By definition, as posted over at PC World, a retina display is one that “meets or exceeds the maximum resolution the human retina is capable of resolving, assuming perfect vision.” This is what the iPhone 4 should come with.
Dr. Raymond Soneriam, however, believes the contrary is true, and Steve Jobs was wrong to claim that the iPhone 4 is equipped with one. Dr. Soneria is from DisplayMate Technologies, a company known for their software that tests display quality, so he should know a thing or two about these things.
Here’s his take on the whole iPhone 4 retina display issue:
Steve Jobs claimed that the iPhone 4 has a resolution higher than the retina - that's not right:
1. The resolution of the retina is in angular measure - it's 50 Cycles Per Degree. A cycle is a line pair, which is two pixels, so the angular resolution of the eye is 0.6 arc minutes per pixel.
2. So if you hold an iPhone at the typical 12 inches from your eyes, that works out to 477 pixels per inch. At 8 inches it's 716 ppi. You have to hold it out 18 inches before it falls to 318 ppi.
So the iPhone has significantly lower resolution than the retina. It actually needs a resolution significantly higher than the retina in order to deliver an image that appears perfect to the retina.
It's a great display, most likely the best mobile display in production (and I can't wait to test it) but this is another example of spec exaggeration.
We’re not experts on the matter so we can’t really refute his claim, but as far as we're concerned, it's all just a matter of semantics. On a similar note, iFix Your i has also done their fair share of investigative work and put the iPhone 4’s new engineered glass to the test as well which Apple so proudly touts as being “20 times stiffer and 30 times harder than plastic.” Dropping a circuit board-less iPhone 4 numerous times from a height of 3.5 feet, surprisingly, the display cracked on just the third attempt.
They attribute this to the faulty new design of the iPhone 4. As opposed to previous models wherein the glass was “recessed and protected by a chrome bezel”, this time around, the glass is now protruding thus increasing its chances of breakage. It may be more scratch resistant, but it looks like its now more damage prone as well.
The iPhone 4 will be available in Canada beginning next month with all three major carriers (Rogers, Bell, and Telus) confirming that they'll have this newest iPhone as part of their line-up.
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