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I noticed that the iPad Air has better color saturation and deeper blacks than the retina iPad mini in the store. It's a still a good looking display, just not as good as it could be. Maybe it's a LG issue and once Samsung panels get in the pipeline, better screens will appear. I think for most people, it won't be an issue. It will only be an issue for picky people, like those who frequent this site.

For the price being paid, I think people have a right to be picky. If this was handed out for free or waaaaay below cost, then that sentiment would be correct :)

I have a 5S and the first app I ran on my rMini, I completely noticed the color saturation issues / gamut issues, and it turned me off right away. Maybe it is a technological limitation, but given that Apple has decided to do away with specs for a single branded title ("Retina display") to reduce consumer confusion and streamline products, I have come to expect that all currently sold "Retina" displays are in fact the same in terms of display and user perception. But that is my fault for assuming that, and perhaps we need to go back to displays with "specs". These issues are the same sort of conning that TV manufacturers perform with their display advertisements ("1M:1 contrast ratio!") BS, and consumers have widened up to the fact that that doesn't mean crap. This issue ruins the brand of "Retina" display, and consumers will think twice in the future when apple uses the term.

Thirdly, given how technology gets cheaper over time, my biggest gripe about the rMini is the price increase over the previous generation. Not to say that I'm not willing to pay more money for a new iPad Mini, but that in order for me to pay MORE money for a 2nd generation device, it has to be WAAAY better than the previous generation. Every iPhone and large iPad has stayed the same price while getting better specs with each generation; saying the price on the Mini has to increase means that it has to be exponentially better than the previous generation and anything else on the market.

An extrapolation from current gen Apple products and year over year improvements reveal that a hypothetical "$329 iPad Mini" should have an A7 chip as all their other products that stayed the same price have (Apple is already having them made - better to just mass produce one chip, and logic board stays roughly the same), and a retina display (as all their other products have as well) with same color gamut as the previous generation - if this device was $329, I wouldn't have issues keeping this product. The iPad 3 was kept the same price even though it touted the same advances over the iPad 2 at the time it was released, and I think that is a good comparable when attempting to justify this purchase.

But it is $70 MORE expensive, so I would demand more things for justifying an extra $70. If the rMini had a high quality screen with significant dpi increase and high color gamut, that price increase is worth it. Without these things though, it's very hard for me to justify the $70 price increase.

Therefore, I'm planning on returning mine and wait till the color gamut issues are resolved. I think the Air is a better value proposition for consumers, and may pick one of those up to replace my iPad 2. A "Retina" screen that only enhances sharpness and not color quality is not worth the additional cost in my humble opinion.
 
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Panel lottery has always been Apple's biggest turn off. I've returned several just moments after getting home and turning on the device. One quick test is all it takes to know whether or not I want to look at its display for the next year or so.

To be fair though, I dread buying anything with a built-in display whether it's a TV, a computer monitor, an iPad, you name it. There are just so many variables that can show up. Even if you get one with a desirable panel it could still have issues like backlight bleeding, flash-lighting, dead pixels, etc.

Some device makers can probably go to a single source for their panels, but Apple needs multiple suppliers to meet demand which increases variation exponentially. It also makes waiting until "they fix" a particular panel issue just a mind trick because there was nothing there to fix in the first place as far as "they" are concerned. Whose standard could you point to anyways?
 
Well I popped into the Apple store for another look tonight, this time comparing both models against my iphone 5, all set to max brightness with auto brightness turned off. I have to say that I now do actually agree with that the rMini is washed out in comparison to both the iphone 5 and iPad Air. I think the washed out look is not just down to vibrancy and saturation, but also lower contrast. It's very reminiscent of the look when I reduce contrast levels in photos using software like Aperture and Lightroom.

I did also notice that the Air is VERY slightly washed out in comparison to the iphone 5, but not much in it. Back at home I thought I'd check my iPad 3, and out of the lot my iPad 3 is closest to my iphone 5.

So I really don't know what to do now. My iPad 3 is too heavy and slow hence looking at swapping. I got my heart set on the rMini due to the size being more useable for me, but now I'm not sure on the screen. That being said, I have just compared my Macbook Pro with high res screen (pre-retina) out of curiosity and that also looks washed out compared to the iphone 5. I have actually calibrated my Mac screen (well the best I can with the inbuilt calibration) so I am wondering it the iphone 5, Air and iPad 3 are actually over saturated and I'm just used to looking at over saturated images now.

To say I'm confused about what to do is an understatement. I really like the physical size and weight of the rMini, but I'm still unsure about the display. The Air is much lighter than my iPad 3 and has a good (or possibly I should say more familiar) screen, but I do prefer the size of the mini.

What I don't understand is why there's so much variance between devices. Granted I don't know the manufacturing complications etc, but to me a retina display is a retina display and it should be the same across the board.
 
Well I popped into the Apple store for another look tonight, this time comparing both models against my iphone 5, all set to max brightness with auto brightness turned off. I have to say that I now do actually agree with that the rMini is washed out in comparison to both the iphone 5 and iPad Air. I think the washed out look is not just down to vibrancy and saturation, but also lower contrast. It's very reminiscent of the look when I reduce contrast levels in photos using software like Aperture and Lightroom.

I did also notice that the Air is VERY slightly washed out in comparison to the iphone 5, but not much in it. Back at home I thought I'd check my iPad 3, and out of the lot my iPad 3 is closest to my iphone 5.

So I really don't know what to do now. My iPad 3 is too heavy and slow hence looking at swapping. I got my heart set on the rMini due to the size being more useable for me, but now I'm not sure on the screen. That being said, I have just compared my Macbook Pro with high res screen (pre-retina) out of curiosity and that also looks washed out compared to the iphone 5. I have actually calibrated my Mac screen (well the best I can with the inbuilt calibration) so I am wondering it the iphone 5, Air and iPad 3 are actually over saturated and I'm just used to looking at over saturated images now.

To say I'm confused about what to do is an understatement. I really like the physical size and weight of the rMini, but I'm still unsure about the display. The Air is much lighter than my iPad 3 and has a good (or possibly I should say more familiar) screen, but I do prefer the size of the mini.

What I don't understand is why there's so much variance between devices. Granted I don't know the manufacturing complications etc, but to me a retina display is a retina display and it should be the same across the board.


That's weird. My iPad Air's display makes my iPhone 5 display look like garbage. My Air really just makes all colors "pop" while the iPhone 5 is just meh (it also has a much warmer tint than my iPad Air. The Air's display is neutral and cool which I prefer.
 
That's weird. My iPad Air's display makes my iPhone 5 display look like garbage. My Air really just makes all colors "pop" while the iPhone 5 is just meh (it also has a much warmer tint than my iPad Air. The Air's display is neutral and cool which I prefer.

The wonders of apple's consistency in displays eh :rolleyes: I compared it against 2 airs and 2 rMinis too. I compared appearances of websites including Flickr and YouTube, as well as the inbuilt apps :confused: My wife's iphone 5 is very similar to mine too.
 
What I don't understand is why there's so much variance between devices.

Because not only are there multiple display manufactures involved for each device, but the overall quality of each panel from a single manufacture can vary from one to the next. When you combine all this the amount of variation is exponentially high.

Granted I don't know the manufacturing complications etc, but to me a retina display is a retina display and it should be the same across the board.

The only thing you should imply from the term retina display is that the pixels are too small to see. Well, that is all of them except any dead ones. Those are easy to spot.

Other than basic information like resolution, DPI, and maybe contrast ratio, you will never get any hard specs from Apple because there's no way multiple manufactures could be held to them and Apple still meet demand.
 
Wow holding my mini now. Sure I can tell the difference but this screen is beautiful. Way overblown. I am picky and OCD as most on this forum. I have returned previous versions of iPads and iPhones because of that.

My 5S, Air and rMini are all pretty perfect right out of the box!!

We'll done Apple.
 
Wow holding my mini now. Sure I can tell the difference but this screen is beautiful. Way overblown. I am picky and OCD as most on this forum. I have returned previous versions of iPads and iPhones because of that.

My 5S, Air and rMini are all pretty perfect right out of the box!!

We'll done Apple.

I had the same feeling after looking at the rMini screen. All the outrage seems nutty to me. To each his/her own I guess.
 
Because not only are there multiple display manufactures involved for each device, but the overall quality of each panel from a single manufacture can vary from one to the next. When you combine all this the amount of variation is exponentially high.



The only thing you should imply from the term retina display is that the pixels are too small to see. Well, that is all of them except any dead ones. Those are easy to spot.

Other than basic information like resolution, DPI, and maybe contrast ratio, you will never get any hard specs from Apple because there's no way multiple manufactures could be held to them and Apple still meet demand.

I understand what you're saying but I still think they should be the same across the board, on an ideal world of course.

I've just read an interesting article which clearly explains why the rMini is washed out in comparison to other Apple devices. Having read this it's puzzled me even more why they have done this. I can't think of one logical explanation other than they want the air to have a better display

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7519/apple-ipad-mini-with-retina-display-reviewed/3


I might not buy a new ipad now and wait and see what the mini 3 brings. Such a shame, I've been waiting for them to bring out a mini with retina since the launch of the mini, but it's still not perfected, at least not for someone who does a lot of photography and photo editing :(

But you never know, after the disappointment has gone I might still decide to get the rMini.
 
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Yellow tint

Got a retina mini here for 3 days and didn't noticed any yellow.
Now after reading all this I started seeing a yellow tint in the bottem half of the screen :(. Going back with it tomorrow.
 

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