iPad Pro Grainy display on new iPad Pro M4?

[sziehr]

I am going to end up returning it due to eye strain issues, and i am not 100% sure where the eye strain is coming from. The reddit people would point the finger at PWM, but i am not sure that is what it is, all i know is the text is not as clear nor as sharp as any of my IPS units, and as i use this for productivity and not just watching hdr, that’s a deal breaker for me. This is a very personal thing, and i would not say it is all people at all times in all places etc….. just my own personal experince.

I watned to love this, heck i have held out for a better display on the 11 for years and here i am the moment has arrived and it is like a giant let down

 

[DeepSix]

Unacceptable for a device this expensive.

 

[DeepSix]

, all i know is the text is not as clear nor as sharp as any of my IPS units,

That sums it up right there. Even though others will say, “but those blacks as so deep”….”you need OLED”…….”the new iPad is thinner and I no longer get arm strain”.

 

[ZombiePete]

No, my first post should've said "I don't notice it while actually using it". Yes, when I remove my glasses, put it next to my face, go in total darkness and really put effort into it - I notice it. Same case with my OLED TVs.

Agreed; I can reproduce the graininess if I take a picture of my iPad screen with a gray image up and the brightness turned way down, but I don’t see that same graininess with my naked eye. I can reproduce the same graininess on my iPhone if I repeat the process, and I have never had a complaint about that screen.

Unless some people have iPad screens with much worse uniformity, this really is a non-issue. It's just succeeding at inducing anxiety in people who are not used to this kind of drama.

At the end of the day, if people want to make it an issue that’s up to them. I don’t see any real remedy for them because this is not something that I think can ultimately be “fixed”. Learn not to be fixated on it maybe?

 

[sziehr]

That sums it up right there. Even though others will say, “but those blacks as so deep”….”you need OLED”…….”the new iPad is thinner and I no longer get arm strain”.

yeah i mean if it does not do the prime job, its kinda not gonna work for me personally, and hey maybe this is an early production issue, with early software. I am not writing off the idea of this ipad all togeather, i am just saying 1400 is a pretty big gamble on them either sorting it out, or i have to get a new display when they do, either way i am going to have to haggle and i just do not have time for that

 

[IT Troll]

Regular usage - working over the day, watching movies in dark at night, reading outside, reading inside, doing anything really - no, I don't notice it.

Ironically, one of the few times I really notice it is reading this forum at night when the screen brightness drops to lower levels. The keyboard is the other obvious place as a large portion of the screen is grey.

Movies are absolutely fine, no problems there.

I don't see it at all with the iPhone OLED, but then the pixel are much smaller and single layer.

 

[Donza]

Spoiler

Close up of my 27” Apple Studio Display.

 

[aevan]

Unacceptable for a device this expensive.

$3000-4000 USD OLED TVs have much worse uniformity issues and people still love them. It's just how this tech is. But this is Apple, so of course it's going to be an issue. Graingate!

 

[makrumor]

the text is not as clear nor as sharp as any of my IPS units

Not to open another pandora's box but you might be onto something.

There is some font fringing on OLEDs for sure and that would be subpixel structure responsible for that. It's not as bad as gaming OLED PCs in last years still, but it's nowhere near as good as RGB sub-pixel structure and whatever they used in LCD iPads.

I haven't seen anyone complain about it yet, so figured it might be my eyes only. PWM could be responsible for worse experience as well.

Source

 

[DeepSix]

yeah i mean if it does not do the prime job, its kinda not gonna work for me personally, and hey maybe this is an early production issue, with early software. I am not writing off the idea of this ipad all togeather, i am just saying 1400 is a pretty big gamble on them either sorting it out, or i have to get a new display when they do, either way i am going to have to haggle and i just do not have time for that

If Apple was smart they would recall these iPads but we know they won’t. I’ll wait until next year when these iPads go on firesale after they release quad OLED iPad with 5% lighter weight and even thinner.

 

[aevan]

If Apple was smart they would recall these iPads but we know they won’t.

If they recalled products whenever there is an "issue" on these forums, they would cease to operate a long, long time ago. This screen is considered as best in class by majority of people. You know why?

Spoiler

Because it is.

 

[DeepSix]

If they recalled products whenever there is an "issue" on these forums, they would cease to operate a long, long time ago. This screen is considered as best in class by majority of people. You know why?

Spoiler

Because it is.

It sures not best in class for me, not even close. My phone has a better screen and I’ve had that for over a year now.

 

[sparksd]

If they recalled products whenever there is an "issue" on these forums, they would cease to operate a long, long time ago. This screen is considered as best in class by majority of people. You know why?

Spoiler

Because it is.

I'm going to spend the day today in a pitch-dark room with a magnifying glass, finding a reason to hate this 13" Pro that I currently love.

 

[ZombiePete]

If they recalled products whenever there is an "issue" on these forums, they would cease to operate a long, long time ago. This screen is considered as best in class by majority of people. You know why?

Spoiler

Because it is.

He’s really not worth engaging.

 

[ManuCH]

Are you really serious with this? Complaining about an issue that only appears when:

• you use the iPad in total darkness
• turn the brightness down to minimum
• take a picture of the screen or look at it very closely, and isn't noticeable otherwise

Isn't this a case of "you're looking at it wrong"? 😉

 

[thelead]

Regarding text clarity and fringing:
iPad Pro OLED PPI: 264
iPhone Pro OLED: 460

This is an issue with low pixel density OLED monitors in the PC world too due to OLED sub pixel layouts.

 

[makrumor]

Regarding text clarity and fringing:
iPad Pro OLED PPI: 264
iPhone Pro OLED: 460

This is an issue with low pixel density OLED monitors in the PC world too due to OLED sub pixel layouts.

Thats obvious between different ppi devices, but we are talking same size ipads, just oled vs ips.

 

[thelead]

Thats obvious between different ppi devices, but we are talking same size ipads, just oled vs ips.

Which is why I mentioned sub pixel layout at the end. There has been a ton of discussion on this topic on the pc side of things (OLED vs IPS/LCD monitors).

I mentioned PPI because the higher the PPI, the lesser the effect appears which is why there aren’t complaints on the iPhone side of things.

 

[Ta0jin]

Wonder if it's the stacked oled displays? It's not noticeable on phones.

There’s actually a thread about this on phones. I have a black 15 pro with grain and a titanium 15 pro without it. Apparently it’s normal and within tolerances for OLED displays.

 

[ipaddaro]

Not to open another pandora's box but you might be onto something.

There is some font fringing on OLEDs for sure and that would be subpixel structure responsible for that. It's not as bad as gaming OLED PCs in last years still, but it's nowhere near as good as RGB sub-pixel structure and whatever they used in LCD iPads.

I haven't seen anyone complain about it yet, so figured it might be my eyes only. PWM could be responsible for worse experience as well.

View attachment 2382583

Source

tbh, M4 image looks sharper than M2 one… blooming effect? not sure overall it’s better that the “grainy” that can be seen at very low distance

 

[sziehr]

Are you really serious with this? Complaining about an issue that only appears when:

• you use the iPad in total darkness
• turn the brightness down to minimum
• take a picture of the screen or look at it very closely, and isn't noticeable otherwise

Isn't this a case of "you're looking at it wrong"? 😉

So i would agree, and in fact i do, the screen grain is a thing, it is like vertical banding on an oled tv, IE it is just part and parcel for the display tech some have more or less dithering at times of spotting it.

The PWM is a thing, and it may be jarring people who have not had a screen this size be PWM and this low a rate.

Then there is the sub-pixel fringe on text, they could optimize this with a oled rendering of the font…. they have not.

So you get white text with mora around it, for some like my self i find this to be unpleasant to view for long periods of time. I am left with not amazing options, but they are for me and that’s my issue. My view of the product and its issues are not related to others, and i am saying most if not all people will be blown away with this display and the tech. I seem to have drawn the unlucky straw. I also drew the unlucky DLP straw [ can see rainbows on none triple DMD deployments].

 

[DeepSix]

Not to open another pandora's box but you might be onto something.

There is some font fringing on OLEDs for sure and that would be subpixel structure responsible for that. It's not as bad as gaming OLED PCs in last years still, but it's nowhere near as good as RGB sub-pixel structure and whatever they used in LCD iPads.

I haven't seen anyone complain about it yet, so figured it might be my eyes only. PWM could be responsible for worse experience as well.

View attachment 2382583

Source

Yikes. Glad I did not buy a M4. What good is the OLED screen if you have all that grain. M2 mini LED is better and for less money. Anyone who says this grain is minor are refusing to come clean. It’s okay, you paid for a defective product.

 

[jmgregory1]

Yikes. Glad I did not buy a M4. What good is the OLED screen if you have all that grain. M2 mini LED is better and for less money. Anyone who says this grain is minor are refusing to come clean. It’s okay, you paid for a defective product.

Thinking that a “problem” some people on a tech forum are complaining about is an actual problem effecting thousands of millions of users is foolish at best. I’m typing this reply on my new M4 iPad Pro with the nano texture screen and see zero issues with graininess. The screen, to me, looks fantastic with the device I’m using. I’m not saying it’s possible that some iPad screens have quality issues, but assuming all devices are bad is just ridiculous.

 

[Mirage4455]

I’ve got an 11” M4 and after checking closely for this issue I can report that this is not present on my iPad. Haven’t noticed any blooming on my 12.9” M1 either. I’ll enjoy my mini LED 12.9” as well. Just not as much as my OLED, difference is very noticeable to me.

 

[Lobwedgephil]

Yikes. Glad I did not buy a M4. What good is the OLED screen if you have all that grain. M2 mini LED is better and for less money. Anyone who says this grain is minor are refusing to come clean. It’s okay, you paid for a defective product.

So you get a tiny bit of grain in extremely specific cases that you still need to look extremely hard for, but fixed the ghosting, blooming, latency issues. The mini LED was great, the OLED is better, to me.