Tablet LCD showdown rags on Kindle Fire, lauds iPad and Nook
updated 02:15 pm EST, Tue December 20, 2011
Amazon Kindle Fire LCD said worse than rivals
A new tablet display showdown at DisplayMate has given the Nook Tablet the win over Apple's iPad 2 for display quality. Both are accurate and have bright, 24-bit color displays, but the Barnes & Noble reader has better-balanced contrast and gamma levels. Apple's levels were boosted too high, according to the study.
Amazon's Kindle Fire, meanwhile, had two "major flaws," according to the look. The grayscale was overdone in software and eroding detail. In irony for a company that attacked the iPad's outdoor readability, the glare on the Kindle Fire's display was 70 percent higher than the iPad 2 and twice as much as on the Nook Tablet, making it hard to read outside.
Everyone still had room to grow, DisplayMate said. All of them had just over half of the regular sRGB color gamut, and they all could use higher pixel densities and slightly better color accuracy.
While the test won't see the Nook Tablet upset the iPad, it does make the seven-inch Android slate the pick for image quality on reading tablets and could give a needed edge in the market. Apple may change the environment significantly with the iPad 3, which could have a 2048x1536 display that improves the readability and possibly other parts of its image quality.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Aug 2000
say it ain't so!
They probably have a point. I haven't compared them side by side myself, but Apple has historically had low contrast when it comes to displays. Of course super high contrast looks great for TV, it's not so great when you try to view ever tiny variances in color tones and grey levels when working with graphics & publishing (a traditionally strong market for Apple).
The gamma level is also probably historical Apple. While Apple has moved the default gamma setting to 2.2 in newer products, they could still be setting it to their more traditional 1.8 on the iPad. Great for graphics pros, not so great if you're an average consumer looking for colors to "pop".