GADGET
GIZMO SPECIAL Microsoft Surface Pro 3 Has One Of The Best Displays Yet
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 Reflections, Brightness and Contrast,Colors and Intensities, Viewing Angles, LCD Spectra, Display 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
percent larger than the Amazon Kindle Fire HDX 8.9, 47 percent larger than the
Apple iPad Air, and 34 percent 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
megapixels, 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 three 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.. 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.
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..
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.
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.
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.
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.
Surface Pro 3
conclusions: An excellent top tier display
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.
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.
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 percent larger than the Amazon Kindle Fire HDX 8.9, 47 percent larger than
the Apple iPad Air, and 34 percent 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.
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 .
Dr. Raymond
Soneira - DisplayMate Technologies, Gawker Media
No comments:
Post a Comment