Retina question

[jtcedinburgh]

Hi folks.

Quick question: IF I'm running in 'regular' Retina mode - i.e. looks like 1440x900, but with more pixels available for Retina enabled apps - then would an 800x600 image appear exactly as it would do on a native 1440x900 panel, except for using twice the pixels along each dimension?

This was my assumption, and to tell the truth I can't imagine why it might work any other way, but a few things I've read suggests that such an image would be in some way 'interpolated'.

Is this true or is this just misinformation/misunderstanding by some people?

If it's true (sorry, second question), can this interpolation be disabled, so that it displays only the pixels that are actually there - without attempting to 'round out' the jaggies, so to speak?

Big concern for me...

john

 

[Stetrain]

You're basically correct for apps that have not been "retina updated". There are some perceptible differences that people have determined is just because of the smaller gaps between pixels.

Also such apps and images displayed by them will look 'fuzzy' simply in comparison to how sharp and detailed everything else is, even though that app looks about the same as it would on a non-retina MBP.

For example, in Photoshop (non-retina-optimized), displaying an 800x600 image with the "Actual pixels" zoom option should actually show a 1600x1200 image on screen, with each pixel of the image filling four pixels on the screen. Depending on how they choose to implement it, a retina-optimized version of Photoshop might actually show that same image at a true 800x600 pixels.

 

[jtcedinburgh]

Thanks...

Thanks, Stetrain. Just wanted some clarification. Partly due to the 'waiting game' as I wait for Apple to furnish me with a shiny new retina MBP (in a few weeks it would seem)...

 

[Cory Bauer]

You're basically correct for apps that have not been "retina updated". There are some perceptible differences that people have determined is just because of the smaller gaps between pixels.

Also such apps and images displayed by them will look 'fuzzy' simply in comparison to how sharp and detailed everything else is, even though that app looks about the same as it would on a non-retina MBP.

For example, in Photoshop (non-retina-optimized), displaying an 800x600 image with the "Actual pixels" zoom option should actually show a 1600x1200 image on screen, with each pixel of the image filling four pixels on the screen. Depending on how they choose to implement it, a retina-optimized version of Photoshop might actually show that same image at a true 800x600 pixels.

Correct. As another example, if you open Final Cut Pro X 10.0.4 on a MacBook Pro with Retina Display, the video viewer will consume 40% of the screen real estate when displaying 1080p video at 50% scale. After the Final Cut Pro X 10.0.5 update that added retina display support, the video video will consume 40% of the screen real estate when displaying 1080p video at 100% scale. So pixel-basd images essentially become half the size they are now.

Presumably when Photoshop is updated, the same will hold true. For the time being, Photoshop displays documents at the same size as they do on the non-retina displays, but the image quality is the equivalent of viewing the document at 200% scale.