iPad 3’s new LED display dazzles

Prior to the launch of the new Apple iPad, which most are referring to as the iPad 3, there was lots of speculation surrounding the type of display technology which would be featured on the tablet.

The first two iPad iterations had used the same 9.7 inch LED backlit display, although by the time the iPad 2 was launched, many had hoped that Apple would increase the resolution.

Thankfully, the iPad 3 is the beneficiary of a new Retina Display, which has the same 9.7 inch diagonal screen measurement as its predecessors, but packs 3.1 million pixels into this space for a full resolution of 2048×1536.

Apple faced a number of problems during the creation of the Retina Display for the iPad 3, as were documented in pre-release speculation and rumours.

By increasing the pixel count, it is necessary to also increase the brightness of the LED backlighting, because otherwise the screen will look dimmer than the panels found on previous generations of the tablet, even if the actual clarity and detail is much higher.

By developing a new LED array it has been possible for Apple and its manufacturing partners to overcome such issues and develop an LED display which offers such a high level of definition, that the human eye cannot discern the difference between each pixel. This is where the name ‘Retina Display’ comes from and Apple already has experience of working with this type of high end screen, thanks to the iPhone 4 and 4S.

All of the extra pixels in operation require a lot more processing power from the iPad 3, which is why it is equipped with an A5X CPU that has an associated graphics chip, capable of delivering quad core performance, despite the fact that the main processor itself is still dual core.