Apple announced its brand new iPad earlier this month, bringing its Retina display technology to the 9.7-inch iOS tablet. The new 2048 x 1536 panel now includes over 3.1 million pixels and a 264ppi density, resulting in a much sharper image display on screen. While eager fans await the launch of the high-res iPad on March 16th, one research company has been digging into the technology behind Apple's latest tablet to offer some thoughts on how the Cupertino-based firm has managed to create its "breakthrough display."

DisplaySearch believes that Apple is using Super High Aperture (SHA) pixel design for its new iPad. SHA, developed by Sharp and JSR, allows manufacturers to increase aperture ratio with an acrylic resin layer that planarizes the device and helps separate the pixel electrodes and signal lines. Apple explains in its new iPad video that the company wanted to avoid color distortion and fuzzy images, solving this by elevating the pixels onto a different plane that is separate from the signals themselves. The double pixel density also requires a brighter backlight and DisplaySearch says its research indicates that the latest iPad has twice as many LEDs than the iPad 2, which included 36. We will know for sure on Friday once teardown experts get a closer look, likely revealing the rest of the new iPad's innards and confirming who supplies the new display.