I don't understand why OLED is being used on the display of the new 2024 M4 iPad Pro. Is it simply for people that are consuming content and want the inky blacks? Are most people using it for this purpose?
My understanding is that OLED technology, despite advancing over the last few years, still has not been able to solve the burn-in problem. I use my 2018 iPad Pro to take notes using GoodNotes so I always have the screen on for a long period of time. I've noticed that the way I use my iPad is very different than my iPhone. I use my iPhone relatively sparingly compared to my iPad or Mac. The screen definitely stays on longer.
With my use-case, would an iPad with an OLED screen have a high chance of burn-in?
This is from Tech Radar article on it.
"There are two historic issues with OLED screens, whether that's on the
best OLED TVs, the
best laptops or the
best phones.
The first is brightness. OLED screens are not especially bright compared to what you can do with LED/LCD screens. And this is a problem with any device that will be used in sunlight or any bright environment, because it means you'll face reflections that interfere with what you're seeing.
The second is 'burn-in'. OLED screens are prone to an problem where images that stay on an OLED screen for a very long time, such as the Taskbar in Windows, or the floating 'Home' bar on iPadOS, may become imprinted on the display permanently, leaving a ghost image that's always there, even when you have something else displayed.
These two problems are somewhat connected: you could make OLED screens brighter by pushing more power through them, but that generates a lot more heat, and heat is a big factor in causing burn-in.
Tandem OLED screens, like the new iPad Pro's, are supposed to solve both of these issues by, essentially, throwing pixels at the problem.
With two layers of OLED pixels, there is literally twice as much light being produced, because OLED pixels generate their own light. This allows Apple to reach 1,600 nits of peak
HDR brightness and 1,000 nits of fullscreen HDR brightness, which is exactly what the previous iPad Pro could achieve using a mini-LED screen. This is way beyond what other large OLED screens manage, especially for the fullscreen brightness. For comparison, the brightest fullscreen OLED TV measurement we've ever taken is 318 nits, during our
Samsung S95D review. Apple is delivering triple that – albeit, in a much smaller screen.
That solves the brightness issue, but what about burn-in? Well, the other advantage of using two layers of pixels is that if you're using the device at a more standard brightness (as you will be the vast majority of the time), each layer can run
less bright than a single layer would have to, making each more efficient in terms of energy and heat use. That helps to reduce a key cause of burn-in, and should help to keep the screen going for longer in general.
At least, these are the goals of Tandem OLED as a technology. And all while keeping the things that OLED is renowned for, including excellent image quality from all viewing angle, superb color reproduction and – of course – unmatched per-pixel contrast and realistic black tones."
