news Microsoft was right! Surface's perceived resolution better than iPa

[FMH]

A Microsoft employee made this claim:

Microsoft science guy claims Surface RT 1366?768 display has better perceived resolution than iPad Retina display (link)

Now here's an excerpt from Wired's review:

We ran two blind tests, pitting the Surface RT

against a third-generation Retina Display iPad. Both

tablets were side by side in a room with ambient light

from large windows. We cranked the brightness all the

way up and hid the devices behind a sheet of heavy

cardboard with two holes of equal size cut into it, so

viewers could only see the screens. We then asked

members of Wired?s staff to come in and judge for

themselves, without knowing which device they were

viewing.

In our video test, running an HD version of The Avengers,

twice as many viewers preferred the Surface to the

iPad (six to three).

Wired link: http://www.wired.com/reviews/2012/10/microsoft-surface/all/

Ta-da!

[HawkMan]

You know this will do nothing to convince the apple and android fans, especially the fandroids who thinks spec are everything, but then that's what google and the OEMs thought them with poorly optimized software and hardware.

I'll hold out untill I can afford a pro anyway though, but not because of the res.

[Routerbad]

Nice. I want an RT very badly, I will probably go with the Pro because it's time (after 3 years) to replace my laptop.

[Menge]

Read carefully.

He said that when playing video people chose the Surface - meaning the perceived image quality was better.

But when looking at text they hands-down chose the iPad - meaning the Surface's resolution is worse.

What his test supports is that the Surface's screen has better color reproduction, contrast and/or viewing angles. His tests confirm that the iPad's perceived resolution is superior.

[Active.]

Might want to quote the next paragraph also?

Text was an entirely different story.

We pulled up a page from

The New York Times?

website that had multiple typefaces and an image, and allowed testers to zoom in or out and scroll the screens up and down to each person?s comfort level. It was a blowout. Every single person expressed a preference for the iPad display. In most cases, a strong one. Multiple people described it as ?no contest.?

[Lord Method Man]

Nice. I want an RT very badly, I will probably go with the Pro because it's time (after 3 years) to replace my laptop.

Yep. Getting a Pro when they come out.

[neufuse Veteran]

doesn't text come down to text rendering algorithms also? we all know ClearType is different then how Apple does smoothing on fonts... ClearType even though it does the whole subpixel thing, still can look pixelated at times

[argonite]

To be fair, the movie is a fixed resolution, so this is just testing the scaling technology of the iPad's Retina display (worse compared to having actual larger pixels).

A better test would be to show two webpages (or other things that use a lot of vector text) and see what's more readable.

[Southern Patriot]

A link to Wired's review would be nice.

[LaP]

In our video test, running an HD version of The Avengers,

twice as many viewers preferred the Surface to the

iPad (six to three).

===========

Six to three you got to be kidding me right ?

[Active.]

A link to Wired's review would be nice.

http://www.wired.com...ft-surface/all/

[FMH]

What his test supports is that the Surface's screen has better color reproduction, contrast and/or viewing angles.

I think this test proves that these are the most important things, to judge a display. As in the above mini-survey, twice as many people preferred to watch the movie on the Surface, than on iPad.

Microsoft?s applied sciences department manager does talk about it in detail at this link: http://microsoft-news.com/microsoft-science-guy-claims-surface-rt-1366768-display-has-better-perceived-resolution-than-ipad-retina-display/

[Southern Patriot]

To be fair, the movie is a fixed resolution, so this is just testing the scaling technology of the iPad's Retina display (worse compared to having actual larger pixels).

A better test would be to show two webpages (or other things that use a lot of vector text) and see what's more readable.

The did, and the iPad won hands down (as stated above). Of course, the OP neglected to mention that point.

[Boz]

Pretty much everyone hates Surface.. watch Joshua Topolsky review but most of them are reactions like his.

[FMH]

Might want to quote the next paragraph also?

Well, this is about the perceived resolution. Not interaction with display.

How does a display looks. That's what the Microsoft employee was talking about.

Edit: If the subjects weren't interacting with Safari, Surface would have possibly won that test too. Remember, this is about the viewing experience, not interaction with display.

[Active.]

Well, this is about the perceived resolution. Not interaction with display.

How does a display looks.

What the hell are you talking abut. :rolleyes:

[Southern Patriot]

I think this test proves that these are the most important things, to judge a display. As in the above mini-survey, twice as many people preferred to watch the movie on the Surface, than on iPad.

Microsoft?s applied sciences department manager does talk about it in detail at this link: http://microsoft-new...retina-display/

Way to completely ignore the rest of the points they made in the Wired article, and why did you post the other link twice, but not post the like to Wired's review at all?

Thanks to CJEric for that link though!

Well, this is about the perceived resolution. Not interaction with display.

How does a display looks. That's what the Microsoft employee was talking about.

Watching a movie has very little to do with perceived resolution as it applies to all of the other activities that most people use a tablet for (reading web pages and books). The iPad won hands down there.

[Dashel]

Several other articles have said that accuracy is better on the iPad but fonts look much better on Surface. I expected more consensus. If anything, this is the least detailed review I've seen on display comparisions.

[FMH]

Way to completely ignore the rest of the points they made in the Wired article, and why did you post the other link twice, but not post the like to Wired's review at all?

Thanks to CJEric for that link though!

Watching a movie has very little to do with perceived resolution as it applies to all of the other activities that most people use a tablet for (reading web pages and books). The iPad won hands down there.

Yes, I added the link. I forgot to add it.

And I still stand by my point. It's a difference between just viewing a device, and interacting with it.

The movies test required the subjects to just view the display, but the browser test required the subjects to zoom in/out.

My point is, had both tests been about just viewing, Surface would have won.

[Noir Angel]

You know this will do nothing to convince the apple and android fans, especially the fandroids who thinks spec are everything, but then that's what google and the OEMs thought them with poorly optimized software and hardware.

I'll hold out untill I can afford a pro anyway though, but not because of the res.

Yes, because we know that the subjective opinions of 6 people out of a billion + device buying members of the public are absolute :rolleyes:

[Active.]

Let's have a look at a few more reviews:

This isn?t to say that Surface?s display is bad, in fact I think it?s quite good and I?d argue that it was never a problem in my testing, but it?s definitely not the best on the market today.

(Anandtech)

all the technology in the world can't make up for pixels that aren't there. At the size of the Surface screen, 1366 x 768 resolution leaves much to be desired

(The Verge)

while there are certainly situations where Microsoft's screen looks better than Apple's?and these situations might even be commonplace if we were comparing laptops?as a tablet screen it would be better served with more resolution.

(Ars Technica)

zoom in on graphics in the browser on the Surface and, side by side with an iPad 3, the difference in resolution is clear. It?s the same when you?re viewing photos in the gallery app: the Surface screen just doesn?t look as good.

(Slashgear)

The screen doesn't hold up against the crispness of the iPad's retina resolution

(Gizmodo)

In a side-by-side comparison with Apple?s third-generation iPad, using the New York Times home page as a reference, both my wife and I found text on Apple?s Retina display slightly crisper and sharper. For image quality, though, the two displays were practically indistinguishable.

(Ed Bott, ZDNet)

Surface RT's 10.6-inch, 1366-by-768-pixel display doesn't match the clarity and beauty of the iPad's so-called Retina display. [...] In side-by-side comparisons, the Surface RT suffers from a tangible degree of pixel blur, whereas the iPad makes all content look like a continuous-tone photographic print. The difference in resolution is particularly noticeable in text rendering, despite Microsoft's use of ClearType [...] and optical bonding

(PCWorld)

[Astra.Xtreme]

Well at normal usage distance, the iPad will obviously be much better.

These tests involving a video don't prove anything.

[@Leo]

Let's have a look at a few more reviews:

(Anandtech)

(The Verge)

(Ars Technica)

(Slashgear)

(Gizmodo)

(Ed Bott, ZDNet)

(PCWorld)

:rofl: So bad

[Active.]

:rofl: So bad

Well, no, not bad at all. It just doesn't approach the quality of the iPad's excellent display (judging by what the reviewers have had to say about it, not by what Microsoft's PR folks want people to believe)

[theyarecomingforyou]

The resolution of the Surface RT is simply too low for a modern tablet. Microsoft can do as many comparisons as it likes but it just doesn't compare well to the competition. In terms of design it looks great but that isn't enough, especially not when performance is on the low side (according to the reviews). It will be interesting to see how the Surface Pro performs and how it is priced but given the excessive price of the RT I'm not setting my hopes high.

I'm more interested to see what OEMs do, particularly if Nokia gets involved.