IGZO and LTPSFor the last two years one of the most talked about developments in display technology has been the introduction of IGZO (Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide). For both LCD and OLED displays, IGZO can be used to make the electronic circuitry in their Backplanes, which controls all of the pixels and sub-pixels. IGZO’s higher electron mobility allows the circuitry to be much smaller compared to traditional amorphous Silicon a-Si, which is currently what is used in most LCD displays. That allows the brightness and power efficiency of the display to significantly increase, which is very important. But the introduction of IGZO has been repeatedly delayed as the result of production and yield issues. Although all of the major display manufacturers are working on IGZO, Sharp has been the biggest advocate, and it is currently shipping some IGZO displays, including in the current iPads. LG is also shipping IGZO displays, including in its OLED TV, but not currently for the iPads. This has created a production problem where Apple is using both IGZO and a-Si displays in the current iPads. The problem is that a-Si has much lower power efficiency than IGZO, so it uses much more power and also needs bigger batteries. So how can Apple use both display technologies in the same product? I’ve been told by using much higher performance (and cost) White LEDs in the Backlight of the a-Si panels, which equalizes the power efficiency for both types of displays in different ways. As a result, both types of displays can be engineered into the same Tablet and can provide comparable results for the consumer. All of this reliance on IGZO is really bad planning… Right now there is a readily available display technology that has much higher performance than IGZO. It’s Low Temperature Poly Silicon LTPS, and it is used in all of the iPhones and in all of Samsung OLEDs (so it’s available in large quantities). Two innovative Tablet manufacturers, Amazon and Google, have significantly leapfrogged Apple by introducing Tablet displays using LTPS (in the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 and the new Nexus 7), and they are significantly outperforming the IGZO and a-Si displays in the current iPads. Apple is now lagging in displays, an area where it was once the leader...
Color GamutThe Color Gamut is the range of colors that a display can produce. In order to show accurate on-screen colors the display must match the Standard sRGB/Rec.709 Color Gamut that is used to produce virtually all consumer content. Note that consumer content does not include colors outside of the Standard Gamut, so a display with a wider Color Gamut cannot show colors that aren't in the original and will only produce inaccurate exaggerated on-screen colors – so in this instance, bigger than 100 percent is not better. The measured Color Gamuts for these Mini Tablets are shown in Figure 1. The Kindle Fire HDX 7 and Nexus 7 both have Color Gamuts close to the sRGB/Rec.709 Standard, in the range of 97 to 103 percent, which is very good. However, the iPad mini Retina Display has a much smaller 63 percent Color Gamut, which is incredibly disappointing because it produces noticeably subdued image colors. In fact, it’s almost identical to the Gamuts on the much older iPad 2 and the original iPad mini. That is inexcusable for a current generation premium Tablet. It’s way below the Kindle Fire HDX 7 and 8.9, the iPad 3, iPad 4, iPad Air, and just about all current generation premium Tablets and Smartphones.
I am thankful for these comparisons and think it will only help display quality to improve.As a videophile, I sort of laugh though when people are complaining about color accuracy on a 7" screen that costs $399 when they purchase a new $2,000 60" HDTV and would never once think about getting the screen calibrated so that it is "accurate".I feel like these tablets are being held to a much higher standard than HDTV's that can cost 5-10x as much, but still hope that Apple can improve their display quality going forward.
exactly. a good 90% of consumers have no idea what color gamuts are and more than likely couldn't distinguish between variances unless they were pointed out to them. Color accuracy is important for photo and video work, neither of which is done on an iPad in any meaningful capacity. If anything, having a less saturated display will help to cut down on all the artificial color enhancements the world of marketing has given us. As long as i don't see banding or harsh gradients, i'm pretty sure the colors on my iPad mini display are just fine, for me, and for 99% of consumers.
There is a big article on CNN where they interviewed the typhoon victims about the iPad mini with Retina Display. The one woman stated "what happened hear pales in comparison to the color gamut issues that are rampant in the new iPad mini with Retina Display".
mayo om 16:58, 19-11-2013je kunt nu niet beweren dat het ontbreken van e.a. gezeur is omdat de prijs daar naar is.
mayo om 16:58, 19-11-2013Mensen die anno 2013 nog prijzen naar guldens omrekenen... tja.
mayo om 16:58, 19-11-2013p.s. mijn Dell 27" scherm is vanuit de fabriek voor de professional gekalibreerd en kost rond de €400
Gast
