Microsoft says Surface screen outperforms iPad Retina display
Even though Microsoft's new Surface has a lower resolution screen than the Retina display on the new iPad, one Microsoft engineer has argued that the Surface offers superior picture quality because of "ClearType" display technology.
Steve Bathiche said Microsoft's ClearType maximizes the "perceived resolution" of the 1,366-by-768-pixel display found on the new Surface. His comments came in a question-and-answer session conducted on the website Reddit this week, highlighted on Wednesday by CNet.
"The amount of light in a room and the reflections of the screen have a huge effect on the contrast of the display," Bathiche said. "In fact, a small amount of reflection can greatly reduce contrast and thus the perceived resolution of the display.
"With ClearType Display technology, we took a 3 pronged approach to maximize that perceived resolution and optimize for battery life, weight, and thickness."
The Microsoft engineer then explained that the Surface display reflects between 5.5 percent and 6.2 percent of light, while the new iPad reflects a larger amount of light ? 9.9 percent.
"Doing a side by side with the new iPad in a consistently lit room, we have had many people see more detail on Surface RT than on the Ipad (sic) with more resolution," he wrote.
But author Lance Whitney also noted that Bathiche seemed to "struggle" for an answer when one Reddit user asked why Microsoft decided to offer a higher resolution display with the forthcoming Intel-based Windows Pro Surface. Bathiche said the extra screen real estate with the Surface Pro might aid in office presentations.
Since it was released in March, the Retina display on the new iPad has been touted as a major improvement from its predecessor and one of the highest quality screens available on a mobile device. The 2,048-by-1,536-pixel screen packs 3.1 million pixels into a 9.7-inch space.
In addition to offering an increased resolution, display expert Raymond Soneira with DisplayMate said the iPad Retina display offers state-of-the-art sharpness and color saturation. He declared in March that the third-generation iPad has the "best display ever on a mobile device."
Steve Bathiche said Microsoft's ClearType maximizes the "perceived resolution" of the 1,366-by-768-pixel display found on the new Surface. His comments came in a question-and-answer session conducted on the website Reddit this week, highlighted on Wednesday by CNet.
"The amount of light in a room and the reflections of the screen have a huge effect on the contrast of the display," Bathiche said. "In fact, a small amount of reflection can greatly reduce contrast and thus the perceived resolution of the display.
"With ClearType Display technology, we took a 3 pronged approach to maximize that perceived resolution and optimize for battery life, weight, and thickness."
The Microsoft engineer then explained that the Surface display reflects between 5.5 percent and 6.2 percent of light, while the new iPad reflects a larger amount of light ? 9.9 percent.
"Doing a side by side with the new iPad in a consistently lit room, we have had many people see more detail on Surface RT than on the Ipad (sic) with more resolution," he wrote.
But author Lance Whitney also noted that Bathiche seemed to "struggle" for an answer when one Reddit user asked why Microsoft decided to offer a higher resolution display with the forthcoming Intel-based Windows Pro Surface. Bathiche said the extra screen real estate with the Surface Pro might aid in office presentations.
Since it was released in March, the Retina display on the new iPad has been touted as a major improvement from its predecessor and one of the highest quality screens available on a mobile device. The 2,048-by-1,536-pixel screen packs 3.1 million pixels into a 9.7-inch space.
In addition to offering an increased resolution, display expert Raymond Soneira with DisplayMate said the iPad Retina display offers state-of-the-art sharpness and color saturation. He declared in March that the third-generation iPad has the "best display ever on a mobile device."
Comments
It was confirmed that it was all BS when he was asked about the bigger resolution of the surface pro.
What he should say is that the surface's screen is not only half as good as the one of the new ipad.
Obvious microsoft trolling is obvious.
Cleartype meaning a certain boldness and shadow to the font. wow. Crazy.
I'd prefer a display that doesn't need nasty looking fonts, thank you.
And then talking about reflections? As if their display is better because of reflections?
Seriously?
The sad thing is when you have a Scarface and put it next to the iPad, the Retina Display, the MS product looks like donkey doo.
But then, MS will start extolling the virtues of donkey doo...
Someone%u2019s not getting enough oxygen.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Traisoon
Why can't they let media to hands-on the surface before start selling to public.
I'm willing to bet there are key members of the media / tech blogs that are doing hand-on testing as we speak and reviews will be out by middle of next week. I for one think the Surface looks like a very compelling device.
I'm seeing all these stories about the $499 32GB model being sold out but that's meaningless when we don't know how many MS have available for sale. It's a new product for them so they have no sales history to go off of in determining now many to have available at launch. I'll bet the people ordering this don't know that the 32GB is more like 20GB because Windows RT and Office take up ~12GB. All these stories about Surface providing twice the storage for the same price as the iPad are bunk.
What's the reflectivity of the Windows Pro Surface? I guess we'll have to wait for that.
The test conditions were typical: a sunlit room with the tablets oriented to reflect sunlight directly into the subjects' eyes.
The technology sharing agreements between Apple and Microsoft include ClearType technology, at least for traditional computers, and ClearType has no impact on rendering of images.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cpsro
What's the reflectivity of the Windows Pro Surface? I guess we'll have to wait for that.
The test conditions were typical: a sunlit room with the tablets oriented to reflect sunlight directly into the subjects' eyes.
The technology sharing agreements between Apple and Microsoft include ClearType technology, at least for traditional computers, and ClearType has no impact on rendering of images.
According to a QnA on Reddit with one of the Surface team members, it's 5.5 to 6.5%
Yeah, hopefully it won't be just for skateboard or place where I can sit on.
I must admit Microsoft's marketing of the Surface is excellent. Despite the fact that it's an over-priced PoS, you would never know it from the ads and marketing materials which actually make it look like a desirable "next-gen" kind of product. I think a lot of folks will be buying these.
Of course they will be sorely disappointed with the [B]reality[/B] of the device, but that comes [I]after[/I] the purchase.
Wow the way of anal-yst is pushing Microsoft stuff never cease to amaze me.
First of all, since when Microsoft become a typography references? The current Windows types technology is still base on Pre-OSX truetype era, still no postscript precise rendering. Beside Cleartype doesn't apply to anything else than typo.
True is, Microsoft still have a long way to go for supporting Hi-dpi screen with heterogeneous resolution UI elements, something Apple has work on many years before introducing the MacBook Retina Display.
I hope DisplayMate with to an extensive review of this device's screen like they done before with the iPad and iPhone.