Spoiler Alert: PlayBook Outshines iPad in RIM Video

Research in Motion hasn’t yet launched its new BlackBerry PlayBook tablet and won’t until 2011, but it’s already kicked off the campaign to position it against what’s likely to be its archrival: Apple’s iPad.

In a new RIM video (below), the PlayBook is pitted against the iPad in a side-by-side comparison of “Web fidelity.” And what do you know: The PlayBook comes out looking better. In the video, RIM’s 7-inch tablet pulls up complete Web pages as the iPad slogs behind. Where the PlayBook shows off rich Flash content, the iPad “actually has an error…you’ll see that it says Flash is not supported” and instead delivers a “rather mundane, boring-looking HTML site.” In the Acid 3 test of compatibility with Web standards, the iPad does get an A, but the PlayBook gets an A+ with “pixel-perfect rendering.” And where the PlayBook’s Javascript and HTML5 animations are smooth and fluid, the iPad’s look choppy.

If this is the direction RIM takes with its eventual ad campaign (and if the performance differences are borne out in real-world use), it could score some points. Enough to dent the iPad’s “magic”? Well, we’ll see.