Interesting, usually colorists don't use monitors at high brightness (even for mastering HDR content), so that may not be an issue.
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Apple Says iPad Pro's XDR Display Designed to Minimize Blooming, but Some Users Still Notice the Effect
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It might be a plausible explanation but it also could be the cost or the fact that they can't get their hands on enough panels from Samsung. Apple had their reasons for sticking with LCD on iPhones for many years too until they eventually got the panels from Samsung. I am not a video/photo pro. For my amateur photo editing (even having a "calibrateable" NEC monitor and a proper sensor - just because I could afford it) I came to conclusion that calibration was a waste of time. I understand that its different for pros so there might be some people who can benefit from these mini-LED screens.
For anyone interested in the colorist dialogue about the suitability of OLED as a technology for accurate color-correction (as opposed to FALD displays), check out this thread. https://liftgammagain.com/forum/index.php?threads/lg-32-oled-32ep950.15817/
Apparently the 32" LG was just released, there's an unboxing. The poster says it uses a "true RGB structure", so this new OLED panel may be addressing any RGBW issues on prior OLEDS. That said, I'm not sure if this tech would be available soon for any upcoming iPads, but it would probably be suitable as an option to the Apple 32" monitor.
Apparently the 32" LG was just released, there's an unboxing. The poster says it uses a "true RGB structure", so this new OLED panel may be addressing any RGBW issues on prior OLEDS. That said, I'm not sure if this tech would be available soon for any upcoming iPads, but it would probably be suitable as an option to the Apple 32" monitor.
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Good points. If the blooming effect isn't really noticeable under normal usage, then there really isn't a problem, in my opinion. The problem is a lot of people go lookin for discrepancies that can only be seen under abnormal usage.
Each new owner is going to have to decide which camp he or she falls into (abnormal testing looking for a problem that otherwise wouldn't really be noticed, or being lots of blooming under normal user conditions and returning the device.
One problem is you won't be able to assess this in-store. Mind you, all our local Apple Stores are locked down anyway so that's a moot point around here.
The way to assess it would be to check out a friend's one, or else buy it and return it if you don't like it.
Yes, I have read reports that say Samsung as a sole source would be problematic for Apple for two reasons:
1. Samsung would have trouble providing sufficient panel volume for Apple unless Apple ponied up tons more cash so that Samsung could bring even more manufacturing capacity online.
2. Apple doesn't want to be dependent upon Samsung as a sole panel provider. Apple already is heavily dependent upon Samsung for iPhone displays but they are trying to diversify, with LG providing a large chunk of the displays, and additional Chinese panel makers like BOE coming online this year.
The rumours state that like the iPhone 12 line, the new 2022 OLED iPads would be manufactured by both Samsung and LG. So far most (but not all) rumours state that the OLED iPads would NOT be Pros, but lower end models, most likely the 10.9" Air.
Got an Apple pencil? From display off, tap the screen with the pencil to enter quick notes mode. Draw some stuff in white on the black background. The bloom is insane when the display’s brightness is above about 20%.
I agree. Trying in store is not really a typical user scenario unlike testing a Mac etc. I think people need to make use of the 14 day return period and use the iPad as they normally would.
It would be a bit silly of me to comment without trying some of these things, eh? Already done that, no noticeable bloom. Just did it again with brightness around 60%, nothing noticeable. Can see a little when at 100% brightness, that’s it.
I think everyone here needs to understand why apple didn’t add an OLED display to the 12.9” iPad Pro… You can’t output 1000nit brightness, without creating a ton of heat and draining the battery to produce it. Until Blue light quantum dot enhanced color OLED screens are mainstream, you just can’t have a 1000nit device like an iPad Pro with OLED tech.
It is about the amount of light or energy(heat) that is needed to be filtered off each WOLED sub-pixel(literally all the light but blue for the blue sub-pixel, red for red sub-pixel, green for the green sub-pixel). BOLEDQD, Blue OLED with Quantum Dot color enhancement. Allows the Blue light to be converted using Quantum dots to Reds and Greens. Thus significantly reducing the amount of light or energy(heat) that has to be filtered or blocked, extending overall lifespan, almost eliminating burn-in, and tripling the light output in the process.
Still about 2-3 years away though, maybe longer for mobile devices.
It is about the amount of light or energy(heat) that is needed to be filtered off each WOLED sub-pixel(literally all the light but blue for the blue sub-pixel, red for red sub-pixel, green for the green sub-pixel). BOLEDQD, Blue OLED with Quantum Dot color enhancement. Allows the Blue light to be converted using Quantum dots to Reds and Greens. Thus significantly reducing the amount of light or energy(heat) that has to be filtered or blocked, extending overall lifespan, almost eliminating burn-in, and tripling the light output in the process.
Still about 2-3 years away though, maybe longer for mobile devices.
Who needs 1000nit brightness? I have not seen any complaints about iPad brigntness for older models. Does anyone even use iPad at full brightness?
I didn’t notice the bloom until I tried to read in bed last night in the dark with dark mode. There was a block of light around all the text. It was super distracting so I changed to black text on white background.
to reach true full HDR range you need to be able to hit 1000nits of brightness. OLEDs can usually simulate HDR because they can get to absolute blacks lifting the contrast rate past a million without the need for a full 1000nits. LCD(TN,VS,IPS), can hit 1000nits, but usually have to go over 1000nits to reach a acceptable starting point(different backlighting give better starting points) for contrast ratio. Mini-LED allows the new iPad Pro to hit both a 1 million to 1 contrast ratio with a 1000nits(hitting 1600nits to overcome the required levels of overshadow in darker colors, but still maintaining overall brightness of 1000nits) in a 12.9” screen(that really is amazing). VS allows more light output than TN, and IPS less than both. 12.9” 2021 iPad Pro has a 120hz IPS mini-LED display that can achieve a million to 1 contrast ratio with a max brightness of 1000nits.
My point in all this is… What apple has accomplished with the display on the 12.9” 2021 iPad Pro is truly amazing; it is an extremely over-engineered solution to a problem that currently has no other solution. In the future they can use a Blue Organic Light Emitting Diode Quantum Dot Color Corrected IGZO display. Until than, to reach true HDR; this is what we got.
If you can’t see a reason for full 1000nit brightness with insanely high contrast ratio, I don’t think you’ve ever seen true HDR.
Most people aren't aware that even seeing a bright white element on a black background in a dark room, on OLED, looks like its blooming. Its the way our eyes work in the dark. I dare someone to tell me that they don't see a glow on bright elements while in a dark room on an OLED, such as the boot logo on an iPhone with OLED in a pitch black room.
That being said, this iPad issue appears to be a software/local dimming algorithm mess up. Notice that the blooming is carrying over the distance of 1-2 local dimming zones. It makes no sense, it can't bloom that hard. There's also the fact that the human eye wouldn't see this much of an exaggerated glow around things. OLED still struggles with black crush, where colors just above barely above black get suppressed and saturation issues too, depending on panel and calibration.
To reiterate, OLED does not have blooming, anyone telling you that OLED display tech has blooming shouldn't be talking because they know nothing. Its literally impossible for an OLED to bloom, self-emissive display tech cannot bloom. What I'm talking about is what the human eye sees, the human eye will always see a glow around a very bright element surrounded by a dark background while in a dark environment, regardless of the display tech, even on OLED.
That being said, this iPad issue appears to be a software/local dimming algorithm mess up. Notice that the blooming is carrying over the distance of 1-2 local dimming zones. It makes no sense, it can't bloom that hard. There's also the fact that the human eye wouldn't see this much of an exaggerated glow around things. OLED still struggles with black crush, where colors just above barely above black get suppressed and saturation issues too, depending on panel and calibration.
To reiterate, OLED does not have blooming, anyone telling you that OLED display tech has blooming shouldn't be talking because they know nothing. Its literally impossible for an OLED to bloom, self-emissive display tech cannot bloom. What I'm talking about is what the human eye sees, the human eye will always see a glow around a very bright element surrounded by a dark background while in a dark environment, regardless of the display tech, even on OLED.
The color range in the apps shown, need to be recalibrated to account for the mini-LEDs new contrast levels. That said you will still see a bit of blooming even beyond a single zone as there is only minimal separation between zones(but it should be almost unnoticeable to the human eye in all but complete darkness). I have some OLED promo videos using properly calibrated color ranges, that look identical to OLED. Videos that pour honey over absolute blacks… No noticable blooming even under low light.
That’s BS. You can buy a 55 inch 4K OLED TV with Android on it for the same price as a 12 inch iPad.
I rarely like watching Apple Youtubers opine about Apple - but this was exactly the kind of demonstration I wanted to see.
I figure the zones are larger than expected because it’s a 120Hz panel and if the zones are small, whatever objects that are moving quickly on screen will flicker as the backlight tries to keep up. With larger zones, the bright objects will remain in the lit area, even when fast, so they won’t flicker in and out of brightness. It’s exactly the same behavior as the game mode on my mini LED TV.
Would be nice if the backlight algorithm was adaptive, with precision dependent on the content on screen. 120fps games would have the less precise backlight it has currently, and 24fps movies and static UI elements the most precise backlight, etc.
I don’t think you know what blooming is. OLED displays definitely do not have it. There is no leakage of light, nor driving or the pixels with OLED
Apple could side step the blooming by using a non-mini-LED LCD panel with more acceptable raised black like the one in the center below instead of double-dipping by charging more but using lower quality panels. From left to right, Galaxy S7+ OLED, Surface Pro X LCD and MBA M1 LCD at 100% brightness. Under normal use the center LCD is fine with no blooming and no noticeable raised black unlike Apple display panels.
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I feel a little bit more comfy with my 2017 iPad Pro 12.9. 😄 But I agree, mini-LED is a stop gap on the road to full OLED, its just the price is too high. Even when it becomes affordable and Apple adopts, it will not be cheaper for us. But, at least I know I won't see things like this. Sorry for this considering picking up the new Mini-LED MacBook Pro's when that arrives. Its gonna be 2012 and 2016 all over again.