Wait...so if we wanna use apps we have the now on our current phones there going to appear blurry/pixelated? And to get a nice sharp crisp lookin app we'll need to buy new apps with the HD title like ipad?
No, the iPad HD titles almost certainly won't work on the iPhone--they'd be entirely too small to use. The extra resolution won't be used to change the physical dimensions of anything on the iPhone, but just to enhance crispness.
If this ends up being the true production spec, expect shortages and screen issues, because this is entirely uncharted territory. No one has ever been able to manufacture in volume a display in this size range at anything close to this pixel density before, and whoever their supplier is has kept this production line totally secret from the industry (likely at the behest of Apple).
I think you'll find that all your old apps look exactly the same as they do now. The screen size didn't change, only the resolution according to this. The pixels you see now will be 4 pixels instead of 1. That means old apps will look exactly the same, while new apps can be made much sharper on this new model.
Exactly right.
so is this 'real' HD? from my understanding 'HD' is a pretty loose term and while it is great that the next iPhone will have 960x640 resolution does that mean it still can't play 720P material?
"HD" is a completely undefined term.
ATSC HDTV has a definition, and the iPhone doesn't meet it. It is not an HDTV display.
Whether or not the iPhone ultimately uses the moniker or not (and I think it's a dumb one, but then again I also think 'MacBook' is a dumb name), it won't be breaking any rules.
well it will be able to play 720p i believe just no display all the pixels...
honestly 720p on a 3.5 inch device is a little over kill i won't be able to tell the difference anyway.
Anything above 300dpi is effectively indistinguishable on a computer display. Going above 300 is just for the convenience of app developers to avoid any software scaling.
This is the same reason resolution independence has never taken off on the desktop--there aren't commercially available displays at double a standard dpi (150, 160, 192, 200), and so scaling results in fractional pixels, which result in alignment errors and bugs. You need one pixel to expand perfectly into a grid for it to work (or alternatively, achieve ~280-300dpi so that single-pixel alignment errors are no longer noticeable).
Can someone explain how the iPad at 1024x768 pixel doubles the same as a 960x640 device?
By carving a 960x640 rectangle out of the display's center, while physically enlarging it.
The new iPhone will pixel double without enlargement, which means it won't blur at all. The new iPhone has four pixels in the place where the old iPhones had one, which means all existing iPhone apps will look exactly the same as they do now. Future apps will be able to take advantage of sharper text and smoother curves, but the text and button size will remain the same.
Developers will essentially start developing for the higher resolution, while the iPhone OS will automatically scale it down for older devices. Universal apps will be written based on physical dimensions in a "pocket" size (iPod/iPhone) and a "tablet" size (iPad)--there's no need for any other UI design.
HD is relative to screen size. 960x640 on a screen this size is HD.
ATSC HDTV is
not relative to screen size. "HD" as a general term is not relative to
anything.
Anyone that claims otherwise may consider what would happen if 1080P was playing back on a 90 foot jumbo tron... 1 inch pixels. But it's High Def, right? Maybe a couple miles away it is.
It is 2" from the surface. The definition of 1080p is 1920x1080 at a specified framerate. It makes no difference what the physical size of the display is. A 23" monitor, a 65" plasma, and a 90 foot jumbotron are subject to the same rules.
That simply illustrates the fallacy of relying on specs without context. 1080p is worthless on almost any display smaller than 40" in a typical living room. At the same time, people who insist on THX ratios (designed for commercial theaters) for living rooms end up with absurd ideas about sitting 4 feet from 55" TVs, again from lack of context. Specs and figures have to be tempered by common sense and practical considerations.
Serious question but does the A4 chip even have the power to play 1280x720 or 1024x768 (ipad native) resolution video?
Absolutely, since that's exactly what's in the iPad and it doesn't break a sweat at video playback at either of those resolutions. Even substantially underclocked, it could handle 720p.
Also there's no extra ram and keeping that resolution in a framebuffer is going to be tricky.
Not really. You overestimate the memory needs of a rendered frame. 1024x768 has been handled by video cards since the mid-90s with 4MB of RAM. The burden of HD video is more the resources involved with decoding it, not displaying it (hence the general and specialized hardware acceleration in modern GPUs).
The iPad is already capable of 720p decoding, and probably 1080p. The 3GS hardware is 720p-capable, but 1080p might be a challenge. The next iPhone will undoubtedly be able to handle 720p as well.
