iPhone 4 and iPhone 3G screens go head-to-head under the microscope
By Donald Melanson 
posted June 23rd 2010 11:32PM
posted June 23rd 2010 11:32PM
We got up pretty close to the iPhone 4's retina display in our review, but we can't say we got quite as close as PhD candidates Ryan White and Bryan Gauntt of Penn State University, who have kindly provided us with some images of the screen under a microscope (along with an iPhone 3G for comparison). According to their measurements, the iPhone 3G's pixels measure 13 x 40 microns, while the iPhone 4's measure 6.5 x 20 microns, which adds up to exactly four times as many pixels. As impressive as sounds that sounds, however, it's the pictures that really tell the story -- hit up the gallery below to check them out.
Meh, my iPad must be ultra awful then.
@HotDog
What are those PhD candidates doing wasting time counting pixels?
@HotDog
:o
@HotDog
Apple was right when they said the screens pixels were 4 times as small...
Lol
@HotDog We already new this, more of the same, trying to compensate for the bad news.
@HotDog So it's like 4 times more yellow pixel than there would be on the 3G ? xD
@who said what
article is inaccurate, he was actually measuring subpixels
@HotDog http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncjcbyAoYkg
Some kid already broke it though
@GriffinS
I love the part when the kid thinks the iPhone back is ceramic haha.
@GriffinS
I love the part where you refer to yourself in third person. Also, when you spam this beautiful blog with your stupidity.
@who said what sheeps just wont cut it anymore. sobs.
@ryan420 Exactly, look at his profile, created today and posts only about this same video...
@who said what
Hey don't knock research! It will be important info, lets say 50yrs and 20mil in grants from now.
What a waste of time: Basically retina now makes my crappy lolcat photos look even more crappy, which is what I use my phone for, taking lolcat pictures.
@who said what; isn't that obvious? I mean 4 times the number of total pixels in the same screen size can mean only one thing right ? : That s pixel is 4 times smaller on the iPhone 4. Do they really need a microscope to prove that? Or am I missing something?
@NextGen
Why are they comparing the 3G instead of the 3GS? That's like comparing Windows 98 to Windows 7. Thumbs down on the comparison.
@HotDog Never has there ever been such in depth analysis of a screen with more pixels than its predecessors.
Googling (1/326) inches in microns gives me:
(1/326) inches = 77.9141104 microns
What's the deal?
@benthe1
3G and 3GS have the same screen.
@HotDog
Why to make comparisons with shitty screens like 3GS. No surprise it wins. In fact, every new phone would win.
Also, what information have we learned?
Apple said it has 4x the number of pixels so now they scanned it and found that it has 4x times the number of pixels.
What I'm dying to find out is if the colors they come in genuinely are black and white. When I hold my 3G iPhone in the sun, the front is black and the back is blue. Come on PhD people, let's see you wasting more time.
i think showing the yellow pixels would be more informative
@Psyclotr0n Sorry, you would not be able to see it on your old three color display. Oh My!
Hawt
This is really cool
Might be a really good screen, however all of these reports about "yellow spots" worry me way more than the number of pixels displayed.
Would rather have a less precise screen than a faulty one...
If you look at the majority of those who actually have the issue, you can barely notice it.
This should be fixed within the next shipment, so those who haven't pre ordered should be fine.
@uckApple Barely noticing it doesn't make it go away and doesn't mean it won't get worse.
just feeling like, pre-ordering phones these days might not be the best choice (Iphone yellow pixels, EVO glass separation etc..)
Seems better to wait and see if these are real issues or just problems with a few phones.
@uckApple "Those who haven't preordered it"
That still means 600,000 defective iPhone 4's
@jayjaync
Both of my preorders came with perfect screens. Typing with my gorgeous iPhone right now!
@Christopher02 Well, this is one of the reasons several of us are waiting instead of getting the device on launch date, getting it later ensures you that the inital quirks in some cases will be fixed :D
At least now I know what my life would be like if I strapped an iPod to my eye. Conclusion: Not that fun.
@naterecording Fun begins when you start to walk.
>8 hours :D
@Darma
@Darma Wish i was in line.. Holding out for the white one!
OH PRETTY!
iPhone 4 FTW...about to head out and get in line at my nearest Apple Store.
Good luck to the rest of you!
@BrookLynnsFinest Yeayyyhh
When is someone going to compare the iPhone 4 to any of the numerous displays that have a 480x800 resolution?
@muyoso
Why? To shame them? That's not polite really, why can't you just be proud of your device and how you use it. ; p
if only we could hold the phone in our hands and make a call with it, now that would be something!
@hell hound
so the 3GS can't even make calls with 5 bars?
meh, right now it's only Mossberg saying "but, but but, it still calls ok with one bar!!11!1!". we shall see, we shall see. i, for one, will be delaying purchasing this device until the dust settles.
@hell hound Even if it's not dropping calls the surfing the internet has been reported slow as molasses when you are, unintentionally, grounding your antenna.
@Psyclotr0n my 3GS works just fine.....guess what i am not in america and don't use AT&T Seriously why are you android fanboi's always trolling apple news blogs? is it because your are jealous....that your crappy android market doesn't offer any quality apps or games??? Most of the seroius developers develop for itunes app store ignoring your crapdroid app store??
@hell hound
On iPhone blogs? Has Engadget finally made it official?
@hell hound
lol, settle down kid. i'm no fanboy of anything, but you just keep foaming at the mouth.
@hell hound
"hell hound Posted Jun 23rd 2010 11:52PM
Have they removed all the crap running in the background so that it eats less battery this time ??"
http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/23/nexus-one-getting-android-2-2-frf83-update-over-the-air/
What were you doing trolling a topic about Android? Jealous about out newest OS update?
@Psyclotr0n
It's weird that no one bothers to read what Walt Mossberg writes in the paragraph after that. This:
"However, on at least six occasions during my tests, the new iPhone was either reporting “no service” or searching for a network while the old one, held in my other hand, was showing at least a couple of bars. Neither Apple nor AT&T could explain this."
@DeuX I'm glad someone said it, but you beat me to it :(
@MrFluffyThing For the look of it, i guess you'll have more opportunities ;D
@hell hound yeah, android users are really jealous on those developers that write far-sound apps.