Comparison shots of iPad 2 and The New iPad

1. Art Authority App

Here's Caspar David Friedrich's Wreck in the Sea of Ice (1798) from the app Art Authority, which was just upgraded to retina resolutions. Artwork really shows off the new iPad's new retina display -- besides the better detail, color saturation appears improved.

2. The New York Times App

Looking closely at the type of a typical New York Times article in the retina-optimized app shows just how much sharper the text is. The result is text that's visibly more inviting to the naked eye.

3. Flipboard Logo

Flipboard also optimized its app for the retina display.

4. Diamond Dash App

With jewels like this in the retina-optimized version of Diamond Dash, playing for hours will be easier on the eyes.

5. Map Details

The iPad's Maps app appears completely revamped for retina, with type and details appearing sharper at all zoom levels.

6. Plane Cockpit Photo

Here's a good example of how the retina display improves photos.

7. Safari App Icon

The retina display really brings out the detail in the Safari icon. You can actually see the Great Lakes on the tiny map!

8. Non-Retina App, Google Currents

Google hasn't yet updated its Currents news reader for the retina display, but as you can see here the type still benefits greatly from the extra pixels.

iPad’s display resolution is 2,048 x 1,536.

There’s a new iPad in town, and by far the most obvious upgrade is the tablet’s screen. Apple upped the resolution to a retina display with a massive 2,048 x 1,536 pixels — more than even a top-of-the-line HDTV. But whether or not that may be overkill, how noticeable is it?

Very, it turns out. Even with the naked eye, a user can plainly see that type is sharper, photos are crisper and artwork really pops. Comparing the new iPad with a first-generation model was stark — especially so when we looked at both displays under a Loupe.

The results are beyond eye-catching. Even apps that aren’t yet optimized for retina resolutions benefit from the extra pixels. With its retina display, the new iPad quite literally makes its competitors (not to mention its predecessors) look bad.

Apple’s definitely set the bar again with the new iPad’s ultra-high-resolution screen, so the question becomes: How soon will the competition catch up? Looking back at the iPhone 4, which introduced the concept of a “retina” display, it took Android phones over a year before phones with similar pixel densities, like the LG Nitro HD, to appear.

Will the same thing happen in tablets? It could: Apple has a tendency, especially with the iPad, to gobble up supplies of key components. However, the supplier of the new retina screen, which appears to be Samsung, also competes with Apple in the tablet arena, so perhaps some retina-worthy Galaxy Tabs are in our future.

Until then, the iPad is a display specimen that has no equal — among tablets, anyway. Here we’ve gathered some of the most impressive examples that show just how much of an upgrade the retina screen is.

Let us know what you think of the iPad’s retina display in the comments.

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