One of the most interesting features of Apple’s new phone is the technology “Retina Display.” The “Retina Display” of the iPhone 4 is a screen with three times more pixels than the other models of iPhone. It has a resolution of 326 dpi.

The iPhone screen contains 20% fewer pixels than the IPAD, but on a significantly smaller screen, which makes the definition and clarity of the picture better than ever.

The name that iPhone gave its new display is linked to the high definition quality achieved: the definition of the images displayed by the device is so high that the human eye is unable to distinguish its pixels.

Steve Jobs, in the presentation of the new Apple phone, stated that the screen can only be compared to the human retina. Jobs argued further that the limit of the human retina reaches 300 pixels per inch (ppi) at a distance of 30 cm, while the Retinal Display has 326 pixels per inch.

While it is quite likely that the name given to the new technology of the iPhone 4 is no more than a marketing strategy, the competition (and even scientists) has begun to think about how much retina the Retina Display actually has.

Among the harsh criticism thrown at this new screen, we can mention those of Dr Raymond Soneira – president of DisplayMate Technologies –, who maintains that resolution differed from the human retina is 477 ppi at 30 cm distance, so you should have to hold the iPhone 4 at a distance of 50 cm to experience the true “Retinal Display.”

On the other hand, Phil Plait, a specialist who helped develop the Hubble Telescope, ensures that Soneira calculations are for  perfect vision, because a normal person can only see up to 286 ppi.

Digital Society joins criticism, ensuring that Apple exaggerated with the graphics used in the presentation and in advertisements. DS said that the screen of the iPhone 4, compared to the iPhone 3G, shows a resolution as high as 815 ppi and 489 ppi respectively.

Incredible levels of discussion…

Applications optimized for iPhone 4

The incorporation of this technology in the new iPhone 4 has a direct impact on applications that until now were available in the App Store.

The OS of the new iPhone load with high resolution, the windows and controls of the non-optimized applications automatically, without requiring any extra intervention by the user or the developer.  Despite this well-rounded solution that Apple has given, the company recommends that developers begin adapting their applications to the Retina Display -especially those applications that work primarily with images.

Which are the first applications “optimized for Retina Display” already available in the market?

· Absolute HD Wallpaper: a high-resolution image searcher.

· Pro Photo Wallpapers HD: a picture application, similar to that  above

· Visual Acuity: an original visual acuity meter by imaging tests. This application is perfect for the new technology of the iPhone 4. To learn more, please click here

· Battle Trivia and Gears are examples of games that are beginning to use the new resolution

· Facebook: the most popular social network now is compatible with the new services iOS 4, the operating system of Apple products. The additions of Russian and Korean languages, as well as higher resolution icons are some of the salient features of this new version.

If you want to know more in detail about these new applications, click here

Beyond the percentage of similarity of the “Retinal Display” and the human eye, the truth is that no one has achieved anything closer to human vision before.

Apple offers us more advanced technology; our role here is simply to enjoy it.

•