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All iPads iPad Air vs iPad mini retina screen wash

So can we confirm now that the muted colors on the rMini is due to hardware limitations, not bad calibrations or other things thst can be fixed with a software update?

What are the chances that this is a production issue, that could be better over time or when other suppliers (Samsung) chimes in?

To me this is kind of a dealbreaker. I have an Air but i was thinking about returning it since I quitr frankly cannot hold it hold it comfortable over long sessions even though they redcude the weight. I love retina displays våbecause they are so vibrant and fresh, so this was a huge dissapintment to me.

Do you guys think the bad gamut is dealbreaker?
 
PalacePlayers said:
So can we confirm now that the muted colors on the rMini is due to hardware limitations, not bad calibrations or other things thst can be fixed with a software update?

What are the chances that this is a production issue, that could be better over time or when other suppliers (Samsung) chimes in?

To me this is kind of a dealbreaker. I have an Air but i was thinking about returning it since I quitr frankly cannot hold it hold it comfortable over long sessions even though they redcude the weight. I love retina displays våbecause they are so vibrant and fresh, so this was a huge dissapintment to me.

Do you guys think the bad gamut is dealbreaker?
Click to expand...

to be honest, it's because they've set their own bar so high in the past. If it wasn't for the ipad 3 and iphone 5 gamut improvements, we'd probably be okay with it. I don't think i can go back...but at the some time I can't get over how easy it is to hold due to its size. I'm not sure I'd use it as long if it was the air, even though the weight difference is almost negligible, it's the size that does it for me.
 
rGiskard said:
Expectations are also set by the marketplace. Apple never claimed that Retina = 100% sRGB color space, but every other tablet maker is using that color space on their latest high res tablets. Since Apple priced the retina ipad mini far beyond the competition, it's reasonable to expect a display that at least matches the competition.

I'll say this, the retina iPad Mini doesn't seem like the best release for a company that is bleeding tabet marketshare. Apple needed to prove their dominance of the high end tablet space, and they failed. At Best Buy I compared the retina iPad mini display to other tablets 50% cheaper and the results were not flattering.
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The chart showing the rMini's comes from Reviewed.com, and they gave the rMini an Editor's Choice Award (along with the Air and Surface 2). The display is important to me, and that's why I own a rMBP and not a MacBook Air. Reviewed.com wrote in its conclusion:

"You'd be hard-pressed to determine that this tablet is anything other than great after looking over our lab results. While the mini lags behind competition substantially in terms of color reproduction, that's the only real performance flaw we could find. It's an impressive result, overall. From the couch to the commuter rail, users hunting for a media consumption platform will love this thing, and considering its lion's share of access to the market's available content, you'll probably find yourself wanting to buy it flowers and chocolates."

I'll be looking at the rMini tonight, and if the color is acceptable, my wife wants to buy one. I won't mention the color to her, and will wait for her response. Of course if it looks too bad, I will mention it. 😀

*The above comments were made with the best intentions, and in a spirit of goodwill that this discussion deserves. I'm not singling any one person's opinion out, but did use one post to respond to. In other words, I'm just trying to keep it friendly. 🙂
 
iPad Air vs iPad mini retina screen wash

PalacePlayers said:
So can we confirm now that the muted colors on the rMini is due to hardware limitations, not bad calibrations or other things thst can be fixed with a software update?

What are the chances that this is a production issue, that could be better over time or when other suppliers (Samsung) chimes in?

To me this is kind of a dealbreaker. I have an Air but i was thinking about returning it since I quitr frankly cannot hold it hold it comfortable over long sessions even though they redcude the weight. I love retina displays våbecause they are so vibrant and fresh, so this was a huge dissapintment to me.

Do you guys think the bad gamut is dealbreaker?
Click to expand...

I'm returning my rMini because of this. I think this is shady on Apple's part, it should have the same gamut as the Air.
 
PalacePlayers said:
Do you guys think the bad gamut is dealbreaker?
Click to expand...

I'm not a photographer, so I don't really need to have super accurate colors....and coming from an iPad 2 and 1st gen Mini.....the color issue is fine (even with owning an Air as well).

I'm more concerned about the possible yellow tint 😱

-Kevin
 
I just tried both the iPad Air and Retina Mini out at the Apple Store just before. It actually took me a little bit to notice the difference, though once I did it was pretty noticeable. The mini retina screen is still very good and is superior in color accuracy to the old non retina mini. However comparing it to the iPhone 5, 5S, 5C, iPad Air, and Retina MBPs, the color saturation and contrast appears to be inferior. I wouldn't call it a MASSIVE difference but it is noticeable when you compare it to the other retina displays. I tried like all 5 retina minis they had on display and they all appeared to be about the same to me. It is still a great display and way better than the non retina mini.
 
So we've probably old seen the quite uninpressive photos of Air vs rMini, but can anyone upload a rMini vs mini comparison? That one would be interesting. Preforably a photo taken in a completely dark room with a colorful picture.
 
I find it funny that they charge such a premium for the rMini compared to other tablets but don't offer the same display quality as the Air.
 
PalacePlayers said:
So we've probably old seen the quite uninpressive photos of Air vs rMini, but can anyone upload a rMini vs mini comparison? That one would be interesting. Preforably a photo taken in a completely dark room with a colorful picture.
Click to expand...

They are pretty much the same in terms of colour. Both noticeably less vibrant than the Air or in fact the 4th Gen. Particularly in blues and reds. Whites are good.
 
PalacePlayers said:
So we've probably old seen the quite uninpressive photos of Air vs rMini, but can anyone upload a rMini vs mini comparison? That one would be interesting. Preforably a photo taken in a completely dark room with a colorful picture.
Click to expand...

People have done these pictures already. The rMini's display is much sharper and detailed but the colors are muted. Play clash of clans on your iPhone 5/5s/iPad Air then on an iPad rMini, you'll see the difference.
 
PalacePlayers said:
So we've probably old seen the quite uninpressive photos of Air vs rMini, but can anyone upload a rMini vs mini comparison? That one would be interesting. Preforably a photo taken in a completely dark room with a colorful picture.
Click to expand...
There are plenty of Mini vs rMini videos on YouTube. The funny thing is, most of them were in Japanese or Russian until today. I looked, and was able to see the screens, but had little idea about what was being said. 😀
 
Okay I read the first 4 pages of this forum and that's enough.

Possibilities of this occurence:

1) LG Display Manufacturing -

This is the likely reason for lack of color gamut in the rMinis. For the guy saying it's not "Apple-like" for them to sell non-quality items that's just utter bullocks. Reasons for this possibility; 1) Apple stated that the product would be available "Later in November" what the hell is that? They've never given an unspecific date before. It just makes me even more spectical about how many units they actually have available to sell. 2) There were tons of rumors about how the iPad Mini Retina wouldn't make it to fruition this year, or if so would be in short supplies (which ended up being true), and then even after a rumor relating directly to LG's display manufacturing (the only firm making the rMini's displays), and how they basically sucked at making displays so apple had to throw away a refuse a bunch of them because they didn't meet standards (stating that in 2014 they would be able to produce more units because they've asked Samsung to help with the displays also). That means that probably a lot of the rMini's that made it to the market right now, barely met standards.

2) Apple purposefully gimped the color gamut -

This is personally the reason I think the colors are so bland on the rMini. It is well known that a screen that does not attempt to achieve a higher color gamut is easier to produce and much less costly. Another thing. Apple has done this before - in fact, many times. Take a look at the MacBook Air's screen. Resolution aside, the contrast and saturation is just so bad, even compared to the cMBP which has been discontinued. Again, with the iPad mini (1st gen.) compared to the iPad 2. The screen on the mini just looks worse. It's a lower quality screen, essentially. Even though the resolution is the same, that doesn't mean that is the only thing that determines whether it looks good or not. So they've done this before on their cheaper products, and I'm sure the reason is to cut back on costs.

Just another thing we have to deal with from apple :apple:. First world problems are real for some, including myself lol. The news is very disappointing to me, as I don't want the larger Air, but I will deal with the off-colored mini.

IMO wait till February to see if the newer ones are better, but I bet these results are with intent.


.
 
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I've just read through many of the comments here and wanted to chime in my 2 cents.

I have an iPad Air and iPad rMini. I sat down and put both side by side and just started loading up content on both to see what all this "gamutgate" fuss is about. I plan on keeping both iPads, not looking at both and deciding on keeping just one.

With this said, I personally like the yellow (warmer) screen of the rMini to my decidedly cooler iPad Air colors. True, the rMini's color gamut is vastly different, but I don't think this hinders my experience one bit. To those on the fence of buying one now, trust me, the thing still looks great.

Unless you put it side by side to your phone or iPad Air, you really can't tell there is a yellow tint or that the colors are washed. Your eyes adjust to what you're seeing and in no way do I see it as a distraction.

My best test came to this...I have a subscription to Entertainment Weekly which includes free digital subscriptions as well. I opened up the latest issue and went for pages that featured pictures. Then I opened up the app and went to the same pictures on the iPads. In my best summation, lets just say that my rMini actually looked closer to the printed page than my Air. Overall, my rMini actually produced, IMHO better images than my Air. But if I moved the rMini aside and just read the Mag on my Air, my experience wasn't hindered in anyway.

So what am I saying here? I personally think the best thing to do is buy the rMini as you planned and just enjoy the thing. If for some strange reason the skewed color gamut really gets under your skin then just skip this generation of iPad all together or wait for other manufacturers to get in the game (samsung perhaps?) for the rMini.
 
Like someone said earlier, Apple set their own bar pretty high. People wouldn't notice the mini's inferiority if the iPhone 5(s) and iPad 3/4/Air screens didn't have such vibrant screens with wide gamuts.

That said its down to personal taste and tolerance levels in the end. If it bothers return and get something else. Otherwise buy a case and enjoy for the next 12-24 months.
 
Quantus said:
Might the washed out screen have something to do with Apple's stringent power requirements? Stated another way, do non-washy screens typically consume more power?
Click to expand...
Yes, it is most likely an efficiency issue.
To get more pure primaries (RGB), you have to filter out more of the spectrum of light coming from the backlight.

Higher Gamut = More of the backlight is being filtered away = more power to show an image of the same brightness

The Kindle Fire HDX uses LTPS, which has pixels with larger apertures than IGZO. It also uses quantum dots in its backlight, which makes its spectrum more suitable for filtering. The HDX is a much lower volume product, so it was probably easier to source bleeding-edge tech. Also, the HDX 8.9 is almost the same price as a Retina Mini, while having a display that's not being much bigger, so it probably cost more to produce than the Retina Mini.
 
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This shows again that The Verge reviews have become useless. They didn't even mention the problem with the displays.

It also proves spotty quality control at Apple.

They only have Samsung displays in the display model MacBook Air's for a reason. LG sucks.

When I brought my retina MacBook Pro to the store for a screen replacement I mentioned worries about image retention on the LG displays and the Genius immediately responded that he was fully aware of the quality differences and that "we only have the good ones here" after which he proceeded to replace my screen with a Samsung one.
 
ZBoater said:
I'd put more weight on a professional reviewer than on anonymous posts at Macrumors. But that's just me. Call me silly.
Click to expand...

You might just be silly. Here's a professional reviewer that suggests exactly what everyone on this forum is bitching about:

The iPad Air’s colors are visibly richer and more vivid than the Retina mini’s, something we noticed when playing games such as Anomaly 2 where the Air’s rich blues looked faded on the mini, and when comparing photographs that had more muted pinks and reds on the mini.
Click to expand...

And here's another that says:

...it also produces a noticeably bad (inaccurate) color gamut, which really cramps its style. As you can see, it undersaturates red and wildly shifts blue, which makes for a superbly screwy magenta.
Click to expand...

And his chart comparing the color capabilities of the rMini looks very similar to those produced by the regular iPad Mini, which puts the iPad Mini display behind it's competition yet again.
 
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