Impressions and Screenshots of 'Infinity Blade' on iPad 2

[reticulate]

Does this mean they underpowered the iPad 1 or overpowered the so-called iPad 2?

Are you being wilfully obtuse or is this something you have to work at?

This is pretty simple - the A5 has the latest PowerVR GPU, with what is assumed to be two cores. It's undoubtedly the best available, and the Sony NGP will be using the four-core variant of the same thing.

If you plug a better GPU into a screen that's driving the same number of pixels as previously, you gain a great deal of headroom in terms of what you can display.

Nothing's 'underpowered' or 'overpowered' here, it's just what happens when new technology arrives and becomes available in quantities that it can be integrated into devices.

 

[Charlie Sheen]

Ok ok it's pretty impessive but not worth the upgrade

 

[knyz]

Well i need to kill this wrong comparison

Infinity blade iPad 2

Infinity blade ipod/iphone

The picture from the first iPad is one take with a iPhone 3G

 

[NT1440]

and games on it will look as good as PC games look today

I think you're drastically under appreciating how fast technology in the mobile market is moving.

http://blogs.nvidia.com/2011/02/teg...-chip-worlds-first-quadcore-mobile-processor/

 

[Eric5h5]

The picture from the first iPad is one take with a iPhone 3G

Considering that the iPhone 3G has a resolution of 480x320, no, it's not.

--Eric

 

[uraniumwilly]

Sadly, I updated and now it does nothing but crash on my iPad 1. Attractive screen shots yes, but unusable.

 

[Eric5h5]

1- You need to know, don't have difference between a SGX543 and a SGX535 on graphic, sure the SGX543 can calcul more polygon than the 535 but for the shader calcul is the same ! the only difference you can see -> framerate and faster texture decompression, only that, not graphic !

Surely you realize that in order to get a decent framerate with lower-powered graphics hardware, you have to reduce quality and leave out various effects. Just because a graphics chip has certain capabilities on paper, doesn't actually mean you can necessarily use them all in practice. With the iPad 1, you have to stick primarily to vertex lighting and can use pixel lighting sparingly if at all.

--Eric

 

[Megakazbek]

The problem with that is you'd need an insane video card to power that high a resolution, and that'd affect battery life.

To have "retina display" on iPad-size screen, you have to replace each pixel with a 3x3 pixels matrix of the same size, so you will have 9x more pixels on hypothetical iPad retina display. And - surprise! - iPad 2 graphics power is exactly 9x more than iPad 1. So, basically, iPad 2 is already capable of running retina display, though with the same speed as iPad 1.

 

[Hastings101]

The iPad1vs2 kind of looks the same to me... except his shoulder armor or whatever that is is slightly shinier on the bottom.

The iPad vs iPhone one is a huge difference though

 

[sonicboom]

Night and day?

Do people even know what "night and day" comparrisons even mean?

The iPad 2 shows improvement (subtle at that) here, which is always a good thing.

BUT, Does it improve the overall experience of then game itself?
I suspect not in this case.

Good play by the infiniblade folks though.

It'll be interesting to see when they publish the uptake on sales due to the graphic tweaks.

 

[sanford]

I confused the two screenshots. I'm terrible with graphics comparisons. I tend to think graphics are great if the game is great, even if the graphics are comparatively terrible.

"To have "retina display" on iPad-size screen, you have to replace each pixel with a 3x3 pixels matrix of the same size, so you will have 9x more pixels on hypothetical iPad retina display. And - surprise! - iPad 2 graphics power is exactly 9x more than iPad 1. So, basically, iPad 2 is already capable of running retina display, though with the same speed as iPad 1."

That's what I think the performance upgrades to iPad 2 in fact are: a head start for developers to produce software that can take full advantage of a retina display in iPad 3, so there will be a software base already in place that runs on iPad 1 and iPad 2, but will immediately show off the enhancements of a retina display in iPad 3. Apple could have merely added the cameras and associated software, put iPad 1 on a diet as they did, and they'd still sold like crazy. The overwhelming majority of customers won't know or care about the performance improvements. But since Apple holds everything so close to the vest until announcement, developers can't work on iPad 3-ready versions of their apps w/o something similar in performance specs already on the market. Thus, iPad 2 has the performance architecture, more or less, of iPad 3.

 

[ri0ku]

lol guys calm down its just a minor improvement...speculars by the looks of it. Dont really think the normals have improved the only reason they may stand out slightly more is because of the specular maps

 

[sanford]

lol guys calm down its just a minor improvement...speculars by the looks of it. Dont really think the normals have improved the only reason they may stand out slightly more is because of the specular maps

That seems to underpin my general impression of the iPad 2: it's a great first iPad. It's not a compelling upgrade for current iPad owners.

Honestly, I rather like it when a new Apple whatever comes out that I'm not buying. My OCD about the original device vanishes. I really use it, conveniently, rather than treat it like a piece of pop art. If I break it and have to replace it, I get the newest thing. If I scratch it up or otherwise mar it cosmetically, I'll be replacing it with the next revision, it'll go to the kids, who will inevitably scratch it up, anyway.

My wife, merely a casual fan of Apple products, has far more fun with these things than I do, because she rightly presumes them to be devices to be USED, not WORSHIPPED. I'm getting better though: I no longer take a perfectly nice light-weight, ultra-thin iPhone and bulk it up with a case and screen-protection films and all that.

 

[GnillGnoll]

http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2011/03/11/ipad-2-360-infinity-blade-dev/Chair has been very clear that what we are seeing in Infinity Blade on the iPad 2 is because Apple didn't increase the screen resolution, ie. no Retina Display for now is a good thing. This allows a significant increase in graphics power available per pixel, which is why all these additional effects can be implemented. Previously, the iPad version actually looked worse than the iPhone 3GS version lacking several shader effects because of lack of power. Doing a Retina Display on the iPad 2 with 4 times the resolution would mean that 9x graphics increase will be diluted down to a 2x increase per pixel, which will probably just bring the iPad 2 level to the iPhone 3GS rather than push things forward as is the case now.

That sounds sensible – until you realise that render resolution and display resolution don't have to be the same. When Apple releases an iPad with "Retina Display" (regardless of what exact resolution it will be) developers will be able to decide whether they want to use the full resolution with limited shader effects, or a reduced resolution with more complex shaders. It's a trade-off, and the right choice depends on the game. iPad going "Retina" does not limit developers, it expands their options.

1024x768 scaled up on a hypothetical 2048x1536 "Retina iPad" would look very similar to what you get on the current iPads (though not identical, due to certain quirks in our visual perception). On the other hand, increased pixel density allows increased detail. Infinity Blade looks much better on iPhone 4 than on 3GS because of that, even though it uses the same shaders and geometry.

1- You need to know, don't have difference between a SGX543 and a SGX535 on graphic, sure the SGX543 can calcul more polygon than the 535 but for the shader calcul is the same ! the only difference you can see -> framerate and faster texture decompression, only that, not graphic !

SGX543 is much faster, especially at processing shaders. Since developers target a certain framerate, this allows them to use much more complex shaders.

the ATI on the XBOX360 is like 1000x the SGX543

You're one or two orders of magnitude off.

 

[sanford]

On the other hand, increased pixel density allows increased detail. Infinity Blade looks much better on iPhone 4 than on 3GS because of that, even though it uses the same shaders and geometry.

This is EXACTLY the reason I'm holding out for Retina iPad. I'm not worried about graphics, as in games or video or photos, which I think all look and run exceptionally, even surprisingly, well on my original iPad. My interest is for increased detail in displayed text, for reading and writing. More pleasant writing experience with Pages. Much easier on the eyes for e-reading. I'm okay with e-books on my iPad now. In fact I'd rather read off my iPad than e-ink devices like Kindle because I don't have to worry about lighting. But reading text on my iPhone 4 as compared to my iPad, I can tell increased pixel density will go a lot farther toward closing the gap between print and tablet display.

 

[Popeye206]

From what I've been reading, the real iPad 2 advantage here is really faster graphics processing. Beyond the slightly better detail that's being rendered, I'm guessing the game play is much more fluid.

Someone needs to hurry up and do a true free roaming 1st person game... is there one yet?

Can't wait for iOS5 .... I'm guessing the next "BIG" thing (besides the updated Mobile Me service) will be gaming coming to Apple TV and your iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch becoming the controllers. All the pieces are in place.

 

[iSee]

http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2011/03/11/ipad-2-360-infinity-blade-dev/



Chair has been very clear that what we are seeing in Infinity Blade on the iPad 2 is because Apple didn't increase the screen resolution, ie. no Retina Display for now is a good thing. This allows a significant increase in graphics power available per pixel, which is why all these additional effects can be implemented. Previously, the iPad version actually looked worse than the iPhone 3GS version lacking several shader effects because of lack of power. Doing a Retina Display on the iPad 2 with 4 times the resolution would mean that 9x graphics increase will be diluted down to a 2x increase per pixel, which will probably just bring the iPad 2 level to the iPhone 3GS rather than push things forward as is the case now.

I would hope & assume that an iPad with retina display would provide the option for an app to run at half-resolution. Remember, each block of 2x2 pixels on a retina display would be the same physical size as 1 pixel on a non-retina display. So a game running half-X on a retina iPad should not look worse than one running 1X on a non-retina display. Really, a retina display would give game developers *more* options. E.g., one game might look best run at half-x with AA turned on, while another might look best at 1x with AA turned off (a retina display makes AA less necessary).

 

[MRU]

The GPU for the iPad 2 is what the iPad 1 should have had, as the graphics were pretty underpowered and not really enough for a 1024x768 display. 480x320, yes. So no, the GPU for the iPad 2 wouldn't really work for 4X the pixels (not twice).

--Eric

Epic fail of the day!!!

So you are saying that they should have used a component in the first generation iPad that had not even been produced.




The graphics on the existing iPad were the best on the market on a tablet. They are still excellent in comparison to the majority of hardware out there.

Are you being wilfully obtuse or is this something you have to work at?

No just Full Of Win trolling for a reaction yet again.

In fact this thread seems to have brought out a lot of ignorant trolls.











oh and we are still yet to confirm if the iPad 2 is running a SGX543 or the SGX543MP

 

[iSee]

...

Can't wait for iOS5 .... I'm guessing the next "BIG" thing (besides the updated Mobile Me service) will be gaming coming to Apple TV and your iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch becoming the controllers. All the pieces are in place.

That's what I've been thinking... Not just games though thoses will be major. Though now that I think about it, maybe the GPU in the current ATV isn't up to it? I have no idea what's in there.

 

[kiljoy616]

That's incredibly impressive for such a quick release; I really can't wait for developers to better understand the architecture of the A5 chip and its GPU to use it to its potential. We'll essentially be seeing mid to upper 2007/8 pc game graphics on the iPad (@ 1024x768 of course, but still; that's impressive). One game that I think would be absolutely amazing on the iPad is World in Conflict and an improved Red Alert. This really will be an amazing year for iPad development.

Can't even imagine what it would take to have games on an ipad at Retina level display, that would be higher than even my 27" monitor.

I guess the next big jump will be the SGX6 when ever they bring it out, but knowing Apple the IPad 3 will be everything we all are expecting and this release was more about power and possibility as well as form factor.

 

[charlituna]

That's a pretty noticeable difference if you like playing games on it.

Actually I am wondering if that brightness means better outdoor use.

 

[charlituna]

Does this mean they underpowered the iPad 1 or overpowered the so-called iPad 2?

More like

Does this mean that someone doesn't understand the notion of technology changes, or does it understand and he thinks he's being a clever troll. But he's not.

 

[3282868]

Meh

Don't see much of a difference. It's faster, more RAM, thinner.

I'm just tired of Apple's iDevices. Using/developing for the next big kitty, at first I was impressed, but as I worked further it's just becoming iOS X. Launchpad is exactly like iOS folders, and a pain to drag 10+ pages of app's one at a time.

Spoke with a friend working as a designer w/ engineers on the next FCP, said so far it's not great, the engineers/team heads have been there for years and dragging their weight. She was always the first to defend Apple's prosumer market, having worked as a filmmaker w/FCP and Macs, but now she definitely knows Apple is done with that market. In fact, most FCP users in the industry have either moved to Avid or Premiere Pro.

So I guess I should succumb to the reality that displays, Pro-Apps and a reasonable mid-tower/tower are a thing of the past and that Apple will be the king of mobile iDevices.

 

[50548]

Does this mean they underpowered the iPad 1 or overpowered the so-called iPad 2?

Are you Aiden Shaw's brother?

 

[Iconoclysm]

Good, thanks for letting me know. Then I'll have to agree that the screen resolution has a big improvement over the iPad 1.

So, they improved the resolution, but it's not as good as the iPhone's Retina display?

Huh? You come into the thread doubting the validity of the photos then you think this is improved screen resolution? Ugh.