DisplayMate Praises New iPad Screen Sharpness and Color

color diffs 6
Comparison, though color differences hard to capture in screenshots

DisplayMate has published an extensive "shoot out" between the new iPad, the iPad 2 and iPhone 4. Aside from the much discussed resolution improvements of the 3rd Generation iPad, DisplayMate also confirms that the new screen also has much better color reproduction than the previous generation model.

Apple has taken the very good display on the iPad 2 and dramatically improved two of its major weak points: sharpness and color saturation – they are now state-of-the-art.
...
But there’s more…the new iPad’s picture quality, color accuracy, and gray scale are not only much better than any other Tablet or Smartphone, it’s also much better than most HDTVs, laptops, and monitors. In fact with some minor calibration tweaks the new iPad would qualify as a studio reference monitor.

Besides the color reproduction, they found the new iPad to be slightly less reflective than the iPad 2, but still felt there could be much improvement in this category.

They suggest that with the accuracy and picture quality, the new iPad could find itself used in many new professional level applications.

Popular Stories

Apple Watch Ultra Night Mode Screen

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Launching Later This Year With Two Key Upgrades

Wednesday July 2, 2025 1:13 pm PDT by
The long wait for an Apple Watch Ultra 3 appears to be nearly over, and it is rumored to feature both satellite connectivity and 5G support. Apple Watch Ultra's existing Night Mode In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is on track to launch this year with "significant" new features, including satellite connectivity, which would let you...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Coming Soon With These 14 New Features

Friday July 4, 2025 1:05 pm PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are just over two months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models. Latest Rumors These rumors surfaced in June and July:Apple logo repositioned: Apple's logo may have a lower position on the back of the iPhone 17 Pro models, compared to previous...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Max Battery Capacity Leaked

Thursday July 3, 2025 5:40 am PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature the biggest ever battery in an iPhone, according to the Weibo leaker known as "Instant Digital." In a new post, the leaker listed the battery capacities of the iPhone 11 Pro Max through to the iPhone 16 Pro Max, and added that the iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature a battery capacity of 5,000mAh: iPhone 11 Pro Max: 3,969mAh iPhone 12 Pro Max: 3,687mAh...
airpods pro 2

AirPods Pro 3 to Help Maintain Apple's Place in Earbud Market Amid Increasing Low-Cost Competition

Thursday July 3, 2025 7:25 am PDT by
Apple's position as the dominant force in the global true wireless stereo (TWS) earbud market is expected to continue through 2025, according to Counterpoint Research. The forecast outlines a 3% year-over-year increase in global TWS unit shipments for 2025, signaling a transition from rapid growth to a more mature phase for the category. While Apple is set to remain the leading brand by...
apple silicon mac lineup 2024 feature purple m5

Apple's Upcoming Macs Listed in New Report

Thursday July 3, 2025 9:09 am PDT by
AppleInsider's Marko Zivkovic today shared a list of alleged identifiers for future Mac models, which should roll out over the next year or so. The report does not reveal anything too surprising, but it does serve as further evidence that Apple is seemingly working on new models of every Mac, including the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac mini, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro. Apple is...
iPhone 17 Pro Lower Logo Magsafe

iPhone 17 Pro's New MagSafe Design Revealed in Leaked Photo

Wednesday July 2, 2025 8:37 am PDT by
The upcoming iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are rumored to have a slightly different MagSafe magnet layout compared to existing iPhone models, and a leaked photo has offered a closer look at the supposed new design. The leaker Majin Bu today shared a photo of alleged MagSafe magnet arrays for third-party iPhone 17 Pro cases. On existing iPhone models with MagSafe, the magnets form a...

Top Rated Comments

cult hero Avatar
174 months ago
I saw it in the store and while it's impressive that they have crammed so many pixels in, it has no useful purpose as every single one of the new pixels is going to be used to make everything sharper rather than as extra space to include more things.

Totally agree. I was completely put off by how much easier it was to read on the iPad3. Totally useless.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Small White Car Avatar
174 months ago
Apple: Just give us the controls to color calibrate these screens, then come out with Aperture for iPad, then bribe Adobe to make Lightroom for iPad (yes, this will be good for you) and you will find that every single professional photographer in the world will have to buy an iPad. It will become just as essential as a tripod.

Come on...you're so close.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
NutsNGum Avatar
174 months ago
The new display is good I guess, but the faster processor really floats my boat.

Try enjoying it without the display.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Red Oak Avatar
174 months ago
Wow

The struck me most from the article: "In fact with some minor calibration tweaks the new iPad would qualify as a studio reference monitor."

That is truly amazing. Congrats to the Apple team.

I saw the new iPad today for the first time, at an Apple store. Wow. I will not be able to resist for long. I couldn't tell any difference in weight or size for the iPad 2 (which i use extensively). Sweet Momma!
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
isoMorpheus Avatar
174 months ago
It's the same processor, but with more RAM and a better GPU.

Coming from iPad 1, the new iPad floats a Titanic.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ndpitch Avatar
174 months ago
Retina Display FTW, evidently.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)