New Apple iPad mini has higher pixel density, but poorer color accuracy than the Apple iPad Air

Analysis of the screen on the new Apple iPad mini with Retina display shows that it has some shortcomings compared to the screen on the full-sized Apple iPad Air and other competing slates. First, we do have to point out that the new mini's higher resolution of 2048 x 1536 matches the resolution found on the panel employed by the iPad Air. But thanks to the smaller 7.9 inch panel on the mini compared to the 9.7 inch screen on Apple's new full-sized slate, the former has the highest pixel density of any Apple device at 324ppi. Text and graphics look much sharper on the new mini compared to the prior model which has a 162ppi pixel density, and the iPad Air which sports a 264ppi pixel density.

But that is where the good times end for the Apple iPad with Retina display. The tablet happens to offer the same color gamut as last year's model, which is lower than the color gamut on the iPad Air. The gamut measures the subset of colors available within a larger range of colors, which in this case is the sRGB standard, which represents 1 million colors. The testing showed that the Apple iPad mini with Retina display has a narrower gamut than the iPad Air which limits its ability to reproduce colors accurately. The testing also showed that the new iPad mini has a narrower color gamut than those found on competing lower priced slates with similar or smaller screen sizes, such as the Nexus 7 and the Amazon Kindle Fire HDX 8.9.

You can see the difference in the way that color is reproduced on the Apple iPad mini with Retina display and the Apple iPad Air. Sure, the resolution on the new iPad mini with Retina display does offer a sharper image than on the the OG iPad mini and even the iPad Air. But when it comes to accurately reproducing colors, there is room for improvement.


source: AnandTech via AppleInsider