iPad Pro MiniLED blooming looks like I opened my eyes too long underwater in a chlorinated pool

[collin_]

Did you open your eyes underwater in pools when you were a kid? If so, you probably noticed real-life “blooming” around light sources for the rest of the day. Using Twitter’s “lights out” dark mode, this is exactly what the miniLED display looks like on the 2021 12.9 inch iPad Pro. It’s so bad that I even see the illusion of it still being there when I move back to my iPhone. I had to switch my settings for every app I could to not use the pitch-black version of dark mode. Note that this is with moderate display brightness in a normally-lit room.

I’m flabbergasted by other users saying they don’t see any noticeable blooming. Maybe I got a bad model? Idk. It’s not very noticeable when watching HDR movies though, so I won’t be returning it. The increased brightness for HDR is still very nice.

 

[jman838]

Yeah, that sucks. Personally, I don’t notice it so I’m not sure if some units are better than others or if it depends on an individual’s eyes.

 

[Wackery]

iPad Pro Mini LED: Simulation of what it’s like wearing smudgey glasses

I’m talking purely night time, pure dark media consumption. Not true fidelity images. That includes reading text on a pure black background, or pictures as well as movies. In a pitch dark room, I don’t need the nits.

forums.macrumors.com

I thought it looks like living with smudged glasses.

I hope eventually I can ignore it, but it’s awful if you work in high detail dark environments.
Pro? More like Schmo.

#iScamPro

 

[AutomaticApple]

iPad Pro Mini LED: Simulation of what it’s like wearing smudgey glasses

I’m talking purely night time, pure dark media consumption. Not true fidelity images. That includes reading text on a pure black background, or pictures as well as movies. In a pitch dark room, I don’t need the nits.

forums.macrumors.com

I thought it looks like living with smudged glasses.

I hope eventually I can ignore it, but it’s awful if you work in high detail dark environments.
Pro? More like Schmo.

#iScamPro

Most people don't have any issues with the display.

 

[Broadus]

Most people don't have any issues with the display.

I can't think of anytime that I use a computer or tablet in pitch darkness. I'm typically more interested in nits.

 

[collin_]

Most people don't have any issues with the display.

This is what confuses me. The blooming is so noticeable that I don’t get how this is possible.

 

[Broadus]

This is what confuses me. The blooming is so noticeable that I don’t get how this is possible.

So it’s better with a background lighter than pitch black? I just ordered one, primarily for the contrast and nits. I’d like to think that software updates can help, but it may simply be a matter of physics or particular screens.

 

[collin_]

So it’s better with a background lighter than pitch black? I just ordered one, primarily for the contrast and nits. I’d like to think that software updates can help, but it may simply be a matter of physics or particular screens.

Substantial amounts of pitch black content on the screen at the same time as non-black content is the only thing that triggers it. Turning off pitch black dark mode in Twitter fixes the blooming, but it’s kind of disappointing that I can’t use it because “perfect blacks” are supposed to be one of miniLED’s defining features.

I too am unsure if it can be reduced with a software update.

On Reddit there’s a guy saying that turning off Night Shift majorly reduced blooming for him. I had Night Shift on, so I disabled it. I’ll update on the results later.

 

[Wackery]

So it’s better with a background lighter than pitch black? I just ordered one, primarily for the contrast and nits. I’d like to think that software updates can help, but it may simply be a matter of physics or particular screens.

If you watch youtube or read text on a black background everything has a foggy haze around it. People that say they can’t see it are just lying straight to your face.

 

[Broadus]

If you watch youtube or read text on a black background everything has a foggy haze around it. People that say they can’t see it are just lying straight to your face.

Is that with the total black background? At night, my favorite reading is white letters on black, although obviously it’s more of a dark grey on my 10.5” iPP.

 

[collin_]

Update: Disabling Night Shift does not improve blooming at all. It actually looks lightly less noticeable with Night Shift enabled because, in a way, it effectively dims the screen. I think I’m just going to disable night mode for everything, because it’s pretty unbearable in situations where there’s a lot of text e.g. Twitter, Settings app.

I love Max Tech, but the video he made on blooming saying it’s barely noticeable is utterly baffling to me. He and Vadim tested blooming in a bunch of different situations and kept saying they don’t see any. I tested out those same situations and it was hella noticeable in all of them to the point of degrading the experience.

 

[Broadus]

Update: Disabling Night Shift does not improve blooming at all. It actually looks lightly less noticeable with Night Shift enabled because, in a way, it effectively dims the screen. I think I’m just going to disable night mode for everything, because it’s pretty unbearable in situations where there’s a lot of text e.g. Twitter, Settings app.

I love Max Tech, but the video he made on blooming saying it’s barely noticeable is utterly baffling to me. He and Vadim tested blooming in a bunch of different situations and kept saying they don’t see any. I tested out those same situations and it was hella noticeable in all of them to the point of degrading the experience.

That’s really disappointing. That’s how I would read in the evening, too.

I have an unopened new 2020 12.9 and a 2021 12.9 on the way. I’m not sure which one I’ll keep.

 

[sparksd]

That’s really disappointing. That’s how I would read in the evening, too.

I have an unopened new 2020 12.9 and a 2021 12.9 on the way. I’m not sure which one I’ll keep.

Ignore what everybody says on either side of the issue and try it for yourself to see if it's an issue for you.

 

[Broadus]

Ignore what everybody says on either side of the issue and try it for yourself to see if it's an issue for you.

I didn’t want to open both of them, but I’m not sure of another way to determine for sure.

I may open the 2021 and see how I like that one. If it looks better, particularly with text (contrast and overall readability), than my 10.5 iPP, I would just go with that. Everything else would be gravy.

 

[sparksd]

I didn’t want to open both of them, but I’m not sure of another way to determine for sure.

I may open the 2021 and see how I like that one. If it looks better, particularly with text (contrast and overall readability), than my 10.5 iPP, I would just go with that. Everything else would be gravy.

If you don't see it, don't tell - we'll know you're lying straight to our faces.

 

[Broadus]

If you don't see it, don't tell - we'll know you're lying straight to our faces.

That is the way some respond, it seems. I’m too old to be concerned. If it’s there, and it may very well be for some, or if it’s not, it is what it is. I hope it’s fine because I’d rather not upgrade to a 2020.

 

[sparksd]

That is the way some respond, it seems. I’m too old to be concerned. If it’s there, and it may very well be for some, or if it’s not, it is what it is. I hope it’s fine because I’d rather not upgrade to a 2020.

Good luck with it, hope it works for you.