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Can you tell the difference between 720p and 1080p on your iPad?

KittyKatta

KittyKatta

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Feb 24, 2011
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SoCal
Im curious if people can really see the difference between 720p and 1080p on the iPad.

I want to start getting into HD movies for the iPad and AppleTV so I'm experimenting with both iTunes Store and ripping my own Bluray. I bought Mission Impossible 3 on iTunes because it's the only one I saw that was "affordable" since it's on sale for $9.99 and got both 720p and 1080p, and also ripped my first Bluray also in 720p and 1080p just to see the difference. With both movies then file size was about 1.2GB bigger for the 1080p but in viewing quality they looked very similar. (maybe I just don't have the eye for movie quality?:D)

So what's your verdict. Are you going to buy or rip to 1080p because its the best or is there not enough of an improvement over 720p to justify the extra file size for an iPad with limited capacity? To me, I'm still not sure but I do know I can't watch SD on my iPad or AppleTV anymore. :p
 
Bought Bolt in HD the other day, and decided to watch the entire film on my iPad over my tv. The quality was amazing, so clear, don't know about 1080p though, the difference would probably be unnoticeable to most people.
 
720p is really sharp, but turning on my Playstation (1080p) versus my 1080i cable box is a huge difference. I have been told that 720p is exactly like 1080i. Yes I can tell the difference, but no I don't care.
 
You know - it really is all personal preference. I can definitely see a difference between 1080p and 720p - but that's not to say that 720p content doesn't still look pretty amazing.

If you're wanting to conserve space, 720p videos most certainly will not look grainy or pixelated - it's just with the 1080p videos, I notice a little extra "pop" - and a lot more detail and sharpness.

To me - the difference in file size is worth it: since Apple did do a pretty decent job with this new compression they're using - a 1080p video no longer requires twice the size as that of it's 720p equivalent...
 
AustinIllini said:
I have been told that 720p is exactly like 1080i.
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As always, consider the source. They're not exactly alike. Watching an interlaced source on a progressive display or vice versa (what one would have to do to compare the two) is not a difference that is easily missed. That's why you notice a huge difference between 1080i and 1080p despite the two having the same resolution.
 
I really only notice a difference if I switch from watching a 1080p blu-ray from my full HD tv/monitor to a 720p video on my iPad. However if I'm only using my iPad, I won't really notice the difference unless I really try to look for it.
 
Nope. The screen is too small plus the contrast ratio sucks. I don't watch any critical viewing on my iPad because it doesn't compare to my $10,000 projector. How anyone can watch a full length movie on the iPad with its ****** speakers is impossible for me to comprehend anyway.
 
drew0020 said:
Nope. The screen is too small plus the contrast ratio sucks. I don't watch any critical viewing on my iPad because it doesn't compare to my $10,000 projector. How anyone can watch a full length movie on the iPad with its ****** speakers is impossible for me to comprehend anyway.
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Maybe because most people don't have ten grand to drop on a home movie theater. Get your head out your a$$.
 
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mopatops said:
Maybe because most people don't have ten grand to drop on a home movie theater. Get your head out your a$$.
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Even if you only have $800 for a flat panel tv. It's light years better than the iPad screen.
 
drew0020 said:
Nope. The screen is too small plus the contrast ratio sucks. I don't watch any critical viewing on my iPad because it doesn't compare to my $10,000 projector. How anyone can watch a full length movie on the iPad with its ****** speakers is impossible for me to comprehend anyway.
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People really turned on you because you Mentioned money, but I have to agree with you regarding "critical viewing". Ive run old sitcoms on my iPad while cooking, but when You spend $20 on an iTunes download or take the hours required to rip a bluray then it does feel like you're getting a crippled experience by watching it on a 9.5" screen. The speaker thing is an easier solution because I have nice headphones but still, the iPad speakers are pretty bad.
 
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KittyKatta said:
People really turned on you because you Mentioned money, but I have to agree with you regarding "critical viewing". Ive run old sitcoms on my iPad while cooking, but when You spend $20 on an iTunes download or take the hours required to rip a bluray then it does feel like you're getting a crippled experience by watching it on a 9.5" screen. The speaker thing is an easier solution because I have nice headphones but still, the iPad speakers are pretty bad.
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I shouldn't have mentioned money. I apologize for that but I was trying to make a point. Resolution is nice but it's only one of the many items needed for great picture quality and resolution is about the only positive of the iPad. It fails in every other critical area. Still an amazing device though.
 
drew0020 said:
Nope. The screen is too small plus the contrast ratio sucks. I don't watch any critical viewing on my iPad because it doesn't compare to my $10,000 projector. How anyone can watch a full length movie on the iPad with its ****** speakers is impossible for me to comprehend anyway.
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heard of headphones? who even uses the ipad speakers anyway... duhhh
 
Personally I cant tell the difference between 720 and 1080 on my 42 plasma so I cant see a difference in a 10 inch either but to be fair the differences brtween 720 and 1080 are reportedly not much different unless viewed at a certain distance. I doubt youd be viewing your ipad 6 - 10ft away.

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gusping said:
heard of headphones? who even uses the ipad speakers anyway... duhhh
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Kind of rude and unnecessary, we dont have all the same preferences and by default the ipad doesnt come with head phones suggesting the speaker should be suitable.

I think speakers are one of the biggest weaknesses in tablets right now given the size of the devices they should have speakers that are better than some phones and PMP devices.
 
I had a chance to compare an Ipad 2 playing a 720p movie and on the Ipad3 playing the same movie but on a 1080p version, no difference what so ever.
 
EarlZ said:
I had a chance to compare an Ipad 2 playing a 720p movie and on the Ipad3 playing the same movie but on a 1080p version, no difference what so ever.
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Havent tried on iPad 2 vs iPad 3 yet, but with AppleTV I could only see the difference when id be 2-3ft away from my 50" HDTV which was impractical. I thought it would be a bigger deal with the iPad since you hold it so close but to be honest Im not seeing much of a difference there either with the 720 and 1080 downloads of the iTunes movie I bought.

it's interesting that on iTunes MIssion Impossible 3 was 4.6GB for the 1080p version and 4.1GB for the 720p. I dont know enough about this stuff to know why, but They must use strong compression because that's a pretty small size difference.
 
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iEvolution said:
Personally I cant tell the difference between 720 and 1080 on my 42 plasma so I cant see a difference in a 10 inch either but to be fair the differences brtween 720 and 1080 are reportedly not much different unless viewed at a certain distance. I doubt youd be viewing your ipad 6 - 10ft away.
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actually you should notice the difference the CLOSER you are. Seeing as that you will be viewing an iPad way closer then you would a tv I'd argue you theoretically should see a difference, unlike most tv's because like you said, you're probrably sitting too far away
 
newone757 said:
actually you should notice the difference the CLOSER you are. Seeing as that you will be viewing an iPad way closer then you would a tv I'd argue you theoretically should see a difference, unlike most tv's because like you said, you're probrably sitting too far away
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Even considering distance, the iPad and a full HD tv will have different screen sizes, therefore different pixel sizes. Although you're right that the closer you get the easier the difference will be to spot (on either device), you'd have to get much closer to the iPad to notice the pixels vs a tv because the pixels would be much smaller than the ones on a tv.
 
Agent-P said:
Even considering distance, the iPad and a full HD tv will have different screen sizes, therefore different pixel sizes. Although you're right that the closer you get the easier the difference will be to spot (on either device), you'd have to get much closer to the iPad to notice the pixels vs a tv because the pixels would be much smaller than the ones on a tv.
Click to expand...

Agreed. But you're more likely to actually get that close on an iPad in regular use.
 
AustinIllini said:
720p is really sharp, but turning on my Playstation (1080p) versus my 1080i cable box is a huge difference. I have been told that 720p is exactly like 1080i. Yes I can tell the difference, but no I don't care.
Click to expand...

Actually, its said that if you have the choice between 720p and 1080i, go for 720p every time. Especially if you have a decent upscaler in your tv.
 
Yes if you have the choice the progressive scan is always the best choice. But I can clearly see a difference between 720p and 1080p if I'm close enough to the source.
 
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