Sharp meets Apple's standards for iPad Retina display, LG lags behind - report
Sharp finally received verification to begin supplying Retina displays for Apple's new iPad in February, but LG Display has yet to meet Apple's standards.
Sharp's recent iPad Retina display approval means the company only managed to ship total units to Apple, according to DigiTimes. As a result, Apple has remained largely dependent on one of its fiercest rivals, Samsung, to produce the high-resolution screens for its third-generation iPad.
While Sharp recently entered the supply chain for displays for the new iPad, another major LCD manufacturer, LG, is not yet providing components to Apple. It was said that a "quality issue" has kept LG from building screens for the new iPad.
That contradicts a report from last week, in which Reuters claimed that LG was, in fact, supplying Retina displays for the new iPad. That report made no mention of Sharp, which was previously said to be pushing its IGZO display technology for the third-generation iPad, but Apple ultimately passed.
Aside from Samsung's involvement, there has been considerable confusion as to who is building Retina displays for the new iPad. One report even claimed that Samsung was the sole supplier of high-resolution iPad screens to Apple.
Samsung's role in the new iPad's Retina display was confirmed last week in a teardown of the device. While Apple often uses multiple suppliers for key components, that one particular model that was disassembled was confirmed to have an LCD panel manufactured by Samsung.
According to NPD DisplaySearch, the new iPad's screen has been difficult for display makers to manufacture, as it relies on the "a-Si TFT" production process that reportedly tests the upper limits of display technology. The 264 pixels-per-inch packed into the iPad's 9.7-inch screen is believed to be the highest possible pixel density for an a-Si TFT screen.
The new iPad is also said to feature twice the number of LEDs for backlighting, now utilizing at least 72 LEDs. The additional horsepower required to drive the new high-resolution display has also led to more power consumption, necessitating the larger battery found in the iPad, while it has also led to a device that runs slightly warmer than its predecessor.
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Comments
I recommend lightening the screen a bit, as Apple has it set too low at 50%. That will clear up the highlights, and remove a bit of magenta from the shadows. But without being able to calibrate it, it's going to remain this way.
For photographers, there is a monitor calibration tool that's not too expensive, made by Datacolor Spyder3 Express. It costs about $75. I bought it just for the iPad. I ll explain, if anyone is interested.
I recommend lightening the screen a bit, as Apple has it set too low at 50%. That will clear up the highlights, and remove a bit of magenta from the shadows. But without being able to calibrate it, it's going to remain this way.
Correct me if I'm wrong here, but wouldn't it just be generating a profile? I don't believe the ipad has any real matrix or LUT based system, and if the gamma is really off like you suggest, even that could be problematic given the number of hardware values you could lose. I mention the difference at times because it becomes more noticeable as the display ages. X-rite has something where they do regional patch tests on displays when generating a profile much like the old Barco tests. It would be cool if they had that for the ipad given its infusion into professional fields where such a thing would carry increased desirability.
For photographers, there is a monitor calibration tool that's not too expensive, made by Datacolor Spyder3 Express. It costs about $75. I bought it just for the iPad. I ll explain, if anyone is interested.
Is the display able to be calibrated? Is there an app that changes to colors on the display to better the accuracy?
I can't imagine that Apple allows any changes out of the box.
Obviously to use multi-suppliers they have to lower the bar down from best quality.
However for pixel density, if this is top end then it is not IPS which has a much higher density already.
I predict all apple pc's will be retina from here out.
I see 1-2 future updates that won't be, for obvious reasons.
I predict all apple pc's will be retina from here out. At fist I did not notice the diference between my iPads after using the new iPad on the weekend now the old iPad screen looks bad and my laptop horrible...
New display technology tends to start out smaller given that without a perfected manufacturing process, your yield could be terrible at larger display sizes. Also keep in mind the panel technology used in the macbook airs/pros is still TN. They're considerably less expensive. IPS has remained quite expensive in notebook displays. I have a feeling it may be that they're treated as a niche feature. Overall I didn't think Apple did a bad job with their notebook displays. Some of the old ones like the white macbook display really sucked. I saw them in the Apple store at the time, and while it was a low end model for Apple, they still started at $1000.
Is the display able to be calibrated? Is there an app that changes to colors on the display to better the accuracy?
I can't imagine that Apple allows any changes out of the box.
It probably has some kind of basic LUT loader, but Apple has never allowed anything to directly address the display. The display hardware settings are basically fixed on their cinema/thunderbolt display. You can assign a profile that tweaks some of the input settings, but fixing such a gamma issue could cause it to drop quite a few input values. This doesn't mean you'd absolutely see an issue afterward, but it's possible, and that is my concern as what he suggested is a pretty big thing. Assuming the permissions are the same as you'd have under OSX, it would mean that you'd feed the display different input curves rather than correct its native behavior meaning that some tones in those color channels may not be addressed. Bleh I suck at explaining this stuff.