things you don't see otherwise.

So because both browsers scale up to fit the width:

In portrait the Nexus has a taller screen. Both screens show the same amount of the website widthwise but you see more things vertically. You don't have to scroll as much to see the same content.

In landscape the Nexus screen is wider but shorter. So both screens show the same amount of things widthwise, but the Nexus shows fewer things vertically.
 
zhenya said:
It does not work that way. The Apple example was misleading as the Nexus has more resolution in both orientations than the iPad mini. I brought this up earlier in another thread but it has so far been ignored.

Compare a retina iPhone to a non-retina model; you see far more on the screen before zooming because you have more pixels. On the retina iPads, like the retina Macs, Apple has chosen to use the pixels for increased sharpness, but outside of those specific products, more pixels means more content displayed.
Click to expand...

Because they are the same screen size....

The aspect ratio has a lot to do with it as well. Use the N7 in landscape and you don't get to see a while lot before scrolling. Screen size does play a role - while the increased resolution of the N7 would should more content than the same resolution in a 7" iPad mini, the increased screen area of the 7.9" mini makes up for that difference and surpasses it.
 
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