MacLife - USA (2020-03)

Feed your mind. Feast your eyes.

TWO MAIN TYPES of screen are

used in laptops, tablets and phones,

and the difference is not so much in

how each pixel turns light the right

color, but where the light comes

from. The IPS LCD panels found in

Macs and some iPhones, including

the iPhone 11’s Liquid Retina display,

rely on an array of LED backlights.

White light from these is filtered by

the LCD component in each pixel to

adjust color and brightness. One

limitation of such “LED” screens

is that some light leaks through

pixels that should be black. The

difference between the darkest

achievable pixel and the maximum

backlight brightness dictates the

contrast ratio.

Organic LED (“OLED”) screens,

including the iPhone 11 Pro’s Super

Retina XDR display, don’t use

backlighting. Instead, organic

electroluminescent materials in

each pixel generate the light.

(In chemistry, “organic” denotes

a molecule containing carbon and

hydrogen.) This avoids any variation

across the screen due to the

distance between backlights. And

when a pixel should be black, it

can be turned off, so there’s no

light to leak. You could say OLED

screens have infinite contrast,

because any amount of light divided

by none is infinity to one. Some

manufacturers do indeed say so,

but Apple uses a more conservative

method to quote a contrast ratio of

2,000,000:1.

“Mini LED” isn’t as radical as

OLED, but squeezes in more LEDs

to make a more even backlight.

This is made possible by smaller

components based on gallium

nitride (GaN), an alternative to

silicon that you’ll be hearing a

lot more about in the next few

years. A side–effect is less leakage,

giving darker blacks and higher

contrast. It’s theoretically possible

to go all the way to “micro LED”,

meaning one backlight per pixel

— like OLED, but using more

stable inorganic materials that

last longer without burn–in. But

industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo,

who’s often right, says mini LED

will be Apple’s next move,

appearing in iPads this year.

TWELVE SOUTH BACKPACK

Keep your iMac’s Thunderbolt 3

external peripherals tidy with one

or two of these rear shelves.

$44.99 from twelvesouth.com

MUST HAVES

ZHIYUN SMOOTH–Q

Aiming to outdo DJI’s Osmo 3, this

three–axis mobile gimbal is more

compact, oļers new modes, and

supports heavier phones.

$139 from amazon.com

PUROGAMER

With a noise–cancelling mic boom

and breathable padding, these

Mac– and iOS-ready headphones

also have a volume limit.

$49.99 from purosound.com

Image rights from top: twelvesouth, ZHIYUN, Puro Sound Labs.

Start

10 MAR 2020 maclife.com

What the heck?

How mini LED could change Retina displays

BY ADAM BANKS

WINS & FAILS

CHEAT The Wall Street Journal reveals broadband providers

game FCC tests to boost speed claims

PRINCESS Apple warns users of the nano–coated Pro

Display XDR to clean it only with the supplied cloth

FAKE Samsung admits executive’s claim to have sold

a million folding phones was “confused”

NEAT Now customers will find out they’ve been hustled

— but not until the article loads

PEA It seems picky, but at $5,999 were you going to wipe

it down with an oily rag?

NEWS It’s a mistake anyone could make, as Mac|Life’s

three billion readers will agree