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iPad I believe the iPad 4 has a serious display flaw.
- Thread starter WilliamG
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Okay, I've tested this on both the 3 & 4 and I can cause it to happen on the 4. I find that 15 seconds in works well (shot of Batman on the bike) and you can see the change in black levels between having the scrubber on screen and not.
Likewise I can see the lack of contrast or blown whatever for a few seconds before it reverts to normal on the icons or when you switch to another app (like Mail). It may be that Apple has done some tweaking to try and enhance watching videos on the iPad 4.
Another time to see the black shift is during boot up. Screen starts bright, then it tones down quickly to a deeper black. I noticed that on the first boot but didn't pay much heed.
Likewise I can see the lack of contrast or blown whatever for a few seconds before it reverts to normal on the icons or when you switch to another app (like Mail). It may be that Apple has done some tweaking to try and enhance watching videos on the iPad 4.
Another time to see the black shift is during boot up. Screen starts bright, then it tones down quickly to a deeper black. I noticed that on the first boot but didn't pay much heed.
I will say that I never noticed it on my iPad 3 so I cannot comment from an iPad perspective. However, I do believe the cause of this flickering and contrast loss is simply a feature built into modern GPU/software.
Another device that I own (Nexus 7) is based on the Tegra 3 chips and they all have a feature called "Prism" that basically dynamically adjusts the LED lights as well as the contrast as a way to save power while watching videos. After watching videos for awhile and returning to the home screens, users have reported more washed out home screens because this Prism feature had an issue with disabling itself.
There is even an app to address this issue for Tegra based Android devices.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.widgets.big.tegra.prism.toggle&hl=en
My guess is that Apple probably implemented a similar feature into the newer iPads in order to help extend battery life. On the Android devices, this feature could be disabled via script/software with root access, but I would not have a clue as to how Apple would allow users to disable this.
Another device that I own (Nexus 7) is based on the Tegra 3 chips and they all have a feature called "Prism" that basically dynamically adjusts the LED lights as well as the contrast as a way to save power while watching videos. After watching videos for awhile and returning to the home screens, users have reported more washed out home screens because this Prism feature had an issue with disabling itself.
There is even an app to address this issue for Tegra based Android devices.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.widgets.big.tegra.prism.toggle&hl=en
My guess is that Apple probably implemented a similar feature into the newer iPads in order to help extend battery life. On the Android devices, this feature could be disabled via script/software with root access, but I would not have a clue as to how Apple would allow users to disable this.
I'm not saying it wasn't intended, but it was a serious, serious mistake. For those saying it's crying over nothing, get into bed tonight and watch any TV show or movie on your iPad with an extended dark scene. Watching that backlight/contrast pump up and down is distracting in the extreme. It's not happening once every half hour, it happens once every 5-10 seconds. That, to me, is not acceptable.
In addition, I don't think this is supposed to happen at all. Usually with backlight adjustment/floating blacks, the blacks adjust according to the scene. It's usually pretty gradual so as not to disturb the viewer. What's happening with the iPad 4, however, is an extreme increase in contrast which lasts a few seconds, and then image gradually "washes out" before bouncing back to that high-contrast mode. I've seen a lot of LED TVs and tablets in my time, am familiar with adjustable backlights and contrast etc, and I've never seen any of these devices do what the iPad 4 is doing.
In addition, I don't think this is supposed to happen at all. Usually with backlight adjustment/floating blacks, the blacks adjust according to the scene. It's usually pretty gradual so as not to disturb the viewer. What's happening with the iPad 4, however, is an extreme increase in contrast which lasts a few seconds, and then image gradually "washes out" before bouncing back to that high-contrast mode. I've seen a lot of LED TVs and tablets in my time, am familiar with adjustable backlights and contrast etc, and I've never seen any of these devices do what the iPad 4 is doing.
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nothing on my ipad 4, kept it paused at that exact spot for over a minute. no change, perfect picture.
warmer/pinker than my ipad 3, but still perfect picture. And you really only notice the warmer color on bright screens. like reading ebooks with the white backgrounds and just black letters.
warmer/pinker than my ipad 3, but still perfect picture. And you really only notice the warmer color on bright screens. like reading ebooks with the white backgrounds and just black letters.
I returned my third and final (from a different Apple store than the original purchase) yesterday afternoon. Apple should be in touch with me pretty soon, so I will update then.
Thanks for all the info. I have an LTE version on order, good to know all major and minor stuff with it..
Are the icons weird even if you use the homebutton to exit the vid?
Yes.
Please don't get hung up over the icon issue. That's not even remotely a problem. It's video-watching that's the far more serious concern.
Can easily replicate this on my iPad 4.
It's obviously some form of dynamic backlight plus dynamic contrast. In dark scenes the software lowers the backlight brightness to give deeper blacks and pushes contrast to maintain detail in low-contrast areas.
Everyone should be able to reproduce this behavior, the videos scene you're using needs to be dark enough. It's easy to see when cycling the on-screen display on and off, giving a few seconds to adjust each time.
Neat feature in general, but clearly not perfect. Pretty much the same as most micro dimming or dynamic contrast features on TVs. Some people like it, some people don't, some don't even notice it.
What concerns me much more is the overall uniformity of the iPad retina display. I've had three iPad 3 and two iPad 4 in my hands over the last few days due to exchanges and all of them had bad screen uniformity (uneven tint on white screen and light colors, most of them had an red/pink to green gradient tint, bottom to top). I'm not too positive that there are screens out there without this problem. On some its more pronounced, on some less. All of the iPads on display in the store had this to some extent. It's less noticeable on blue tinted screens and easier to see on the warmer ones.
It's obviously some form of dynamic backlight plus dynamic contrast. In dark scenes the software lowers the backlight brightness to give deeper blacks and pushes contrast to maintain detail in low-contrast areas.
Everyone should be able to reproduce this behavior, the videos scene you're using needs to be dark enough. It's easy to see when cycling the on-screen display on and off, giving a few seconds to adjust each time.
Neat feature in general, but clearly not perfect. Pretty much the same as most micro dimming or dynamic contrast features on TVs. Some people like it, some people don't, some don't even notice it.
What concerns me much more is the overall uniformity of the iPad retina display. I've had three iPad 3 and two iPad 4 in my hands over the last few days due to exchanges and all of them had bad screen uniformity (uneven tint on white screen and light colors, most of them had an red/pink to green gradient tint, bottom to top). I'm not too positive that there are screens out there without this problem. On some its more pronounced, on some less. All of the iPads on display in the store had this to some extent. It's less noticeable on blue tinted screens and easier to see on the warmer ones.
I have this issue with my iPad 4th gen too. During any dark scenes its really annoying. Some sort of dynamic backlight as the above poster said. I wish I could just turn this "feature" off just like I do on my TV.
Color uniformity is a different issue, of course. I will say that of the 3 iPads I purchased, only one of them had a uniform display, and it was VERY uniform. The other two had gradients of pink -> yellow. Very unfortunate. None of them exhibited the light bleed issues of iPad 3.
Ive been watching Netflix and HBOGO every nite since getting the new ipad with the lights off and no issue with the backlight. Sound like yours is defect. Time to do an exchange on yours.
Not a defect. Definitely not. You're either not seeing it or its restricted to certain apps/services only. It's not happening in AVPlayer HD for me, I believe.
I can replicate the colour wash out with the stock video app. I cannot replicate it with the Netflix app.
I suppose there is a good chance this may only occur with the native video app and videos viewed in safari or other Apple apps.
Correct me if I am wrong but doesn't apps like Netflix use it's own video decoding software therefore it may not activate whatever is controlling the dimming of the backlight.
Interestingly, I tried AV Player HD yesterday as I was on the way to the Apple Store, and I don't recall the issue showing up there (I was rushed, though), whereas in Plex, Air Video and Safari the problem definitely exists.
Hm...
I just compared my 3 and 4 and I see that the 4 definitely has a inferior display. Viewing angles are definitely much worse than the Samsung panels used in the 3s.
I was watching a different trailer on the iTunes movie trailer app and had forgotten all about this thread but when I went back to the home screen I noticed the icons were all washed out...I'm sure it is a software brightness adjustment for video..probably will be fixed in an Update.
I was watching a different trailer on the iTunes movie trailer app and had forgotten all about this thread but when I went back to the home screen I noticed the icons were all washed out...I'm sure it is a software brightness adjustment for video..probably will be fixed in an Update.
Sorry, but not helpful. I'm about to post a video showing you the issue in more detail.
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This should put the issue to rest. I just went to Best Buy and bought ANOTHER iPad 4. And guess what? It has the exact same issue.
Here is an EXPOSURE-LOCKED video from my iPhone 5 showing the contrast/backlight pumping. This happens ALL the time when watching a video with dark scenes.
And here's the byproduct of closing a video when the screen is black. Again the exposure is LOCKED. You can see how the contrast is all blown out until it calms back down. This below video is NOT a major complaint, but is happening due to the issue above.
Just watched both videos and the problem in the first video I cannot replicate on my iPad.
I guess Apple may amend this in the future but until then I guess the only real solution, if you have the above issue, is to use a 3rd party app for video playback.
I guess Apple may amend this in the future but until then I guess the only real solution, if you have the above issue, is to use a 3rd party app for video playback.