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VidPro

macrumors 6502a
Mar 16, 2011
737
120
Oh I got that. I have an eye for stuff too, but usually only on the things I use to make money that I need to be accurate...

Then you understand someone who is in the business (pick the business) having a keen eye. So all the stuff you buy that isn't making you money can be subpar?
 

MovieCutter

macrumors 68040
May 3, 2005
3,342
2
Washington, DC
Then you understand someone who is in the business (pick the business) having a keen eye. So all the stuff you buy that isn't making you money can be subpar?

There's a threshold of perfection I have for toys. Either way, going through 13 different iPads under any circumstances is certifiably nuts...just my opinion.
 

VidPro

macrumors 6502a
Mar 16, 2011
737
120
There's a threshold of perfection I have for toys. Either way, going through 13 different iPads under any circumstances is certifiably nuts...just my opinion.

It took me until number 6 to get a decent iPad 2 so I have sympathy for those who are having the same issue with the iPad 3. I'm pretty sure the people who are making countless returns would rather not.

By the way I bought one iPad 3 and have had zero issues.
 

ixodes

macrumors 601
Jan 11, 2012
4,429
3
Pacific Coast, USA
...meanwhile, I'm still on my first iPad 3 and have yet to find a single thing wrong with it. Go figure.
Which proves nothing, if it did, Apple would not include a warranty.

There's no possible way for any manufacturer of computers, tablets etc to insure that 100% of production is fault free. The parts and various components come from vendors which ads one more variable into the mix.

Then there's the fact that displays especially have a relatively high scrap rate at time of production. If a bad batch gets mistakenly shipped to Apple, they are going to be assembled into iPads, or laptops or whatever.

Once identified by the customer, confirmed by the genius, or other Apple representative, the warranty covers the replacement or replacements, it's as simple as that. :)
 

nicoplanet

macrumors regular
Jun 22, 2009
130
0
France
So, here are some pictures, taken tonight, of my :apple: iPad 3rd generation retina screen.

1. On the first picture, you may find the screen "kind of uniform". This is a fullscreen neutral grey image. The left side is a bit warmer compared to the right side of the screen. But this doesn't seems dramatic from this image... right?

DSC00396.jpg



2. Now, this is a simple grey chart, but it display clearly the lack of uniformity of the panel. Just compare the top left area and the low right area (from 100% white to 4th grey level for example...). It should display the same colors, but it's clearly different. Top left is warmer. The screen is definiely not uniform, and far from that in my opinion...

DSC00400.jpg



3. Another try, with a different grey chart. The tint difference is obvious here! Just compare the top left and bottom right chart (100% white to 50% grey).

DSC00401.jpg



4. Last image. The direct comparison between top-left and bottom-right of my retina panel. Not sure we can call this uniform... :mad: :(

Retina.jpg



If some of you can use these two grey charts on their own iPad 3rd gen panel, it may help to get an idea of the problem. Just a personal advice when shooting these charts on your iPad screen:

- use a fixed white balance mode (to avoid differences between pictures...)
- lock exposition (also to avoid differences between pictures...)
- lock focus

Thanks!
 
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Magicpie1980

macrumors member
Mar 23, 2012
67
0
So, here are some pictures, taken tonight, of my :apple: iPad 3rd generation retina screen.

1. On the first picture, you may find the screen "kind of uniform". This is a fullscreen neutral grey image. The left side is a bit warmer compared to the right side of the screen. But this doesn't seems dramatic from this image... right?

Image


2. Now, this is a simple grey chart, but it display clearly the lack of uniformity of the panel. Just compare the top left area and the low right area (from 100% white to 4th grey level for example...). It should display the same colors, but it's clearly different. Top left is warmer. The screen is definiely not uniform, and far from that in my opinion...

Image


3. Another try, with a different grey chart. The tint difference is obvious here! Just compare the top left and bottom right chart (100% white to 50% grey).

Image


4. Last image. The direct comparison between top-left and bottom-right of my retina panel. Not sure we can call this uniform... :mad: :(

Image


If some of you can use these two grey charts on their own iPad 3rd gen panel, it may help to get an idea of the problem. Just a personal advice when shooting these charts on your iPad screen:

- use a fixed white balance mode (to avoid differences between pictures...)
- lock exposition (also to avoid differences between pictures...)
- lock focus

Thanks!

I blame Samsung totally for all this, I have yet to see one uniform samsung screen;(
 

mcdj

macrumors G3
Jul 10, 2007
8,964
4,214
NYC
Here's another fun trick for those playing at home.

My (long since exchanged) iPad had an annoying (to me) pink/green discoloration in the corners. At the request of Apple corporate, I took a pic. To make sure the point was driven home, I made a copy of the photo, and boosted the saturation (buried the needle) for only the reds and greens. If the iPad was evenly colored and truly neutral, the entire screen would have been like the gray areas with no color.

ipad-a.jpg
ipad-b.jpg


Despite this, I was told the iPad was within spec.
 

macjoshua

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Mar 4, 2011
503
551
Nashville, TN
nicoplanet, i had that same problem on the majority of the iPads i went through. either the left side was yellow, or the upper half of the display. it was always really noticeable while trying to read a book or browse a mostly white webpage.

i've heard a lot of people say it was glue. i never saw any of the ones i had fade at all. but actually looking close at one of them, i wondered if it was the glass causing the problem rather than the actual screen itself. looking at the screen straight on, it was yellow, but if you tilted it at a good-sized angle the colors were actually uniform.
 

rkahl

macrumors 65816
Jul 29, 2010
1,021
0
You say that like this is a non-issue. You just read two of the clearest, most decisive posts on the matter.

It is a non issue! Do you seriously think you're going to get a perfect iPad? Seriously, if you have to look for problems by boosting saturation of levels you will NEVER be happy. It's the adhesive.
 
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mcdj

macrumors G3
Jul 10, 2007
8,964
4,214
NYC
It is a non issue! Do you seriously think you're going to get a perfect iPad? Seriously, if you have to look for problems by boosting saturation of levels you will NEVER be happy. It's the glue.

How many times do people have to explain there is no glue bonding the iPad 3 screen?
 

dstar

macrumors regular
May 3, 2010
125
0
The only thing I can see that might be related to excess adhesive is the dark yellowing on the edges of some ipad displays.

I wouldn't be shocked if the blotchy non-uniform displays are just related to a poor build. With that pixel density maybe just having more pressure on one area of the display, or a slight tweak to the panel in one area creates the illusion of uneven colors/lighting.
 

MacSA

macrumors 68000
Jun 4, 2003
1,803
5
UK
This is just silly now. So the only way you can illustrate a defective screen is to take a picture of it and then boost the saturation so it's basically off the scale or stare at grey scale test chart all day?

Oh and the OP didn't respond to my question highlighting some of his choice of words ....
The last one seemed a little off to me in the store, but I couldn't tell if it was just reflections in the store or if I was actually seeing something wrong
You couldn't tell if there was something wrong, but still decided it was defective?
 

macingman

macrumors 68020
Jan 2, 2011
2,147
3
I'm just wondering if anyone else has seen this. The genius bar employee told me that they would give me a full refund if this one still didn't live up to my expectations. I think I'm ready to take them up on that.

Please just get the refund. You are never going to get a 100% perfect iPad you are being to picky. In normal use you would NEVER notice these issues. The day I get my iPad 3 I inspected it and found a few small scratches and stuff on the iPad and was going to return it but I wasn't bothered and now I don't even notice them.

Again please just get the refund.

----------

Despite this, I was told the iPad was within spec.

If you boost the saturation for any screen it would always look a bit of colour.
 

macjoshua

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Mar 4, 2011
503
551
Nashville, TN
This is just silly now. So the only way you can illustrate a defective screen is to take a picture of it and then boost the saturation so it's basically off the scale or stare at grey scale test chart all day?

Oh and the OP didn't respond to my question highlighting some of his choice of words .... You couldn't tell if there was something wrong, but still decided it was defective?

Did you read the rest of my post on that? It was when I got home into normal light that something was obviously wrong. And when I took it back to the Apple store (and I wasn't rushed out of there because the store was closing), it was even obvious to every Apple employee that saw it. One of them, who I'd worked with a couple times before, looked at it and said, "you must have a bad iPad curse."

----------

Please just get the refund. You are never going to get a 100% perfect iPad you are being to picky. In normal use you would NEVER notice these issues. The day I get my iPad 3 I inspected it and found a few small scratches and stuff on the iPad and was going to return it but I wasn't bothered and now I don't even notice them.

Again please just get the refund.

I did get the refund.

The reality is that I do notice those kinds of issues - especially when reading a book and my eye is drawn to the side of the screen that is a different color. I don't expect perfection. heck, I would have been happy if I could have gotten a screen that was all one tint. Three of my coworkers who have seen all of the iPads I have had have decided to hold off on buying an iPad until the issues have been resolved. If they were all minor issues, they would have told me I was crazy (seriously).

At this point, I'm happy to just keep using my laptop and my iPhone. I may try an iPad again later this year, but I don't plan on playing the screen lottery with it. If I get another one that's bad, I'll return it and be done with it. My iPhone is just a smaller iPad anyway. :rolleyes:
 
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doubledown7d

macrumors member
Apr 28, 2011
39
0
I don't know. I've got mixed feelings on this one. When I bought my iPad 2, I had read all the forums first and was looking for problems. I went through six before I found one that I was happy with. When ordered my new iPad I never read an article I just ordered it and when it got here I was happy with it. The issues with my two were real. Some of them pretty bad, some of them I would have never noticed if I had not read about it. I can tell you this, I am not going to look for problems on this one, I'm just going to enjoy it.
 

nicoplanet

macrumors regular
Jun 22, 2009
130
0
France
This is just silly now. So the only way you can illustrate a defective screen is to [...] stare at grey scale test chart all day?

The grey scale is just here to exhibit a problem that some people are not detecting or aware of. It's a way to let them know what panel uniformity is, with evidence. It's not the only way to see the issue, since I've identified it way before using grey chart! :rolleyes:

But you are absolutely right: some people are perfectly happy with 300$ 27" Samsung panel for their computer. Other pay 1300$ for a 27" Eizo screen because they want (or need) good color reproduction.

Since iPad is between 500$ and 900$ it's a quality product, right? Also, Apple communicate a lot on the resolutionary screen, central element of iPad. So it need quality screen (particularly since it's a tablet). If you think a screen like this is perfectly within spec, then we should by the iPad 250$: period.
 

Elven

macrumors 6502a
May 13, 2008
862
1
UK
I bought a 27 inch i7 iMac last year, about three months into ownership I noticed a single pixel which was lazy, it often is black but sometimes it works.

Now I could have kicked up a fuss, but I chose not too, and have enjoyed my ownership of the fine machine.

If your expectations are that high you expect perfection, I wonder are you the same with your car,house,bike,phone,toilet roll?
 

Carouser

macrumors 65816
Feb 1, 2010
1,411
1
Since iPad is between 500$ and 900$ it's a quality product, right? Also, Apple communicate a lot on the resolutionary screen, central element of iPad. So it need quality screen (particularly since it's a tablet). If you think a screen like this is perfectly within spec, then we should by the iPad 250$: period.

This is post hoc silliness. What an amazing coincidence that the price of the iPad is the price at which someone can demand a specific level of color uniformity!

EDIT: Also, if someone thinks that juxtaposing two greyscale charts and framing with them a black border has anything to do with colour perception in use then they are beyond help. It's possible people are seeing variation in actual use cases, but this kind of evaluation offers nothing. See here. Optical illusions aren't isolated special cases, they illustrate how our eyes work in practice. Asking for perfect white levels across the screen if it looks fine in practice is stupid. If it doesn't look fine in practice, perfect white levels across the screen might not even be the problem (because of how perception isn't just a direct grasp of wavelengths of light - it's dependent on all kinds of things).

Shorter version: Panel uniformity isn't the goal, perceived uniformity is. And there is not a simple correlation between the two at all.
 
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