iPad Pro 2021 mini-led Vs LCD a short-ish review.

* 애플 덕후인 남편이 최근에 아이패드를 새로 샀어요

영어로 리뷰를 남겨보고 싶다고 해서, 사려는 분들에게 도움이 될까 싶어 올려봅니다 :)

 

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Just as a bit of a back story; this is my first major Apple purchase since I bought my 2013 MacBook Pro retina. So, granted, the screen I will be comparing this to is somewhat old, but it will give you an idea just how good this mini-led display is.

 

 

 I will split this review into 3 sections. Blacks, bright scenes, and medium-light scenes.

For the comparison I will be using Lord of The Rings; The Fellowship of the ring in 4K HDR, streamed from the Apple TV app on both devices and features content that has been purchased from said store.

 

 

These pictures are my own, taken with an iPhone so I will add more detail around where the iPhone may have embellished certain aspects of the picture.

 

 

Blacks

It goes without saying that the blacks on the mini led display for the M1 iPad are fantastic.

Some people have mentioned that it may not be a worthy update from a previous generation but in scenarios where (like me) you are coming from an LCD that is a few years old, would definitely be worth an upgrade.

 

The picture below shows the opening scene from the lord of the rings.

This is quite a tricky scene to display, and the quality on the mini led will vary depending on lighting conditions.

 

 

 

 

To set the scene, this is in my bedroom with the main light on and both displays at max brightness. Something which is a bit overkill on both to be honest, but i just wanted to see what these would be like under the most extreme conditions.

 

 

First thing to point out is the blooming.

The picture greatly exaggerates the blooming compared to what I saw with my own eyes.

I’m not going to lie and be all fan boy like, there was some blooming but I had to sit in closer to the screen and actively look for it.

 

 

Again, to be fair on the other screen the blacks are probably slightly less washed out when compared to this picture, but it’s still very noticeably washed out.

The colours aren’t as accurate and there is less detail in the pixels (most likely due to the pixel density of the displays and not the backlighting).

One final thing to note is that the picture is raw from the iPhone. Not editing whatsoever.

 

 

This picture highlights the compromise many people will have to choose between.

Murky, more uniform blacks, compared to inky blacks with a slight risk of blooming.

I say slight risk as the blooming isn’t present in all scenarios, only those where there is a lot of contrast in the scene.

 

 

Such as the one above. In my personal opinion, the mini led did a fantastic job in this scene, and really makes the picture pop.

I would definitely give the mini led all the points on this one.

 

 

Bright scene

These are less noticeably worse.

There is still a subtle difference in this which comes out less noticeable on camera.

 

 

 

You can definitely tell which one is the mini led as you can see the deep black letter boxing, but looking into the actual scene, it’s not as striking as, perhaps, the darker scene.

The shadows are definitely darker and there is more colour accuracy on the shirt, and the greens just pop more. Where it’s less noticeable is on the hat. There is a slight difference but it’s a lot more subtle.

 

 

Medium light scenes

In my opinion, this was where I saw the night and day difference between the LCD and the mini-LED. Your iPad Pro 2018 or 2020 has a better LCD than my 2013 Mac I’m sure but if your lcd is similar this will really make the upgrade worthwhile, if you watch (or plan to watch) a lot of HDR content.

 

 

 

 

Seeing these side by side makes the improvement more socking.

Not only the blacks are a lot darker, it really shows the benefit of the local dimming being able to make colours pop and more accurate.

It almost like there is a dirty murky screen filter that has been placed on top of the laptop and take off the iPad. To me, seeing this picture, would warrant an instant upgrade to me.

Just to rub more salt in the wound. Here is another picture that shows off the local dimming.

 

 

Conclusion

 

For me there is a clear winner.

 

 

Granted, not in all situations are you going to notice, as some users have said that in normal web browsing conditions the differences are minimal. But from the comparison I did last night, the differences to me were literally like night and day.

Even without viewing these through my camera lens the differences were very clear to see.

The pictures may exaggerate some of the downsides, but it exaggerated them for both. 

 

 

The big question whether or not to buy the new iPad will come down to that trade off.

Murky more consistent blacks, and a risk of blooming vs inky blacks and more vibrant colours.

 

 

I’m my opinion it’s a no brainer.

I’m quite picky when it comes to displays but for me deeper blacks win out and is a trade off I can accept. Especially when 4K HDR content will become more popular, this iPad is a great way to future proof and is a great consumption device for that content, one you can take any where with you.

 

 

My brother has a Panasonic OLED tv, I am 100% confident that his display is better than the iPad, I’m not saying it’s not, but to get this display quality with this portability, for me is just perfect.

There are OLED tablets out there but for my use case (being part of the Apple echo system) and with a partner who has a tendency to leave screen on without locking, mini led for me will allow me not to be pedantic and hurry to lock the display when not in use, for the risk of burn in.