Hi guys!
In addition to calibration of HDTV sets, from
now on I will also share display reviews of
modern smartphones and tablets.
I see that this area is not very well covered
by other reviewers, so here I am to fix that.
My first display review is for iPhone SE.
What you see on the screen are basic specs
about the display taken from Apple’s website.
Apple is sharing many details about the screen
stating not only resolution and pixel density,
but also typical contrast, max brightness
and also conformity with sRGB standard.
Display has exactly the same 16:9 format as
iPhone 5 and 6 but also just like modern widescreen
HDTVs.
Pixel density is so high that text and images
look so sharp that you cannot see individual
pixels from typical viewing distance.
Diagonal lines are smooth and do not have
stairstepping effect.
LED backlight uniformity is excellent, on
my unit there were not visible patches of
light anywhere on the screen.
Dirty screen effect is not present at all.
Using CalMAN 5 software on my PC, Mobileforge
app on the iPhone and C6 colorimeter, I did
grayscale and color check on 3 different luminance
levels.
Minimum, medium and maximum.
Here are the results.
Measured contrast was between 668:1 and 776:1
depending on the brightness setting.
This is slighly lower result that Apple specified,
but is inline with the fact that iPhone SE
is using IPS LCD screen.
Similar results are often measured on HDTVs
that use IPS display technology, though sometimes
result can be closer to or exceed 1000:1.
Peak luminance was approx.
570 nits, which exceeds Apple’s spec.
High luminance of the screen improves readibility
during bright sunny days or in well-lit room.
Average error in greyscale was between 1.8
and 2.5, again depending on the luminance.
This is excellent result meaning that shades
of grey are displayed accurately, without
any color poping out.
The only scenario when greyscale is not accurate
is in Night shift mode, with average error
of 14.1 and with too much red in the image.
But, Night shift mode is done this way on
purpose to give warmer image during evening
and night hours.
In terms of color, iPhone SE accurately covers
sRGB, with small errors regardless of the
luminance of the screen.
Colors are nicely saturated and with the correct
hue by default.
Since IPS display is used, color saturation
is also good under angles.
Only luminance falls as you tilt the screen,
again typical behaviour for this technology.
Overall, iPhone SE has a high quality display
that is accurately calibrated by default.
Due to this, I can recommend iPhone SE not
only for watching videos, photos and playing
games, but also to more demanding users who
want accurate grayscale and colors according
standard.
Thanks for watching.
If you are interested in finding out more
about smartphone displays, subscribe and you
can expect new content soon.
Bye!
