There's a new iPad in town, and by far the most obvious upgrade is the tablet's screen. Apple upped the resolution to a retina display with a massive 2,048 x 1,536 pixels -- more than even a top-of-the-line HDTV. But whether or not that may be overkill, how noticeable is it?
Very, it turns out. Even with the naked eye, a user can plainly see that type is sharper, photos are crisper and artwork really pops. Comparing the new iPad with a first-generation model was stark -- especially so when we looked at both displays under a Loupe.
The results are beyond eye-catching. Even apps that aren't yet optimized for retina resolutions benefit from the extra pixels. With its retina display, the new iPad quite literally makes its competitors (not to mention its predecessors) look bad.
Apple's definitely set the bar again with the new iPad's ultra-high-resolution screen, so the question becomes: How soon will the competition catch up? Looking back at the iPhone 4, which introduced the concept of a "retina" display, it took Android phones over a year before phones with similar pixel densities, like the LG Nitro HD, to appear.
Will the same thing happen in tablets? It could: Apple has a tendency, especially with the iPad, to gobble up supplies of key components. However, the supplier of the new retina screen, which appears to be Samsung, also competes with Apple in the tablet arena, so perhaps some retina-worthy Galaxy Tabs are in our future.
Until then, the iPad is a display specimen that has no equal -- among tablets, anyway. Here we've gathered some of the most impressive examples that show just how much of an upgrade the retina screen is.
Let us know what you think of the iPad's retina display in the comments.