All iPads My opinion: Displays of iPad Mini Retina and iPad Air

[x-evil-x]

1990's dot matrix printer? Really? And the rMini has the same color range as a 1960's television set!

Even if the Air is "non-retina" by those arguments, nobody is complaining about the Air's resolution besides you. Wish I could say the same for the rMini's gamut (or lack of) issue....it seems that 4 out of every 5 reviews make a note about the rMini's inferior color reproduction versus the Air and almost every other 7" tablet.

You really hate the retina mini don't you? I've had the air for over 3 weeks and the mini for a few days now. I can't put the mini down. Yes I did compare them but seriously it's not a big deal.... You need to chill out on inferior panels and gamut. I prefer the mini to the air also. Air is going back this week.
Does it make you mad when somebody likes the mini more? Let it go it's not a big issue if any at all. To you it is but why? Does this really change overall enjoyment of the device? No it doesn't...

 

[cababah]

You really hate the retina mini don't you? I've had the air for over 3 weeks and the mini for a few days now. I can't put the mini down. Yes I did compare them but seriously it's not a big deal.... You need to chill out on inferior panels and gamut. I prefer the mini to the air also. Air is going back this week.
Does it make you mad when somebody likes the mini more? Let it go it's not a big issue if any at all. To you it is but why? Does this really change overall enjoyment of the device? No it doesn't...

I don't hate the rMini at all. I hate that the owners try to muster arguments that attack the Air to justify their choice. You prefer the rMini? That's fantastic...just don't join the ranks of people that feel the need to bash the Air and it's lower PPI to falsely elevate the notion that the rMini's display is superior.

For the record, (and I've stated this before) I had my heart set on a rMini but decided that Apple skimped out on the color accuracy of the display yet kept a price premium. In my eyes, it was not a good value. A lot of people probably don't pay attention to color gamut but I do tend to notice things like that.

 

[x-evil-x]

I don't hate the rMini at all. I hate that the owners try to muster arguments that attack the Air to justify their choice. You prefer the rMini? That's fantastic...just don't join the ranks of people that feel the need to bash the Air and it's lower PPI to falsely elevate the notion that the rMini's display is superior.

For the record, (and I've stated this before) I had my heart set on a rMini but decided that Apple skimped out on the color accuracy of the display yet kept a price premium. In my eyes, it was not a good value. A lot of people probably don't pay attention to color gamut but I do tend to notice things like that.

Just curious what types of tv's and/or monitors do you have?

 

[kristoffer4]

I was most disapointed by the contrast on my ipad mini retina. It sadly lacks behind the air.

 

[Wando64]

Different displays have different characteristics and that's why on any desktop or laptop computer we have calibration tools. If this were an important element in Apples opinion (it is in mine) they could simply implement calibration tools for the iDevices. Saturation too low? Turn it up. Too high? Turn it down. Same with contrast and color temperature. Simples.

Edit: apparently there is an app called colorprofiles for jailbroken devices. I don't know how effective it is as I have no intention of jailbreaking my iPad

 

[bevsb2]

I have the iPad Air and the colors are great however I have looked at the rmini in the store on several occasions and think it looks fine even if the colors are not as saturated. In the OPs photo comparisons I think the Air looks like it has the yellow screen I had on my first 3 Airs. I don't think a yellow or green tinged screen can display accurate colors no matter what the gamut is. I know the colors didn't look accurate on the first 3 yellowish screens I had.

 

[vincenz]

Side by side.

A little off topic, OP, but can we get a link to that wallpaper? thanks!

 

[x-evil-x]

Different displays have different characteristics and that's why on any desktop or laptop computer we have calibration tools. If this were an important element in Apples opinion (it is in mine) they could simply implement calibration tools for the iDevices. Saturation too low? Turn it up. Too high? Turn it down. Same with contrast and color temperature. Simples.

Edit: apparently there is an app called colorprofiles for jailbroken devices. I don't know how effective it is as I have no intention of jailbreaking my iPad

I've used it to make my screen more blueish/cool when I had my retina3. It worked perfectly well. Lots of things jail breaking an iPad can do that are definitely worth it.

 

[macfacts]

Nobody disputes science. But for 99.9% of users, those numbers just ain't matter.

For example, with Air's 264dpi, you can see individual pixels if you look closely, but with rMini's 326dpi, you can't. And if you zoom in on a font, curved sides of letters clearly show jaggedness on Air, much less so on mini. Technically speaking, Air is not Retina. But who cares? Only MR Paranoidists.

Retina is a marketing term made up by Apple and you are not explaining the the entire description of Retina. It does mean you don't see the individual pixels but it is for a specified distance (from the screen to your eyes) that Apple says.

As you say, if you move the screen closer (than what Apple says is the correct/normal distance) then you can see the pixels.

 

[SupraSaiyan]

@akdj thanks for your post. By far one of the greatest post I've read in the years of lurking this forum.

 

[samiznaetekto]

Retina is a marketing term made up by Apple and you are not explaining the the entire description of Retina. It does mean you don't see the individual pixels but it is for a specified distance (from the screen to your eyes) that Apple says.

As you say, if you move the screen closer (than what Apple says is the correct/normal distance) then you can see the pixels.

You're right. The Air cannot be called "non Retina". However, there's still a distinction between A: not being able to resolve individual pixels period, and B: not being able to resolve pixels from typical usage distance, yet being able to see them when bringing the screen closer to your eyes, for example, to read fine print or to examine small detail in non-zoomable app. That's what I call "true Retina" and "semi-Retina".

It's similar to printed page resolution: there's a reason that 300dpi is the minimum standard for high-quality printing - even if you rarely examine Letter-size page from 4" distance, it's simply nice that you can't see individual dots no matter what (although for printed page, rather 600dpi is such a threshold, but below 300dpi is "not so good" quality).

 

[edhawk1965]

Well I don't know about color gamut, but we have went way past the
100% level on the douche gamut scale on this thread.