14 DAY TRIAL // Many will conclude that it takes someone with immense hate for Apple to actually notice that the company photoshopped a screen capture from Star Trek to fit more detail onto the iPad’s screen in a promotional banner used to advertise the tablet device. Nevertheless, the discoverer of this deluding act seems to be telling the truth - Apple used “doctored” images to advertise the iPad’s video capabilities.
A forum user going by the screen name of DropZ admits that, “This wouldn't be an issue if they didn't try to tell everyone that the thing is ‘magical’ or if they didn't specifically claim that it was ‘The best way to experience the web, e-mails, photos, and video. Hands down’.” The poster links to imgur.com (image sharing service) where comparisons between Apple’s iPad promo and “the real thing” reveal that Apple has, indeed, modified a screen capture from Star Trek (2009) to fit it onto the tablet’s screen. The images and associated commentaries (credited to Reddit user p3ngiwn) indicate that Apple has exaggerated about the iPad’s video playback capabilities. Have a look.
The banner on Apple's website showing the device playing a movie does seem to have been shopped to look better than it would in real life. The Mac maker is known to exaggerate about its products capabilities at times, promoting them as the best in everything they do. For the iPad to display all the details crammed by Apple in that screenshot, the device would need to reduce the size of the image, compensating for the lack of wide-screen space.
Basically, the promotional material shows a screen-grab that has been modified to fit the 4:3 aspect ratio typical to the iPad’s screen. In conclusion, “the customer will never experience the depicted experience because it is a fake,” p3ngiwn upholds.
Apple had hundreds, if not thousands of relevant images to choose from in the J.J. Abrams-directed film. Why the company decided to pick one that needed shopping remains a mystery.
Hyperbole, or downright a big fat lie? You decide.
Update: story updated to properly credit the author of the infographic hosted on imgur.com.