Take into account OLED screens suck in sunlight, where many iPad users may be under.
Yes, taken into account. I have mentioned sunlight several times earlier in the thread.
OLED Screen in Sunlight:

Take into account OLED screens suck in sunlight, where many iPad users may be under.
That's not correct.
As noted by spinnerlys, 720p has a resolution of 1280x720 with progressive scan. The iPad has a lesser resolution at a different aspect ratio of 1024x768 which would result in the edges of the video being cut off by 200 pixels.
The iPad, like many other devices, can scale the HD video to the correct aspect ratio but it won't be HD quality.
Kept meaning to respond to this but kept forgetting. Lots of early, and even fairly recent, plasma HD TVs were 1024*768 with non-square pixels, making them widescreen 720p displays. They looked pretty darn good, although are outshone by the newer 1920*1080 sets. In any case, those sets were without any argument HDTVs and had the same resolution as the iPad - often in 42" and larger displays compared to the iPads <10" set (meaning the pixel density is much higher and as such will look much better).
The HD specification calls for video to be either 720p, 720i, 1080p, 1080i, at an aspect ratio of 16:9.
Therefore, if it's not 16:9 (1280x720 or 1920x1080) it doesn't qualify as HD.
Aspect ratio is only partly determined by resolution. The other factor in the equation is pixel shape. You can have non-square pixels, pretty common in fact. DVDs use non-square pixels pretty much 100% of the time, for example.
You'll not that I am not saying the iPad is HD, just that it has the same pixel count as many HDTVs. Also, there were 4:3 HD TVs loooong ago. Mostly rear-projection models from the late 90's, as I recall.
Kept meaning to respond to this but kept forgetting. Lots of early, and even fairly recent, plasma HD TVs were 1024*768 with non-square pixels, making them widescreen 720p displays. They looked pretty darn good, although are outshone by the newer 1920*1080 sets. In any case, those sets were without any argument HDTVs and had the same resolution as the iPad - often in 42" and larger displays compared to the iPads <10" set (meaning the pixel density is much higher and as such will look much better).
DVD's do, yes. However standard computer monitors, as well as HD resolutions, are designed with square pixels in mind. See http://www.afterdawn.com/glossary/terms/pixel_aspect_ratio.cfm
That may be the case, however those are HDTV's. Those HDTV's will convert the square pixels used in HD video formats to a different rectangular PAR which will make the video look normal on their displays.
The iPad, being that it will most probably be designed for square pixels just like the vide content being played on it, will not.
I was getting ready to post the same exact thing.
But we do not know for sure. It is all speculation at this point. I'm thinking it is more in line with what mrgreen mentioned above.
But we do know for sure. When Steve Jobs was on stage and showed Star Trek in HD (iTunes HD is 720p), it had black borders on the top and bottom. When he zoomed in so that the height of the video was the same as the screen, it cut off the left and right side of the picture. On Apple's own website it states that the screen is 4:3, and iTunes video content is 16:9.
The simple fact is that the iPad WILL play HD video content. However if played back at native resolution on the device part of the image will be cut off. The iPad downscales the 1280x720 iTunes HD content to fit onto the 1024x768 device, causing a black border across the top and bottom.
As others have said, video formats have a tendency to look better when downscaled, so HD video content will look just fine. However it won't be at native HD resolution.
That makes sense. However, your last sentence (The iPad, being that it will most probably be designed for square pixels just like the vide content being played on it, will not.) made it sound like you felt that it will not be able to play HD content.
Carry on.
But we do know for sure. When Steve Jobs was on stage and showed Star Trek in HD (iTunes HD is 720p), it had black borders on the top and bottom. When he zoomed in so that the height of the video was the same as the screen, it cut off the left and right side of the picture. On Apple's own website it states that the screen is 4:3, and iTunes video content is 16:9.
The simple fact is that the iPad WILL play HD video content. However if played back at native resolution on the device part of the image will be cut off. The iPad downscales the 1280x720 iTunes HD content to fit onto the 1024x768 device, causing a black border across the top and bottom.
As others have said, video formats have a tendency to look better when downscaled, so HD video content will look just fine. However it won't be at native HD resolution.
Below is what I posted early in the thread and what resolution's will be used. Since what is being used (1024x575) is all that counts it would not qualify as an HD screen by ATSC standards.Ya, there's no doubt that the iPad's screen is 4:3 and if you watch 16:9 content on it you will only use a portion of the screen and have letter boxing, or you will only see part of the picture but use all the pixels. It's not an HDTV-compatible screen. It is HD in terms of pixel density and resolution, but fails to be "really HD" because if its aspect ratio...
Ya, there's no doubt that the iPad's screen is 4:3 and if you watch 16:9 content on it you will only use a portion of the screen and have letter boxing, or you will only see part of the picture but use all the pixels. It's not an HDTV-compatible screen. It is HD in terms of pixel density and resolution, but fails to be "really HD" because if its aspect ratio. I have hopes that it will pass a 1024x768 anamorphic image over the VGA connector, though, as it would allow reasonable 720p video playback on an HDTV.
Yes, OLED is better in light controlled settings. One thing I still don't understand is how Apple managed to get any kind of battery life with an IPS display (much less 10 hours!)
The screen isn't even HD by density or resolution.
We've already established the screen doesn't meet HD resolution. For a screen to adhere to HD standards, the screen must be at least 1280 pixels wide and at least 720 pixels high in order to prevent downscaling. While it meets the height requirement, it fails in width.
Pixel density (Or dots per inch, pixels per inch, or image resolution, all are interchangeable in this is context) in this case is irrelevant as it refers to the amount of pixels in relation to one inch of the screen. Sure, being a 9.7 inch screen with a 1024x768 resolution gives it a higher density than a lot of computer monitors, but it certainly doesn't when you start considering larger screens (Such as 40 and 50 inchers) which have a relatively low pixel density. Even when you're talking about the other way round, even the iPhone has a higher density (163 compared to the iPad's 132, see Apple's tech specs) than the iPad.
If you're talking about the sheer amount of pixels on screen, well, the lowest resolution in the HD spec, 1280x720, has 921600 pixels. The iPad's screen being 1024x768, only has 786432 pixels on the screen.
Quite simply, the iPad's screen is not high definition in ANY way.
This would depend on who's specs you go by.
CEA = 720+ horizontal lines of resolution
ATSC = minimum 1280x720 resolution on a 16:9 aspect ratio
This would depend on who's specs you go by.
CEA = 720+ horizontal lines of resolution
ATSC = minimum 1280x720 resolution on a 16:9 aspect ratio
I still say that resolution is unimportant in terms of picture quality. The IPS display will provide a better image than 1080p MacBook Pro displays. Sony's 960x540 OLED TV looks better than any higher resolution LCD.
Something I was at first a bit surprised to see in the iPad was utilization of a 4:3 resolution, and an old one at that - 1024 x 768.
Yes, OLED is better in light controlled settings. One thing I still don't understand is how Apple managed to get any kind of battery life with an IPS display (much less 10 hours!)