What They Say
After the publication of the DisplayMate test of the Apple iPhone 13 Pro, DXOMark has also published its test results that put the display at the top position in its global rankings.
Pros
- Excellent readability in nearly all conditions.
- Excellent color fidelity, including when viewed at an angle.
- Device is reactive and smooth when browsing.
- Very pleasant HDR10 video experience with the right brightness, contrast, and color fidelity.
- Excellent control of artifacts.
Cons
- Device is not bright enough at its default settings for comfortable night reading.
- Display has a strong orange cast when the blue light filter is on.
- Device could be smoother when gaming.
The phone is not as bright, at 1066 cd/m² as Samsung’s Galaxy S21 Ultra which reached 1379 cd/m², but the Apple display is well set up and driven so has very good readability. DXOMark also thought that the True Tone automatic adjustment for different levels of ambient lighting is better than Samsung’s. Samsung’s adjustment seemed to turn down the brightness after a few minutes in sunlight ‘presumably to keep from overheating’. That effect was not seen on the Apple device.
The firm thinks that the Apple default mode for low brightness is set as too low.
In contrast to the DisplayMate test, DXOMark looked at motion performance and found that the 3:2 pulldown for 24 fps video was good with no frame dropping. It also manages flicker well.
What We Think
Hmmm. I had hoped when I started to read this review that DXOMark may have looked at the variable refresh rate features of the LTPO display. The nearest that it got was the good comment on flicker management. Ray Soneira of DisplayMate told me in a correspondence about my article last week (Apple Back at the Top of DisplayMate Ratings) that over many years, flicker is the topic that the most users with display problems write to him about. He’ll be tracking comments about flicker on the Apple device.
Ray told us that the iPhone Pro uses the same PWM frequency for all refresh rates from 10Hz to 120Hz, so flicker may not be the same as on devices where the PWM frequency tends to be 4X the refresh rate. Apple has an algorithm, he told us, to optimise the combined effect of the PWM and analogue brightness control.
The good review highlights that a great display system can be better than a great display device. (BR)
