DisplayMate is out today with its usual in-depth analysis of new Apple products, this time examining the display on Apple’s latest tablet, the iPad Pro 9.7-inch. The result? DisplayMate says the new iPad’s display isn’t just the best iPad display yet, but that it also includes record setting performance among all tablets it’s tested as well as hints at iPhone 7 screen upgrade possibilities.
In its report, which compares the new device to not only current iPads but also other top tablets from Microsoft, Samsung and others, DisplayMate shows how the new iPad achieved record results for its display in a number of categories, including: “Highest Absolute Color Accuracy for any display for Both Color Gamuts (1.35 JNCD), Lowest Screen Reflectance for any mobile display (1.7 percent), Highest Peak Brightness in a full size Tablet for any Picture Level (511 nits), Highest Contrast Rating in High Ambient light (301), and Smallest Color variation with Viewing Angle (all under 2.0 JNCD).”
It adds that the lowest low screen reflectance performance means the new iPad’s “image colors and contrast in high ambient light will appear considerably better than any other mobile display.” And even as the brightest full size production tablet, DisplayMate notes that Apple achieved the same power efficiency as the iPad Air 2 by using a lower refresh rate for static images:
The iPad Pro 9.7 display also uses a lower refresh rate when the images remain static (like during our power measurements). These effects all counter-balance one another, so the iPad Air 2 and iPad Pro 9.7 in the end have the same overall Power Efficiency.
Compared to the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, DisplayMate says the smaller 9.7-inch beats out the tablet in just about every category except size (of course) and Black Luminance, which the report notes “results in a higher Contrast Ratio in the dark,” on the 12.9-inch.
The report speculates that display enhancements on the 9.7-inch could hint at things to come for the iPhone 7, with the DCI-P3 Wide Color Gamut and the new Anti-Reflection coating prime candidates according to the display pro’s analysis. “Both of these would also improve the iPhone screen performance and readability in high ambient light. True Tone could be added if Apple upgrades the Ambient Light sensors so they measure Color in addition to Brightness.”
Here’s a look at the overall assessments for the main categories DisplayMate measured for the iPad Pro 9.7 versus the iPad Air 2:
You can read the full very in-depth report from DisplayMate here. And for a real world perspective of the new iPad Pro 9.7, check out Ben’s excellent diary series that focuses heavily on the display enhancements.
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Must be the Secret Display Lab in Taiwan? ; )
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He’s the same guy who did display analysis on Galaxy S7 and found them to be the best mobile phone displays in the world. But then again Fanboys said that he doesn’t know anything or is paid by samsung and OLED is inferior
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What I wonder is, will Apple ever up the ppi of their retina displays to +401 ppi. If 300 ppi is the perfect distance for not being able to discern the pixels, then why need a 401ppi screen?
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There’s reason behind that.
The iPhone 4, 5 and 6 only differ in screen size, not ppi. The screens have gotten more screan real estate, showing more elements on screen, without making them larger (buttons same size, app icons same size, etc.).
Now the Plus is a different story. It doesn’t just add more screen real estate (about 10% in each dimension). But then it also blows up that content another 6% in each dimension, making everything a little bit larger for the first time. In “@2x” retina as we’ve had it in other iPhones, this would mean the ppi would drop from 326 to 306, which is in the danger zone.
Therefore, Apple introduced “@3x” retina to compensate for this problem, upping the ppi from 306 to about 459. However, as that’s WAY above what’s needed, they actively downscale the screen to 401ppi, still above the safety line, but consuming less backlight energy because of larger pixels.
Yes, mapping 459 ppi to 401 ppi makes everything on-screen appear SLIGHTLY blurry, but you won’t notice at 401ppi.
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I wish the pro’s had the option to adjust color profiles like on Macs. Adobe RGB and P# would be enough and welcomed. For editing photos Adobe RGB should be an option.
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The daylight readability and anti reflectiveness definitely needs to happen on the iPhone 7. It is amazing how clear and bright the 9.7″ Pro screen is outside. Not using the anti reflective coating and extra brightness in iPhones is a crime.
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Yup, love the screen!
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I am not switching from my 12.9 Ipad pro- but this is some serious calibration “It is the most color accurate display that we have ever measured. It is visually indistinguishable from perfect, and is very likely considerably better than any mobile display, monitor, TV or UHD TV that you have.”
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Quite pointless test since every panel has a different response…you could have a very bad iPad Pro 9,7″ screen and a great iPad Air 2 or reverse… These tests should be conducted on almost 3/5 different devices 😊
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Is there anyone that knows the manufacturer of the panel to tell us?
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