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iPad mini iPad Mini w/ Retina: Display review

K

klover

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 7, 2009
799
90
I thought I would share my initial opinions about the new Retina iPad mini display. I am comparing it to the current iPad Air.

1. DPI. No obvious difference to me despite the higher dpi on the mini. Compared to Air, it looks (obviously) just as crisp and defined but since the larger variant is already of such a high resolution, I am not surprised that the difference is negligible.

2. Contrast is just as nice as Air. Deep, inky blacks and no signs of backlight bleeding.

3. Tint. There is some very minor yellow tint near bottom half of display. Otherwise, the screen is uniform - much more so than the Air.

4. Colour saturation. I had seen another user mention that his mini retina had "washed out colours" and I too see this. Without the aid of a colorimeter, I cannot speak definitively about this panel but the color gamut is definitely not improved over the previous mini (or marginally).

Compared to Air, the reds on mini are more of a dark orange. The green iMessage logo on Air has an almost neon look, on the mini it is much more muted. I'm disappointed that the color reproduction appears unchanged over the first model.

All in all, a big bump in resolution but the other panel characteristics, notably color gamut, appear largely unchanged.
 
T

thelead

macrumors 6502a
Apr 30, 2010
571
229
The color saturation issue is a big disappointment. So is the yellow tint issue.
 
iSayuSay

iSayuSay

macrumors 68040
Feb 6, 2011
3,792
906
Hmm. Interesting. So color accuracy on the Mini is still not as good as Air despite the same resolution?

I guess it's the same case with iphone 4 and iPod Touch 4th gen back then, only to a smaller degree?
 
M

mavere

macrumors member
Jun 6, 2007
82
51
I'm picking my Mini up in a couple hours. I'll likely camp out at a Starbucks to set it up, and if the color issue is true, it's getting returned immediately.
 
R

rovex

macrumors 65816
Feb 22, 2011
1,231
176
Funny, cause i had a mini 1 and compared it to an ipad 2 and 3 and found the colour gamut to be almost as good as the ipad 3.
 
Z

zbarvian

macrumors 68010
Jul 23, 2011
2,004
2
tonyy said:
There have been some reports that the Mini's colors aren't as sharp as the Air. :confused:
Click to expand...

The colors are indeed a bit more muted, but I didn't even notice until I saw someone say it on here and compared it to my iPhone 5.
 
F

FrankB1191

macrumors 6502a
Jun 14, 2013
722
1
Pennsylvania
rovex said:
Funny, cause i had a mini 1 and compared it to an ipad 2 and 3 and found the colour gamut to be almost as good as the ipad 3.
Click to expand...

I used Star Trek (2009) to compare my Mini and iPad 4 this past Spring. The colors were pretty good on the Mini, but the green grass was better on the iPad 4. The Corvette's red color was much more rich and red on the iPad 4, but I thought skin tones were better on the Mini.
 
ZBoater

ZBoater

macrumors G3
Jul 2, 2007
8,497
1,322
Sunny Florida
Funny, I had to Google gamut to make sure I was reading that right. I'm not sure I can look at something and make any objective assessment of the gamut of anything. I left my bionic eyes in my other pants pocket.
 
T

thelead

macrumors 6502a
Apr 30, 2010
571
229
ZBoater said:
Funny, I had to Google gamut to make sure I was reading that right. I'm not sure I can look at something and make any objective assessment of the gamut of anything. I left my bionic eyes in my other pants pocket.
Click to expand...

If you're not sure, why comment? Obviously the screen is perfect for you but that doesn't mean it's perfect for everyone. This is good info for those of us that care about such things. I hope you don't take offense.
 
ZBoater

ZBoater

macrumors G3
Jul 2, 2007
8,497
1,322
Sunny Florida
thelead said:
If you're not sure, why comment? Obviously the screen is perfect for you but that doesn't mean it's perfect for everyone. This is good info for those of us that care about such things. I hope you don't take offense.
Click to expand...

No, no offense taken. No worries. I comment because I read all these points about "gamut" this and "gamut" that and I wonder how well developed these senses must be that you can look at a screen designed to reproduce X number of colors and make such definitive statements about "gamut".

IF I put one side by side and stared at them long enough, maybe I could see a difference. Maybe. But just picking one up and looking at it, it either looks fine to me or it doesn't. I'd have to see some pretty weird discoloration or lines going across to complain. I can't fathom looking at a screen and saying "oh, well the gamut is not as whatever as my previous iPad". It just seem very weird to me. Which is why I comment. ;)
 
T

thelead

macrumors 6502a
Apr 30, 2010
571
229
ZBoater said:
No, no offense taken. No worries. I comment because I read all these points about "gamut" this and "gamut" that and I wonder how well developed these senses must be that you can look at a screen designed to reproduce X number of colors and make such definitive statements about "gamut".

IF I put one side by side and stared at them long enough, maybe I could see a difference. Maybe. But just picking one up and looking at it, it either looks fine to me or it doesn't. I'd have to see some pretty weird discoloration or lines going across to complain. I can't fathom looking at a screen and saying "oh, well the gamut is not as whatever as my previous iPad". It just seem very weird to me. Which is why I comment. ;)
Click to expand...

I'm a graphic artist so I notice it immediately. I will say, I find the air to be a bit oversaturated so I may not mind the mini retina. I definitely want to take a look at one asap.
 
K

klover

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 7, 2009
799
90
iPad Mini w/ Retina: Display review

ZBoater said:
Funny, I had to Google gamut to make sure I was reading that right. I'm not sure I can look at something and make any objective assessment of the gamut of anything. I left my bionic eyes in my other pants pocket.
Click to expand...

It's quite easy when the differences are significant (as they are in this case).
And I'm curious, do you have a Retina mini in hand with which to compare?
 
C

comatose81

macrumors 6502a
Dec 17, 2009
585
0
Picking mine up now after returning my Air. I'll post how the screen looks as soon as I get a chance to play around with it. I was pretty annoyed with the screen quality of the Air so ok hoping the mini fares better though it isn't sounding good so far.
 
A

AppleRobert

macrumors 603
Nov 12, 2012
5,726
1,132
I'll put the two Minis side by side to compare color eventually. For now I will just use the rMini and see how I feel about.

I am glad I have the extended holiday return period is all I can say.
 
D

davideotape

macrumors 6502a
Nov 16, 2012
530
145
bwsteg said:
I notice the yellow tint on the lower portion on landscape view.
Click to expand...

Just picked mine up and yeah here too. Im not even that picky and the tint is distracting. Im going to give it until the weekend because ive heard in the past this is glue and needs time to dry because they shipped them before they had that chance.

Heres hoping it either:
A. Goes away or
B. they have stock by the weekend
 
B

boobie12

macrumors 6502
Sep 20, 2012
435
8
Picked one up earlier for the wifey and the wash out screen is very obvious. I hope they all don't look like that.
 
K

klover

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 7, 2009
799
90
davideotape said:
Just picked mine up and yeah here too. Im not even that picky and the tint is distracting. Im going to give it until the weekend because ive heard in the past this is glue and needs time to dry because they shipped them before they had that chance.

Heres hoping it either:
A. Goes away or
B. they have stock by the weekend
Click to expand...

It's not glue and it won't go away. Sorry. That "glue" thing has never been accurate when it comes to iPads.
 
W

WilliamBateman

macrumors regular
Nov 7, 2013
207
0
Just got my 16gb wifi retina mini and the yellow tint is worse than the air I returned. It's all over the screen rather than just bottom left. When you tilt it down and look at it from an almost flat angle, it's pure white, bring it up and it turns yellow. I'm really starting to dislike apple. This is inexcusable for such a gigantic company that places emphasis on quality. I may return this for a nexus 8 when it's released.
 
asleep

asleep

macrumors 68040
Sep 26, 2007
3,686
1,574
klover said:
1. DPI...
2. Contrast...
3. Tint...
4. Colour saturation...

Compared to Air, the reds on mini are more of a dark orange. The green iMessage logo on Air has an almost neon look, on the mini it is much more muted. I'm disappointed that the color reproduction appears unchanged over the first model.

All in all, a big bump in resolution but the other panel characteristics, notably color gamut, appear largely unchanged.
Click to expand...

Noticing, or have you tested for, any burn-in issues???
 
K

klover

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 7, 2009
799
90
WilliamBateman said:
Just got my 16gb wifi retina mini and the yellow tint is worse than the air I returned. It's all over the screen rather than just bottom left. When you tilt it down and look at it from an almost flat angle, it's pure white, bring it up and it turns yellow. I'm really starting to dislike apple. This is inexcusable for such a gigantic company that places emphasis on quality. I may return this for a nexus 8 when it's released.
Click to expand...

My guess is an uneven application of the color filter films which are applied to the panel.

Seems that every iPad I buy has this issue to one degree or another.
 
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