What does Retina Display really mean?

I was told that retina display on the iPhone means that the screen is so HD the the human eye can't detect pixels…

However, I just saw a commercial for the samsung galaxy note. And it said it had a higher resolution screen than the iPhone. Why does it matter if the Samsung phone has more pixels than the iPhone when you can't even SEE the pixels on the iPhone? If you can't see the pixels on the iPhone, the screen on the Samsung is going to look exactly the same as the iPhone, right? What the heck?

Retina Display is a brand name used by Apple, according to Apple, have a high enough pixel density that the human eye is unable to notice pixelation at a typical viewing distance.

samsung has more pixel per inch (ppi) . That means you can still able to read smaller text easier,

here is an example: http:

//3.bp.blogspot.com/-jNDWe3G3fQY/UpoLKJ…

Retina is a marketing term by apple. Yes, it's another name for HD display. Just like Siri is their marketing term for voice recognition program.

People are usually confused by technology and find it intimidating so they don't even want to understand it. Marketing terms and brand names like retina displays allow people to more easily understand what something is without confusing them about the tech.

As far as resolution and the ability of your eyes to resolve pixels and or image density. This is something which confuses people and sends nerds who can only focus on one aspect of an issue into rages. A dense screen like a retina display does look fantastic and your eyes really aren't going to resolve the pixels, but it doesn't have the ability to display as much detail as higher resolution screens. The retina display on the iphone's and ipod touch's are only around 727,000 pixels. That looks great, but it can't look as detailed as a 1080p screen can on a newer phone since the 1080p screen is 2 million pixels.

Screen tech is getting much more advanced. We're now starting to see displays show up that are less than ten inches in size with over 8 million pixels. You sure as heck can't resolve the pixels, but the detail is incredible and very noticeable.

Just a apple marketing term i agree samsung is better i look directly at the screen close up with one eye you can't see the pixels when I go to my mothers iphone and I can easily see the pixels (even with the iphone 5 retina display.) Not even close about 2 inches from it. So if you were to buy a phone I would buy a samsung gs4 or note 3.

Well that's just Samsung nit picking as usual. That particular ad was a bit painful to watch for me.

Anyhow, yes Retina Displays (by Apple's definition) have enough PPI to go over the 300 PPI threshold so that the human eye (retina) can't discern pixels. About 326 for the iPhone 4 on up.

Yes the Galaxy Note 3 has a higher resolution display & despite having a larger display which may lower the amount of PPI it does have more than the 5s but as you noted it doesn't matter that much since either way you aren't going to see those pixels.

Just like them touting they have cameras with higher MP, which again is true but again a mute point since the 5s takes better looking shots. More MP just means bigger pictures. What people want are better pictures.