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Surface Pro Display Technology Shoot-Out

Microsoft Surface Pro 3

 

Dr. Raymond M. Soneira

President, DisplayMate Technologies Corporation

 

Copyright © 1990-2014 by DisplayMate Technologies Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

This article, or any part thereof, may not be copied, reproduced, mirrored, distributed or incorporated

into any other work without the prior written permission of DisplayMate Technologies Corporation

 

 

Microsoft Surface Pro 3

 

Introduction

The key element for a great Tablet has always been a truly innovative and top performing display, and the best leading edge Tablets have always flaunted their beautiful high tech displays.

 

With its third generation Surface Pro 3, Microsoft has produced an excellent professional grade high performance display for Windows. In fact, based on our extensive lab tests and measurements, the Surface Pro 3 has one of the very best and most accurate displays available on any mobile platform and OS. It joins near the top of a small set of Tablets that have excellent Top Tier displays – for professionals that need a very accurate and high performance display for their work, and for consumers that want and appreciate a really nice and beautiful display. We’ll cover these issues and much more, with in-depth comprehensive display tests, measurements and analysis that you will find nowhere else.

 

Microsoft provided DisplayMate Technologies with a production unit of the Surface Pro 3 so that we could perform our well known objective and comprehensive display Lab tests, measurements, and analysis, explaining the in-depth display performance results for consumers, reviewers, and journalists.

 

The Display Shoot-Out

To examine the performance of the Microsoft Surface Pro 3 Display we ran our in-depth series of Mobile Display Technology Shoot-Out Lab tests and measurements in order to determine how it performs compared to other leading Tablets. We take display quality very seriously and provide in-depth objective analysis based on detailed laboratory tests and measurements and extensive viewing tests with both test patterns, test images and test photos. To see how far LCD and OLED mobile displays have progressed in just four years see our 2010 Smartphone Display Shoot-Out, and for a real history lesson see our original 2006 Smartphone Display Shoot-Out.

 

Results Highlights

In this Results section we provide Highlights of the comprehensive DisplayMate Lab tests and measurements and extensive visual comparisons using test photos, test images, and test patterns that are covered in the advanced sections. The Display Shoot-Out Comparison Table summarizes the Lab measurements in the following categories:  Screen ReflectionsBrightness and ContrastColors and IntensitiesViewing AnglesLCD SpectraDisplay Power. You can also skip these Highlights and go directly to the Conclusions.

 

12 inch Display with 3:2 Aspect Ratio

The Surface Pro 3 is unusual in that it is designed to perform both as a large Tablet and a small Laptop. With a 12 inch screen diagonal it is considerably larger most Tablets, with a screen area that is 87% larger than the Amazon Kindle Fire HDX 8.9, 47% larger than the Apple iPad Air, and 34% larger than the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5. With its adjustable kickstand, the angle of the display can be adjusted in the same way as a Laptop, an important viewing and working advantage.

 

The Screen’s 3:2 (1.50) Aspect Ratio is an excellent compromise between the 4:3 (1.33) Aspect Ratio for most documents (the same as 8.5x11 inch paper with 0.5 inch borders, and also the iPad’s 4:3 (1.33) Aspect Ratio) and 16:9 (1.78) Aspect Ratio for widescreen video content (and similar to Android Tablets that have a 16:10 (1.60) Aspect Ratio).

 

Display Sharpness and Sub-Pixel Rendering

The display’s 2160x1440 pixel resolution has 3.1 Mega Pixels, 50 percent more than an HDTV, but on a 12 inch screen. The screen’s 216 pixels per inch (ppi) is Very Good but somewhat lower than on other full size Tablets, like the Apple iPad Air with 264 ppi and the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 with 287 ppi. However, because its 12 inch screen is larger it is also typically held further away. At typical viewing distances of 16 inches or more the pixels are not resolved with normal 20/20 Vision, so the display appears perfectly sharp. In addition, the Surface Pro 3 uses Sub-Pixel Rendering (called ClearType in Microsoft’s implementation) that significantly improves the visual sharpness of text over standard Pixel Rendering that is used in most mobile displays. For black and white and gray images with sub-pixel rendering, there is up to a factor of 3 improvement in image sharpness.

 

Color Gamut and Absolute Color Accuracy

The Surface Pro 3 also has the most accurate on-screen colors of any Tablet or Smartphone display that we have ever measured for the sRGB/Rec.709 Standard that is used in virtually all current consumer content for digital cameras, HDTVs, the internet, and computers, including photos, videos, and movies. Its Color Gamut is 97 percent, very close to the Standard Gamut as shown in this Figure. The Absolute Color Accuracy for the Surface Pro 3 is an Excellent 2.1 JNCD, the most color accurate display that we have ever measured for a Tablet or Smartphone. See this Figure for an explanation and visual definition of JNCD and the Color Accuracy Figures showing the measured Color Errors. See the Color Accuracy section, the Color Gamut Figure, and the Color Accuracy Figures for measurements and details.

 

Color Accuracy is especially important for professional imaging applications when you must be sure of the on-screen image colors, when viewing photos from family and friends (because you often know exactly what they actually should look like), for some TV shows, movies, and sporting events with image content and colors that you are familiar with, and also for viewing online merchandise, so you have a very good idea of exactly what colors you are buying and are less likely to return them.

 

Intensity Scale and Accurate Image Contrast

The Intensity Scale (sometimes called the Gray Scale) not only controls the contrast within all displayed images but it also controls how the Red, Green and Blue primary colors mix to produce all of the on-screen colors. So if the Intensity Scale doesn't follow the Standard that is used to produce virtually all consumer content then the colors and intensities will be wrong everywhere in all images. Unfortunately, many manufacturers are quite sloppy with the Intensity Scale on their displays because it has to be set and measured logarithmically (to a precise mathematical power-law). Fortunately, the Intensity Scale on Surface Pro 3 is Very Good, although somewhat variable at low signal levels under 25 percent. See this Figure for a plot of the measured Intensity Scale and the Colors and Intensities section for measurements and details.

 

Display Brightness

The Surface Pro 3 has a Peak Brightness of 371 cd/m2 (nits), which is Very Good, but somewhat lower than other Tablets like the Apple iPad Air with 449 nits and the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 with 527 nits. High screen Brightness is only needed when working in High Ambient Light, but since the Surface Pro 3 is larger it is less likely to be opened outdoors in unshielded high ambient light environments like Smartphones and smaller Tablets, so its somewhat lower (but still Very Good) Peak Brightness should not be an issue for most users and applications. See the Brightness and Contrast section for measurements and details.

 

Screen Reflectance and Performance in Ambient Lighting

Displays are seldom used in absolute darkness, so their Screen Reflectance and performance in Ambient Lighting is very important. For the Surface Pro 3 it’s not as critical as with Smartphones and smaller Tablets because its larger 12 inch screen is less likely to be opened outdoors in unshielded high ambient light environments. The adjustable kickstand is particularly useful for adjusting the display angle in order to minimize reflections.

 

The Screen Reflectance for the Surface Pro 3 is 5.9 percent, which is Very Good and much better than most Tablets and Smartphones. It is in between the 6.5 percent for the iPad Air and 5.0 percent for the Amazon Kindle Fire HDX 8.9, but 26 percent higher than the record low 4.7 percent for the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5. The display’s Contrast Rating for High Ambient Light measures the screen’s readability in Ambient Light and depends on both the Screen Reflectance and Maximum Brightness. For the Surface Pro 3 it is 63, which is again Very Good and better than most Tablets and Smartphones. It is again in between the 61 for the iPad Air and 78 for the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9, but significantly lower than a number of Tablets that have values over 100. Again, this is less critical for the Surface Pro 3 because its larger 12 inch screen it is less likely to be opened outdoors in unshielded high ambient light environments. See the Screen Reflections and Brightness and Contrast sections for measurements and details.

 

Viewing Angle Performance

While Tablets are primarily single viewer devices, the variation in display performance with Viewing Angle is still very important because single viewers frequently hold the display at a variety of viewing angles, plus they are large enough for sharing the screen with others. The Viewing Angle can be very large if the display is lying flat on a table or desk. One important advantage of the Surface Pro 3 is its adjustable kickstand, which makes it possible to adjust the Viewing Angle of the display in the same way as a Laptop. That is not only convenient but also reduces any Viewing Angle effects.

 

The Surface Pro 3 has a high performance IPS / PLS LCD display, so we expected it to show very small color shifts with Viewing Angle, and our lab measurements confirmed its excellent Viewing Angle performance, with no visually noticeable color shifts. However, all LCDs, do have a strong decrease in Brightness (Luminance) with Viewing Angle, and the Surface Pro 3 showed (as expected) slightly more than a 50 percent decrease in Brightness at a modest 30 degree viewing angle. See the Viewing Angles section for measurements and details.

 

Viewing Tests

With its relatively accurate Intensity Scale and very accurate colors the Surface Pro 3 provides very nice, pleasing and accurate colors, and picture quality. The very challenging set of DisplayMate Test and Calibration Photos that we use to evaluate picture quality looked Beautiful, even to my experienced hyper-critical eyes. However, viewers that like vivid or exaggerated colors and image contrast may find the accurate Surface Pro 3 images to appear somewhat subdued.

 

Display Power Efficiency

While the Surface Pro 3 display is considerably larger in area than the other Top Tier Tablets and would normally be expected to require considerably more power, its display is more power efficient and it actually uses less power than many smaller Tablets. For example, for an equivalent area and display brightness the Apple iPad Air display uses 66 percent more display power than the Surface Pro 3. This is due in part to its lower pixels per inch, which affects the display’s power efficiency, but it is also the result of using higher efficiency White LEDs and optical stack in the Surface Pro 3 display. See the Display Power section for measurements and details.

 

Surface Pro 3 Conclusions:   An Excellent Top Tier Display…

The primary goal of this Display Technology Shoot-Out article series has always been to point out which manufactures and display technologies are leading and advancing the state-of-the-art of displays by performing comprehensive and objective Lab tests and measurements together with in-depth analysis. We point out who is leading, who is behind, who is improving, and sometimes (unfortunately) who is back pedaling… all based solely on the extensive objective measurements that we also publish, so that everyone can judge the data for themselves as well…

 

An Excellent Top Tier Display:

Based on our extensive Lab tests and measurements on the display for the Surface Pro 3, Microsoft has produced an excellent professional grade high performance display for Windows. In fact, the Surface Pro 3 has one of the very best and most accurate displays available on any mobile platform and OS. It joins near the top of a small set of Tablets that have excellent Top Tier displays – ideal for professionals that need a very accurate high performance display for their work, and for consumers that want and appreciate a really nice and beautiful display.

 

The Surface Pro 3 delivers uniformly consistent all around Top Tier display performance: it is only the second display to ever to get all Green (Very Good to Excellent) Ratings in all test and measurement categories (except for Brightness variation with Viewing Angle, which is the case for all LCDs) since we started the Display Technology Shoot-Out article Series in 2006, an impressive achievement for a display. See the Shoot-Out Comparison Table for the detailed test and measurement results. Comparisons with the other leading Tablets are examined below.

 

Most Accurate Colors:

The Surface Pro 3 also has the most accurate on-screen colors of any Tablet or Smartphone display that we have ever measured for all standard consumer content (sRGB/Rec.709). That is another impressive achievement because everything in the display has to perform just right in order to produce very accurate colors – it is the single most challenging and important performance characteristic for a display. The Absolute Color Accuracy for the Surface Pro 3 is an Excellent 2.1 JNCD. See the Color Accuracy section and Color Accuracy Figures for measurements and details.

 

Color Accuracy is especially important for professional imaging applications when you must be sure of the on-screen image colors, when viewing photos from family and friends (because you often know exactly what they actually should look like), for some TV shows, movies, and sporting events with image content and colors that you are familiar with, and also for viewing online merchandise, so you have a very good idea of exactly what colors you are buying and are less likely to return them.

 

Comparisons with the Amazon Kindle Fire, Apple iPad Air, and Samsung Galaxy Tab S:

First of all, the Surface Pro 3 is considerably larger in screen area than the other Tablets: 87% larger than the Amazon Kindle Fire HDX 8.9, 47% larger than the Apple iPad Air, and 34% larger than the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5. The other Tablets have somewhat higher Peak Brightness, but since the Surface Pro 3 is larger it is less likely to be opened outdoors in unshielded high ambient light environments like Smartphones and smaller Tablets, its somewhat lower (but still Very Good) Peak Brightness of 371 cd/m2 (nits) should not be an issue for most users and applications. With its adjustable kickstand, the angle of the display can be adjusted in the same way as a Laptop, an important viewing and working advantage.

 

In 2013 the Amazon Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 became the top performing Tablet display in our Display Technology Shoot-Out series. It was the very first display to ever to get all Green (Very Good to Excellent) Ratings in all categories (except for Brightness variation with Viewing Angle, which is the case for all LCDs) since we started the Display Technology Shoot-Out article Series in 2006. The Surface Pro 3 is the only other display to ever accomplish this, an impressive achievement for a display. Both are Excellent Top Tier Tablets, however, the Surface Pro 3 is more accurately calibrated than the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9, with the best Absolute Color Accuracy that we have ever measured, so it scores higher in overall display performance.

 

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 remains the top performing mobile display in our Display Technology Shoot-Out series, however, the Surface Pro 3 is neck-to-neck with the Galaxy Tab S 10.5 in most performance categories. Both are tied for first place with the best Absolute Color Accuracy that we have ever measured, which is the single most challenging and important performance characteristic for a display. Where the Galaxy S leads is in providing Color Management for differently calibrated screen modes, and for records in several categories for Tablet display performance.

 

The Apple iPad Air, which came in second after the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9, remains a Very Good Tablet display, however, the Surface Pro 3 is more accurately calibrated than the Apple iPad Air, with the best Absolute Color Accuracy that we have ever measured. The iPad Air now moves into fourth place behind the three other Top Tier Tablets.

 

You can directly compare all of the display performance measurements and results for these and other Tablets by referring to our 2013 Flagship Tablet Display Shoot-Out, our 2014 Galaxy Tab S 10.5 Tablet Display Shoot-Out, and other articles in our Display Technology Shoot-Out article series.

 

The Next Generation of Mobile Displays  –  Better Performance in Ambient Light:

What is really impressive is that we are continuing to see visually significant improvements in display performance in periods of under one year. With display technology advancing rapidly on many different fronts this is likely to continue and even accelerate in the near future as the result of multiple improvements that are combined to work together, so expect many more major display improvements in the near future…

 

The most important developments for the upcoming generations of both LCD and OLED mobile displays will come from improvements in their image and picture quality in real world Ambient Light, which washes out the on-screen images, resulting in reduced readability, image contrast, and color saturation and accuracy. The key will be in enlarging the native Color Gamut and then dynamically changing the display’s color management and intensity scales with the measured Ambient Light level in order to automatically compensate for reflected glare and image wash out from Ambient Light as discussed in our 2014 Innovative Displays and Display Technology and SID Display Technology Shoot-Out articles. The displays and technologies that succeed in implementing this new strategy will take the lead in the next generations of mobile displays…

 

DisplayMate Display Optimization Technology

All Smartphone and Tablet displays can be significantly improved using DisplayMate’s proprietary very advanced scientific analysis and mathematical display modeling and optimization of the display hardware, factory calibration, and driver parameters. We help manufacturers with expert display procurement, prototype development, testing displays to meet contract specifications, and production quality control so that they don’t make mistakes similar to those that are exposed in our public Display Technology Shoot-Out series for consumers. This article is a lite version of our advanced scientific analysis – before the benefits of our DisplayMate Display Optimization Technology, which can correct or improve all of these issues. If you are a display or product manufacturer and want to significantly improve display performance for a competitive advantage then Contact DisplayMate Technologies.

 

Microsoft Surface Pro 3

 

Display Shoot-Out Comparison Table

Below we examine in-depth the display on the Microsoft Surface Pro 3 based on objective Lab measurement data and criteria. For comparisons and additional background information see our Flagship Tablet LCD Display Technology Shoot-Out and our OLED Tablet Display Technology Shoot-Out. For comparisons with the other leading Tablet, Smartphone and Smart Watch displays see our Mobile Display Technology Shoot-Out series.

 

Display Specifications

 

Categories

Microsoft Surface Pro 3

Comments

Display Technology

12.0 inch diagonal

IPS / PLS LCD

The diagonal screen size.

In Plane Switching  Plane to Line Switching

Screen Shape

 3:2 = 1.50

Aspect Ratio

The 3:2 Aspect Ratio is between 4:3 for documents

and 16:9 for widescreen video content.

Screen Area

66.5 Square inches

A better measure of size than the diagonal length.

Display Pixel Resolution

 2160 x 1440 pixels

Screen Pixel Resolution.

Total Number of Pixels

 3.1 Mega Pixels

Total Number of Pixels.

Pixels Per Inch

 

 

 

 

 216 ppi

RGB Stripe Pixels

 

with ClearType Sub-Pixel Rendering

Very Good

Sharpness depends on the viewing distance and ppi.

See this on the visual acuity for a true Retina Display

 

 

 

20/20 Vision Distance

where Pixels or Sub-Pixels

are Not Resolved

15.9 inches

For 20/20 Vision the minimum Viewing Distance

where the screen appears perfectly sharp to the eye.

At 18 inches from the screen 20/20 Vision is 191 ppi.

Display Sharpness

at Typical Viewing Distances

 

 

 

 

 

Display appears Perfectly Sharp

 

Pixels are not Resolved with 20/20 Vision

at Typical Viewing Distances of

16 inches or more

 

The Sub-Pixel Rendering significantly improves Display Sharpness

The Typical Viewing Distances for this screen size

are 16 inches or more.

 

 

 

 

 

Appears Perfectly Sharp

at Typical Viewing Distances

Yes

Typical Viewing Distances are 16 inches or more.

Photo Viewer Color Depth

 

 

 Full 24-bit Color

No Dithering Visible

256 Intensity Levels

Many Android Smartphones and Tablets still have some form of 16-bit color depth in the Gallery Viewer.

The Surface Pro 3 does not have this issue.

 

Overall Assessments

This section summarizes the results for all of the extensive Lab Measurements and Viewing Tests performed on the display

See  Screen ReflectionsBrightness and ContrastColors and IntensitiesViewing AnglesLCD SpectraDisplay Power.

 

 

Surface Pro 3

Comments

Viewing Tests

in Subdued Ambient Lighting

 

Very Good Images

Photos and Videos

have very good color

and accurate contrast

The Viewing Tests examine the accuracy of

photographic images by comparing the displays

to a calibrated studio monitor and HDTV.

 

Variation with Viewing Angle

Colors and Brightness

 

See Viewing Angles

 

Small Color Shifts

with Viewing Angle

 

Large Brightness Shift

with Viewing Angle

Typical for all LCDs

The Surface Pro 3 display has small Color Shifts

with Viewing Angle.

 

All LCDs show a large Brightness shift with angle.

 

See the Viewing Angles section for details.

Overall Display Assessment

Lab Tests and Measurements

Excellent LCD Display

The Surface Pro 3 display performed very well

in the Lab Tests and Measurements.

 

 

Absolute Color Accuracy

Measured over Entire Gamut

 

See Figure 2 and Colors

Excellent Color Accuracy

Color Errors are Small

 

Very Accurate Display

Absolute Color Accuracy is measured with a

Spectroradiometer for 21 Reference Colors

uniformly distributed within the entire Color Gamut.

 

See Figure 2 and Colors and Intensities for details.

Image Contrast Accuracy

 

See Figure 3 and Contrast

Very Good Accuracy

Image Contrast

Somewhat Variable

The Image Contrast Accuracy is determined by

measuring the Log Intensity Scale and Gamma.

 

See Figure 3 and Brightness and Contrast for details.

Performance in Ambient Light

Display Brightness

Screen Reflectance

Contrast Rating

 

See Brightness and Contrast

See Screen Reflections

Very Good Brightness

 

Low Reflectance

 

Very Good

Contrast Rating

in High Ambient Light

Tablets are seldom used in the dark.

Screen Brightness and Reflectance determine

the Contrast Rating for High Ambient Light.

 

See the Brightness and Contrast section for details.

See the Screen Reflections section for details.

 

Overall Display Calibration

Image and Picture Quality

Lab Tests and Viewing Tests

Excellent Calibration

The Surface Pro 3 factory calibration delivers

very accurate colors and excellent overall

image and picture quality.

 

Overall Display Grade

Overall Assessment

Overall Surface Pro 3 Display Grade is A

Excellent Top Tier Mobile Display

The Surface Pro 3 is an excellent Top Tier

professional grade high performance display

that has one of the very best and most accurate

displays available on any mobile platform and OS.

 

Surface Pro 3

Comments

 

Screen Reflections

All display screens are mirrors good enough to use for personal grooming – but that is actually a very bad feature…

We measured the light reflected from all directions and also direct mirror (specular) reflections, which are much more

distracting and cause more eye strain. Many Tablets still have greater than 10 percent reflections that make the

screen much harder to read even in moderate ambient light levels, requiring ever higher brightness settings that waste

precious battery power. Hopefully manufacturers will reduce the mirror reflections with anti-reflection coatings and

matte or haze surface finishes.

 

Our Lab Measurements include Average Reflectance for Ambient Light from All Directions and for Mirror Reflections.

 

 

Surface Pro 3

Comments

Average Screen Reflection

Light From All Directions

5.9 percent

Ambient Light Reflections

Very Good

Measured using an Integrating Hemisphere and

a Spectroradiometer. The best value we have

ever measured for a Tablet is 4.7 percent.

Mirror Reflections

Percentage of Light Reflected

7.8 percent

for Mirror Reflections

Very Good

These are the most annoying types of Reflections.

Measured using a Spectroradiometer and a narrow

collimated pencil beam of light reflected off the screen.

 

Brightness and Contrast

The Contrast Ratio is the specification that gets the most attention, but it only applies for low ambient light, which is seldom

the case for mobile displays. Much more important is the Contrast Rating, which indicates how easy it is to read the screen

under high ambient lighting and depends on both the Maximum Brightness and the Screen Reflectance. The larger the better.

 

 

Surface Pro 3

Comments

Measured Maximum Brightness

100% Full Screen White

Brightness 371 cd/m2

Very Good

This is the Brightness for a screen that is entirely

all white with 100% Average Picture Level.

Measured Peak Brightness

1% Full Screen White

Brightness 371 cd/m2

Very Good

This is the Peak Brightness for a screen that

has only a tiny 1% Average Picture Level.

Measured Maximum Brightness

with Automatic Brightness On

High Ambient Light

Brightness 371 cd/m2

Very Good

Some displays have higher Maximum Brightness

in Automatic Brightness Mode.

 

 

Low Ambient Light

Lowest Peak Brightness

Brightness Slider to Minimum

8 cd/m2

Very Good for Low Light

The Lowest Brightness with the Slider set to Minimum. This is useful for working in very dark environments.

Black Brightness at 0 lux

at Maximum Brightness Setting

0.35 cd/m2

Very Good for Mobile

Black Brightness is important for Low Ambient Light,

which is seldom the case for mobile devices.

Contrast Ratio at 0 lux

Relevant for Low Ambient Light

1,060

Very Good for Mobile

Only relevant for Low Ambient Light,

which is seldom the case for mobile devices.

 

High Ambient Light

Contrast Rating

for High Ambient Light

 

The Higher the Better

for Screen Readability

in High Ambient Light

63

Very Good

 

63

With Auto Brightness

Very Good

Depends on the Screen Reflectance and Brightness.

Defined as Maximum Brightness / Average Reflectance.

 

Some displays have higher Brightness

in Automatic Brightness Mode.

Screen Readability

in High Ambient Light

Very Good  A –

 

Very Good  A

With Auto Brightness

Indicates how easy it is to read the screen

under high ambient lighting. Depends on

both the Screen Reflectance and Brightness.

See High Ambient Light Screen Shots

 

Colors and Intensities

 

Figure 1

Color Gamuts

Click to Enlarge

 

Figure 2

Color Accuracy

Click to Enlarge

 

Figure 3

Intensity Scale

Click to Enlarge

 

The Color Gamut, Intensity Scale, and White Point determine the quality and accuracy of all displayed images and all

the image colors. Bigger is definitely Not Better because the display needs to match all the standards that were used

when the content was produced. For LCDs a wider Color Gamut reduces the power efficiency and the Intensity Scale

affects both image brightness and color mixture accuracy.

 

 

Surface Pro 3

Comments

Color of White

Color Temperature in degrees

 

Measured in the dark at 0 lux

See Figure 1

7,043 K

Slightly Too Blue

1.7 JNCD from D65 White

 

See Figure 1

D65 with 6,500 K is the standard color of White

for most Consumer Content and needed for

accurate color reproduction of all images.

 

See Figure 1 for the plotted White Points.

Color Gamut

Measured in the dark at 0 lux

 

See Figure 1

   97 percent

sRGB / Rec.709

Close to Standard

 

See Figure 1

sRGB / Rec.709 is the color standard for most

content and needed for accurate color reproduction.

 

Color Accuracy

Absolute Color Accuracy

Average Color Error at 0 lux

 

For 21 Reference Colors

Just Noticeable Color Difference

See Figure 2

Average Color Error

From sRGB / Rec.709

Δ(u’v’) = 0.0084

 2.1 JNCD

 

Excellent Accuracy

 

See Figure 2

JNCD is a Just Noticeable Color Difference.

 

See Figure 2 for the definition of JNCD and for

Accuracy Plots showing the measured Color Errors.

 

Average Errors below 3.5 JNCD are Very Good.

Average Errors 3.5 to 7.0 JNCD are Good.

Average Errors above 7.0 JNCD are Poor.

Absolute Color Accuracy

Largest Color Error at 0 lux

 

For 21 Reference Colors

Just Noticeable Color Difference

See Figure 2

Largest Color Error

From sRGB / Rec.709

Δ(u’v’) = 0.0155

3.9 JNCD for Red

 

Very Good Accuracy

 

See Figure 2

JNCD is a Just Noticeable Color Difference.

 

See Figure 2 for the definition of JNCD and for

Accuracy Plots showing the measured Color Errors.

 

Largest Errors below   7.0 JNCD are Very Good.

Largest Errors 7.0 to 14.0 JNCD are Good.

Largest Errors above 14.0 JNCD are Poor.

This is twice the limit for the Average Error.

 

Intensity Scale

Dynamic Brightness

Luminance Decrease with

Average Picture Level APL

No Decrease

Excellent

This is the percent Brightness decrease with APL

Average Picture Level. Ideally should be 0 percent.

Intensity Scale and

Image Contrast

 

See Figure 3

Smooth but

Somewhat Variable

 

See Figure 3

The Intensity Scale controls image contrast needed

for accurate Image Contrast and Color reproduction.

See Figure 3

Gamma for the Intensity Scale

Larger has more Image Contrast

 

See Figure 3

Average 2.30

Varies 2.09 to 2.41

Standard is 2.20

Somewhat Variable

Gamma is the log slope of the Intensity Scale.

Gamma of 2.20 is the standard and needed for

accurate Image Contrast and Color reproduction.

See Figure 3

Image Contrast Accuracy

Very Good

See Figure 3

 

Viewing Angles

The variation of Brightness, Contrast, and Color with Viewing Angle is especially important for Tablets because

of their larger screen and multiple viewers. The typical manufacturer 176+ degree specification for LCD Viewing Angle

is nonsense because that is where the Contrast Ratio falls to a miniscule 10. For most LCDs there are substantial

degradations at less than ±30 degrees, which is not an atypical Viewing Angle for Tablets and Smartphones.

 

Note that the Viewing Angle performance is also very important for a single viewer because the Viewing Angle can vary

significantly based on how the Tablet is held. The Viewing Angle can be very large if the display is lying flat on a table or desk.

 

 

Surface Pro 3

Comments

Brightness Decrease

at a 30 degree Viewing Angle

 52 percent Decrease

Large Decrease

Typical for all LCDs

Most screens become less bright when tilted.

 

LCD decrease is generally greater than 50 percent.

Contrast Ratio at 0 lux

at a 30 degree Viewing Angle

       771 for Landscape

497 for Portrait

Very Good for Mobile

A measure of screen readability when the screen

is tilted under low ambient lighting.

 

White Point Color Shift

at a 30 degree Viewing Angle

Small Color Shift

Δ(u’v’) = 0.0030

 0.8 JNCD

JNCD is a Just Noticeable Color Difference.

See Figure 2 for the definition of JNCD.

 

Primary Color Shifts

Largest Color Shift for R,G,B

at a 30 degree Viewing Angle

Small Color Shift

Largest Δ(u’v’) = 0.0066 for Blue

1.7 JNCD

JNCD is a Just Noticeable Color Difference.

See Figure 2 for the definition of JNCD.

 

Color Shifts for Color Mixtures

at a 30 degree Viewing Angle

Reference Brown (255, 128, 0)

Small Color Shift

Δ(u’v’) = 0.0100

2.5 JNCD

 

 

JNCD is a Just Noticeable Color Difference.

Color Shifts for non-IPS LCDs are about 10 JNCD.

 

Reference Brown is a good indicator of color shifts

with angle because of unequal drive levels and

roughly equal luminance contributions from Red

and Green. See Figure 2 for the definition of JNCD.

 

 

 

Figure 4

Display Spectra

Click to Enlarge

 

 

Display Power Consumption

The display power was measured using a Linear Regression between Luminance and AC Power with a fully charged battery.

 

Since the displays all have different screen sizes and maximum brightness, the values were also scaled to the

same screen brightness (Luminance) and same screen area in order to compare their Relative Power Efficiency.

 

LCDs are typically more power efficient for images with mostly white content (like text screens, for example), while OLEDs

are more power efficient for mixed image content because they are emissive displays so their power varies with the

Average Picture Level (average Brightness) of the image content. For LCDs the display power is independent of image content.

 

The Kindle Fire and iPad Air power measurements are from our 2013 Flagship Tablet Display Shoot-Out.

 

 

Microsoft

Surface Pro 3

Amazon

Kindle Fire HDX 8.9

Apple

iPad Air

Comments

Maximum Display Power

Full White Screen

at Maximum Brightness

3.5 watts

371 cd/m2

66.5 inch2 Screen Area

3.4 watts

527 cd/m2

35.6 inch2 Screen Area

4.8 watts

449 cd/m2

45.2 inch2 Screen Area

This measures the display power for a screen that

is entirely at Peak White for Maximum Brightness.

 

Relative Power Efficiency

Display Power Scaled to the:

Same Luminance 371 cd/m2 Same Screen Area 66.5 inch2

3.5 watts

 

216 Pixels Per Inch

4.5 watts

 

339 Pixels Per Inch

5.8 watts

 

264 Pixels Per Inch

This compares the Relative Power Efficiency

by scaling to the same screen brightness and

same screen area as the Surface Pro 3.

 

Higher Pixels Per Inch lowers the Power Efficiency.

 

 


 

About the Author

Dr. Raymond Soneira is President of DisplayMate Technologies Corporation of Amherst, New Hampshire, which produces display calibration, evaluation, and diagnostic products for consumers, technicians, and manufacturers. See www.displaymate.com. He is a research scientist with a career that spans physics, computer science, and television system design. Dr. Soneira obtained his Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics from Princeton University, spent 5 years as a Long-Term Member of the world famous Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, another 5 years as a Principal Investigator in the Computer Systems Research Laboratory at AT&T Bell Laboratories, and has also designed, tested, and installed color television broadcast equipment for the CBS Television Network Engineering and Development Department. He has authored over 35 research articles in scientific journals in physics and computer science, including Scientific American. If you have any comments or questions about the article, you can contact him at dtso.info@displaymate.com.

 

DisplayMate Display Optimization Technology

All Smartphone and Tablets displays can be significantly improved using DisplayMate’s proprietary very advanced scientific analysis and mathematical display modeling and optimization of the display hardware, factory calibration, and driver parameters. We help manufacturers with expert display procurement, prototype development, testing displays to meet contract specifications, and production quality control so that they don’t make mistakes similar to those that are exposed in our public Display Technology Shoot-Out series for consumers. This article is a lite version of our advanced scientific analysis – before the benefits of our DisplayMate Display Optimization Technology, which can correct or improve all of these issues. If you are a display or product manufacturer and want to significantly improve display performance for a competitive advantage then Contact DisplayMate Technologies.

 

About DisplayMate Technologies

DisplayMate Technologies specializes in proprietary advanced scientific display calibration and mathematical display optimization to deliver unsurpassed objective performance, picture quality and accuracy for all types of displays including video and computer monitors, projectors, HDTVs, mobile displays such as Smartphones and Tablets, and all display technologies including LCD, OLED, 3D, LED, LCoS, Plasma, DLP and CRT. This article is a lite version of our intensive scientific analysis of Smartphone and Tablet mobile displays – before the benefits of our advanced mathematical DisplayMate Display Optimization Technology, which can correct or improve many of the display deficiencies. We offer DisplayMate display calibration software for consumers and advanced DisplayMate display diagnostic and calibration software for technicians and test labs.

 

For manufacturers we offer Consulting Services that include advanced Lab testing and evaluations, confidential Shoot-Outs with competing products, calibration and optimization for displays, cameras and their User Interface, plus on-site and factory visits. We help manufacturers with expert display procurement, prototype development, and production quality control so they don’t make mistakes similar to those that are exposed in our Display Technology Shoot-Out series. See our world renown Display Technology Shoot-Out public article series for an introduction and preview. DisplayMate’s advanced scientific optimizations can make lower cost panels look as good or better than more expensive higher performance displays. If you are a display or product manufacturer and want to turn your display into a spectacular one to surpass your competition then Contact DisplayMate Technologies to learn more.

 

 

Article Links:  Flagship Tablet LCD Display Technology Shoot-Out

Article Links:  OLED Tablet Display Technology Shoot-Out

 

Article Links:  Mobile Display Shoot-Out Article Series Overview and Home Page

Article Links:  Display Technology Shoot-Out Article Series Overview and Home Page

 

 

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