Retina resolution is completely counter productive for gaming!!

Imagine if the xbox 360 and PS3 were "forced" to have every game in 1080p? You wont have any of the best games on either system. You wont have GTA4 the way it is, you wont have call of duty etc all we will have are stripped down high resolution games.

With a retina resolution instead of actually increasing the graphics fidelity like better looking character models, better looking water, high resolution textures, more stuff happeneing at the same time etc most of the GPU power is put towards extra pixels which are somewhat unnecessary. I have a 16" CRT monitor which can do ipad 3 resolution and as far as I am concerned pixel density is an immensely over rated thing for gaming beyond a certain point. I literally cannot differentiate between 1280x960 and 1600x1200 on a 16" screen let alone ipad resolution.

Yes there are non-gaming advantages but as far as gaming is concerned retina resolution is not a good thing. The ipad 3 will never even come close to the graphics of PS vita despite having the same GPU, thats what you get with a retina resolution.

Firemint would probably dispute your claims. They've updated Real Racing 2 for the iPad with full retina support.

With the launch of the third-generation iPad, Firemint is excited to announce a new update for Real Racing 2 HD. Available now, v1.13.00 adds support for the Retina display and includes a new photo capture mode, among other changes and improvements. See below for the complete update list: Exclusive features for the new third-generation iPad ■Full 2048-by-1536 Retina support with 4x anti-aliasing. ■NEW Photo Mode: adjust field-of-view, zoom and tailor a number of filters to create stunning portraits of your favorite car, before saving to your gallery. ■NEW night themed main menu scene.Firemint

The iPad 3's resolution is a joke on such a small screen. Waste of money. SF_KiLLaMaN

[QUOTE="SF_KiLLaMaN"]The iPad 3's resolution is a joke on such a small screen. Waste of money. musicalmac

I never even mentioned games in my post. No idea where you got that from. I still stand by my statement. Such a high resolution is a waste when the screen is so small. You would barely, if at all, be able to notice the difference from 720p to the current resolution on such a small screen. Upping the pixel count is useless without upping the screen size. Not to mention everything would have to be made much larger to display correctly on such a hig res with such a small screen.

SF_KiLLaMaN

None of what you posted comes close to uncharted PS vita. And yes there will be a new ipad next year but you know it isnt going to be free upgrade for ipad 3 owners so it doesnt matter what the next ipad will do, we are talking about the current one. And you know vita games are going to get better and better as well with more optimization, just like ipad it has games specifically made for it's hardware.

And ipad might have more pixels but the vita has infinite contrast which is more important for gaming, nothing enhances graphics like perfect blacks. A lower resolution SAMOLED display is quite simply better for gaming than a retina LCD, there is just no getting around it. Yes there are non-gaming advantages and ipad isnt just a gaming device but this is a gaming forum and I am pointing out that for gamers retina isnt really the best thing.

None of what you posted comes close to uncharted PS vita. And yes there will be a new ipad next year but you know it isnt going to be free upgrade for ipad 3 owners so it doesnt matter what the next ipad will do, we are talking about the current one. And you know vita games are going to get better and better as well with more optimization, just like ipad it has games specifically made for it's hardware.

And ipad might have more pixels but the vita has infinite contrast which is more important for gaming, nothing enhances graphics like perfect blacks. A lower resolution SAMOLED display is quite simply better for gaming than a retina LCD, there is just no getting around it. Yes there are non-gaming advantages and ipad isnt just a gaming device but this is a gaming forum and I am pointing out that for gamers retina isnt really the best thing.

This is a losing battle for you.

From the professionals...

The new iPad has a virtually perfect 99 percent of the Standard Color Gamut (a 38 percent improvement over the iPad 2). The colors are beautiful and accurate due to very good factory calibration – they are also "more vibrant" but not excessively so or gaudy like some existing OLED displays," Soneira reports. "What makes the new iPad really shine is its very accurate colors and picture quality. It's most likely better and more accurate than any display you own (unless it's a calibrated professional display). In fact with some minor calibration tweaks the new iPad would qualify as a studio reference monitor.

Apple has taken the very good display on the iPad 2 and dramatically improved two of its major weak points: sharpness and color saturation – they are now state-of-the-art. Our lab tests and visual tests agree with Apple's claim that the new iPad has 'the best display ever on a mobile device' so we have awarded the new iPad the 'Best Mobile Display Award' in DisplayMate's 'Best Video Hardware Guide.' But there's more. The new iPad's picture quality, color accuracy, and gray scale are not only much better than any other Tablet or Smartphone, it's also much better than most HDTVs, laptops, and monitors… So we have also awarded the new iPad the 'Best Mobile Picture Quality Award.

DisplayMate

You are welcome to ignore next year's iPad -- though you are foolish to do so.

This is a losing battle for you.

From the professionals...

[QUOTE="DisplayMate"]

The new iPad has a virtually perfect 99 percent of the Standard Color Gamut (a 38 percent improvement over the iPad 2). The colors are beautiful and accurate due to very good factory calibration – they are also "more vibrant" but not excessively so or gaudy like some existing OLED displays," Soneira reports. "What makes the new iPad really shine is its very accurate colors and picture quality. It's most likely better and more accurate than any display you own (unless it's a calibrated professional display). In fact with some minor calibration tweaks the new iPad would qualify as a studio reference monitor.

Apple has taken the very good display on the iPad 2 and dramatically improved two of its major weak points: sharpness and color saturation – they are now state-of-the-art. Our lab tests and visual tests agree with Apple's claim that the new iPad has 'the best display ever on a mobile device' so we have awarded the new iPad the 'Best Mobile Display Award' in DisplayMate's 'Best Video Hardware Guide.' But there's more. The new iPad's picture quality, color accuracy, and gray scale are not only much better than any other Tablet or Smartphone, it's also much better than most HDTVs, laptops, and monitors… So we have also awarded the new iPad the 'Best Mobile Picture Quality Award.

musicalmac

You are welcome to ignore next year's iPad -- though you are foolish to do so.

Who the hell cares about "totally" accurate colors?? We are gamers dude not professionals, reasonably good colors is all you need for gaming, other features are much more important. Nobody in their right mind uses an ipad for professional photo editing.

What is the contrast of the ipad 3?? Yup a paltry 870:1. What is good for professional work doesnt matter squat for gaming. The ipad 3 would also judder just like every other LCD, motion smoothness is another vital feature for gaming which they didnt mention because they werent reviewing it for gaming. We on the other hand are talking about gaming here.

Bottom of the barrel brightness and given how reflective tablets are the ipad is still fail when it comes to outdoor performance.

The new Retina display does make a difference. The high resolution makes everything on the screen look smoother and more… natural. It's nothing short of impressive but we think they should've done something about outdoor performance too. A screen of such quality certainly deserved better.

GSMArena

Again middle of the road. You think color accuracy and pixel density make the best screen? Well maybe for some purposes but certainly not for gaming. Once the 1080p transformer prime lands and if it manages to retain the contrast and brightness of the current model then that would be the tablet screen king.

So your point is that the new iPad isn't very good, and that other tablets are better? I'm trying to figure out why this exists on the iOS forum. musicalmac

I am just saying that retina resolution has a serious drawback for gaming. And secondly it isnt the end of the world display, it still has major shortcomings like contrast, reflectivity and motion smoothness.

I am just saying that retina resolution has a serious drawback for gaming. And secondly it isnt the end of the world display, it still has major shortcomings like contrast, reflectivity and motion smoothness.

Gambler_3

Full disclaimer: I am biased against Apple here, but I really like Apple's hardware (ie, I just really don't like Apple software).

I am with most people here that the resolution is just fully unnecessary for such a small screen, but correct, vibrant colors are pretty awesome on the screen. Also, who ever keeps thinking that "Retina Display" is anything more than a marketing term needs to stop. All it means is that it has great pixel density. That's it. Stuffing a 1920x1080 resolution on a 6 or 7 inch screen also bumps up pixel density. The fact that it was stated that it has better colors is almost irrelevant since this is more color calibration and the fact that they worked on doing this. In the end, people need to stop talking about the freaking screen and more about the innards of the thing, which are quite fast.

Also, to bring up gaming: the fact that these apps are using the full resolution of the screen very well could mean they just upconvert it. Funny how they were able to just magically push out these iPad 3 games so quickly. And don't freak out at me, this is what they do on modern game consoles.

[QUOTE="Gambler_3"]

I am just saying that retina resolution has a serious drawback for gaming. And secondly it isnt the end of the world display, it still has major shortcomings like contrast, reflectivity and motion smoothness.

musicalmac

I don't understand why people think it's not necessary. By that logic, it's not necessary to have the screen resolutions we do on our current smartphones, because it was just fine before. That's like actively choosing to stand perfectly still. Also, I'd make sure to give your audience more credit -- assuming they don't understand the topic simply because the use the term "retina display" instead of "a screen with great pixel density" is assuming too much.musicalmac

I myself have a 480x800 nexus S(LCD version) and really dont need anymore pixels, it's all prefectly clear no pixelation.

I recently used the 720p sony xperia S which happens to have the highest pixel density ever on any device and I really could not tell it, I'll take the galaxy S2 screen over it anyday.

I disagree with you gambler, and you know my opinions on android and apple. Its not a bad thing to progress technology, it never is, while now it may stop proper textures from arriving, it will only improve in the future, to say no to technological advancements is to kill technology itself. While i don't see much benefit to the new resolution, it is good that advancements are being made to improve technology as we see it.

Your 800x480 resolution might still be 320 x 240 if companies never took the initiative to improve it (Kudos to htc and sony for this HTC Hd and sony x1 were the start of the higher resolution screens on mobiles).

While i agree its bottlenecking graphical improvements and again i agree the vita does have better 3d modelling, a resolution upgrade is just as important to improve gaming and the likes.

I'm going to have to agree with Mac on this one, colour accuracy is rather important. It will most likely be the only thing keeping me from rushing to replace my Elite Kuro with a newer OLED display. OLED tech still needs to fix the colour saturation and accuracy of the primary/secondary colours. Once that is done we'll have a new king.

I'm going to have to agree with Mac on this one, colour accuracy is rather important. It will most likely be the only thing keeping me from rushing to replace my Elite Kuro with a newer OLED display. OLED tech still needs to fix the colour saturation and accuracy of the primary/secondary colours. Once that is done we'll have a new king.

NVIDIATI

There is a world of difference between the contrast of the kuro and ipad 3.

And talking about color accuracy the ipad is incapable of showing black color. A movie isnt going to look "lifelike" due to that mediocre contrast.

My computer monitor can match the ipad 3 display in everything except pixel density. The mobile world got a display close to professional colors for the first time and everyone goes boom OMG, there is nothing overly significant about it. I would trade my monitors colors for higher contrast anyday if I could.