The HD screen on the Microsoft Surface RT should be much better than most people think. According to Anandtech (
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6377/inside-microsofts-surface-rt-tablet ):
Anandtech said:
Although Surface RT only ships with a 1366 x 768 panel, Microsoft was quick to point out that there’s more to display quality than pure resolution. Surface’s 10.6-inch panel features an optically bonded LCD and cover glass stack, similar to what we’ve seen in most modern, high-end smartphones. Optical bonding is expensive to do and not as common in large tablet panels, but Microsoft believes it can do so at reasonable yields on Surface.
The optically bonded cover glass + LCD stack reduces internal reflections, thus reducing glare and increasing light transmission. One clever trick is that Microsoft, through various coatings, index matches between the touch sensor’s ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) array and the cover glass, once again in pursuit of fewer reflections. Microsoft claims it’s also very focused on delivering a well calibrated panel with Surface, although we’ll have to wait and put those claims to the test ourselves.
So the clarity due to lack of glare and the color accuracy of the Surface RT panel should be best in class near the ~$500 price point. The Surface RT will also use ClearType technology which is supposed to help make text sharper. Also, one cannot forget that the Surface RT screen is 10.6" diagonal (which makes for significantly more viewing area than the ipad) with true 16:9 dimensions too (which is ideal for watching widescreen movies). Top that off with use of a magnesium alloy for the chassis (which is much more fade and scratch resistant compared to the aluminum alloy used on the ipad), integration of a very nice and sturdy kickstand (not included with the ipad), inclusion of MS Office Student and Home Edition with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote (not included with the ipad or with x86 Windows 8 tablets), 32GB of hard drive space (2x more than the comparably priced ipad), use of a quad-core A9-based CPU (2x more CPU cores than the ipad, running at much higher operating frequencies too), ability to multi-task by running two applications side-by-side (not available with the ipad), and availability of super thin and color coded to UI pressure sensitive touch keyboard/cover (not available with the ipad). Yes, the ipad does have a faster GPU and higher resolution screen, but most games on the ipad are rendered at 1024x768 and scaled to fit the screen. Games on the Surface RT should be rendered at the native 1366x768 resolution, and Tegra-optimized games may have additional visual effects too (such as dynamic shadows, depth of field effects, advanced bloom effects, dynamic lighting, particle effects, ragdoll physics, etc). So unless one is heavily invested in the Apple ecosystem, or truly needs to run existing x86 software, then the Surface RT is a very nice choice at the $499 price point. I believe that the majority of consumers who use computers on a casual basis are not heavily invested in any ecosystem, and do not care so much about older or existing x86 software. Since Microsoft is including MS Office Student and Home edition for free, in addition to including twice as much hard drive space as the base ipad, I don't see how Microsoft could realistically price this product any lower, especially considering that other vendors are working with Microsoft to launch new tablets based on the same Windows RT operating system.
With respect to applications, that is clearly a work in progress. Windows RT is in it's infancy, so the expectation should be significant growth over time. The full PC version of Unreal Engine 3 has already been ported to Windows RT, and Tegra 3 is able to achieve close to 40 fps in Windows RT. With Surface RT, the expectation is that NVIDIA will use Tegra 3+, which would be a higher performance and lower leakage part vs. Tegra 3.
