Retina display info, question about your personal usage distance

I was just doing some math for kicks to try and figure out what future retina resolutions might be for laptops of particular screen sizes. I'm operating on the idea that the term implies that you can't resolve pixels at a certain distance with 20/20 vision, where that distance is less than or equal to the expected usage distance of the display.

So the question is: does anyone regularly use their laptop closer than about 18" from their eyes?

Anyway, here's some stats I worked out about retina displays and Apple's current (and potentially future) devices:

The iPhone is a retina display at about 10.5" with 20/20 vision.
The new iPad is retina display at about 13" (20/20).
If Apple upped the resolution of the 11.6" macbook air (16:9) to 1920x1080, it would be retina at 18" distance.
The 15.4" (16:10) would be retina at 17.5" distance if it was 2560x1600.

If you designed a series of laptops from 11.x" to 17.x" such that all the laptops had the same PPI, there might be some design advantages.
A 15.9" (16:10) of the same resolution as the 15.4 (2560x1600), would have the same PPI as the 11.6" laptop. It would be retina at 18".

Here are some realistic possibilities (assuming 18" viewing distance is the magic number to hit):

11.6" 1920x1080
12.7" 2048x1280
13.9" 2240x1400
14.9" 2400x1500
15.9" 2560x1600
17.9" 2880x1800

I wouldn't mind seeing Apple's lineup converted to 12.7", 15.9" and 17.9", personally, especially if that extra space on the 15.9 and 17.9 could be pulled from the bezel rather than making larger laptops.

 

On average, I think I use my MBA about 14" from my face when it is not hooked up to my HDTV a good 6 ft away. That is mainly due to me having my MBA either right on my lap in my reclining chair or on my desk at work where I tend to sit a little back (or else I would be about 7" from my MBA's display).

I think 18" is a good estimate for general usage as everyone is a little different. If you wanted to be on the conservative side, you could use a safety factor and reduce it by a certain percentage. It is always better to over-design than under and I think the iPad 3 is a prime example (that thing feels like a solid slab of aluminum and I can't even differentiate individual pixels with it right up at my face without having to close one eye and look carefully).

It will be interesting to see what Apple and others do with Ivy Bridge as that supports a higher resolution than the current SB HD 3000. I wonder how that would tax an IGP/GPU though using those higher resolutions. Additionally, playing games probably wouldn't be all that fun since an 11" MBA likely wouldn't be able to handle titles at its native resolution.

Still, it might be time for Apple to upgrade everything to their coined "Retina Display" level. The iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad are all there. The only devices left are their iMacs, Thunderbolt display, and various Mac notebooks. Even the Apple TV received a resolution bump. It might be a while before the iMac and Thunderbolt display receive that kind of an update (especially since a large, high resolution IPS display wouldn't be cheap) but portable Macs might see it soon enough.

I think it is funny that people have become more focused on resolution though. It wasn't really too much of an issue until Apple released the iPhone 4 in 2010 with the Retina Display. Now every company out there is trying to one up each other in terms of resolution. Its even funnier that my supervisor, someone who is 40 years old with 20/20 vision (when he has his contacts in) can't really see the resolution difference between my iPad 3 and his iPad 2. He can see it in the colors but not in the actual resolution. He doesn't really care about all of this increased resolution stuff. I can't help but wonder if the general public is the same in those regards in that tech companies continue to increase the resolution of their displays with little observable benefit by the end consumer.

 

Methinks the retina display has started the new megapixel fad like cameras have been suffering from. Consumers will think more pixels = better screen, when in normal usage it will make absolutely no difference unless you've got your magnifying glass out.

 

You couldn't be more wrong in regards to the Retina Display on the iPhone and iPad. It's not just about magnifying the screen. You'd had to own something else in order to appreciate the amazing Retina Display.

 

it's really not. the megapixel rush is kind of a neverending more-is-better approach to resolution in a domain where resolution is already a non-issue. As far as display quality, resolution is indeed just one aspect of quality among many, but it is nifty that we're hitting the point where resolution won't need any more improvements. If you're looking at an image, resolution does end up being much less important than, say, contrast.