Are the details on a retina iPad display lost on people with poor vision?

[mikebw]

I'm talking about people who have trouble seeing small details, reading tiny print. Seems like they wouldn't be able to see the difference between an image at 132 ppi vs. 264 ppi. http://www.apple.com/ipad/compare/

The real question at hand is what iPad to get for my Mom. I was thinking the mini would be ideal because it is so light (half the weight of the iPad 2) that she could use it without straining her wrists (post-carpel tunnel syndrome). But it has 30% smaller pixels than the iPad2. Her husband (who is trying to coordinate this gift secretly) thinks the retina iPad would be the best, mostly because more is always better with him, but it makes me wonder if there would be any difference to her between the iPad 2 and the retina one. Certainly the mini would appear smaller because it really IS smaller. That would place the iPad 2 as the front runner then, IMO.

[what4]

My sense is that, even for people with poor sight, sharp images are easier to see. Sharpness seems to elicit sharper focus whenever that focus is still capable. IMHO.

[Fred_Also]

Well, I'm 70 and love my iPad 3. It seems easier to see than the iPad 1that I had. I wear pretty strong glasses. I love the retina display.

Fred

[samintx]

Well, let me put in my two cents. I have an iPad 3 had an iPad2. Can't see any diff. I have very bad eyesight. However, let me put pics on my MBP and on my Sony PC and there is night and day. I'm not sure unless you know the subject quite well or do a side by side comparison you would really know the diff.

I can't read the bugs at the bottom of the TV sitting in my chair in the living room. Reading what I'm typing right now is kinda smushy....so that is my two cents. Get her a refurb 2 or when they get refurb 3's.

If your eyes don't see clearly it doesn't make any diff how sharp the image is, your eyes don't see it. It isn't the image it is your eyes translating the image.

[Lew Zealand]

For pictures and video, the difference is minimal between Retina and non-retina, IMO. For text, the difference is big and obvious but it may not be very obvious or even detectable for someone with poor eyesight. If she has trouble reading small print, then I'd bet that the iPad Mini or even an iPad 2 would be fine.

For me the choice is different - my 71 year old Mom still has the sharpest vision in the family and I'm trying to find a way not to buy an iPad 3. At least the iPad 4 makes that decision easier: refurb iPad 3!

[NewtonMP2100]

.....what does this have to do with POVERTY.....???

[davester]

She's your mom! Buy her the best and don't look back.

[Buzz]

Sight dependent conundrum, and what's necessary to correct the sight to take advantage of device being viewed. If the old broad can't see clearly enough, comfortably enough, to take advantage of ubersmall pixels, then there's no reason to get her something that she can't see well enough to take advantage of. Sharp(er) focus strains the eyes of us old farts... gimme some +8.5 to ~+10 diopter lenses w/ proper cylindrical correction, and I could rave about the clarity of the retina display for five or ten minutes, until the eyeballs give out (OK, maybe 15-20 mins if I didn't look at anything else through the hi-power lenses).

Visual acuity starts heading for the door around age 40 for most folks, and progresses, and is also (usually) correctable, at different rates; so take her on a test run, just don't her what the test is really for. Find out if the screen makes a difference, and then get her the screen that is the best for her eyesight. I think the retina displays are a nice touch for those that can actually see the difference well enough to appreciate it, but I would never personally get a retina device solely for the retina display. I'd get a retina device based on all of its other features, except the retina display, and would recommend others that also can't see the difference well enough to appreciate it, to base their retina device purchasing decision the same way.

2¢

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[mikebw]

Thanks for the opinions. I think we will have to take her into the store and compare them. I have an iPad 2 and 3 so that would be easy enough to show her, but the mini is what I think she would like best.

[Speedy]

The three is really great. The text is so crisp and easy to read on this forum. Your mother will like the larger display on the three but if she is going to pack it in her purse, then the mini is your better choice.