iPad mini 2 display’s color accuracy is worse than Apple's iPad Air

[RaduTyrsina]

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According to some display tests run by Anandtech, The Retina display on Apple's newest 7.9-inch iPad mini has a smaller range of colors than the high-resolution screen in the larger iPad Air. There has been a lot of talk about the Retina display panel in the new iPad Mini, but it seems that it comes with a few drawbacks.

Anand Lal Shimpi from Anadtech found out that Apple has chosen to equip the new iPad mini with a display that features the same narrow color gamut as the first-generation iPad Mini. Besides the iPad Air, Google's Nexus 7 and Nvidia's Tegra Note 7 have scored better results in the color accuracy test. Anand further details:

The iPad mini with Retina Display has the same color gamut as the standard iPad mini, which is narrower than the iPad Air and less than the sRGB coverage we normally look for. The biggest issue here is that there are other smaller tablets in this price range that do offer sRGB coverage (e.g. Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HDX 8.9).

He also explains the potential reason for this:

I suspect the justification here is Apple likely views the bigger iPad as being a better fit for photographers/those who care about color reproduction, but it’s a shame that this is a tradeoff that exists between the two iPads especially given how good Apple is about sRGB coverage in nearly all of its other displays.

Albeit apparent, this is a very small issue and most likely won’t be noticed by owners. But iPad Mini 2 display’s seems to have some real problem, as it was recently discovered that several users have been complaining about image retention issues.

Source: AnandTech

 

[AQ_OC]

Ok....I've been hearing this over and over and now I need to think about this. I want to use my mini 2 for viewing photos I take, so having a weak color palate is a big deal. I might have to get the Air instead, which frankly, is very disappointing. I don't see why apple would need to assume anything about the user of its devices, other than that we want the best.

 

[s2mikey]

Ok....I've been hearing this over and over and now I need to think about this. I want to use my mini 2 for viewing photos I take, so having a weak color palate is a big deal. I might have to get the Air instead, which frankly, is very disappointing. I don't see why apple would need to assume anything about the user of its devices, other than that we want the best.

This color palette thing does seem to be a fairly big deal. I've read about on some other forums too. The new Air is quite light and more portable than ever so perhaps it would work for you? That extra screen real estate is rather nice as well.

 

[AQ_OC]

This color palette thing does seem to be a fairly big deal. I've read about on some other forums too. The new Air is quite light and more portable than ever so perhaps it would work for you? That extra screen real estate is rather nice as well.

But I really prefer the size of the mini over the Air. I know the Air is lighter than all the previous iPads and has better battery life than the mini 2...but...but...the mini is just easier to use in real life and charges way faster than the Air. And the screen is not super small (remember, I have a Nexus 7-2013 and a OG Kindle fire, a 3nd gen iPad, and a Nexus 10). I find I can read on it easier. To me, the mini 2 (which I don't have yet) is going to be the King/Queen of all tablets. It will get a notch down for poor color rendition, but I think the other attributes still leave it on top of the heap.

I do my main editing on a PC with a lovely 27-inch screen that has excellent color. So, yes, if I want to show someone my images on the mini the colors will be slightly off, but that's true on most screens anyway. These days, folks buy cheap monitors so most people don't see colors as the should be. I don't really have a strong need to have perfect color rendition, I just prefer to have it all else being equal.