Retina Display: What Does It Mean?

You’ve no doubt heard the term “retina display” but do you really understand what that means and why it’s desirable?

Retina is an Apple trademark and used for displays on the iPhone and iPad. Apple uses it to convey to consumers that anything that’s not Retina isn’t good enough.

Whitson Gordon explored this for Lifehacker. Retina is really a term that just sounds better than saying your display is good enough.

When Apple tells you your display is Retina, they’re telling you that the resolution is high enough for your screen size that you won’t be able to see individual pixels. The pixel density, or PPI, which stands for pixels per inch, doesn’t need to be as high on a small iPhone screen as it would be for an iPad or television. So, all Retina displays are not created equal.

When you’re buying an Apple device that has Retina display, however, you can be sure that you’re getting the best display needed for that device. Anything higher would be hardly noticeable and be a drain on performance.

Regardless of whether you have an Apple device or not, you can test your display to find out if it’s up to the Retina, or good enough not to see pixels, standard. Use this handy calculator to find out what the PPI is and measure it against the size of your device.

If you encounter problems with your display or any other aspect of your smartphone, tablet, mp3 player or computer, contact Geek Rescue at 918-369-4335. If it boots up or turns on, we’ve got you covered.