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iPad Air 2 Color Distortion while displaying black

duffyanneal

duffyanneal

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Feb 5, 2008
685
144
ATL
I'm not trying to stir the pot with another post about display issues, but I wanted to share with you what I have noticed on two different iPad Air 2's. I have attached a picture showing what I see on my Air 2 while displaying a black background. No, I don't typically stare at my tablet this way, but I noticed the pink blotch in the upper left while watching a movie the other day. Instead of a nice black bar I have a pink blotch in the corner. The effect isn't quite as strong as what my camera captured, but you can get a idea what I'm talking about. This is actually the second iPad with the issue. The first Air 2 displayed the same issue, but it was actually slightly worse.

This doesn't appear to be an issue with viewing angles which can happen with IPS displays. I can say that because if I rotate the iPad the blotch moves with the display. This seems to be a defect with the display itself.

I'm on the fence right now on whether to keep it (not likely), exchange it, or just get a refund and move on. It would be nice if some of you would check this out to see if I just stumbled upon an anomaly or if this is more wide spread. Thanks.
 

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duffyanneal said:
I'm not trying to stir the pot with another post about display issues, but I wanted to share with you what I have noticed on two different iPad Air 2's. I have attached a picture showing what I see on my Air 2 while displaying a black background. No, I don't typically stare at my tablet this way, but I noticed the pink blotch in the upper left while watching a movie the other day. Instead of a nice black bar I have a pink blotch in the corner. The effect isn't quite as strong as what my camera captured, but you can get a idea what I'm talking about. This is actually the second iPad with the issue. The first Air 2 displayed the same issue, but it was actually slightly worse.

This doesn't appear to be an issue with viewing angles which can happen with IPS displays. I can say that because if I rotate the iPad the blotch moves with the display. This seems to be a defect with the display itself.

I'm on the fence right now on whether to keep it (not likely), exchange it, or just get a refund and move on. It would be nice if some of you would check this out to see if I just stumbled upon an anomaly or if this is more wide spread. Thanks.
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Mine doesn't have that. No bleed at all. Try an exchange it you want a new iPad but don't exceed your return window n case you don't get one you like.

There really are good screens out there. It's just the annual lottery
 
I exchanged for the third and last time this afternoon. I have attached a picture of #3. This looks like more than just a coincidence.
 

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duffyanneal said:
I exchanged for the third and last time this afternoon. I have attached a picture of #3. This looks like more than just a coincidence.
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Jimminy cripes that's bad!! Sorry, take it back again. My iPad 3 had a book spine and just some black light bleed. I kept it and it bothered me for a year. If you ever want to watch a movie this will bother you.
 
dcharleyultra said:
What are you displaying? I would like top check my screen too.
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That is just a picture of a black square zoomed in with the display at max brightness. You will need to view it in a dark room. If you do it at the store or normal lighting the lights will wash out the color blotches. Mind you the display does not look that bad in person. The camera does exaggerate the effect. With that said I can still see it with my eyes. Unless you were looking for this problem you may not notice it. I didn't notice it until I was watching a movie with black bars in a dark room.
 
This app is great for looking for any issues and it's free. Displays all the primary colours, black and grey, works on the iPad and iPhone.

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/dead-spotter/id565048990?mt=8

I have a similar issue with backlight bleeding on my Air 2, here is 2 Air 2 128gb Gold.

Picture was taken at 2.30pm in low light at 100% brightness on my 6+. Now my original Air 2 is the left, the replacement that I bought is on the right. It's significantly worse in low light.

The camera has slightly exaggerated the bleeding but not by much.

picture.php


Side by side I noticed the right one was a bit brighter and whiter than the left, as well as ever so slightly more vivid colours.

Now the rMini it replaced I could use at 100% brightness in the pitch black and it has no bleed whatsoever, same goes for my iPhone 6+.

On the right iPad if you very gently twist you can get rid of 90% of the backlight bleeding until you let go. It's definitely a manufacture issue and it's an annoying one.

Both Air 2's have no dead pixels and the white uniformity is very good, though a little better on the right iPad oddly.
 
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Haven't run any tests (it's daytime now, so can't view screen in dark room), but I've been watching movies and YouTube videos on my iPad Air 2 at night and haven't noticed any problems with the display. Granted, I don't recall if I ever watched in a totally dark room, and I tend to have brightness turned down on my iPad, but for what it's worth, my iPad doesn't have this problem under my normal use.
 
I used my Galaxy Tab S 10.5 this weekend. The OLED screen is so nice with nice blacks. Unfortunately, the performance is just terrible (even rooted and debloated) compared to the Air 2. I'm thinking about picking up another Air 2 and give it one more try.
 
If you crank the brightness and display a black image in a dark room you're going to notice some imperfections. This is not me defending Apple, this is the case with almost any tablet I tested (the Nokia 2520 immediately comes to mind). A cheap LCD panel in a thin tablet will have back light issues.

100% brightness is completely unrealistic with the iPad anyway, see if it bother you on your normal brightness level and regular content that you'd use on the iPad.

Of all the iPads I've owned, the iPad 2 had the worse light bleed defects. I was worried with the air 2 but it turned out better than expected.

Enjoy your new iPad!
 
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