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Does the iPad 3 really need to go 2048x1536?
- Thread starter sportsfrk214
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You really don't think Apple is going to double the resolution of the screen? They would be crazy not to.
Regarding your comment about resolution... lower resolution images can most definitely look worse on a higher res display because of the up scaling necessary to allow the image to display. If the higher resolution is not an exact multiple of the lower resolution image, there will be a loss in image quality due to the conversion (the image will be less accurate).
Most importantly, software developers who want to continue to be successful have to put the time into updating their apps for higher resolution. As for the transitional period, because Apple will be doing the intelligent thing by quadrupling the number of pixels on the screen, they will avoid the problem of existing iPad2 res apps looking bad on the higher res screen because the new resolution is an exact multiple (This is the same exact thing that happened between the iPhone 3GS and the 4). The other advantage to a direct multiple is how much simply it makes the coding process for software developers. They can simply build on the graphics they've already developed.
Upping the resolution will provide many advantages including native 1080p viewing, superior small text definition (making for a much better reading experience) and most importantly, it will catch Apples display tech up to the competition so that Apple is on top again across the board component wise for their tablet.
X2 height and width?? how do you know?? iPad 3 specification has not been announced yet!!
For me, the main reason to get the ipad 3 is the upgrade screen...
Apple is either going "retina" 2048X1536 or they are going to keep the same screen. There will be no middle ground. They have a good system in place in the App Store. Introducing some random resolution would cause endless headaches for years.
It is too bad that Apple doesn't support retina resolution by default on the iPad for iPhone apps. You could have full resolution and nearly fill the screen.
Possible reasons they didn't. Reduce incentive for developers to support iPad. Lose possibility of running iPhone apps at near the original physical size. I normally do the 2X, but it then looks pixelly.
Possible reasons they didn't. Reduce incentive for developers to support iPad. Lose possibility of running iPhone apps at near the original physical size. I normally do the 2X, but it then looks pixelly.
Wow, you completely misread everything I typed.
First, I think do think Apple is going to up the resolution, but I don't think they're going to have black bars or whatever like the OP said (that is what's "never going to happen"). Also never going to happen is that Apple forces developers to develop for another screen size. It's going to be double resolution, or nothing. Period.
Secondly, when talking about lower resolution images looking worse on higher resolution, I was speaking if the pixel count is doubled. For example, if you put a 1024x768 image on a 2048x1536 screen, full screen, then the resolution of the image will display just like if you had a 1024x768 screen. Sure, it wouldn't look as good as the 2048x1536 image, but it wouldn't display WORSE than a 1024x768 image on the same res screen.
Like when the iPhone 4 came out. People that didn't update their apps still had their apps show up as if the res on the screen was the same as the 3GS. The images didn't look worse on the iPhone 4, they looked the same as the 3GS, until they were updated.
So what I'm saying is if, let's say for the sake of argument, a movie has a resolution of 1024x768 (humor me). You watch it on an iPad 2, and compare that movie, still in that resolution, on the iPad 3, at 2048x1536. The movie would look exactly the same on both screens, because the resolution and the size of the screen did not change.
Now, if the screen was larger, then yes, the movie would look worse. But on a same size screen with double the resolution, it would look the same or better, but never worse.
Again, maybe there is something that I don't understand about the way this works, so I could be wrong, but logic tells me that I would be correct.
>Again, maybe there is something that I don't understand about the way this works, so I could be wrong, but logic tells me that I would be correct.
No, you're pretty much exactly right. You're talking about the difference between pixel-doubling a bitmap image and doing non-integer scaling. Pixel doubling is fast and will look just as good as it does on its native resolution. Non-integer scaling takes many more calculations by the processor and looks nowhere near as good because of interpolation.
iPad 3 will either be pixel doubled or not. It won't be some in between resolution. Now, if they were starting from scratch without an existing ecosystem to support, then sure, go with whatever. But, in the tablet space particularly, app support is where the iPad crushes Android.
As for the overkill argument, so what if it is? If they can push screen manufacturers to make screens at that size and resolution at a price point they can sell them at, then more power to them. They will absolutely crush the competition.
This will be a much bigger deal than even moving the iPhone to the retina display. Think about it, you look at your phone a few minutes at a time. You look at your iPad for sometimes an hour or more. Few people read entire books on their phone (although I'm sure that number is higher now with the high DPI screen lessening eye strain.) Magazines and books on the iPad are going to look as sharp or sharper than their paper counterparts.
Bottom line, if they can pull it off, it will be an incredible device.
No, you're pretty much exactly right. You're talking about the difference between pixel-doubling a bitmap image and doing non-integer scaling. Pixel doubling is fast and will look just as good as it does on its native resolution. Non-integer scaling takes many more calculations by the processor and looks nowhere near as good because of interpolation.
iPad 3 will either be pixel doubled or not. It won't be some in between resolution. Now, if they were starting from scratch without an existing ecosystem to support, then sure, go with whatever. But, in the tablet space particularly, app support is where the iPad crushes Android.
As for the overkill argument, so what if it is? If they can push screen manufacturers to make screens at that size and resolution at a price point they can sell them at, then more power to them. They will absolutely crush the competition.
This will be a much bigger deal than even moving the iPhone to the retina display. Think about it, you look at your phone a few minutes at a time. You look at your iPad for sometimes an hour or more. Few people read entire books on their phone (although I'm sure that number is higher now with the high DPI screen lessening eye strain.) Magazines and books on the iPad are going to look as sharp or sharper than their paper counterparts.
Bottom line, if they can pull it off, it will be an incredible device.
What people seem to be forgetting is that we went through all this with the iPhone 4 retina display vs the display in the 3Gs. The resolution went up significantly, and the consensus was that this is the future for mobile displays. Correct?
Developers then had a choice. Either they step up, and update their apps to support the new retina display that was going to become Apple's new phone display standard, and will be for the unforeseen future, or they get lost in the past.
It is no different with the iPad 3 retina display. My gut says that Apple will have a retina display for iPad 3, because it's a standard they introduced 2 years ago with the iPhone 4, and continued with the 4s. So why have that standard not carried across the board with all their products? There are even rumors flying around now that code in OS X hints at retina displays for MacBook's.
As a photographer a retina display on the iPad 3 would be priceless. My camera is 21.1MP, and trying to view images on a 1024x768 resolution screen would be painful as the detail and sharpness I'd be looking for would not be there. I have been holding off on buying a tablet for this specific reason, and stuck to lugging my 15" HP laptop around with me because the screen on it is sharper than any tablet on the market.
In my opinion a retina display on the iPad 3 isn't a selling point, it's a necessity. If they don't release a retina display iPad 3 that is 2048x1536 there are going to be a lot of very disappointed consumers, and Apple already disappointed when they didn't deliver a retina display on the iPad 2.
Developers then had a choice. Either they step up, and update their apps to support the new retina display that was going to become Apple's new phone display standard, and will be for the unforeseen future, or they get lost in the past.
It is no different with the iPad 3 retina display. My gut says that Apple will have a retina display for iPad 3, because it's a standard they introduced 2 years ago with the iPhone 4, and continued with the 4s. So why have that standard not carried across the board with all their products? There are even rumors flying around now that code in OS X hints at retina displays for MacBook's.
As a photographer a retina display on the iPad 3 would be priceless. My camera is 21.1MP, and trying to view images on a 1024x768 resolution screen would be painful as the detail and sharpness I'd be looking for would not be there. I have been holding off on buying a tablet for this specific reason, and stuck to lugging my 15" HP laptop around with me because the screen on it is sharper than any tablet on the market.
In my opinion a retina display on the iPad 3 isn't a selling point, it's a necessity. If they don't release a retina display iPad 3 that is 2048x1536 there are going to be a lot of very disappointed consumers, and Apple already disappointed when they didn't deliver a retina display on the iPad 2.
Yeah, they should just let Samsung release their retina pad and not update theirs. sarcasm.