Display

In building the iPad Air Apple shrunk all elements of the tablet’s design, including the thickness of the display. We’re still dealing with a 9.7-inch 4:3 2048 x 1536 IPS LCD panel with true RGB stripe rather than some weird subpixel structure. Viewing angles are still great, and overall the display remains the best you can get at this size.

The iPad Air continues Apple’s recent history of shipping color calibrated displays. Color accuracy on my iPad Air review sample is better than on any previous iPad I’ve ever tested, in fact it’s more accurate than any other tablet I’ve ever tested. The numbers are easily backed up by images that show a vibrant and, more importantly, accurate display.

CalMAN Display Performance - White Point Average

CalMAN Display Performance - Grayscale Average dE 2000

CalMAN Display Performance - Gamut Average dE 2000

CalMAN Display Performance - Saturations Average dE 2000

CalMAN Display Performance - Gretag Macbeth Average dE 2000

The iPad Air gets pretty bright at 426 nits, although black levels aren’t all that impressive at 0.44 nits. Overall contrast ratio is in line with what we’ve seen from previous iPads. My only complaint on the display front is I would like to see Apple laminate the cover glass to the LCD display. Reducing reflections would go a long way towards improving the usability of the device, not to mention the impact that would have on improving display quality in dark movie scenes.

Display Brightness - Black Level

Display Brightness - White Level

Display Contrast Ratio

GPU Performance Camera
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  • jonjonjonj - Tuesday, November 5, 2013 - link

    but they are such an innovative company. look they released another iphone with a different size screen.
  • nerd1 - Wednesday, October 30, 2013 - link

    Kindle HDX actually uses magnesium unibody case.
  • Kamus - Wednesday, October 30, 2013 - link

    It is really only a "more limited device" just because it is a much newer plataform. Not because Apple is a super-open platform. Also, it is not plastic, but magnesium. And its also 130 dollars cheaper... It wouldnt hurt to get your facts straight before you drop those "knowledge" bombs on us.
    I would have bought one right now if the App Store had more developer support.
  • JarredWalton - Wednesday, October 30, 2013 - link

    100% RGB gamut means nothing if the display isn't factory calibrated. Actually, it means highly oversaturated colors, as most content is designed for sRGB.
  • Kamus - Wednesday, October 30, 2013 - link

    Actually, 100% means it should fit the sRGB triangle perfectly. And the reason it does this, is in fact, because it IS factory calibrated. The amount of ignorance and bashing on the HDX is cringe inducing. All the info is right there on the amazon product page.
  • KoolAidMan1 - Wednesday, October 30, 2013 - link

    100% color gamut and being properly calibrated are two completely different things. You have no idea what you're talking about.
  • Kamus - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link

    No... They are not "completley different things". There is grayscale calibration and gamut calibration. If they claim 100% sRGB it suggests that they are gamut calibrated. And again, the reason that i said that the HDX is factory calibrated is because it says so right there on the Amazon product page. All you did is the same thing everyone else is doing by sprouting nonsense with out even bothering in doing any research at all.
  • Boissez - Wednesday, October 30, 2013 - link

    One thing is marketing material an another thing is actual reality. By Ars Technicas measurements the HDX covers about 90% of sRGB - the iPad have been at 94% or over ever since the first retina iPad.
  • youmenimum - Wednesday, October 30, 2013 - link

    pixel density alone is not a quality to consider. In real comparison kindle tablets are not good at display compared to iPad. which one are you using by the way?
  • Kamus - Monday, November 4, 2013 - link

    It's been settled. The kindle fire HDX 8.9 has the best display on any tablet as of today:
    http://www.displaymate.com/Tablet_ShootOut_3.htm

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