Lukas Mathis grabbed his USB microscope to check out the details of his new iPad compared to the older iPad 2. A good idea since the new iPad’s main boast is a better screen.

From his images you can see that the new iPad has noticeably smaller pixels but it also shows that Apple’s marketing is somewhat exaggerating how tightly those pixels are packed together.

Sadly the improved resolution does mean some increase in the size of iPad apps, which need larger, high-quality images to make use of the better screen. Since iPad apps are ‘universal’ everyone will get the larger apps even though they don’t all need it.

Ebooks

Anyone who has tried a Kindle (or similar) device knows how clear and sharp the screen is for reading. Check out the side-by-side images at Geek.com.

The clear, non-grid, background is obvious as well as the much finer granularity of the ‘e-ink’ screen.