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Production of the iPad 3 Retina Display Remains a Challenge

Friday August 19, 2011 2:56 am PDT by Arnold Kim
Digitimes reports that the production of the next generation iPad's high resolution Retina Display continues to be a problem, resulting in Chimei Innolux failing certification to become an LCD supplier for Apple's next tablet.
CMI has cut into the supply chain of iPad 2, which uses IPS panels, but the new Apple tablet is more demanding in terms of resolution, the sources said. The iPad 3 will feature a 9.7-inch panel with resolution of 2,048x1,536 compared to the iPad 2's 1,024x768.
Chimei Innolux is presently believed to be a display supplier for the currently shipping iPad 2.


The iPad 3, however, is believed to carry a 2048x1536 high resolution display that is double the linear resolution of the current iPad 2 screen of 1024x768. We first wrote of the possibility earlier this year when it was discovered that a version of Apple's iBooks application for the iPad already contained the necessarily double resolution (x2) artwork. Apple similarly doubled the iPhone's resolution from 480x320 to 960x640 when they introduced the iPhone 4.

Chimei Innolux is not alone in having yield difficulties with the new display. Samsung and LG are also said to have run into challenges. A previous report even claimed that it was these poor display yields which pushed the iPad 3's launch to 2012.

As big a jump as a 9.7" Retina Display sounds like, there has already been at least one official announcement of this level of high resolution tablet display. Samsung demoed a 2560x1600 10.1" LCD back in May, though based on somewhat different technology.

The original iPad's display was said to be the most constrained part for Apple, resulting in delays in shipments. As a result, Apple is believed to have invested $3.7 billion in display manufacturers in order to lock up access to LCD production facilities. The production from the earliest of those factory investments (Toshiba) are said to ramping as early as late 2011, while Sharp's new factories were to begin producing displays in 2012. The timing could fit with the next generation iPad.
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iCole
67 months ago

The higher resolution display is a a waste. I already can't see the pixels on the existing display. It is a "Retina Display".

I would much rather see improved battery life, storage, having the iOS and MacOS and MacClassic all merge so I can run all of my software on my iPad/iPodTouch/iPhone/PowerBook/etc. That would be useful. The "Retina" display its just marketing glitz.


I suggest you buy glasses then :-) By no means is the display on the iPad of bad quality, but you can clearly see the individual pixels.
Rating: 9 Votes
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FrHa
67 months ago
I see a lot of reports saying: 'this is why Apple delayed the iPad3 until 2012.' I think they haven't delayed it whatsoever, I think their intention all along has been to release it in 2012. Especially considering how well the iPad2 is selling at the moment, and the fact the iPad2 is just opening in new countries.
Rating: 7 Votes
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TrollToddington
67 months ago
A bit in The article is wrong, the resolution of the iPad 3 won't be x2 but x4 higher than the present iPad.

We first wrote of the possibility earlier this year when it was discovered that a version of Apple's iBooks application for the iPad already contained the necessarily double resolution (x2) artwork.

Rating: 3 Votes
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Adidas Addict
67 months ago
iPad 3 is gonna be the final nail in the coffin for all the young pretenders if it rocks up with this resolution.
Rating: 3 Votes
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ludalukeerb
67 months ago

The question is, does the iPad really require 2048x1536 resolution ? That's 263 PPI. Do you really hold the iPad that close to your face that it requires such a high resolution ?

Remember, the farther away you hold a device from your eyes, the lower the PPI value can be without you being able to distinguish individual pixels.

The argument for "pixel doubling" (obviously, 4 pixels to represent 1) for developers is hog wash. Developers have been designing stuff to work on displays with no fixed resolutions for decades now. Why would it suddenly be a challenge on iOS ? Answer : it's not.


Knight you miss the point, I'm no Apple fanboy not by a long way, however, I've held off getting the iPad as I have an iPhone4 and that caters more or less to the needs I have of a mobile device, however if the next gen iPad does feature a 'Retina' display then I will definetely buy it.... whilst I agree the screen on the current iPad is good, very clear, close to the touch etc... it is hardly 'HD' @ a res of 1024x768.... yes by the definition of television standards it is higher than 480p, watching a 720p or 1080p film on the device your not watching it at the native res, and if you are you get the irritating bars, as I mention IF they upgrade the display to over 1920x1080 I will definetely get it, and I believe alot of others will as well, however if they do go to that res then almost definietely they would need the A6 chip to power the device and certainly more RAM, and at the same time increase the maximum capacity availible as even 64gb won't fit that many 720p (circa 4Gb per film) or 1080p (circa 10-12gb per film) on the device, along with space for swap files, audio, apps, mail etc...

It is certainly something I would love to see as then Air Video on an iPad streaming 720p content would be awesome! iPhone 4 screen whilst nice isn't really that impressive when streaming 720p content...
Rating: 3 Votes
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chrmjenkins
67 months ago

this is ARM CPU's were talking about. they aren't that high tech


Yes. Yes they are.
Rating: 3 Votes
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KnightWRX
67 months ago

this is ARM CPU's were talking about. they aren't that high tech


I'm pretty sure these ARM CPUs are more powerful than even the top of the line Intel beasts we were using back in 1996. ;) I'm also pretty sure "4x more powerful" is not even a stretch of the imagination. In 1996, my computer was a Pentium 100 mhz, yet it was capable of pushing out double buffered 1600x1200 for a windows desktop, all of that from my 4 MB Matrox Millennium that didn't even support hardware based texture mapping.

And we're more talking about the PowerVR GPUs vs the GPUs of 1996 here, moreso than processors. Again, I'm pretty sure 4x is not even in the equation at this point, it's much, much more than that.
Rating: 2 Votes
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KnightWRX
67 months ago

yes! it absolutely needs the higher res screens!!! if you do any art on your iPad it's a must. when you zoom to work on details the pixelation is horrible!! the only thing that will fix that is a higher res screen. same the for photos and videos when editing.


If you can't distinguish individual pixels, higher resolution is worthless.

The zooming artifacts is just the nature of zooming, it has nothing to do with the screen resolution. Your artwork is say 320x240, well, if you zoom in, it's just going to show bigger squares when it takes up 640x480 pixels on the screen, it's not going to magically be sharper and upscaled. :rolleyes:

I guess artists don't quite understand the technical difference between zooming and upscaling.
Rating: 2 Votes
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jonnysods
67 months ago
Guys - just make it happen.
Rating: 2 Votes
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AppleScruff1
67 months ago
I can just see it, the iPad 3 will launch and there will be a boatload of issues with screen quality, especially from the 3rd rate manufacturers. If Samsung and LG are having problems, I pity the rest.
Rating: 2 Votes

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