Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
'Retina Display' SFnally Perfect (Almost)
Apple's new retina display is certainly the highest resolution cell phone display evar. But is it really so perfect that the human retina is unable to distinguish pixels - that is, is it as good as reality?
Keep in mind that many science fiction writers need this level of display in order to present what are now called 'virtual realities' that are indistinguishable from the real world. Ray Bradbury's Veldt from The Illustrated Man and the Saga adventures from Arthur C. Clarke's 1956 novel The City and the Stars and the Star Trek: TNG holodeck require a display that is as good as reality.
Here's how Apple sets forth their argument:
By developing pixels a mere 78 micrometers wide, Apple engineers were able to pack four times the number of pixels into the same 3.5-inch (diagonal) screen found on earlier iPhone models. The resulting pixel density of iPhone 4 — 326 pixels per inch — makes text and graphics look smooth and continuous at any size.
Here's what the docs at MedGadget have to say:
1) Assuming 20/20 vision with bright lights and adequate contrast, the fovea has the ability to differentiate points around 1 arc-minute apart.
2) Assuming the user holds the phone at 1 foot (0.305 m) from their eyes, 1 arc-minute corresponds to 89 micrometers.
3) Apple's claim of 78 micrometers is smaller than 89 micrometers, however 2 points are needed to differentiate, so that is 78 x 2 = 156 micrometers, which is not.
Also, depending on the literature, there are claims the fovea can determine points 0.5 arc-minute apart, which is 44 micrometers. Regardless, it is close, and the user is unlikely to always be in perfect light or always using foveal vision and resolution drops off pretty dramatically a very short distance along the retina from the fovea.
From Apple, MedGadget and take a look at this very cool page on visual acuity.
... the Retina display’s pixel density is so high, your eye is unable to distinguish individual pixels.
The maximum spatial resolution (ability to differentiate two points) of the human eye occurs at the center of the visual field, corresponding to the fovea of the retina. At the fovea, the cone cells (there are no rods in the fovea) are jammed up close together at the highest density of the retina. Knowing this we can calculate the smallest pixels the fovea should be able to differentiate, but it takes a couple assumptions that we will lay out. The reader is encouraged to re-calculate the following based on their affinity for Apple.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 6/9/2010)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Display ")
Transparent MicroLED Screen From Samsung
Has Samsung nailed the Look of Things To Come?
Augmented Reality Book Covers Reveal The Inner Book
'The E-paper holograms leaped from lurid covers...' - Greg Bear, 2003.
TCL CSOT 17-Inch Printed OLED Scrolling Display
'..a wide sheet of clear material suddenly flared with light and swirling colour.' - EC Tubb, 1958.
Looking Glass Display Good Enough For Science Fiction, Fantasy
'The figure seemed to be swimming toward the surface.' - Roger Zelazny, 1981.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Brin's 1990 Novel Earth Still Full Of Predictions
'... making the point that their likenesses, every move they made, were being transmitted.'
'Whisper Mode' ala Blue Thunder Researched At Bristol
'Forest Lawn.'
Gaia - Why Stop With Just The Earth?
'But the stars are only atoms in larger space, and in that larger space the star-atoms could combine to form living matter, thinking matter, couldn't they?'
Microsoft VASA-1 Creates Personal Video From A Photo
'...to build up a video picture would require, say, ten million decisions every second. Mike, you're so fast I can't even think about it. But you aren't that fast.'
Splendid View Of Eclipse From Orbit Visualized And Repurposed By Arthur C. Clarke
'The area affected was five hundred kilometres across, and perfectly circular.'
Bespoke Environment Music From AIs
'Call 'em Winter Mute," said the other, making it two words.'
Goldene - A Two-Dimensional Sheet Of Gold One Atom Thick
'Hasan always pitched a Gauzy - a one-molecule-layer tent, opaque, feather-light, and very tough.'
SpaceX Wants A Moonbase Alpha
'And he had been sent with troops, supplies and bombs to command Russia's most trusted post, the Moonbase.'
Vast Apartment Living Will Get Even More Vast
'What is your population', I asked. 'About eighty millions.'
NASA Wants Self-Driving Or Remote-Controlled Vehicles For Lunar Astronauts
'THE autobus turned silently down the wide street of Hydropole. Robot-guided, insulated from noise and cold...'
Elon Musk Says Robotaxis Will Be Ready This August, 2024
'The car had no steering wheel, and no one drove!'
Moonwalkers AI-Controlled Electric Shoes
Now that's power walking that Hugo Gernsback would have approved.
Steve Jobs: 'Capture The Next Aristotle - With AI'
'It was disturbing to think of the Flatline as a construct...'
No Tips! Robotic Food Delivery In Phoenix
'...he rewired the delivery robot so that it would serve him midnight snacks.'
Electric Catamaran 'Explorer Eco 40m' Has 'Solar Skin'
'On went the electric-yacht faster and still faster.'
Orbital Mechanics, The Liftoff, The Turnover, The Retrograde Burn
'...the huge vessel had spun, with a sickening lurch, through a complete half-circle, the instant the power was reversed.'
