How do high-density displays affect photo viewing and editing?
Asked 8/26/2012
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With laptops, tablets, and phones increasingly using high-density “retina”-style screens, what practical impact does this have on photography? Does it change image editing, viewing sharpness, or the resolution photographers need to capture and deliver, especially compared with prints and camera LCDs?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
14y ago
2 Answers
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There won't be an impact to photography itself. The display medium is changing and that means that better details in displayed images but prints require more resolution still.
This is not as new as you think. Over 10 years ago, I had a loaned IBM T220 on my desk which is a 9 megapixels display. The precision was incredible and while the list price dropped from $27,000 to $9000 USD, it got discontinued when Sony acquired the fabrication plant in 2005. I was truly impressed with the resolution and sad to see it disappear. Apple has a new multi-resolution display API which I think solves the problems of these displays very nicely, so I expect an uptake over the next years. If Microsoft goes in the same direction, things should accelerate.
Originally by user1620. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user1620
14y ago
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High-density displays mainly improve how photos are viewed and edited, not photography itself. The biggest benefit is that images look sharper and finer detail is easier to see on screen, which can make editing more comfortable and closer to the experience of looking at a quality print.
That said, display resolution still generally trails far behind both print requirements and modern camera resolutions. So higher-PPI screens do not suddenly require radically larger image files for most photography workflows. Prints still demand substantial resolution, and cameras will likely continue to outpace displays.
In practice, these screens put more emphasis on image quality and make on-screen evaluation nicer, but they do not fundamentally change exposure, composition, or capture technique. Also, resolution is only one part of display quality: screen size, viewing distance, viewing angle, texture, and especially color accuracy are often just as important for photographic work.
So the impact is mostly positive but evolutionary: better on-screen sharpness, better editing experience, and a display experience closer to print, rather than a major change to photography itself.
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