Loving the New iPad

[mcdj]

What absolute nonsense! I go into Apple Stores regularly and every new iPad I've seen has been virtually flawless--and I am very critical.

The Retina Display on the new model has been classified by people who are very well-versed in monitor tech as being a near-reference quality display--unheard of in the mobile space and rare even in the consumer desktop space.

What are your qualifications, out of curiosity? And please try not to make something up to impress us.

An Apple store is a showroom. It has showroom lighting. Things look better in showroom lighting by design. Knowing Apple, with their hand picked Italian slate floors and the tech scent they pump in to each store, the lighting is specifically calibrated to compliment an LCD display, given that nearly everything they make has an LCD display. Every single element of the Apple store experience is engineered to the highest degree. The lighting is no exception.

Nearly every iPad of the 7 I've been through looked good enough in the store. It was when I got home, and sat down to look at the screen at normal viewing angles (not standing in a hyperlit showroom), in normal soft incandescent lighting, with the backlight turned down to human levels, that the flaws reared their ugly head.

After the first couple of returns, I got better at seeing past the glamour lighting in the Apple store and detecting issues immediately. Just 2 days ago, I witnessed 2 pink screened iPads in an Apple store, sitting right next to a neutral one. The difference was night and day...to me.

As far as the iPad's screen being classified by "people who know" as a "near reference" display, I say bollocks. First of all, for any display to be even remotely considered as "reference" quality, it must be user calibrate-able.

I work every day on a $2500 Eizo LCD monitor. If I don't calibrate it once a month, the color drifts. This is not a defect. This why they make monitor calibrators. This why the top of the line Eizos have a calibrator built right in to the monitor.

The iPad is sharp. It has a nice wide color gamut. But sharpness and good color range don't automatically mean color accuracy, color evenness, or evenness of backlighting.

As a photo retoucher by trade, and having inspected nearly 50 different new iPads, I can almost guarantee that if we met in your local Apple store, the screens on display might appear virtually flawless to YOU, but they would almost all appear flawed to me, unless the store just got all new replacements from a batch made this past week after some major manufacturing epiphanies and procedural changes.

 

[Hepnotic]

Just picked up a new 64gb 4g at&t model today. It's an awesome device.

The text to speech feature is great I'm actually not even typing this right now I'm only speaking into my iPad it's pretty accurate.

The 4G connection is really fast and the retina display is everything that everyone says it is.

 

[jojoba]

I love mine, too I also upgraded from iPad2. I was really happy with that as well, but this screen is just gorgeous.

 

[ZipZap]

An Apple store is a showroom. It has showroom lighting. Things look better in showroom lighting by design. Knowing Apple, with their hand picked Italian slate floors and the tech scent they pump in to each store, the lighting is specifically calibrated to compliment an LCD display, given that nearly everything they make has an LCD display. Every single element of the Apple store experience is engineered to the highest degree. The lighting is no exception.

Nearly every iPad of the 7 I've been through looked good enough in the store. It was when I got home, and sat down to look at the screen at normal viewing angles (not standing in a hyperlit showroom), in normal soft incandescent lighting, with the backlight turned down to human levels, that the flaws reared their ugly head.

After the first couple of returns, I got better at seeing past the glamour lighting in the Apple store and detecting issues immediately. Just 2 days ago, I witnessed 2 pink screened iPads in an Apple store, sitting right next to a neutral one. The difference was night and day...to me.

As far as the iPad's screen being classified by "people who know" as a "near reference" display, I say bollocks. First of all, for any display to be even remotely considered as "reference" quality, it must be user calibrate-able.

I work every day on a $2500 Eizo LCD monitor. If I don't calibrate it once a month, the color drifts. This is not a defect. This why they make monitor calibrators. This why the top of the line Eizos have a calibrator built right in to the monitor.

The iPad is sharp. It has a nice wide color gamut. But sharpness and good color range don't automatically mean color accuracy, color evenness, or evenness of backlighting.

As a photo retoucher by trade, and having inspected nearly 50 different new iPads, I can almost guarantee that if we met in your local Apple store, the screens on display might appear virtually flawless to YOU, but they would almost all appear flawed to me, unless the store just got all new replacements from a batch made this past week after some major manufacturing epiphanies and procedural changes.

Based upon your description of yourself, I would not classify you as a typical consumer.

Your expectations far exceed what I would consider reasonable.

That said, I suspect that many here are being influenced by hyper-accute posters and would not normally take issue with some of the reported problems.

 

[Fattytail]

Based upon your description of yourself, I would not classify you as a typical consumer.

Your expectations far exceed what I would consider reasonable.

That said, I suspect that many here are being influenced by hyper-accute posters and would not normally take issue with some of the reported problems.

Nope. I think mcdj is spot on actually. I'm far from a "hyper-acute" consumer and even I think the new iPad has screen issues. It's plain as day when compared to my iPad 1 or 2. Neither of the older iPads had any uniformity or tint issues. Not only have the two new iPads both had screen issues, I've spotted similar issues in the Apple store display units. Not all of them, but many. There is clearly a QC issue here. When your screen is dark in the top 1/4, that's called a defeat ... not my being hyper-acute.

 

[PrayForDeath]

Nope. I think mcdj is spot on actually. I'm far from a "hyper-acute" consumer and even I think the new iPad has screen issues. It's plain as day when compared to my iPad 1 or 2. Neither of the older iPads had any uniformity or tint issues. Not only have the two new iPads both had screen issues, I've spotted similar issues in the Apple store display units. Not all of them, but many. There is clearly a QC issue here. When your screen is dark in the top 1/4, that's called a defeat ... not my being hyper-acute.

I'd say you're hyper-unlucky.

 

[UserName]

You "SOLD" your iPad to your dad? You're a good son... NOT!!!

 

[mcdj]

Based upon your description of yourself, I would not classify you as a typical consumer.

Your expectations far exceed what I would consider reasonable.

That said, I suspect that many here are being influenced by hyper-accute posters and would not normally take issue with some of the reported problems.

This is a logical reply, but the rub is that I had zero complaints about the iPad 1 or 2...first ones out of the box were close enough to perfect for me and my hyper acute eyes.

 

[ammarr]

Its easy to see both sides of the picture here. Some people notice stuff, others don't.

I was very happy with two screens of mine (Asus Transformer and iPad 2). When these threads started popping up about iPad 3 display issues, I rechecked those two screens for flaws and sure enough- they both had one side that was a different tint. The transformer had it a little yellow/dull on one side. The iPad had it gray. Took the iPad in, they saw it and exchanged it on the spot and the new one was fine.

People who don't see the issues should be happy and not go looking for it, otherwise they'll be disappointed. Screen unevenness is very very common from what I have been able to tell. No company is making perfect screens.

People who CAN see the issues should get exchanges if it bothers them. Cnce you see the flaws, you notice them every time. It can be frustrating reading on a screen that fades into a different color!

 

[barkomatic]

Isn't it kinda odd that people post images of their screen trying to either prove is disprove that they have issues or not? The only reliable way to accurately determine if a screen has a problem is to directly view it. Any issue with a photo viewed on a secondary device taints the "proof" since the secondary device may itself have an issue or may not have the capability to display the subtle color problems described.

Those that claim to have super-sensitive eyes should know this.

 

[spiderman0616]

An Apple store is a showroom. It has showroom lighting. Things look better in showroom lighting by design. Knowing Apple, with their hand picked Italian slate floors and the tech scent they pump in to each store, the lighting is specifically calibrated to compliment an LCD display, given that nearly everything they make has an LCD display. Every single element of the Apple store experience is engineered to the highest degree. The lighting is no exception.

Nearly every iPad of the 7 I've been through looked good enough in the store. It was when I got home, and sat down to look at the screen at normal viewing angles (not standing in a hyperlit showroom), in normal soft incandescent lighting, with the backlight turned down to human levels, that the flaws reared their ugly head.

After the first couple of returns, I got better at seeing past the glamour lighting in the Apple store and detecting issues immediately. Just 2 days ago, I witnessed 2 pink screened iPads in an Apple store, sitting right next to a neutral one. The difference was night and day...to me.

As far as the iPad's screen being classified by "people who know" as a "near reference" display, I say bollocks. First of all, for any display to be even remotely considered as "reference" quality, it must be user calibrate-able.

I work every day on a $2500 Eizo LCD monitor. If I don't calibrate it once a month, the color drifts. This is not a defect. This why they make monitor calibrators. This why the top of the line Eizos have a calibrator built right in to the monitor.

The iPad is sharp. It has a nice wide color gamut. But sharpness and good color range don't automatically mean color accuracy, color evenness, or evenness of backlighting.

As a photo retoucher by trade, and having inspected nearly 50 different new iPads, I can almost guarantee that if we met in your local Apple store, the screens on display might appear virtually flawless to YOU, but they would almost all appear flawed to me, unless the store just got all new replacements from a batch made this past week after some major manufacturing epiphanies and procedural changes.

Yes, yes. We're all well aware at this point of what you do for a living and how flawed you think all iPad screens are. Give it a rest. Let people enjoy their iPads.

 

[mcdj]

Yes, yes. We're all well aware at this point of what you do for a living and how flawed you think all iPad screens are.

Likewise, we're all well aware that you think the iPad is above scrutiny and that we're all spinning our wheels.

And we're all painfully aware that you have nothing better to do than participate in troubleshooting/complaint threads, yet you have no troubles or complaints, and offer nothing but an annoying repetitive mantra to those who do. Talk about wheel spinning.

 

[Carouser]

[snip]

[snip]

One of you gave a pretty accurate summary of the other's postion, the other gave a pretty bad (and willful) mischaracterization. Exercise for the reader: figure out who, and then read these threads accordingly.

 

[barkomatic]

Likewise, we're all well aware that you think the iPad is above scrutiny and that we're all spinning our wheels.

And we're all painfully aware that you have nothing better to do than participate in troubleshooting/complaint threads, yet you have no troubles or complaints, and offer nothing but an annoying repetitive mantra to those who do. Talk about wheel spinning.

Well, in his defense the title of this thread is "Loving the New iPad" yet for some reason you feel the need to come here and try to convince people that the OP's experience isn't typical, that he can't see the flaws that you can and that most if not all iPads are defective.

This isn't a complaint thread, but you and others have made it so.

 

[Subjugator]

You "SOLD" your iPad to your dad? You're a good son... NOT!!!

Yea, I sold it to him. Instead of him going to buy a new one for $400 or even $300 he got one that was used but in perfect condition for $200. I wish I could afford to buy iPads and just give them away but unfortunately I cannot.

----------

Well, in his defense the title of this thread is "Loving the New iPad" yet for some reason you feel the need to come here and try to convince people that the OP's experience isn't typical, that he can't see the flaws that you can and that most if not all iPads are defective.

This isn't a complaint thread, but you and others have made it so.

Exactly. I have had an iPhone since they first came out. I have had an iPad since they first came out. I now have the new, 3rd generation iPad and I see/ have zero issues with it. I understand that some people do have issues with theirs, and while that sucks and I feel for them my point is that not all of the new iPads are defective and that if you are considering buying one you should not let the only negative threads on here desuede you.

 

[WestonHarvey1]

Based upon your description of yourself, I would not classify you as a typical consumer.

Your expectations far exceed what I would consider reasonable.

That said, I suspect that many here are being influenced by hyper-accute posters and would not normally take issue with some of the reported problems.

I saw how bad my iPad screen was without anyone's help, thank you. I only checked the web afterward to see if this was an isolated incident, which it clearly is not.

I have NEVER returned an Apple product due to dissatisfaction until now. I've had PowerMacs, iBooks, a Mac Pro, 2 Mac Book Pros, a Mac Mini, many iPods, every iPhone, both Apple TVs, Airport Extreme, the first iPad.

My old MBP logic board broke when it was years out of warranty. A couple iPhones have broken with hardware issues. But those things happen, and I always had the confidence that Apple could make me a satisfied customer, and they always have.

Until now. The screen sucks, on nearly every new iPad I've seen. You can't see it and that's great for you, I guess. Don't tell me I'm not experiencing what I'm experiencing - it's offensive.

And by the way: I know there are some with really good screens, because I've seen exactly one. It's sort of like a unicorn. The device is otherwise absolutely thrilling, and I fully believe in the POTENTIAL of the product.

 

[mcdj]

I apologize for jacking this thread (though I was not the first). Enjoy your iPad.

 

[spiderman0616]

I saw how bad my iPad screen was without anyone's help, thank you. I only checked the web afterward to see if this was an isolated incident, which it clearly is not.

I have NEVER returned an Apple product due to dissatisfaction until now. I've had PowerMacs, iBooks, a Mac Pro, 2 Mac Book Pros, a Mac Mini, many iPods, every iPhone, both Apple TVs, Airport Extreme, the first iPad.

My old MBP logic board broke when it was years out of warranty. A couple iPhones have broken with hardware issues. But those things happen, and I always had the confidence that Apple could make me a satisfied customer, and they always have.

Until now. The screen sucks, on nearly every new iPad I've seen. You can't see it and that's great for you, I guess. Don't tell me I'm not experiencing what I'm experiencing - it's offensive.

And by the way: I know there are some with really good screens, because I've seen exactly one. It's sort of like a unicorn. The device is otherwise absolutely thrilling, and I fully believe in the POTENTIAL of the product.

I pulled up a blank Pages document the other day at full brightness in a dark room just to see if I could figure out what you guys are talking about. I saw no yellow, pink, or green tinting anywhere. No uneven lighting. No issues at all with coloring.

 

[WestonHarvey1]

I pulled up a blank Pages document the other day at full brightness in a dark room just to see if I could figure out what you guys are talking about. I saw no yellow, pink, or green tinting anywhere. No uneven lighting. No issues at all with coloring.

That's awesome, and I hope I find one like that soon. I may wait another week for good measure. Hoping these anecdotes about the better quality DY factory iPads are legit and indicative of some kind of process improvement.

This is what mine looked like, by the way. Camera exaggerates it a bit but not much.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/802/photonck.jpg/

 

[Subjugator]

Until now. The screen sucks, on nearly every new iPad I've seen. You can't see it and that's great for you, I guess. Don't tell me I'm not experiencing what I'm experiencing - it's offensive.

And please don't tell me and others that we are not experiencing what we are experiencing or are stupid and don't see it. That's also very offensive and insulting. My iPad is near perfect. I also shoot and edit photography and have had many other apple devices and I see nothing wrong with mine. I find it hard to believe I am a lucky "one in a million".

 

[WestonHarvey1]

And please don't tell me and others that we are not experiencing what we are experiencing or are stupid and don't see it. That's also very offensive and insulting. My iPad is near perfect. I also shoot and edit photography and have had many other apple devices and I see nothing wrong with mine. I find it hard to believe I am a lucky "one in a million".

I'm sure yours is good then. No, it's not one in a million. Maybe it's 1 in 5, or 1 in 10, and degrees of badness in all of the bad ones.

 

[spiderman0616]

That's awesome, and I hope I find one like that soon. I may wait another week for good measure. Hoping these anecdotes about the better quality DY factory iPads are legit and indicative of some kind of process improvement.

This is what mine looked like, by the way. Camera exaggerates it a bit but not much.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/802/photonck.jpg/

I see the pink, and that would annoy me. I still don't think this is a problem in most iPads, but it is annoying.

 

[Jessemtz25]

Actually, I would say most people get defective devices but simply don't know it.

Walk into an apple store and compare their display models and most have severe tint issues.

So why would you say something that you don't know is true or not?

 

[Ipadfever]

That's awesome, and I hope I find one like that soon. I may wait another week for good measure. Hoping these anecdotes about the better quality DY factory iPads are legit and indicative of some kind of process improvement.

This is what mine looked like, by the way. Camera exaggerates it a bit but not much.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/802/photonck.jpg/

Mine looked pretty identical to yours and had it exchanged, the genius employee that serviced me was a great guy and we thoughly went through my new iPad . He even went to the extend of whipping out a pen flashlight and followed around the screen with it , to my surprise he said you can catch dead pixels and uneven hues on the edges.


I did look over it carefully and it looked superb in the store, but when I got home it wasn't as pretty , I do have half a yellow screen. I honestly believe that this occurs after some use on the iPad...why? I am not quite sure.

 

[TheWheelMan]

...I honestly believe that this occurs after some use on the iPad...why? I am not quite sure.

I've used mine heavily for almost a week now and I've seen no change in the screen, at least not so far.