Windows 8 Tablets: Retina-Like Display Is Confirmed; What More Is In Store?

Windows 8 tablets and hybrids, which are expected to hit the market later this year, will feature the stunning Retina display just like its rival Apple's latest iPad.

While?rumors?suggest that first wave of Windows 8 tablets will arrive in October, a recent post in the Building Windows 8 blog, which provides the inside look from the Windows engineering team, reports that the latest Windows device is gearing up to steal the limelight from Apple's Retina display.

Authored by David Washington, a senior program manager on Windows User Experience team, the?post?in Microsoft's Building Windows 8 blog discussed and confirmed that the new Windows 8 tablets will come with dots-per-inch (DPI) densities of at least 135, which will be "much higher than many of us are used to." The post has also directly addressed the new?iPad's 'resolutionary' screen.

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Microsoft, however, is not the only company planning to come up with Retina display as the Korean electronics giant and LCD specialist Samsung is also heard to be working hard to launch its own Retina-like display. ?

According to Washington, Windows 8 tablets will come with various levels of pixel density. While many of the coming Windows 8 tablets will have pixel densities of "at least 135 DPI," some HD tablets can even have 190 DPI and quad-XGA tablets even 253 DPI.

Washington also mentioned that "Pixel densities can increase even more on lesser aspect ratios and smaller screens as we see in the new iPad," which we know sports Apple's legendary retina display that comes with 234 PPI on a screen with a resolution of 2048?1536.

Apple has chosen a scale factor of 200 percent for its new iPad display and even though the new iPad's screen size is exactly same as its predecessor, "in the case of?iPad 2 compared to new iPad, the 200 percent scaling factor means that what you see on 1,024 x 768 is exactly what you see on the new resolution, only sharper because more pixels are used," he explains.

Windows 8 will implement proper scaling "automatically," reports Washington. The interface with three scale percentages: 100-percent when no scaling is applied; 140-percent for HD tablets; and 180-percent for quad-XGA tablets, will look sharp on any resolution irrespective of the PPI. He also notes that in case of Windows 8, with multiple OEMs building PCs and tablets with many different screen sizes, Metro-style app developers will need to "make sure images look great on each of the scale percentages."

While writing about the minimum screen resolution, Washington mentions that Redmond-based company has chosen 1,024 x 768 as the minimum and that would be enough to support the rich Metro style apps, he informs.

Apart from this Retina-like display, check out below the other features expected in the latest Windows 8 tablets:

ARM-Based Windows 8 Tablets With Nvidia's Tegra 3 Chip -?Microsoft this time alongside with Windows 8 for x86 PCs, will make an ARM-compatible version of Windows tablets. However, PCMag reported earlier that there could be fewer than five ARM-based devices will be launched, of them only three would be one-panel touch tablets.

The new ARM-based tablets will have Nvidia's Tegra 3 chip as Aidan Marcuss, head of the oddly-named business planning department at Microsoft announced that "Microsoft is excited to partner with Nvidia to bring developers leading edge Windows on ARM test PCs to support the creation of compelling Metro style app and device experiences for Windows 8."

New Metro Interface -?"Fast, fluid and dynamic, the experience has been transformed while keeping the power, flexibility and connectivity of Windows intact." Yes! That's how it would be with the new Metro interface on Windows 8 device, says Microsoft's head of Windows Experience Julie Larson-Green.

Thin and Light -?According to a?Techradar?report, the Windows 8 tablets will be thin and light. While Dell has already made some unusually shaped tablets, Samsung tablet is "similar in size and shape to the Apple iPad, although it is not as thin. [I]t also includes a unique and slick keyboard that slides out from below for easy typing."

The report also suggests that the Windows 8 tablet prices should be similar to the Android devices and the Microsoft devices will compete against iPads, Android tablets and Chrome OS netbooks.

With Retina display and other noteworthy features on the 10.1" displays, the tablet lovers can expect a tough battle between the Windows 8 tablets and the new and improved?iPad. ?

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Source: http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/318464/20120323/windows-8-tablets-ipad-3-retina-display.htm

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