Nook’s Specs Are Exaggerated, Again
Well, guess what? Barnes & Noble is at it again.
The new Nook Tablet’s tag line is, “The best in HD entertainment.” On the Nook Web site, the very first bullet point is, “HD movies and TV shows.”
Then, on the “Learn More” page, there are nine more references to the Nook Tablet’s ability to play high-definition video. “HD videos stream smoothly.” “Enjoy HD Video.” “The best in HD entertainment.” “Netflix and Hulu Plus pre-loaded to instantly watch HD movies.” “Streaming HD videos and more.” “Supports HD content up to 1080p.” And so on.
Hmm. Well, I don’t know about you. But if I read all of this, I might come away with the impression that the Nook Tablet can show high-definition video!
Well, guess what? It can’t.
Its screen resolution is 1024 by 600 pixels. That’s not even close to high definition.
The lowest-quality format for HD video is known as 720p. That means that its picture is composed of 1,280 by 720 rows and lines of pixels (tiny dots). The Nook Tablet simply doesn’t have enough pixels to show that. It doesn’t have enough dots in either direction. It shows you, at best, about two-thirds of 720p resolution.
The other HD standard is called 1080p, which requires 1,920 by 1,080. Barnes & Noble expressly says, “Supports HD content up to 1080p.” But that’s patently false. The Color Tablet can show only 30 percent of that resolution!
Pretty disingenuous marketing from Barnes and Noble. As David himself says in the last line of the article,
Look, Barnes. Listen, Noble. These spec lies only make you look shifty and insecure. You don’t have to skulk around like some kind of after-curfew teenager, coming up with far-fetched excuses to tell your parents.
You have a perfectly good product. You don’t have to stretch the truth to sell it.
Stand tall. Be proud of what you’ve actually achieved, and quit trying to take credit for things you haven’t.