Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2012/04/03/ipad_screen_content_resolution/
Why new iPad renders your pile of slab mags as garbage
PNGs scuppered by high-res screen
Posted in Legal, 3rd April 2012 23:15 GMT
The pixel-dense screen on the new iPad - which makes high-resolution photos of flowers pop and delight - actually renders a lot of things rather badly, specifically old copies of tablet-based magazines and other made-for-iPad content stored as PNG image files.
The latest retina display screen displays old content worse than previous fondleslab builds managed, according to reports. A post by Wired painstakingly explains why a lot of old iPad journals were stored as PNGs rather than PDFs or text.
In brief, it made page turns render quicker and, for various legal reasons, kept font foundries happy enough to license their typefaces. Unfortunately it makes the pages, and in particular the text on pages, look less than great on the new iPad. So use your second-generation iPad to read your pile of back issues.
In other fondleslab news, review clearing house Consumer Reports has changed its mind and decided that the new iPad is really great after all. Not only is it the best tablet on the market, it's "excellent", the site affirmed.
The announcement comes two weeks after the site warned that the new iPad toasted their palms and laps to a surprising degree. Heat tests revealed that it was up to 12 degrees hotter than the iPad 2, although still within consumer safety limits.
The site concluded "the new iPad can get very warm [...] but is still safe". Maybe they just grew to like the warm feeling on their thighs.
The site described the iPad screen as "a new benchmark in excellence". Presumably they weren't looking at old editions of Wired. ®