Retina iPad Mini's Display Criticized Over Poor Color Gamut and Accuracy

[mdelvecchio]

actually, what Anand said was:

"The biggest [difference between mini/Air] in my eyes is the iPad Air’s wider gamut display with full sRGB coverage. The mini’s Retina Display is good, the Air’s is just better. "

...doesnt sound like a major disappointment to me. in fact, it's the same as last year's mini gamut. we got retina in this year's, w/o any significant weight or battery issues. thats amazing! yet, hater's gotta find something to twist into some click-bait controversy....mac rumors included.

 

[pramirez95]

Problem? More like a feature for me.

This is a good thing. The colors used in iOS 7 are way over saturated anyway.

 

[Rogifan]

Apparently not the tyrant we need.

You meant the tyrant that gave us 2 generations of iPads with average displays?

 

[Airhead1]

Basically go into the Apple Store and just compare on max brightness / both devices.

The Air just has that lovely colour 'pop' and it's definitely more impressive than the mini.
Also check the whiteness of each (photo app) - the mini retina displays a dull white colour v the air. Once you compare in the flesh then it's quite evident.

 

[Cyborg21]

A color gamut is roughly speaking the color span of a device. The bigger the gamut, the purer the colors. The most pure colors are generated with lasers. Everything else is just a more or less good mixture of an illumination with absorption. And it looks like the screen of the new iPad Mini Retina achieves a far smaller gamut than what is expected nowadays.

Is this a problem? Well, as long as you are not buying clothes on the web, you must not really care. EDIT: Though I have to say this is really a disappointing small gamut.

PS: I am positively surprised that they are showing YUV and not Yxy. Good!

Buying iPad mini does not make any sense to me now (unless you need a super-portable device). There is not a very big difference on price tag between iPad mini and iPad Air.

 

[doug in albq]

Well, now that Mac rumors has linked to an article about this issue...it is official. I sure am missing Zboater in this thread...

 

[BMcCoy]

It's like any perceived deficiency - those who don't own the product will affirm the problem more vigorously, as part of confirmation bias to justify non-purchase.
Those who do won't he product may minimise the impact of a perceived deficiency, to defend their purchase.
And some will see the middle ground.. Not many though!

 

[macchiato2009]

oh my, i was a trip and just got home today,

i almost ordered a new iPad Mini Retina when i saw this article

i guess MR just make me save a lot of money



i will be waiting for Samsung to supply the display

 

[gatearray]

MacRumors reminds me of the Pee Wee's Playhouse episode where "color gamut" was the secret word of the day.

Agreed, makes me miss the old "skeumorphism" days, sigh.

 

[briand05]

The problem for me is they raised the price and it still has this weakness. A lot of people including myself thought this was going to be the same display that you get on the iPad Air, it's not. It's easy to notice, the screen isn't as vibrant as most other screens now on the market. The thing is the Nexus 7 has a much nicer screen and it costs $170 less than the retina mini. If they would have kept the price as $329 it would have been a bit more excusable, but at $399 no way.

 

[furi0usbee]

I'm really down with Apple, using inferior displays. My retina MBP screen is horrible, my iPhone screens are always yellow. I can honestly say that the screens, for me, have always been the weakest point. I simply don't know why they have display issues with every product I buy.

Bryan

 

[netnothing]

Although, I have to say, Anandtech needs to test more than one example. There are multiple suppliers and screens vary wildly even from the same supplier.

oh my, i was a trip and just got home today,

i almost ordered a new iPad Mini Retina when i saw this article

i guess MR just make me save a lot of money



i will be waiting for Samsung to supply the display

This isn't about different screen manufacturers. This generation of the rMini is NEVER going to have the larger color gamut. It's a choice Apple made. All displays are going to be using the smaller gamut.

Now, you can certainly wait for Samsung displays if you want to try to avoid the yellow tinting issue....but don't hold your breath for 108% gamut.

-Kevin

 

[SirHaakon]

Its not lost on people. Clearly its not the same. The objective data shows that.

Not sure if you're trolling, just being sarcastic, or don't understand how screen real estate works.

The iPad Air's screen resolution is 2048x1536. The iPad Mini with Retina Display's screen resolution is 2048x1536. In case you didn't notice, those numbers are the same. You could have a 60" monitor, and if the resolution was 2048x1536, it would have identical screen real estate as an iPad Mini with Retina Display. The number of things you can put on the screen doesn't change; you're just blowing images up as the screens get physically larger (at a loss of pixel density). Thus they are fuzzier and less sharp as a result. The iPad Air still has a decent screen (it's not THAT much larger than an iPad Mini's screen), and for the everyday person it will be plenty pixel dense enough. But it gains them zero screen real estate over an iPad Mini with Retina Display, and is actually a waste of space unless they are sensitive to the smaller UI elements.

This is in contrast to the iPad Mini with Retina display and the iPhone 5s, which both have the same pixel density (326 ppi) but different screen sizes. In this case, you actually do get a lot more screen real estate. This is why they make specific apps for iPads that have more onscreen elements than the iPhone versions, but they don't make iPad Air apps vs. iPad Mini with Retina Display apps. Those two are identical in resolution (and thus, identical in screen real estate).

 

[Konrad9]

Damn you people are so ANNOYING!!! Shut up already and stop your whining. The RiPad Mini is fine. People are way too picky!!!

If it was the other way around would you not be praising Apple for it's innovative new screen and how it doesn't sacrifice quality for profit?

 

[BC2009]

Certainly Apple touts color accuracy in their displays and has trained us with the iPhone 5/5s/5c and iPad 3/4/Air to expect the best in color reproduction. Given the rave reviews on the iPad mini with Retina Display with many touting the quality of the display (e.g.: Engadget calling it one of the best displays and The Verge scoring it 10/10), I begin to wonder how much the majority of people who say that they can discern the difference in color accuracy between iPhone 4/4s and iPhone 5/5c/5s and the like are just imagining the difference. I've known people who say that they can tell the difference between two high-end audio systems when they both sounded great to me.

I know I can tell when a screen looks really over saturated, washed out, overly dim, has terrible contrast ratio, or has a really low pixel density. But what is the threshold on these things where the majority of consumers (including myself and apparently reviewers) cannot tell the difference and we are just imagining it?

Looking at the color gamut for the device, it is clearly a far cry from the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HDX. If I had seen that reversed, would I have just said "that's one reason why I prefer the iPad mini"? Is the real truth that color gamut is like pixel density and after a point, most people cannot tell the difference?

The real reason I know I am buying my daughter an iPad mini is because if I got her a Nexus 7 or Kindle Fire HD it would likely sit on the charger week after week like her Nook Color does. When she won a Nook Color at school, all she kept asking me was "does it have this game?" or "does it have that app?" and I had to keep saying "no, sorry". A single loss in the spec war is not going to shift my purchase to another device. Certainly, Apple's iPad mini has a screen that is 33% larger (same argument you here from Galaxy Note purchasers). Certainly, iPad mini has killer silicon, great design, and an awesome ecosystem. I don't think color gamut falls into the purchasing decision, but I think it is disappointing when Apple, who touts color accuracy, fails to deliver when you are buying such a pricey tablet.

 

[netnothing]

I'm really down with Apple, using inferior displays. My retina MBP screen is horrible, my iPhone screens are always yellow. I can honestly say that the screens, for me, have always been the weakest point. I simply don't know why they have display issues with every product I buy.

Bryan

Pretty sad when the display IS the product in most cases. You'd think they would put the best in all the time.

-Kevin

 

[Plutonius]

I'm glad to see Apple getting called out on this. They have big boy pants and in the long run will only make for a better product in the future.

Nothing to be called out on. It was a design decision to reduce heating / power consumption. To put in a full gamut display, Apple could have either

1) Reduced the display size to the Kindle / Nexus but people would have complained.

2) Made the mini 2 bigger / heavier for a larger battery but people would have complained.

3) Reduced the time the mini 2 runs on it's battery but people would have complained.

Apple decided to have a lower gamut on it's mini 2 display rather than the above three options. The display does look very nice and it's only when you put it side by side with the Air that you notice the difference in gamut.

Which option would you have picked ?

The problem for me is that the good apple consumer would own multiple apple devices. The reason i realized color gamut issues is because i own an iphone 5 and a rmbp 15". Shame on apple

Likewise, which of the above options would you have picked ?

 

[SirHaakon]

Is anyone *really* that bothered about colours on their iPad?

Yes. Enough to return mine. I realize everyone has different tolerances, however. All you have to do is pick one up and use it to see if it bothers you enough.

 

[FrozenDarkness]

The problem for me is that the good apple consumer would own multiple apple devices. The reason i realized color gamut issues is because i own an iphone 5 and a rmbp 15". Shame on apple

 

[lolkthxbai]

It's a bummer. But if it meant it would be delayed any longer I don't think I would have been happy with the holiday line up.

 

[FrozenDarkness]

Nothing to be called out on. It was a design decision to reduce heating / power consumption. To put in a full gamut display, Apple could have either

1) Reduced the display size to the Kindle / Nexus but people would have complained.

2) Made the mini 2 bigger / heavier for a larger battery but people would have complained.

3) Reduced the time the mini 2 runs on it's battery but people would have complained.

Apple decided to have a lower gamut on it's mini 2 display rather than the above three options. The display does look very nice and it's only when you put it side by side with the Air that you notice the difference in gamut.

Which option would you have picked ?

What....?

 

[wigby]

I agree the display just seems dull not vibrant at all. Clarity is great but just seems very dull and not bright at All. Anyone else feel this way?

no. go to an apple store and hold iPad mini against ipad air. you will see no difference.

 

[comatose81]

The great thing is that Apple offers a ridiculously generous return policy. If the screen is too under-specced or the color gamut is too poor, take it back. You aren't being forced to buy or keep any Apple device.

 

[batotman]

Time to toss my iPads for Nexus 7's. Oh right, I don't buy tablets based on imperceptible differences or even obvious differences. I'd take an ipad 2 over a Nexus 7 any day and I do own both. One that was passed down to my kid and the other as a cheap tablet to throw in my glovebox and use as needed to look up data in the field.

 

[SirHaakon]

It's still a good-looking screen, but it's not pushing the state of the art like competitors are, and not as good as the screen on the larger sized model.

It's not as good as the screen on the smaller sized model, either (the iPhone). It's frustrating that their products on both sides of the spectrum are great, but the tablet form factor I was excited about and finally had great resolution ended up just being mediocre and uninspired.