iPad mini Gizmodo display shootout

I found it interesting that the color gamut is pretty low compared to others.
That would give proof to those who say the screen looks bad. It's not just the resolution its the color range and reflectance that are subpar. Plenty of room for improvement. I don't think they ever seriously considered doing what they did to the iPhone 5 and Touch as far as adding pixels and changing the aspect.

So overall better than the nexus 7 and worse than kindle fire hd. Seems about right.

I would never take anything Gizmodo say seriously.

macbook123 said:

http://gizmodo.com/5957775/ipad-mini-display-shoot-out-how-does-it-stack-up

I thought this paragraph was particularly interesting:

"Apple could have increased the iPad mini screen resolution in the same way as it did for the iPhone 5—simply having older Apps running letterboxed inside a higher resolution display, which would have been a great way to provide a higher pixels per inch display. iOS and newer apps would have used the full higher resolution—that didn't happen. While screen resolution gets lots of attention from both consumers and marketers—it's really only critical for providing visually sharp text—but that applies for most applications running on a tablet. As we have pointed out a number of times, the best way to increase visual text sharpness on any display is by using sub-pixel rendering, which Apple should now implement in order for the iPad mini to become competitive on visual sharpness."

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If Apple were to have run old apps letterboxed on a 1280x960 screen, the already small text and graphic elements would have been 25% smaller still. The author didn't think through that statement very thoroughly.

WLS said:

I found it interesting that the color gamut is pretty low compared to others.
That would give proof to those who say the screen looks bad. It's not just the resolution its the color range and reflectance that are subpar. Plenty of room for improvement. I don't think they ever seriously considered doing what they did to the iPhone 5 and Touch as far as adding pixels and changing the aspect.

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Yeah it's just not a very vibrant screen, but my biggest concern is definitely fuzzy text. I'll see emails with facebook notifications and the text is so tiny and fuzzy that I have to zoom in. If it had been retina the zooming in wouldn't be necessary and everything would be more crisp. I'm keeping the mini and I still love it for everything else, but the screen is not what I wanted.

I understand the lack of Retina but they should have put a premium 1024x768 screen in this device - to match the premium pricing.

Maybe other Ipad minis use different manufacturer LCDs and Displaymate got one of the weaker ones ?

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Eadfrith said:

I would never take anything Gizmodo say seriously.

Click to expand...

http://www.displaymate.com/iPad_mini_ShootOut_1.htm#Conclusion

Not gizmodo - displaymate labs.

steve dave said:

So overall better than the nexus 7 and worse than kindle fire hd. Seems about right.

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And even that assessment depends on where your priorities lie. The significantly better battery life at full brightness on the 7 compared to the Mini might be a huge deal to some; the poor color rendition of the 7 might be a deal breaker to others.

deaglecat said:

I understand the lack of Retina but they should have put a premium 1024x768 screen in this device - to match the premium pricing.

Maybe other Ipad minis use different manufacturer LCDs and Displaymate got one of the weaker ones ?

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http://www.displaymate.com/iPad_mini_ShootOut_1.htm#Conclusion

Not gizmodo - displaymate labs.

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But then apps would have to be resized. The reason they stuck with the lower resolution is to support all the iPad apps already on the store.

rockyroad55 said:

But then apps would have to be resized. The reason they stuck with the lower resolution is to support all the iPad apps already on the store.

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But I am not talking about the resolution ... just the characteristics of the panel i.e. brightness, contrast, black levels.

Any Television buff will tell you that a lower resolution Plasma display (with good characteristics) can look better than a higher resolution LCD panel.

So accepted that they didn't put a Retina or 1280 x 800 panel in the mini... but why not a better 1024x768 panel ?

deaglecat said:

But I am not talking about the resolution ... just the characteristics of the panel i.e. brightness, contrast, black levels.

Any Television buff will tell you that a lower resolution Plasma display (with good characteristics) can look better than a higher resolution LCD panel.

So accepted that they didn't put a Retina or 1280 x 800 panel in the mini... but why not a better 1024x768 panel ?

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Ohhh sorry misread

I don't need anyone's review or opinion about the Mini's display. My own eyes tell me the display is not good enough to change my mind about buying the iPad 4.

Noctilux.95 said:

I don't need anyone's review or opinion about the Mini's display. My own eyes tell me the display is not good enough to change my mind about buying the iPad 4.

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Agree completely. The mini isn't for everyone. I like it but that doesn't mean you will.

rockyroad55 said:

Agree completely. The mini isn't for everyone. I like it but that doesn't mean you will.

Click to expand...

Exactly.

macbook123 said:

... As we have pointed out a number of times, the best way to increase visual text sharpness on any display is by using sub-pixel rendering...

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This will likely never happen as sub-pixel rendering only works in one dimension.
In particular, Roman character sub-pixel rendering requires the sub-pixels to be aranged horizontally; rotating the tablet would break this.

Finally starting to see published evidence that the mini screen is antiquated.

Welp, this will only help the odds of a retina mini appearing next generation. Guess they have to sell it to all the early adopters first.

Noctilux.95 said:

I don't need anyone's review or opinion about the Mini's display. My own eyes tell me the display is not good enough to change my mind about buying the iPad 4.

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Exactly. After having used the iPad 3, there is no way to go back to a, both color rendering quality- and resolution-wise, much inferior screen.

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Deasnutz said:

Finally starting to see published evidence that the mini screen is antiquated.

Welp, this will only help the odds of a retina mini appearing next generation. Guess they have to sell it to all the early adopters first.

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Indeed. If they waited for some 2-3 months more, they surely could have added both an A6X and a true Retina screen. If not now. I bet they'll come out with a Retina Mini next Spring - after all, it seems they no longer stick with the one-year cycles any more.

Menneisyys2 said:

Indeed. If they waited for some 2-3 months more, they surely could have added both an A6X and a true Retina screen. If not now. I bet they'll come out with a Retina Mini next Spring - after all, it seems they no longer stick with the one-year cycles any more.

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Doubtful. They'd have to have something better to put in the full-sized iPad in order to maintain their pricing structure, and 2-3 months is way too short a timeframe.

It's looking fairly clear that Apple is intending on releasing iOS devices in the fall for pre-holiday sales. It's unlikely that they will make 6 month release schedules the norm.

Deasnutz said:

Finally starting to see published evidence that the mini screen is antiquated.

Welp, this will only help the odds of a retina mini appearing next generation. Guess they have to sell it to all the early adopters first.

Click to expand...

And sell them retina screens in 6-12 months.

IHS (Isuppli) reports two manufacturers of Ipad Mini panels.

http://www.isuppli.com/Display-Mate...art-from-Other-7-Inch-Tablet-Competitors.aspx

LG Display of South Korea AND
AU Optronics (AUO) of Taiwan

IFixit reckons that it is a Samsung panel. Well, one of the driver ICs photographed certainly is of Samsung manufacture.. but that does not mean that the panel itself is. Indeed the model and serial number do not look like Samsung, and the trend for Apple to use less Samsung parts.

LG make great panels.
AU Optronics.. not so much.

Are there 2 different types of panel in the ipad Mini (same as with the MBA) ? This may explain why some folk like the ipad mini display and others not ?

The leaked ipad mini panel
http://blog.etradesupply.com/ipad-m...nch-ipad-mini-lcd-screen-and-4490mah-battery/

is not the same panel as the one on ifixit... which suggests that either it was a fake or that there are multiple panel manufacturers.

Unfortunately, there is no way of telling who makes the panel without tearing the device apart... well at least none that I know of.

macbook123 said:

Apple could have increased the iPad mini screen resolution in the same way as it did for the iPhone 5—simply having older Apps running letterboxed inside a higher resolution display, which would have been a great way to provide a higher pixels per inch display.

Click to expand...

This will never happen because it will only piss developers off. Having a 6th resolution to build for is just no good at all. It creates a lot of extra work making apps that have a higher off resolution (Like the iPhone 5).

I don't want to have to build my apps so many times and put in all these little corrections because of some odd screens size. Its one of the really nice things about iOS for building apps uniform screen resolutions make things so much easier.

This screen res. stuff is so way over blown and talked about too much.

Apple insider
http://appleinsider.com/articles/12...ay-orders-for-apples-latest-products---report

LG uses straightforward IPS
AU Optronics uses "an IPS-mode LCD technology called AHVA (Advanced Hyper-Viewing Angle)"

So there are two types of "IPS" display in the Ipad Mini.

These panels will have differing characteristics.

Gizmodo... the most biased tech reporting site in the industry.

They are still mad at Apple for calling the cops on them after they knowingly bought stolen property (prototype iphone), and then for Apple pointedly not inviting them to the keynote speech for a couple years after that.

You can see it in just about every article they write.

dlewis23 said:

This will never happen because it will only piss developers off. Having a 6th resolution to build for is just no good at all. It creates a lot of extra work making apps that have a higher off resolution (Like the iPhone 5).

I don't want to have to build my apps so many times and put in all these little corrections because of some odd screens size. Its one of the really nice things about iOS for building apps uniform screen resolutions make things so much easier.

This screen res. stuff is so way over blown and talked about too much.

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i agree this is such a "less intelligent" suggestion because apple will have made iPad into a dual resolution device. I know they did it with iPhone 5 but that's the resolution they're going with in the future and they did it also because they changed aspect ratios. There's no point in doing this with the iPad unless they decide to change aspect ratios

tmarks11 said:

Gizmodo... the most biased tech reporting site in the industry.

They are still mad at Apple for calling the cops on them after they knowingly bought stolen property (prototype iphone), and then for Apple pointedly not inviting them to the keynote speech for a couple years after that.

You can see it in just about every article they write.

Click to expand...

The source is not gizmodo. They are just re-reporting the Displaymate tests here.

http://www.displaymate.com/iPad_mini_ShootOut_1.htm#Conclusion