March 2021 • Macworld 105brightest white pixels
on the screen. Then
the LCDs in front of
it would block some
amount of light to
make darker pixels.
With an array of
backlight LEDs, like
those on the Pro
Display XDR, you can
individually control
the brightness of the
backlight on hundreds
of tiny ‘zones’ and
then further refine
the brightness
with the LCD layer.
This improves contrast and power
efficiency, and allows for darker
black levels.
Mini LED technology takes this
even further, with thousands or even
tens of thousands of really tiny LEDs
divided into hundreds or thousands
of lighting zones. The display can
control the backlight intensity behind
just a few hundred pixels.
This further improves power
efficiency, and also makes it possible
to have finer control over the brightest
and darkest areas of the screen. One
LED backlight can be cranked up
really bright without causing light to
bleed into a dark area nearby.It’s likely that Apple products with
Mini LED displays will have higher
peak and sustained brightness,
though not up to the level of the Pro
Display XDR’s impressive 1,000 nits
sustained and 1,600 nits peak. That
sort of thing generates a lot of heat
and requires significant cooling. This,
combined with great black levels, will
mean really high contrast ratios and
brilliant HDR quality.NOT THE SAME
AS MICRO-LED
There’s another technology coming
down the pike with a similar-sounding
name: Micro-LED. Likely to appearThe Pro Display XDR has hundreds of LED backlights,
but not enough to be truly called a Mini LED display.March 2021 • Macworld 105brightest white pixels
on the screen. Then
the LCDs in front of
it would block some
amount of light to
make darker pixels.
With an array of
backlight LEDs, like
those on the Pro
Display XDR, you can
individually control
the brightness of the
backlight on hundreds
of tiny ‘zones’ and
then further refine
the brightness
with the LCD layer.
This improves contrast and power
efficiency, and allows for darker
black levels.
Mini LED technology takes this
even further, with thousands or even
tens of thousands of really tiny LEDs
divided into hundreds or thousands
of lighting zones. The display can
control the backlight intensity behind
just a few hundred pixels.
This further improves power
efficiency, and also makes it possible
to have finer control over the brightest
and darkest areas of the screen. One
LED backlight can be cranked up
really bright without causing light to
bleed into a dark area nearby.
It’s likely that Apple products with
Mini LED displays will have higher
peak and sustained brightness,
though not up to the level of the Pro
Display XDR’s impressive 1,000 nits
sustained and 1,600 nits peak. That
sort of thing generates a lot of heat
and requires significant cooling. This,
combined with great black levels, will
mean really high contrast ratios and
brilliant HDR quality.NOT THE SAME
AS MICRO-LED
There’s another technology coming
down the pike with a similar-sounding
name: Micro-LED. Likely to appearThe Pro Display XDR has hundreds of LED backlights,
but not enough to be truly called a Mini LED display.