iPad, Kindle Fire HDX, Nexus 10, the comparison screens - Tablet PC

microprocessors evolve at an incredible rate, it is a fact. So much so that sometimes we forget that all other technologies integrated with our devices have also received advanced dizzy. Among them, the screens have improved tremendously in recent years.

An Apple Newton

perfect images without visible pixels, perfect contrast and bright colors seem to us to be the norm. You get used so quickly to the comfort they provide each look back is a real shock. It is hard to imagine today that the first mobile devices had just more evolved than those calculators black and white screens. It would even be meaningful to compare and contrast values ??of reactivity of an ancient Newton against any current tablet.

also how the current screens are they good? And what are the best? A rather serious quantitative study conducted by DisplayMate gives us a partial answer by comparing the details screens HDX Kindle Fire, iPad and Nexus Air 10 (2012).

The answer is essentially that these screens are incredibly good! The best is undoubtedly that of the Kindle Fire HDX followed shortly by the iPad Air. The screens of these tablets are so great that they are there to have all the qualities of a professional studio monitor. As for the screen of the Nexus 10 … it’s just very good.

Resolution and Technology

must say that from the outset, the HDX screen is impressive, it indeed has a resolution of 2560 x 1600 as the Nexus 10, but on a screen with a diagonal of 8.9 inches which only in fact one of the most dense screens the market. Moreover, with such a pixel density could greatly feared excessive consumption. Indeed, the more pixels a display has, the more the control circuits of these pixels opaque surface and impede the backlight. It was one of the main problems of the iPad 3, which used the same technology as the iPad 2, which showed four times fewer points. The iPad Air adopts technology IGZO (indium gallium zinc oxide) which allows it to significantly reduce the consumption of the slab and so afford a dream figure.

We quickly get used to the “retina.”

Amazon chose LTPS technology (Low Temperature Poly Silicon) for its Kindle Fire HDX. Already used by Apple in its iPhone (from 4), it was so far a poorly controlled process for the “big” screen size and it is a small feat to see applied to almost 9 inches diagonally .

It is quite ironic that if the iPad was the first to offer a screen “Retina”, that is to say where the pixels are undetectable to the naked eye at a distance considered “standard” (about 15 inches), today is the one who offers the resolution and the lowest density. Reassure us with eyes to 20/20, the pixels are undetectable from 246 dpi and the iPad offers in Air 264.

HDX Kindle Fire, iPad and Nexus Air 10

Reflections

tablet screens are bright and reflections are a real nuisance. In this context also, modern screens are making progress with the design and increasingly sophisticated surface treatments. With only 5% of average reflected light, the Kindle HDX still tops. The iPad is gradually improving in this area. The screens can also concentrate brushes lights (between the layers) and reflect fairly intense, which is rather annoying. With only 6.8% of reflected light in this context, Amazon is still very strong.

Reflections can be really annoying …

Contrast, Brightness and Color

brightness level, all the tablets tested offer very high maximum values, perhaps at the cost of higher consumption. Again, the LTPS technology allows the Kindle Fire HDX reach 527 cd / m² (candela / m²), a value comparable to that also offered the iPhone 4 (541 cd / m²). Higher values ??allow easier use in case (very common) for use in high ambient light.

Regarding contrast, the results are generally excellent for all machines. The brightness level of the black is only 0.39 cd / m² on an iPad Air typical use (not uniformly black picture) which gives an excellent level of real contrast in 1151. If the iPad Air won this round, all the tablets tested are around 1000 which is all very good way, the Nexus 10 is a little behind.

comparison gamut tablets

colors, gamut screens, that is to say the range of colors they can display faced the gamut sRGB / Rec. 709. At greater values ??close to 100% (the gamut of the display is identical to the standard) to better the rich colors. The big winners here are the iPad and the Kindle HDX with between 99% and 105% of the standard gamut reproduced. In addition, it also provides excellent repeat accuracy. Using a spectroradiometer, we can determine which are the finest can be variations between colors for a given screen. That is to say, when two colors are too close and are reproduced as identical. It is expressed in JNCD (Just Noticeable Color Difference). Kindle Fire still prevails with HDX 4.6 JNCD error up to 2.7 JNCD average. Nexus 10 is against significantly worse with a maximum error of 8.2 to 29.4 JNCD JNCD average.

viewing angles and consumption

level of distortion of the image when the viewing angles change, all the tablets are more or less equivalent. There is a decrease of about 60% brightness at an angle of 30 °. The contrast then cut in half and the colors are altered, relatively little progress since the iPad 2 that side.

Side consumption against the improvements are significant. Between the iPad 2 and iPad 3, consumption had soared 2.7 W to 7 W. The switch to IGZO in the iPad Air switches back to a more comfortable consumption of 4.8 W. More impressively, the Kindle screen HDX consumes only 3.4 W. The iPad 2, despite a less advanced technology is the most efficient. However, it is very favored by its low resolution.

not completely accurate, however, since the respective surfaces compared screens are slightly different numbers. If we normalize the size, we obtain 3.7 W, 4.8 W and 6.4 W for the HDX, iPad and Nexus Air 10 respectively. The Google tablet and suffers the same problem that the iPad 3′s screen is very greedy.

Conclusion

find this avalanche of figures below in the summary table. But the conclusion of this is quite simple. Even if you can give a special mention to Kindle Fire HDX, the screens of other tablets are also amazing quality and your iPad, Kindle or even your Nexus are probably the best screens you have, no problem surpassing the vast majority televisions and computer monitors trade.

However, there is still room for improvement. Regarding consumption in the first place. Moreover, these screens are fragile and relatively heavy, screen technology flexible plastic, based on OLED are they the future? We will see, but the answer could happen surprisingly quickly given the prodigious ingenuity demonstrated by engineers …

	Kindle Fire HDX	iPad Air	Nexus 10	iPad 3	iPad 2
Technology	IPS / LTPS	IPS / IGZO	PLS / a-Si	IPS (Amorph-Si)	IPS (Amorph-Si)
Resolution	2560 x 1600	2048 x 1536	2560 x 1600	2048 x 1536	1024 x 768
Density	339 dpi	264 dpi	300 dpi	264 dpi	132 dpi
Size (inches)	8.9	9.7	10.1	9.7	9.7
average Reflection	5%	6.5%	7.7%	7.7%	8.7%
reflection mirror	6.8%	8.5%	10.9%	9.9%	10.8%
Maximum brightness	527 cd / m²	449 cd / m²	398 cd / m²	421 cd / m²	410 cd / m²
brightness black	0.46 cd / m²	0.39 cd / m²	0.49 cd / m²	0.48 cd / m²	0.43 cd / m²
contrast level	1146	1151	812	877	962
Gamut	105%	108%	58%	99%	61%
color accuracy (average)	2.7 JNCD	3.2 JNCD	8.2 JNCD	N / A	N / A
consumption (at maximum brightness)	3.4 W	4.8 W	5.7 W	7 W	2.7W

Source1, Source2

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