The DisplayMate President and screen expert Dr. Raymond Soneira agreed with Apple that the new iPad Retina Display is the best a mobile device has ever been equipped with. He also mentioned that the grayscale, color accuracy and picture quality of the third-generation tablet beat even most laptops, HDTVs and monitors.
Soneira found the company’s own “Retina Display” term to be to the point, provided the distance between the device and user eyes is no less than 15-18 inches. However, he wasn’t quite satisfied with the “Retina” part of the name, just like he did in the past, noting that for individual pixels to be indiscernible at this distance the screen must have a minimum of 458 ppi.
As claimed in the report, the newly launched tablet definitely outperforms all the other tablets ever tested by DisplayMate. The analysis revealed that new iPad reached an excellent 99% of the Standard Color Gamut in comparison with the second-generation device, which boasts only 61%.
Soneira found the third-gen iPad so accurate that some minor calibration tweaks could well get it work as a studio reference monitor. DisplayMate chief specifically emphasized the tablet’s incredibly accurate colors and picture quality.
One area where the new iPad model seemed to appear not as strong was screen reflectance. The tablet was identified as in “the middle of the range” seen for smartphones and tablets, reflecting an average 7.7% of the light from all directions. The device also gave up some ground to its predecessor in terms of efficiency. The use of Backlight power for the same display brightness has been reportedly increased more than twofold as compared to the second-gen iPad.
However, the DisplayMate president was impressed by the fact that the 10-hour battery life of the two previous models has been preserved without making the tablet considerably thicker and heavier. A 42.5 watt-hour capacity of the new iPad is 70% more powerful than that of the iPad 2. While the third-gen tablet showed a running time of 5.8 hours at full brightness, its predecessor had 7.2 hours. However, the newer iPad lasted the same 11.6 hours as the second-gen device at medium brightness.
“Apple has drastically improved two of the iPad 2 screen’s major weak points: color saturation and sharpness,” Soneira concluded. “Now they are state-of-the-art.” The DisplayMate chief awarded the Best Mobile Display award to Apple’s third-gen tablet, adding that the device is now qualified for a range of professional uses, including professional photography, field service and medical imaging.
Soneira also stressed on some areas where the new iPad’s screen could still be upgraded. The list includes screen reflectance, automatic brightness, ambient light sensor, OLED displays, RGB LED backlights, display user interface and size.
