Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
iPad Pro The Pros are worth it for the OLED alone
- Thread starter nikikaly21
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Sounds like you were comparing the M4 Pro to an older non-M Pro, because HDR content should look almost identical between a 12.9 M1/M2 Pro and the M4 Pro. They all do 1600 nits and blacks will be very similar.
If they were all placed in such a way that you could only see the displays and you lined all 3 up playing the same HDR video I think most people would have a hard time even determining which was which.
Curious how one notices/feels pixel response that's faster than the actual draw rate (refresh rate) of the screen itself? If the hardware is only sending 120 fps updates how would you even notice if the pixel response is, say, 10 times faster? You'll still be looking at the same pixel color/position for 1/120th of a second regardless of how fast the pixel refresh rate is.
No I was comparing to the M2 iPad Pro as well, the difference in contrast ratio (especially in a dark environment) and lack of blooming (huge for me) is very noticeable to me. If it’s not obvious to you, consider yourself lucky! It will save you a lot of money haha. Everyone’s perceptions and sensitivities to picture quality differences is entirely subjective, so that’s why I always tell people that they need to judge for themselves. I’m very much enjoying my M4 iPad Pro and am not looking back.
Well draw rate and pixel response play off of one another and improving one without improving the other leads to some diminishing effects. Refresh rate determines how often the screen updates with new information like you mentioned, but pixel response time measures how quickly a pixel can change to accommodate that new information. If pixels have a slow response rate, they are still showing old information when fast moving subjects are on screen so you end up with ghosting/smearing. This is why gaming monitors advertise their pixel response time alongside the refresh rate, because gamers know bad pixel response means the extra frame data from a high refresh monitor is pointless because it won't help them see enemies when moving/panning their player's view, they'll just see a blurry image.
For example the M4 iPad Pro and MacBook Pro technically have the same refresh rate but the MBP's screen has notoriously bad pixel response time. If you try to quickly scroll through text on the MacBook the text is hard to read because it's blurry. When you do the same on the iPad the text is much easier to read. The scrolling "smoothness" looks the same, but one is legible and the other is not. I very quickly noticed it after panning around Maps on my iPad and realized I could read landmark names as I'm scrolling which I couldn't really do on my ProMotion LCD iPad Pro, that's when I realized OLED pixel response times are insanely quick -- among the best in display tech. That's why OLED gaming monitors are getting a lot of hype right now, the HDR is great but the pixel response is just as much of a selling point.
Here's a simple representation of why pixel response time matters:
That’s the thing….in day to day use the M4 screen is a bit nicer but really not a huge deal till you see HDR content.
Except the higher brightness tremendously helps with outdoor and window side work
This ^^^
This is often overlooked (not sure why) and is a very huge quality of life improvement for me in day to day usage.
I'm thinking most people aren't trying to use their iPads in broad daylight. Not just because the screen is harder to see but the iPads (and phones) tend to overheat quickly. Heck, my iPhone inside an air conditioned car, if exposed to sunlight at all, will discontinue charging due to heat.
Think you will find they meant outdoor under cover, not in direct sun use.
Less glare on the M4's that I tried.
Quick question, where are you getting Tron Legacy in 4k?
On iTunes it's only HD and not HDR, the same with Vudu/ moviesanywhere. Disney+ is also only HD, no 4k or HDR
Thanks, did not know this existed. So wait to watch it you downloaded a 70+ gb file? Any idea if this is supposed to come out to streaming, that reddit link is two years old.
Yup! It’s totally worth it haha. Actually it’s coming out on 4K Blu Ray next year!
So if you want to watch it on your iPad you’d need to remux it as an iso file or mkv file and play it back on Infuse Pro.
I don't see any difference between the two, what am I looking for?
Look at the background - the one on the left is gray and the one on the right is pitch black.
Oh no, i’ll never be able to use my iPad again if the background isn’t completely black.
That’s the beauty of choice, isn’t it? Those of us that appreciate the upgrade and are willing to pay for it, can do so, and no one is being forced to upgrade!
There’s also a matter of subjectivity as well. I don’t think anyone will argue that a previous iPad is completely unusable due to the lack of an OLED panel, but for certain users it does make a noticeable difference.
For example, many folks don’t care about or don’t even notice the difference between 60 hz and 120 hz refresh rates. For me, all the devices I use on a daily basis (iPhone, iPad, MacBook, computer monitor) have high refresh rates, so going from a 120 hz panel to a 60 hz panel is actually jarring. Doesn’t mean I couldn’t use a device locked to 60 hz; just that it makes a difference to me in use.
It certainly is the beauty of choice and the beauty of not being preached to by tech snobs who look down on devices that aren’t as technically advanced. It’s not unique to iPads and seems to be the case with all Apple products now. If it hasn’t got ‘Pro’ in the name, it’s often looked down upon amongst enthusiasts while the general user couldn’t give a toss.
I’m lucky in that my eyes can process refresh rates very well, so going from 60hz to 120hz is very minimal to me. Some notice a huge difference and the mistake that is often made is assuming everybody sees the same difference. The OLED thing was a big debate here with the iPhone X and now pretty much all of us use devices with OLED screens, it’s not the big deal it was once made out to be.
If it bothers you, you can always upgrade.