Experts examine Apple's 'Retina Display' claims, 1.5m iPhone 4s sold on day one

[Matthew DeCarlo]

Companies love to generate hype by making bold claims about their products, and Apple is just as guilty of embellishment as the next multi-billion-dollar corporation. But according to one retinal neuroscientist, Steve Jobs wasn't exactly exaggerating when he said the latest iPhone has a "pixel-free" screen. Called the "Retina Display," Apple insists that the screen's resolution is similar to or higher than the human retina.

Bryan Jones' lengthy blog post boils down to one simple conclusion: "So, if a normal human eye can discriminate two points separated by 1 arcminute/cycle at a distance of a foot, we should be able to discriminate two points 89 micrometers apart which would work out to about 287 pixels per inch. Since the iPhone 4G display is comfortably higher than that measure at 326 pixels per inch, I'd find Apple's claims stand up to what the human eye can perceive."

Mind you, not all experts agree. DisplayMate president Raymond Soneira has dismissed the iPhone 4's Retina Display as false marketing and hyperbole. Jones explains in detail why Soneira's analysis isn't correct, saying "While Dr. Soneira was partially correct with respect to the retina, Apple’s Retina Display adequately represents the resolution at which images fall upon our retina." We don't hold a degree in human vision, but if there's a doctor in the house, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

In somewhat related news, analysts believe Apple may have sold as many as 1.5 million iPhone 4 handsets in the first day of sales. An estimated three quarters of those people owned a previous model of the iPhone.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/39436-experts-examine-apples-retina-display-claims-15m-iphone-4s-sold-on-day-one.html

 

[Xuquan]

Down here in London, pre-orders for the iPhone 4G/s is flying like free candy... in fact so much thats there's now a limit to the no.s of pre-orders.

Is the 4G really that MUCH better/different than the 3G?

And since the iPhone 4G is coming out, any news regarding the iPod Touch 4G? ^_^

iPhone is not really all that tbh, so I bought the iPod Touch 32 GB 3G and I'm loving it.

Currently using BlackBerry as my phone, the couple mixes well; iPod Touch + BB phone.

 

[Reloader2]

It's a iPhone 4 not 4G A lot of people seem to get this wrong.

 

[Matthew DeCarlo]

Indeed. Even the quoted eye expert called it the iPhone 4G.

 

[Cueto_99]

Ok, lets put some sense on this "retina display" title Apple came up with... They need features on their new toys to make people buy them. If you tell people the new iphone 4 has 326 pixels per inch nobody is going to care because 99% of them are not tech savvy, it doesn't mean anything; but if you come up with a sounding name like "retina display" then buyers can brag about having a feature non other phones have... I think that's what all of this is about.

Personally I don't care how many pixels per inch my phone has, as long as I can see clearly what is showing. But I do care about resolution when gaming, that's more important for me.

 

[maestromasada]

Looking at the pic, it seems to be the ipad display suffers acute miopia!

 

[killeriii]

it stands for 4th generation

 

[captaincranky]

1.5 Million *****s Can't Be Wrong.......!

Although the question remains, "how could you possibly explain it to them if they were"?

It's a iPhone 4 not 4G A lot of people seem to get this wrong.

@Reloader, "let he who is without sin cast the first stone". In this case, "iPhone" requires the article, "an" to precede it, not "A". The rule is; "A" before a word beginning with a consonant, and "an" before a word beginning with a vowel. (Except for "history", which gets an "an").

As to the retina display, just think how many imbeciles will be thrilled to see Miley Cyrus and Justin Beiber on their new "iRipoffs"...! And all in glorious reverse hi-def.

So the question springs to mind, "if you magnified the display on this new piece of techno-junk to a point where it was actually worth watching, would you then be able to see it pixellate"? And the follow up question, "who cares"?

 

[Guest]

@captaincranky

u dope,

He's referring to the '4G' suffix. It is awfully confusing as it could be referring the fourth generation of cellular wireless standards, which HTC EVO '4G' is referring to. Apple iPhone '4G' is simply the forth generation in the iPhone series.

 

[captaincranky]

@captaincranky

u dope,

He's referring to the '4G' suffix. It is awfully confusing as it could be referring the fourth generation of cellular wireless standards, which HTC EVO '4G' is referring to. Apple iPhone '4G' is simply the forth generation in the iPhone series.

I'm well aware of that. It still needs to be called, >>AN<< iPhone whatever, and not "A" iPhone whatever.

If you don't understand a post, ask someone for help, rather then displaying your lack of English skill behind the "Guest" moniker.

 

[Adhmuz]

"An estimated three quarters of those people owned a previous model of the iPhone." Soooo what do you do with your old one? Through it away? Have these things really become so disposable that every six months when apple releases another "i" product you can simply through your old piece of technology in the trash? Also concerned with how people justify replacing their current $500 phone with a new $500 (I have no idea how much these stupid things cost but it must be somewhere around the $500 price point) Other than that I can care less about the BS claims about the resolution being so small your going to need a magnifying glass to read your text messages from now on and it will sure cause a small percentage of user to go blind because your eyes are going to explode trying to read it without a magnifying glass.
iPhones are the new Crack Berry now I guess, that didn't take too long...

 

[PanicX]

Adhmuz said:
"An estimated three quarters of those people owned a previous model of the iPhone." Soooo what do you do with your old one? Through it away? Have these things really become so disposable that every six months when apple releases another "i" product you can simply through your old piece of technology in the trash? Also concerned with how people justify replacing their current $500 phone with a new $500 (I have no idea how much these stupid things cost but it must be somewhere around the $500 price point) Other than that I can care less about the BS claims about the resolution being so small your going to need a magnifying glass to read your text messages from now on and it will sure cause a small percentage of user to go blind because your eyes are going to explode trying to read it without a magnifying glass.
iPhones are the new Crack Berry now I guess, that didn't take too long...

They tape them together in groups of 4 and now they have iPads.