iPad Did Displaymate just confirm IGZO in iPad Air?

[Jacquesass]

http://gizmodo.com/the-best-large-tablet-display-its-not-the-ipad-air-1458132865

http://www.displaymate.com/Tablet_ShootOut_3.htm

"The most important under the hood display improvement is the switch from a-Si amorphous Silicon LCDs up to a much higher performance IGZO LCD backplane, which was discussed in our iPad 3 Display Shoot-Out article last year. The switch to IGZO produces an impressive 57 percent improvement in display power efficiency from previous Retina Display iPads—so the iPad Air doesn’t get uncomfortably warm like the earlier iPads."

 

[mcdj]

Would seem so. Wish IGZO stood for Insanely Good Zerodiscoloration Output.

 

[JulianL]

Good spot Jacquesass. That Displaymate article is an interesting read. From what they're saying IGZO might be a big improvement in power efficiency compared to the previous iPad screens but it's still significantly more power hungry than the LTPS that Amazon uses...

We measured the Power Consumption of all three displays. The Relative Power Efficiency (for the same Luminance and screen area) is highest for the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9, which has the highest performance and most efficient LTPS Low Temperature Poly Silicon LCD. Second is the iPad Air, which has a new higher efficiency metal oxide IGZO LCD that is a 57 percent improvement over the previous iPads, which used a-Si amorphous Silicon, but it still needs 30 percent more display power than the LTPS Kindle Fire. Coming in last in Relative Power Efficiency is the Nexus 10 with an a-Si amorphous Silicon backplane that is used in most LCD displays, which requires 73 percent more display power than the LTPS Kindle Fire. See this discussion in our iPad 3 Display Shoot-Out for more information on LTPS, IGZO and a-Si power efficiency.

Still, 57% improvement is well worth having. I'm really looking forward to see what Apple can do with that in next year's iPhone but that's a discussion for the iPhone forum.

If this is first generation IGZO then might the technology become more efficient in the future? Also, one write up I saw said that another advantage of IGZO is that the pixels can hold their state for much longer than a-Si which means that the display needs to be refreshed less often when displaying a static image. Stuff like reading ebooks is 99.9% static image and even a lot of web browsing on pages that don't have animations can be static for a long time (until the user scrolls). I wonder whether the Air has the necessary hardware support to make use of this and/or the apps have the necessary software support. Maybe there's a lot more to come from this technology in the next few years.

 

[monk fish]

Apple state it's IPS
http://www.apple.com/uk/ipad-air/specs/

 

[Jacquesass]

Apple state it's IPS
http://www.apple.com/uk/ipad-air/specs/

This isn't my field, but I think IPS (screen technology) and IGZO (semiconductor material) aren't mutually exclusive.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-57372317-64/sharp-igzo-display-possible-for-ipad-3-says-analyst/

"And what are the similarities?
Annis: Actually, in a lot of other respects, the amorphous silicon panels from Korea and the IGZO panels from Sharp are pretty similar. They both use IPS [in-plane switching]...they have kind of the same liquid crystal technologies. So, they're both going to have a really wide viewing angle and good color off-axis."

 

[monk fish]

Not my area either but I'm sure apple would have mentioned it somewhere along the line

 

[Southernboyj]

Apple state it's IPS
http://www.apple.com/uk/ipad-air/specs/

IGZO panels can feature In-Plane Switching.

 

[Macalway]

Cool

I've been noticing the heat improvement, which is kind of puzzling as everything is thinner

My iPad 4 is a toaster

 

[zhenya]

Interesting. I kind of felt like the Air display looked better in some way than my iPad 4, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. If these things are true, that would explain it.

The iPad Air has mostly incremental but still significant improvements over the excellent 3rd and 4th generation iPad displays. Compared to the 4th generation, the screen reflectance decreased by 23 percent, the peak brightness increased by 7 percent, and the contrast rating for high ambient light increased by 32 percent – all good. Absolute color accuracy and image contrast fidelity are very good (but somewhat below the Kindle Fire) and are discussed in detail below. The emphasis for the iPad Air is in reduced size, thickness, and weight. The most important under the hood display improvement is the switch from a-Si amorphous Silicon LCDs up to a much higher performance IGZO LCD backplane, which was discussed in our iPad 3 Display Shoot-Out article last year. The switch to IGZO produces an impressive 57 percent improvement in display power efficiency from previous Retina Display iPads—so the iPad Air doesn’t get uncomfortably warm like the earlier iPads. More on these issues below.

 

[bobright]

I made a thread the day the Air was released about it looking better than my 3rd gen. I knew it wasn't my eyes the thing really pops.

 

[monk fish]

I made a thread the day the Air was released about it looking better than my 3rd gen. I knew it wasn't my eyes the thing really pops.

That would have been lost with all the people moaning about the display

 

[rovex]

I made a thread the day the Air was released about it looking better than my 3rd gen. I knew it wasn't my eyes the thing really pops.

If you compare the mini 1 with retina ipad the mini screen pops quite a bit too, despite not being retina.

I think the lamination process and clearer, more transparent glass helps I that respect.

 

[Simacca]

My iPad air seems a lot better than my iPad 3. Colours pop more, screen seems sharper and clearer all round. I have to say, my iPad 3 has got the famous pink tint which may have something to do with it. Although I do use f.lux to adjust the pinkness.

 

[JulianL]

I'm amazed this thread isn't alight with activity because if this is true then surely it's big news. Displays really aren't my specialist area but a few things make me wonder whether Displaymate have got this right. The things that worry me are:

1 - Wouldn't some of the Apple comment and rumour sites, for instance our very own Macrumors, have made a story out of this by now if the evidence was solid?

2 - Wouldn't Sharp have said something if they'd just grabbed a big win like this?

3 - The Displaymate article talks about 57% more power efficient for the same screen area and luminance. Wasn't it widely predicted beforehand that the just-released iPad display would go from having two backlight strips to just one in order to reduce power consumption? If that has happened then that alone would probably account for the better power efficiency of the iPad Air display vs the iPad 3/4 without needing to assume a switch to IGZO and maybe the quality improvements that others here report are due to the factors that rovex mentioned in an earlier post: "I think the lamination process and clearer, more transparent glass helps I that respect".

Like I say, I'm not an expert, but I'd like to see more detail on why Displaymate are saying that the new display is IGZO and, if it is, I wonder why news sites aren't making more of this.

I actually hope that the iPad Air doesn't have an IGZO display because I was hoping that Apple still had that card to play in 2014 to shave off even more weight from the iPad.

 

[haruhiko]

This is big news and wasn't mentioned anywhere. Great find.

 

[prism]

Strange how there is no mention on this in Anand's review and iFixit!

 

[OSMac]

Posters in this thread seem knowledgable of screens...

Quick question...

I noticed the Air uses an opposite pixel alignment to the iPad 4.

See attached image, both displays were in landscape orientation .

The iPad 4 on the left uses the common alignment with the black bands running horizontal.

The Air has it's bands running vertical.

Any comments?

 

[zbarvian]

I don't know about this. They shrunk the battery 25%, added a more efficient chip; if there was a 57% power-saving display, the battery gains would be huge. And also, someone would've mentioned this elsewhere.

 

[Oppressed]

Posters in this thread seem knowledgable of screens...

Quick question...

I noticed the Air uses an opposite pixel alignment to the iPad 4.

See attached image, both displays were in landscape orientation .

The iPad 4 on the left uses the common alignment with the black bands running horizontal.

The Air has it's bands running vertical.

Any comments?

I'm no screen expert but I wonder if that has anything to do with being able to use the iPad air in portrait orientation with polarized sunglasses? Whereas before the screen would turn black.

 

[Donka]

Aren't Sharp currently the only IGZO manufacturers at the moment? If so, the Air isn't using IGZO tech as the Air used in the tear down over @ iFixit has an LG panel:

http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/iPad+Air+Teardown/18907

"Our display, model LP097QX2, was supplied by LG."

 

[tobeornottobe]

They also removed one of the led light bars in the air

 

[zbarvian]

Aren't Sharp currently the only IGZO manufacturers at the moment? If so, the Air isn't using IGZO tech as the Air used in the tear down over @ iFixit has an LG panel:

http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/iPad+Air+Teardown/18907

"Our display, model LP097QX2, was supplied by LG."

LG can produce them too, I believe. And it seems IGZO may be likely, given that new teardown.

 

[quagmire]

They also removed one of the led light bars in the air

You like higher power consumption and decreased battery life?

 

[dsc888]

They also removed one of the led light bars in the air

I wonder if this is leading to some of the dim left side/yellowing issues with the new iPad Airs.

 

[retroneo]

1 - Wouldn't some of the Apple comment and rumour sites, for instance our very own Macrumors, have made a story out of this by now if the evidence was solid?

It's been consistently in the rumours for over a year.

https://www.macrumors.com/2012/12/2...cross-ipad-and-iphone-product-lines-for-2013/

https://www.macrumors.com/2013/01/2...hone-5s-and-lower-cost-iphone-moving-forward/

https://www.macrumors.com/2013/07/10/apple-to-adopt-igzo-displays-for-future-ipads-and-macbooks/

2 - Wouldn't Sharp have said something if they'd just grabbed a big win like this?

Have you heard Qualcomm ever mention them winning over Apple for their modems? How about Broadcom singing about Apple using them for WiFi?

In fact the last time a component supplier made a song and dance about Apple using their latest stuff, Apple instantly switched away from them (ATI in 2000). For Apple, components distract the customer from seeing the product as a whole.

3 - The Displaymate article talks about 57% more power efficient for the same screen area and luminance. Wasn't it widely predicted beforehand that the just-released iPad display would go from having two backlight strips to just one in order to reduce power consumption? If that has happened then that alone would probably account for the better power efficiency of the iPad Air display vs the iPad 3/4 without needing to assume a switch to IGZO and maybe the quality improvements that others here report are due to the factors that rovex mentioned in an earlier post: "I think the lamination process and clearer, more transparent glass helps I that respect".

An IGZO display allows more light through to allow the use of lower power backlights. That's one of its advantages.

----------

Aren't Sharp currently the only IGZO manufacturers at the moment?

It was leaked in July that LG has upgraded several production facilities to make IGZO displays for Apple:

http://9to5mac.com/2013/07/10/apples-plans-for-igzo-display-integration-to-extend-to-2014-macbooks/