14 ms·

Apple Retina Display: Under the microscope comparisons with 1G and 3G

153 points by marram 16y ago

macrael 16y ago
Are the pixels on the iPhone vertically oriented like pixels on desktop monitors usually are?
- stcredzero 16y ago
  Looks like they are in Landscape.
- yardie 16y ago
  Considering it's designed to work in landscape and portrait mode your question is relative.
- ugh 16y ago
  In portrait orientation they have the same orientation as pixels on desktop monitors, i.e. the subpixels of individual pixels are next to each other, not on top of each other. (I looked at my third generation iPod touch. Well, I took a macro photo with my trusty Ricoh GR Digital II [1]. The only tool I have with which I can make subpixels – barely – visible. Hm, water drops might work, too, but that seems a bit risky.) [1] http://www.dpreview.com/news/0710/07103001ricohgrd2.asp http://www.dpreview.com/news/0710/07103001ricohgrd2.asp
  - macrael 16y ago
    How does rotating the screen affect text antialiasing?
    - ugh 16y ago
      I just checked Safari, they don’t actually do any subpixel antialiasing. Just “normal” antialiasing. I would guess that if it’s not used in Safari it’s used nowhere, so no problems with that :) (Subpixel antialiasing seems unnecessary with resolutions like that. Heck, even any other kind of antialiasing is beginning to become unnecessary with resolutions like that.)
  - macrael 16y ago
    How does rotating the screen affect text antialiasing?
watmough 16y ago
Having queued for 7 hours yesterday to get my iPhone 4, I can confirm that the display actually exceeded my expectations. All natively rendered text in controls, etc., looks like it was printed in a magazine. This display is going to be huge news once it hits the iPad and MacBook Pros.
- amichail 16y ago
  What is the resolution for touch sensitivity in the iPhone 4?
  - cpr 16y ago
    Smaller than you could ever experience with your finger (about a 90-pixel square area on the iPhone 4), and better than any other phones on the market, apparently.
    - qwzybug 16y ago
      Not quite. Apple's HIG recommends allotting 44pts for hit targets (about 90px on the new screen) for usability's sake, but you can hit much smaller targets if you're careful about it.
      - cpr 16y ago
        Right, I just meant your finger tip covered about that much. You can hit smaller targets, but not easily.
      - hboon 16y ago
        176 pixels, rather than 90.
- masklinn 16y ago
  > This display is going to be huge news once it hits the iPad and MacBook Pros. Which is probably never. Those don't even reach the pixel density of the 2G/3G/3GS. 326ppi? That's already going to be pretty tall order on a 10" screen (the iPad currently stands at 132 ppi, assuming the form factor doesn't change we're talking about increasing the resolution by a factor of 2.5, pumping the resolution to an insane 2560x1920. We're talking about a resolution usually found on 30" computer screens here, and those things are still pretty much all between $1000 and $2000...). The 13.3" macbook pro would have a 3712x2320 screen, the 15.4" would move up to 4200x2625 and the 17" would be sporting a 4000x3000 screen.
deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
grandalf 16y ago
I looked at a iPhone 4G at the apple store yesterday and was curious to compare the display to the HTC Evo 4G's display. The verdict: slightly better crispness, comparable brightness, comparable color. The industrial design of the iPhone 4G is superb compared to any other phone (or electronic device) I've seen. It's more comparable to what you'd expect to find in a watch.
- nooneelse 16y ago
  Using this article's threshold of 287ppi@12" for "retinal", and the EVO screen specs on wikipedia which give it about 217ppi, it would be retinal at a distance of 15.9".
ugh 16y ago
It seems to me that the black gaps are bigger. I just did a back of the envelope calculation, using the photos he posted and it looks as though black gaps take up about 30 percent of the space on the first and second iPhone while they take up about 40 percent on the new iPhone 4. I wonder what the effects of that are. It probably just makes the display a bit dimmer (if one were to use the same backlight).
- johns 16y ago
  It definitely seems dimmer to me, especially when it autodims, compared to my 3G
  - sambeau 16y ago
    I have found the opposite. Especially in bright daylight.
- Groxx 16y ago
  Though I'm not discounting that it may in fact be dimmer: Larger gaps alone implies dimmer, but this can be accounted for by having the pixels put out more light. Having larger gaps on a display doesn't mean it's dimmer, as the pixels have likely changed characteristics in the process of shrinking them.
  - ugh 16y ago
    (It’s, by the way, not that the gaps got necessarily bigger, maybe a little, it’s just that they didn’t shrink either and, with more pixels, there are also more gaps.)
- wtallis 16y ago
  The article states that it was harder to focus the optics on the older displays, causing the pictures of them to be blurrier, which could explain the apparently larger inter-pixel gaps in the images of the newer display.
borisk 16y ago
Super AMOLED > IPS http://www.intomobile.com/2010/06/22/samsung-galaxy-s-super-amoled-screen-has-180-degree-viewing-angle/ http://www.intomobile.com/2010/06/22/samsung-galaxy-s-super-...
- danudey 16y ago
  But what about power use and price point? It's not a superior technology until the price and the battery drain are comparable.
  - borisk 16y ago
    Super AMOLED consumes 30% less power because it doesn't need back light. It's also thinner. Samsung Galaxy S has 4'' screen and is cheaper than iPhone 4 (with 3.5''). Also LG is unable to produce enough IPS screens for iPad and soon part of the devices will use inferior MVA screens from Samsung. Same can happen with iPhone 4.
    - illumin8 16y ago
      I find it very hard to believe that Apple would start using something other than IPS screens on their iPads, considering they advertise it as a feature. AMOLED has inferior color performance, daytime viewing performance, and angle viewing performance to IPS.
      - borisk 16y ago
        Super AMOLED =/= AMOLED http://www.9to5mac.com/samsung-displays-ipad-3420963243 http://www.9to5mac.com/samsung-displays-ipad-3420963243 http://www.techeye.net/business/samsungs-apple-ipad-displays-is-practise-run-for-its-own-tablet http://www.techeye.net/business/samsungs-apple-ipad-displays...
    - dialtone 16y ago
      Samsung still has not enough capacity to supply its own lines and client lines with their Super AMOLED display. When looking in the future instead, in July 2011 they are supposedly opening a new 5.5 gen plant for AMOLED technology that will allow them an output of 30M 3" displays per month. http://www.oled-display.net/new-55-gen-oled-line-from-samsung-to-start-in-july-2011 http://www.oled-display.net/new-55-gen-oled-line-from-samsun... Apple couldn't use SuperAMOLED because of supply issues more than anything.

153 points by marram 16y ago

macrael 16y ago

Are the pixels on the iPhone vertically oriented like pixels on desktop monitors usually are?

stcredzero 16y ago
Looks like they are in Landscape.
yardie 16y ago
Considering it's designed to work in landscape and portrait mode your question is relative.
ugh 16y ago
In portrait orientation they have the same orientation as pixels on desktop monitors, i.e. the subpixels of individual pixels are next to each other, not on top of each other. (I looked at my third generation iPod touch. Well, I took a macro photo with my trusty Ricoh GR Digital II [1]. The only tool I have with which I can make subpixels – barely – visible. Hm, water drops might work, too, but that seems a bit risky.) [1] http://www.dpreview.com/news/0710/07103001ricohgrd2.asp http://www.dpreview.com/news/0710/07103001ricohgrd2.asp
- macrael 16y ago
  How does rotating the screen affect text antialiasing?
  - ugh 16y ago
    I just checked Safari, they don’t actually do any subpixel antialiasing. Just “normal” antialiasing. I would guess that if it’s not used in Safari it’s used nowhere, so no problems with that :) (Subpixel antialiasing seems unnecessary with resolutions like that. Heck, even any other kind of antialiasing is beginning to become unnecessary with resolutions like that.)
- macrael 16y ago
  How does rotating the screen affect text antialiasing?

watmough 16y ago

Having queued for 7 hours yesterday to get my iPhone 4, I can confirm that the display actually exceeded my expectations. All natively rendered text in controls, etc., looks like it was printed in a magazine. This display is going to be huge news once it hits the iPad and MacBook Pros.

amichail 16y ago
What is the resolution for touch sensitivity in the iPhone 4?
- cpr 16y ago
  Smaller than you could ever experience with your finger (about a 90-pixel square area on the iPhone 4), and better than any other phones on the market, apparently.
  - qwzybug 16y ago
    Not quite. Apple's HIG recommends allotting 44pts for hit targets (about 90px on the new screen) for usability's sake, but you can hit much smaller targets if you're careful about it.
    - cpr 16y ago
      Right, I just meant your finger tip covered about that much. You can hit smaller targets, but not easily.
    - hboon 16y ago
      176 pixels, rather than 90.
masklinn 16y ago
> This display is going to be huge news once it hits the iPad and MacBook Pros. Which is probably never. Those don't even reach the pixel density of the 2G/3G/3GS. 326ppi? That's already going to be pretty tall order on a 10" screen (the iPad currently stands at 132 ppi, assuming the form factor doesn't change we're talking about increasing the resolution by a factor of 2.5, pumping the resolution to an insane 2560x1920. We're talking about a resolution usually found on 30" computer screens here, and those things are still pretty much all between $1000 and $2000...). The 13.3" macbook pro would have a 3712x2320 screen, the 15.4" would move up to 4200x2625 and the 17" would be sporting a 4000x3000 screen.

deleted 16y ago

[deleted]

grandalf 16y ago

I looked at a iPhone 4G at the apple store yesterday and was curious to compare the display to the HTC Evo 4G's display. The verdict: slightly better crispness, comparable brightness, comparable color. The industrial design of the iPhone 4G is superb compared to any other phone (or electronic device) I've seen. It's more comparable to what you'd expect to find in a watch.

nooneelse 16y ago
Using this article's threshold of 287ppi@12" for "retinal", and the EVO screen specs on wikipedia which give it about 217ppi, it would be retinal at a distance of 15.9".

ugh 16y ago

It seems to me that the black gaps are bigger. I just did a back of the envelope calculation, using the photos he posted and it looks as though black gaps take up about 30 percent of the space on the first and second iPhone while they take up about 40 percent on the new iPhone 4. I wonder what the effects of that are. It probably just makes the display a bit dimmer (if one were to use the same backlight).

johns 16y ago
It definitely seems dimmer to me, especially when it autodims, compared to my 3G
- sambeau 16y ago
  I have found the opposite. Especially in bright daylight.
Groxx 16y ago
Though I'm not discounting that it may in fact be dimmer: Larger gaps alone implies dimmer, but this can be accounted for by having the pixels put out more light. Having larger gaps on a display doesn't mean it's dimmer, as the pixels have likely changed characteristics in the process of shrinking them.
- ugh 16y ago
  (It’s, by the way, not that the gaps got necessarily bigger, maybe a little, it’s just that they didn’t shrink either and, with more pixels, there are also more gaps.)
wtallis 16y ago
The article states that it was harder to focus the optics on the older displays, causing the pictures of them to be blurrier, which could explain the apparently larger inter-pixel gaps in the images of the newer display.

borisk 16y ago

Super AMOLED > IPS http://www.intomobile.com/2010/06/22/samsung-galaxy-s-super-amoled-screen-has-180-degree-viewing-angle/ http://www.intomobile.com/2010/06/22/samsung-galaxy-s-super-...

danudey 16y ago
But what about power use and price point? It's not a superior technology until the price and the battery drain are comparable.
- borisk 16y ago
  Super AMOLED consumes 30% less power because it doesn't need back light. It's also thinner. Samsung Galaxy S has 4'' screen and is cheaper than iPhone 4 (with 3.5''). Also LG is unable to produce enough IPS screens for iPad and soon part of the devices will use inferior MVA screens from Samsung. Same can happen with iPhone 4.
  - illumin8 16y ago
    I find it very hard to believe that Apple would start using something other than IPS screens on their iPads, considering they advertise it as a feature. AMOLED has inferior color performance, daytime viewing performance, and angle viewing performance to IPS.
    - borisk 16y ago
      Super AMOLED =/= AMOLED http://www.9to5mac.com/samsung-displays-ipad-3420963243 http://www.9to5mac.com/samsung-displays-ipad-3420963243 http://www.techeye.net/business/samsungs-apple-ipad-displays-is-practise-run-for-its-own-tablet http://www.techeye.net/business/samsungs-apple-ipad-displays...
  - dialtone 16y ago
    Samsung still has not enough capacity to supply its own lines and client lines with their Super AMOLED display. When looking in the future instead, in July 2011 they are supposedly opening a new 5.5 gen plant for AMOLED technology that will allow them an output of 30M 3" displays per month. http://www.oled-display.net/new-55-gen-oled-line-from-samsung-to-start-in-july-2011 http://www.oled-display.net/new-55-gen-oled-line-from-samsun... Apple couldn't use SuperAMOLED because of supply issues more than anything.