Ipad and iMovie

[Ivan G]

Ipad 2 was released today.

Yup it's here! For all you that love to edit with iMovie, todays your lucky day!

 

[Nicole B]

Does it still offer that problem with flash or is there any workaround out there too?

 

[Andrew M.]

I am very very disappointed with iPad2 screen resolution.

Where is this 2K res rumoured?

What 1024 X 768! I rather stick to my iPhone4 with not much less, 960X640

1024x768 I have since 10 years on my military iPad and it is water proof to few feet under the water and it has also dual core 1GHz processor.
BTW It is fall proof, it is rated for drop from 6 feet on concrete.

Did I mention I got it 10 years ago.....

http://www.xploretech.com/products.html

%$#*& ....I think I will get some drink now, very disappointed:-(

 

[Stephen Gentle]

Andrew, I don't think that (after a few initial rumors) anyone thought that there would be a 2K by 1K resolution iPad... Obviously it's going to happen eventually, but there were confirmations a long time ago that it wouldn't be this revision.

According to Moore's law, a 2K by 1K screen should be as inexpensive as the original iPad's screen 18 to 24 months after the first iPad was released - since it's only been about 14 months, we probably won't see it released until about this time next year.

 

[David Rasberry]

I am very very disappointed with iPad2 screen resolution.

Where is this 2K res rumoured?

What 1024 X 768! I rather stick to my iPhone4 with not much less, 960X640

1024x768 I have since 10 years on my military iPad and it is water proof to few feet under the water and it has also dual core 1GHz processor.
BTW It is fall proof, it is rated for drop from 6 feet on concrete.

Did I mention I got it 10 years ago.....

http://www.xploretech.com/products.html

%$#*& ....I think I will get some drink now, very disappointed:-(

Yeah but I bet it didn't cost 300 bucks.:thumbup1:
We are using iPads in place of $2k wireless touch panels for AV system controls these days.

 

[Jeremy_Sawatzky]

i was really hoping for the higher rez screen. guess il wait for ipad 3

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

According to Moore's law, a 2K by 1K screen should be as inexpensive as the original iPad's screen 18 to 24 months after the first iPad was released - since it's only been about 14 months, we probably won't see it released until about this time next year.

Moore's Law does not apply here. In fact, any time anyone invokes the "Moore's Law states..." you can bet that 99.9% of the time it really does not apply. Most people don't realize it, but Moore's Law has nothing to do with the evolution of technology, let alone LCD screens. It pertains to Intel's business model and the pace at which they progress their microcircuitry products. Originally conceived for the rate increase of semi-conductive transistors in their microprocessors to leverage their R&D and manufacturing costs against maximum profit gain.

If Moore's Law was invoked to apply to screen resolutions and GPUs that can drive said resolutions, we would all be looking at sub-atomic pixels by now. I bought my first 1600x1050 LCD display with 166dpi resolution back in '99 from SGI. It cost close to $2K back then. Oh wait... we haven't really progressed very much in 12 years... Hey, Moore! Where U at???

OK, pedantic nit-picking over Moore's Law out of my system... There are two issues with iPad screen resolution and why it's holding steady right now.

First and foremost is manufacturing yield of the display panels. It took Apple and their manufacturing partners months after the iPad went into production to get their manufacture yields to acceptable levels. Never mind the development lead up times to start production. While there are no doubt higher resolution panels in development, even potentially nearing readiness for production, they still have to recover their investment into what they have now. It's easy to think that over 15 million iPads sold would do that. But I'm sure Apple didn't plan on sourcing identical panels with consistent quality from no less than seven different manufacturers, all in an effort to meet demand.

On the bright side of it all, these manufacturing lines are still pumping away and is a huge part of the reason that Apple can unload iPad2 in ample quantities, to multiple countries within the coming weeks.

The next reason is a question of processing power. I would love a 2048x1536 panel on my iPad as much as anyone. But that is 4X the number of pixels to push around. That is 4X the amount of video bandwidth. 4X the amount of memory required for the video display. 4X the amount of memory required for images used as textures within 3D games and other apps. 4X the number of pixels can lead to additional multiples beyond 4X in terms of GPU shader calcs within the OpenGL pipeline. The new GPU is several times more powerful yes. But the CPU is the same, we just now have two of them.

I'm going to look for a higher resolution screen on iPad3 next year, possibly even the year after that... Considering everything the new iPad is getting, the lack of the higher resolution screen is pretty minor. We now have dual cameras, more memory, dual-core CPU, much improved GPU, it's thinner, it's lighter, etc.. Same price.

The retina screen on the iPhone and iTouch is both a blessing and curse. It often requires additional sets of graphics to be included within an app. Different interface elements and layouts to be designed. 2D games and conventional apps benefit well from it. GPU-intensive games and apps suffer as I mention above. The current iPad and iPhone4 use the same PowerVR535SGX. This is the same GPU that is in the iPhone 3GS. It is terribly under-powered for these devices and their respective screen resolutions. People get by because developers create compromises and work-arounds that are often transparent to users -- or users just aren't aware of what they're really missing out on.

@Andrew
The Xploretech is not an apple to apples comparison... In '99 and '00, there was another company called Qubit. I built their original web site while working for a small internet start-up and they had offices next to ours. They had the first multi-touch tablet, as far as I know. It ran embedded NT, then later some Windows CE variant. They just couldn't find their niche. I think they had the right product at the wrong time. They had a pretty speedy CPU in their tablet too and a 1024x768 screen. It had terrible capabilities as far as GPUs go, even for back then, but it was on par with most small laptops with integrated graphics.

The Xploretech tablets are nothing more than a Panasonic toughbook less the keyboard and a touch-layer over the screen. If you actually think they compare in utility to an iPad in the same regards, then I don't think you have used an iPad... Different tool for different markets. And yes, I have used Xploretech tablets and for many of their applications in construction and military, the iPad is quickly replacing them... All 5+lbs of bulk of an Xploretech tablet... There are ruggedized, waterproof shells for the iPad that work very well for the situations that really need them.

 

[OJ Jackson]

Great post Jeff,,

I personally believe that, with all Apple products with the regular annual release cycle, they probably think carefully about what to include in this update, and what to save for next year. Sure they could have put dual cameras on the first iPad, but it's better for them to release that in second Gen to make it a more meaningful update.
I believe the same will be true for iPad 3. We'll see the 2K display and it will give everyone a meaningful reason to upgrade.
Do you think this is more or less plausible?

OJ

 

[Andrew M.]

There are ruggedized, waterproof shells for the iPad that work very well for the situations that really need them.

Jeff, ruggedized waterproof shell is something that I didn’t think about.

Thank you for suggestion!

Yes, I paid 6K for Explore in 2001 but I drop it so many times into the water or on the ground and bang it around on 15 foot waves on the boat and flooded it on the heavy rain that I probably would change 3 other laptops during this time.

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

I personally believe that, with all Apple products with the regular annual release cycle, they probably think carefully about what to include in this update, and what to save for next year. Sure they could have put dual cameras on the first iPad, but it's better for them to release that in second Gen to make it a more meaningful update.
I believe the same will be true for iPad 3. We'll see the 2K display and it will give everyone a meaningful reason to upgrade.
Do you think this is more or less plausible?

Entirely plausible. It's always a balance of what can be placed into a device vs. the production costs and sales recovery.

I think we'll see the 2K or higher "retina" screen in the iPad once they can produce an OLED screen of that size and density at a price point that allows the iPad to stay within its pricing window. OLED is the future for iPad, not LED-backlit LCD. OLED will be even thinner still, higher resolution, better color and viewing angles and consume less power. Not only that, but they will also need to be able to produce the required volume of them.

Also figure that we're at least one GPU iteration away from that as well because when the new screen arrives, consumers are still going to demand the same level of performance they will be getting in iPad2, even if there are 4X as many pixels being pushed around. Actually, consumers will probably demand increased performance with the new revision, even in situations where it drives 4X as many pixels. All things that must be put into consideration.

While display resolutions have hardly improved over the years. It has become more economical to produce larger screens and other improvements in the way of backlight systems and panel construction have lead to improved image quality, lower power consumption and thinner / lighter displays.