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Is Retina only noticeable close up?
- Thread starter PBoyx
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No, it's really noticeable even if you are not even close to the iPad. The color saturation of pictures and contrast of letters is simply terrific. Especially letters are very black while letters on the older iPad 2 look somewhat washed out and greyish (not a deep black level).
You'll notice it in an instant and then get used to the look and feel of the Retina Display.
Actually it's fun to go back to the iPad 2 after playing around with the new iPad for 2-3 days... The iPad 2 looks ridiculously bad, I really cannot believe I've used that darn thing for so long without being totally bothered and annoyed by the low screen resolution. Now the resolution on my MacBook Air 13" really starts bothering me... Hopefully Retina MB's this year! I'll be first in line.
It's noticable whether you're reading, playing games or looking at photos.
At first it might not come across as the biggest upgrade in the world but after a few hours with the device you begin to fall in love with how more awesome the device is.
- You can see the full details of high resolution images without having to zoom in. It's like holding a very detail photo on your hand. Hell I don't even need to use the landscape mode as much.
- Text is so sharp, crisp and legible that you don't need to pinch and zoom or double tap.
- Real Racing HD 2 is more vibrant and so are videos.
At first it might not come across as the biggest upgrade in the world but after a few hours with the device you begin to fall in love with how more awesome the device is.
The added sharpness will only be apparent when the iPad is within arm's length, and will be more apparent the closer you hold it. Just like with DVD versus Blu-Ray, if you sit too far from the screen your eyes can't perceive the added detail.
It is quite noticeable at regular viewing distance. Especially the sharpness of text. I found myself frequently enlarging font sizes to read things on the iPad 2 b/c small text looked pretty bad. You can read even very small text with ease on the new display.
We've had an iPad and iPad 2. The difference between the new one and the older ones is pretty substantial. Even with it 18 inches away in my lap, everything is just way crisper. Coupled with the better color rendition and black level, it's a pretty significant upgrade.
Oh, so it is "only" apparent when the iPad is within an arm's length? How often do you use your iPad at distance greater than arm's length?
But you're right, for someone with arm extensions, the retina display will be barely noticeable.
Well I punched the numbers into my screen calculator, and if you have 20/20 vision 14.6 inches is the point of visual acuity, as you move further away it become less noticeable, if you move closer you start to see the pixels. The Ipad2 29.3 inches is the point of visual acuity, so any closer you start to see pixels. So what does that mean? it means that you have to move "The new Ipad" to at least 30" away before they look the same, and that still doesn't account for the better color.
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How do screen protectors impact...
And now for the silly question of the day, and hopefully along the lines of the OP...
do screen protectors degrade the experience of the new retina display?
The thought popped up while I was watching movies on my ipod (3 in one plane ride), I was tempted to remove my screen protector to improve the viewing experience...
and yes, I know the ipod does not have retina display...just something I was wondering about...
And now for the silly question of the day, and hopefully along the lines of the OP...
do screen protectors degrade the experience of the new retina display?
The thought popped up while I was watching movies on my ipod (3 in one plane ride), I was tempted to remove my screen protector to improve the viewing experience...
and yes, I know the ipod does not have retina display...just something I was wondering about...
You should NEVER use a screen protector with a touch sensitive device such as the iPhone or the iPad. It will just degrade the experience so much. Especially when it comes to touch sensitivity.
Just get a Smart Cover. And don't forget, Apple uses Gorilla glass, one of the hardest and most scratch-resistant type of glass money can buy.
I've had the iPhone 3G, 4, 4S and every iPad ever made without a screen protector (only used snap-on cases for the iPhones and a Smart Cover for the iPads) and never ever had a serious scratch, and I use those devices like a drug addict, basically the first thing in the morning is to turn on my iPhone and it is the last thing I do at night. I know, I am obsessed with these devices, I am sure some of you can relate though ;-)
The resolution produces such fine details and the colors are so true to life that you could mistake it for real life.
Right now a lot of people are disappointed with the screen because they havnt come close to seeing the full potential. The home screen image as crisp as it is was hardly gonna set the world alight and the few "retina optimised" apps are just rush scaled up art jobs. Wait until you see a true retina app where every one of those 3 million pixels is individually fired up.
Also a lot of people are saying the colors are toned. Most apps/toming have been optimised for the regular iPad screen. When they are optimised for the retina screen the original iPads are going to start looking more and more out of date.
Well exactly, when operating the iPad it will be well within range to appreciate the retina display (assuming the user's eyesight doesn't suck). But the original poster almost made it sound like their iPad was sitting on their desk out of reach; if you were, say, watching video on the iPad from a greater distance, the added pixels start to become invisible to the eye.
Right, so at arms-length or greater, the new iPad's retina display is hard to appreciate
We played "compare the iPads" at work this morning between iPad 2 and iPad 3. When you pull up a "stock" iPad wallpaper like the lotus flower (I think that's what it is?) and hold it at arm's length, the difference isn't immediately noticeable.
But I pulled up a software development ebook in PDF format in iBooks on both the iPad 2 and iPad 3 and that was where you could see a marked difference.
Seeing as how 95% of what I do on my iPad is reading, I *love* the crispy sharp new display. iPad 2 was no slouch either, though.
But I pulled up a software development ebook in PDF format in iBooks on both the iPad 2 and iPad 3 and that was where you could see a marked difference.
Seeing as how 95% of what I do on my iPad is reading, I *love* the crispy sharp new display. iPad 2 was no slouch either, though.
We played "compare the iPads" at work this morning between iPad 2 and iPad 3. When you pull up a "stock" iPad wallpaper like the lotus flower (I think that's what it is?) and hold it at arm's length, the difference isn't immediately noticeable.
But I pulled up a software development ebook in PDF format in iBooks on both the iPad 2 and iPad 3 and that was where you could see a marked difference.
Seeing as how 95% of what I do on my iPad is reading, I *love* the crispy sharp new display. iPad 2 was no slouch either, though.
This.
Pull up an iBook or Kindle book on the 2 and on the 3. Look at the text. Case closed. If you can't see the difference there, then I don't know what to tell you. PDFs already looked good on the 2, on the 3 they look like printed paper.
Some apps you're using probably aren't retina ready yet, in which case they'll look about the same as they did on the 2. But for the files/apps/pages that are retina ready, there is a HUGE difference.
We played "compare the iPads" at work this morning between iPad 2 and iPad 3. When you pull up a "stock" iPad wallpaper like the lotus flower (I think that's what it is?) and hold it at arm's length, the difference isn't immediately noticeable.
But I pulled up a software development ebook in PDF format in iBooks on both the iPad 2 and iPad 3 and that was where you could see a marked difference.
Seeing as how 95% of what I do on my iPad is reading, I *love* the crispy sharp new display. iPad 2 was no slouch either, though.
This. The iPad (1 or 2, same display) doesn't look horrible by any means. Screen still looks great to me. Text looks slightly blurrier. The most I notice it is when using portrait mode. If Apple left the same RAM with upgraded screen I wouldn't have upgraded. The most compelling thing for me was the RAM because of my hate for reloading tabs and crashing due to lack of RAM (iPad 1).
Google Maps really seems to highlight the extraordinary detail that the new display is capable of. You can see the tiniest text of street names.
Such a huge upgrade. I love the Retina Display! Finally I can see websites in beautiful clarity while in portrait orientation. It was quite annoying having to switch to landscape the whole time to see the full width of a website in detail.
The display alone makes this a very worthwhile upgrade.
The display alone makes this a very worthwhile upgrade.
One other thing to keep in mind: Safari downsamples larger images so you won't see them in all their glory on the new iPad. They're still noticeably better, but you can fully appreciate the difference when you view larger images directly through iPhoto or some other means, NOT through Safari.
As part of their review of the new iPad screen, this page on tomshardware describes this in more detail.
As part of their review of the new iPad screen, this page on tomshardware describes this in more detail.