It’s easy for me to tell you how surfing the Web with the Tablet S or reading a book on it from the couch was a breeze, but what I really like is the attention Sony paid to how someone might use the tablet. For example, with the tablet’s built-in IR blaster app and Sony’s well-designed remote control app, I had no trouble turning the Tablet S into a universal remote for controlling my home theater components, including multiple DVD recorders, Blu-ray players, and televisions, regardless of the manufacturer or age of each component.
The display’s resolution, 1280 by 800 pixels, is the same as that of the 10.1-inch competition. And the display benefits from Sony’s TruBlack technology, borrowed from HDTVs. The technology reduces the air gap between the LCD layer and the glass layer by filling in the space with a clear gel that reduces the light reflectivity to mitigate glare and increase sharpness and contrast. As with most any LCD tablet, the screen is still an unusable mirror in bright light and direct sunlight. In ambient light, however, the display looks better than most, judging from my casual use testing.My test images looked impressive on my unit, exhibiting fine detail and generally good color handling, though the Tablet S had difficulty handling the natural colors of skin tones.