The iPad mini 4's display shrugs off ambient light like a champ, says DisplayMate

21.09.2015
Apple’s latest iteration of the iPad mini is a thinner, lighter, mulitasking machine, but it’s also sporting a major improvement in display quality. At first glance, the iPad mini 4 has the same 7.9-inch, 2048-by-1536-resolution display as its predecessor. What sets this device apart from the mini 3, however, is its superior color accuracy and low screen reflectivity, according to DisplayMate Technologies.

The display diagnostic and calibration software maker recently revealed its test results for the iPad mini 4’s display quality, and this tablet received high marks. In fact, DisplayMate says the mini 4 now matches the recent larger iPads and the iPhones 5 and 6 in terms of colors and color accuracy.

Where the mini 3 had a “62 percent color gamut with very poor color saturation,” the mini 4 now has a 101 percent sRGB color gamut. This means the number of colors and the accuracy at which they can be displayed is far greater than on the mini 4.

On top of that, the mini 4’s anti-reflective coating is also a major step-up, giving the device a 2 percent screen reflectance score (lower is better). DisplayMate says this is a much bigger deal than the improved color gamut, because a higher reflectance score means that ambient light can wash out and degrade whatever’s on the display. The mini 4 has the lowest screen reflectance for a mobile device tested so far, beating out the previous record holder—the iPad Air 2—by half a percent at 2.5 versus 2.0 percent.

"The iPad mini 4 has finally grown up and become a full fledged respectable iPad family member with a high performance display that Steve Jobs would be proud of," Dr Raymond Soneira writes.

The impact on you at home: If you’re obsessed about display quality then the iPad mini 4 appears to be the 7-inch class tablet you’ve been waiting for. On top the improved screen, the new mini tablet also offers an 8-megapixel camera (over the mini 3’s 5MP shooter), as well as 120 frames-per-second, slow-motion video capabilities.

(www.macworld.com)

Ian Paul