iPhone 13 Pro Max OLED Display Technology Shoot-Out

 

Dr. Raymond M. Soneira

President, DisplayMate Technologies Corporation

 

Copyright © 1990-2021 by DisplayMate Technologies Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

This article, or any part thereof, may not be copied, reproduced, mirrored, distributed or incorporated

into any other work without the prior written permission of DisplayMate Technologies Corporation

 

 

 

Introduction and Overview

The key element for a great Smartphone has always been a truly innovative and top performing display, and the best leading edge Smartphones have always flaunted their super high tech displays. It is the display performance that determines how good and how beautiful everything on the Smartphone looks, including the camera photos, videos, movies, web content, plus all of your Apps, and also how readable and how usable the screen is in High Ambient Lighting. The Display is the Crown Jewel of the Smartphone!

 

In this Display Technology Shoot-Out article series we Only Test and Only Cover the Very Best State-of-the-Art Top Performing Top Tier Smartphone Displays. The articles are designed to promote Superior Display Performance so that reviewers, analysts, journalists, and consumers all Recognize and Appreciate Display Excellence, and also to reward and encourage manufacturers to produce top performing displays for their products.

 

In this article we lab test, measure, analyze, and evaluate in depth the display on the iPhone 13 Pro Max. This is an independent scientific objective lab test and analysis of OLED displays written for reviewers, analysts, journalists, and consumers. It is the latest edition in our eleven year article series that has lab tested, tracked and analyzed the development of mobile OLED displays and display technology, from its early beginnings in 2010, when OLED displays started out in last place, into a rapidly improving and evolving display technology that now has a commanding first place lead and continues pushing ahead aggressively.

 

All of the DisplayMate Display Performance Grades, Ratings and Awards are based entirely on the extensive objective Lab tests and measurements that we also publish, so that everyone can judge and compare the display performance data for themselves as well.

 

We cover these display performance topics with in-depth comprehensive display tests, measurements, and analysis that you will find nowhere else.

 

The Move to OLED Displays

OLED has evolved into a highly refined and mature display technology that now produces the best and highest performance displays for Smartphones.

The iPhone 13 is the latest in a new generation of OLED Smartphones. OLEDs have now evolved and emerged as the premium mobile Smartphone display technology.

 

LCDs are a great cutting edge high performance display technology for Tablets to TVs, but for small handheld Smartphones, OLED displays provide a number of major advantages over LCDs including: being much thinner, much lighter, without needing a bezel, providing a rimless edge-to-edge design. They can be made flexible and into curved screens, plus they have a very fast response time, better viewing angles, and always-on display modes.

 

The very fast Response Times of OLED displays makes the new Higher 120 Hz Screen Refresh Rate possible, which improves image Scrolling and Videos, plus Motion and Gaming Performance in Apps.

 

Many of the OLED performance advantages result from the fact that every single sub-pixel in an OLED display is independently directly electrically powered to emit light, so only the active image sub-pixels draw power based on their individual brightness levels. OLEDs can also provide better color accuracy, image contrast accuracy, and screen uniformity because the irregularities and variations in LCD Backlights introduce color and brightness irregularities and variations over the screen.

 

As the result of their very versatile power management capabilities, OLEDs are not only more power efficient than LCDs for most image content, but they now deliver much higher peak Brightness than LCDs because the maximum power can be delivered to just the sub-pixels that are needed for producing the current displayed image. However, for mostly all white screen content, LCDs are likely to remain brighter and more power efficient for a while.

 

OLED displays now have tremendous performance advantages over LCDs, so high-end and flagship Smartphones need OLED displays in order to compete at state-of-the-art performance levels, securing OLED as the definitive premier display technology for Top Tier Smartphones in the foreseeable future over the next 3-5 years.

 

Some of the iPhone 13 Pro Max Display Performance Enhancements from the iPhone 12 Pro Max

These are only a few of the Display Performance Enhancements that we will be covering in detail throughout the article:

 

· Higher Display Refresh Rate

The iPhone 13 Pro Max has a Higher 120 Hz Display Refresh Rate compared to 60 Hz for the iPhone 12 Pro Max.

The Refresh Rate changes automatically based on the image and picture content being displayed.

The Refresh rate can go as low as 10 Hz for static images. The display sub-pixels are still updated at the higher rate.

 

· Higher Maximum Brightness

The iPhone 13 Pro Max has 27% Higher Maximum Display Brightness than the iPhone 12 Pro Max.

 

· Higher Color Accuracy

The iPhone 13 Pro Max has Higher Absolute Color Accuracy than the iPhone 12 Pro Max.

 

· Higher Display Power Efficiency

The iPhone 13 Pro Max has 25% Higher Display Power Efficiency than the iPhone 12 Pro Max.

Since the display can use up to 80% of the total power, this significantly improves the running time on Battery.

 

· Smaller Display Slot

The iPhone 13 Pro Max has a 20% smaller Display Slot than on the iPhone 12 Pro Max.

On the iPhone 13 Pro Max the Slot takes up only 1.3% of the total screen area.

 

· Same Display Size, Resolution, and Pixels Per Inch PPI

The iPhone 13 Pro Max has the same 458 PPI Display as the iPhone 12 Pro Max.

458 Pixels Per Inch appears Perfect Sharp for 20/20 Vision on a Smartphone display,

so there was no real reason for Apple to increase the PPI and Resolution.

 

iPhone 13 Pro Max Conclusion Summary

Below is a Summary of the Conclusion

See the Conclusion section for details.

 

All of the DisplayMate Display Performance Grades, Ratings and Awards are based entirely on the extensive objective Lab tests and measurements that we also publish, so that everyone can judge and compare the display performance data for themselves as well.

 

Based on our extensive Lab Tests and Measurements the iPhone 13 Pro Max delivers Uniformly Consistent Top Tier Display Performance and receives All Green [Very Good to Excellent] Ratings in All DisplayMate Lab Test Display Performance and Accuracy Categories. As a Result, the iPhone 13 Pro Max has earned DisplayMate’s Highest Overall Display Assessment Rating and Highest Display Performance Grade of A+.

 

The iPhone 13 Pro Max has a Very Impressive Excellent Top Tier World Class Smartphone Display with close to Text Book Perfect Calibration Accuracy and Performance that is Visually Indistinguishable From Perfect. Based on our objective Lab Tests and Measurements the iPhone 13 Pro Max receives a DisplayMate Best Smartphone Display Award earning DisplayMate’s highest ever Display Performance Grade of A+ and setting or matching 12 Smartphone Display Performance Records including 6 that are Visually Indistinguishable From Perfect. As a result, the iPhone 13 Pro Max joins the very select Top Tier of the Best Smartphone Displays.

 

Article Overview

This iPhone 13 Pro Max article has the following major sections:

 

· Highlights:  The Display Highlights and Performance Results section below has detailed information, explanations, and analysis.

 

· Features:  The Display Performance Functions and Features section lists the main functions and features.

 

· Conclusions:  The iPhone 13 Pro Max Conclusions section summarizes all of the Results, Features, Functions and Records.

 

· Records:  The Display Performance Records section lists the Lab measurement performance records.

 

· A+ Rating:  The Display Rating section summarizes the Display Ratings and Criteria.

 

· Award:  The Best Smartphone Display Award section summarizes the DisplayMate Display Performance Award Criteria.

 

· Measurements:  The Display Shoot-Out Lab Measurements Comparison Table has the complete set of measurements and tests.

 

· Assessments:  The Display Performance Assessments section summarizes the display evaluation details.

 

· Future of OLED:  The Future of OLED Smartphones examines the evolution of OLED displays.

 

· The Next Generation:  Improving the Next Generation of Mobile Displays

 

· Performance in Ambient Light:  Improving Display Performance for Real World Ambient Light

 

We will cover all of the these display performance topics and much more, with in-depth expert comprehensive display tests, measurements and analysis that you will find nowhere else.

 

The Display Shoot-Out

To examine the performance of the new iPhone 13 Pro Max OLED Display we ran our in-depth series of Mobile Display Technology Shoot-Out Lab tests and measurements in order to determine how the latest OLED displays have improved. 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 OLED and LCD mobile displays have progressed in eleven years see our 2010 Smartphone Display Shoot-Out, and for a real history lesson see our original 2006 Smartphone Display Shoot-Out.

 

Apple provided DisplayMate Technologies with a retail unit of the iPhone 13 Pro Max so that we could perform our well known objective and comprehensive DisplayMate Lab tests, measurements, and analysis, explaining in-depth the new display performance results for consumers, reviewers, and journalists as early as possible.

 

 

 

 

iPhone 13 Pro Max Highlights and Performance Results

In this section we review and explain the principal results from the extensive DisplayMate Lab Tests and Measurements

in the following categories:  Display Specifications,  Overall Assessments,  Screen Reflections,  Brightness and Contrast,

Colors and Intensities,  Absolute Color Accuracy,  Viewing Angles,  OLED Spectra,  Display Power.

 

Lab Tests and Measurement Data Table

All of the Results in this article are based Entirely on our Objective and Extensive DisplayMate Lab Tests and Measurements.

See the Display Shoot-Out Lab Measurements Comparison Table below for the complete set of DisplayMate Lab Tests and Measurements.

 

Main Topics Covered

This Highlights and Performance Results section has detailed information and analysis on the iPhone 13 Pro Max display for the main topics listed below.

You can skip this section and go directly to the iPhone 13 Pro Max Conclusions for a Summary of the Display Test Results.

 

· Large 6.7 inch Full Screen Display

 

· 2.8K High Resolution Display

 

· Higher 120 Hz Screen Refresh Rate

 

· Industry Standard Color Gamuts

 

· Automatic Color Management

 

· Very High Absolute Color Accuracy

 

· Very High Contrast Accuracy and Intensity Scale Accuracy

 

· Color Accuracy and Intensity Scales Independent of APL

 

· High Screen Brightness and Performance in High Ambient Light

 

· High Dynamic Range Mobile HDR Display

 

· Night Shift Mode for Better Night Viewing

 

· Dark Mode

 

· True Tone Viewing Mode

 

· Diamond Pixels

 

· Viewing Angle Performance

 

· Viewing Tests Performance

 

· Display Power Efficiency

 

· Display Related Enhancements

 

· Large 6.7 inch Full Screen Display with a Aspect Ratio of 19.5 : 9

The iPhone 13 Pro Max has a large 6.7 inch full screen display that fills almost the entire front face of the phone from edge-to-edge.

 

The display has a higher form factor with a height to width Aspect Ratio of 19.5 : 9 = 2.16, which is 22% larger than the 16 : 9 = 1.78 on most Smartphones (and widescreen TVs) because the display now has the same overall shape as the entire phone. It is taller in Portrait mode and wider in Landscape mode. This provides extra space for Notifications and for displaying multiple Apps and content simultaneously on-screen side-by-side.

 

The very top of the screen has a Black 0.2” high (5.5 mm) Slot cutout area from the display that holds the front facing camera, ambient light, proximity and other sensors. It’s noticeable but easy to get used to because it takes up just 1.3% of the total Screen Area. The left and right tabs on either side of the Slot are typically used to show App data that would otherwise need to be shown in the primary display area.

 

· 2.8K High Resolution Full HD+ 2778x1284 Display with 458 pixels per inch

As a result of its larger display size and Aspect Ratio, the iPhone 13 Pro Max has a 2.8K High Resolution Full HD+ display with 2778x1284 pixels and 458 pixels per inch, with 3.6 Mega Pixels, 72% more than an HDTV. The display has Diamond Pixels (see below) and Sub-Pixel Rendering with 458 pixels per inch (ppi), providing significantly higher image sharpness than can be resolved with normal 20/20 Vision at the typical viewing distances of 12 inches or more for Smartphones, so the display appears perfectly sharp. As a result, for Smartphones it is absolutely pointless to further increase the display resolution and pixels per inch (ppi) up to 4K (3940x2160 pixels) for a silly marketing wild goose chase into the stratosphere, with no visual benefit for humans!

 

· Higher 120 Hz Screen Refresh Rate

Most Smartphones Refresh their screens 60 times per second (Hz) or less. The iPhone 13 Pro Max has a new Higher 120 Hz Refresh Rate. The very fast Response Times of OLED displays makes the Higher 120 Hz Refresh Rate possible.

 

The Higher 120 Hz Refresh Rate provides several important advantages, including much smoother Scrolling and Videos, plus improved Motion and Gaming Performance in Apps.

 

The Higher Refresh Rate requires more processing power, but the Refresh Rate is changed automatically based on the image and picture content being displayed. Fast changing images like Scrolling, Animation, Gaming and Videos get the higher Refresh Rates.

 

The Refresh Rate can go as low as 10 Hz for static images. However, all the display sub-pixels are still updated at the higher rates, so the Screen Flicker does not increase for the lower Refresh Rates.

 

· Industry Standard Color Gamuts

The iPhone 13 Pro Max supports the two most important Industry Standard Color Gamuts: the sRGB / Rec.709 Color Gamut that is used for most current consumer content, and the new Wide DCI-P3 Color Gamut that is used in 4K Ultra HD TVs. The DCI-P3 Gamut is 26 percent larger than the sRGB / Rec.709 Gamut. But Automatic Color Management provides many more Gamuts...

 

· Automatic Color Management

Most Smartphones and Tablets generally provide only one to up to several selectable fixed Color Gamuts. The iPhone 13 Pro Max has Automatic Color Management that automatically switches to the proper Color Gamut for any displayed image content within the Wide DCI-P3 Color Space that has an ICC Profile, so images automatically appear with the correct colors, neither over-saturated or under-saturated. Automatic Color Management with multiple and varying Color Gamuts are a very useful and important state-of-the-art capability that all manufacturers will need to provide in the future.

 

	Color Gamuts Click to Enlarge		Color Accuracy Click to Enlarge		Color Shifts Click to Enlarge		Intensity Scales Click to Enlarge

 

· Very High Absolute Color Accuracy

Delivering great color with high Absolute Color Accuracy is incredibly difficult because everything on the display has to be done just right. In order to deliver accurate image colors, a display needs to closely match the standard Color Gamut that was used for producing the content being viewed – not more and not less. In addition the display also needs an accurate (pure logarithmic power-law) Intensity Scale, and an accurate White Point.

 

Each iPhone 13 Pro Max display is individually calibrated at the factory for both Color Accuracy and Contrast Accuracy. Since the iPhone 13 Pro Max supports two Standard Color Gamuts it needs to also implement Color Management in order to get the second smaller sRGB / Rec.709 Gamut to also appear correctly, which is generated from the wider native DCI-P3 Gamut.

 

The Absolute Color Accuracy of the iPhone 13 Pro Max is Truly Impressive as shown in these Figures. It has an Absolute Color Accuracy of 0.5 JNCD (Just Noticeable Color Difference) for the sRGB / Red.709 Color Gamut that is used for most current consumer content, and 0.5 JNCD for the Wider DCI-P3 Color Gamut that is used for 4K UHD TVs and Digital Cinema, which are both Visually Indistinguishable From Perfect, and very likely considerably better than any mobile display, monitor, TV or UHD TV that you have.

 

Note that to obtain this High Absolute Color Accuracy both True Tone and Night Shift need to be Off because they change the White Point of the display from the 6500 K Standard, which then changes the Absolute Color Accuracy throughout the Color Gamut. See this Figure for an explanation and visual definition of Just Noticeable Color Difference JNCD and the Color Accuracy Plots with 41 Reference Colors showing the measured display Color Errors. See the Color Accuracy section and the Color Accuracy Plots for measurements and details.

 

· Very High Contrast Accuracy and Intensity Scale Accuracy

The Intensity Scale (sometimes called the Gray Scale) not only controls the Image and Picture 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 accurately follow the Standard that is used to produce virtually all consumer content then the Image Colors, Image Contrast, and their Brightness Intensities will be wrong everywhere in all images. Unfortunately, many manufacturers are quite sloppy with the Intensity Scale on their displays (because it is logarithmic and not linear). Fortunately, the Intensity Scale on iPhone 13 Pro Max, with a Gamma of 2.21, is a close to perfect match of the Intensity Scale Standard, which is essential for High Absolute Color Accuracy. See Figure 3 for a plot of the measured Intensity Scale and the Contrast and Intensity Scale section for measurements and details.

 

· Color Accuracy and Intensity Scales that are Independent of the on-screen Image Content Average Picture Level APL

The Absolute Color Accuracy and Intensity Scale of the display should not change as the on-screen image content changes.

 

With the continuing improvements in display performance we have added a new set of advanced tests that measure the variations in the Absolute Color Accuracy and the Intensity Scales with changing Average Picture Level APL, comparing the Color Shifts and Intensity Scales between Low APL and 50% High APL. Previous generation displays with large Peak Luminance changes with APL will show large Shifts in the Intensity Scale and large Shifts in Absolute Color Accuracy with APL.

 

Figure 3 shows the variation in the Intensity Scales between Low APL and 50% APL. Any change in the Intensity Scale will affect the Absolute Color Accuracy. For the iPhone 13 Pro Max there is just a tiny Shift in the Intensity Scales with APL, with a measured Gamma of 2.21 for both Low APL and 50% APL. As a result, the Image Contrast remains unchanged with varying APL content.

 

Figure 4 shows the variation in the Absolute Color Accuracy between Low APL and 50% APL. The Color Shifts with APL are very small, with an Average Color Shift of just 0.2 to 0.4 JNCD, and the Largest Color Shifts are only 0.3 to 0.7 JNCD. The White Point Shifts with APL are just 0.2 to 0.4 JNCD.

 

All of the Shifts with APL are small, Visually Indistinguishable, and rated Excellent. See this Figure for an explanation and visual definition of JNCD and the Color APL Shifts section for measurements and details.

 

· High Screen Brightness and Performance in High Ambient Light

Mobile displays are often used under relatively bright ambient lighting, which washes out the image color saturation and contrast, reducing picture quality and making it harder to view or read the screen. To be usable in high ambient light a display needs a dual combination of high Screen Brightness and low Screen Reflectance – the iPhone 13 Pro Max has both. This is extremely important for screen readability, picture quality, and color accuracy in ambient light.

 

With Auto-Brightness On, the iPhone 13 Pro Max has a Maximum Full White Screen Brightness of 1,051 nits for the sRGB and DCI-P3 Color Gamuts. With Auto-Brightness Off, the Maximum Full White Screen Brightness is 846 nits. The Screen Brightness changes by less than 2 percent with changes in Average Picture Level APL, which is very important and very impressive. See the Screen Brightness section for the measurements and details.

 

The iPhone 13 Pro Max comes with Auto-Brightness turned On, which automatically changes the display Brightness based on the current level of ambient light measured by a sensor near the top of the phone. This provides longer running time on battery than Manually adjusting the Brightness Slider yourself when Auto-Brightness is Off.

 

The measured iPhone 13 Pro Max Screen Reflectance is 4.6 percent, close to the lowest that we have ever measured for a Smartphone.

 

The DisplayMate Contrast Rating for High Ambient Light quantitatively measures screen visibility and image contrast under bright Ambient Lighting – the higher the better. As a result of its high Brightness and low Reflectance, the iPhone 13 Pro Max has a Contrast Rating for High Ambient Light of up to 231, among the highest that we have ever measured for the Calibrated Display Modes at High APL on a Smartphone. See the Screen Reflectance section for the measurements and details.

 

· HDR High Dynamic Range Mobile HDR Display

The iPhone 13 Pro Max provides High Dynamic Range Mobile HDR, with support for both HDR10 and Dolby Vision, which allows it to play 4K High Dynamic Range content made for 4K UHD TVs. High Dynamic Range (HDR) is the newest performance enhancement feature developed for the latest 4K Ultra HD TVs. HDR provides expanded the Color, Contrast, and Brightness of video content. The display also supports HDR camera photos. In order to provide Mobile HDR, the iPhone 13 Pro Max has the required Digital Cinema DCI-P3 Wide Color Gamut, High Peak Luminance, plus perfect Blacks and an Infinite Contrast Ratio from its OLED display. The HDR Peak Brightness is 1,200 nits.

 

· Night Shift Mode for Better Night Viewing

The Night Shift mode on the iPhone 13 Pro Max is designed to change the color balance of the display in order to reduce the amount of Blue light produced by the display, which some recent research indicates can affect how well users sleep afterwards. In a separate article we explain and analyze the Blue Light issue for displays. The iPhone 13 Pro Max includes a user adjustable slider to vary the amount of Blue light produced by the display, and a timer that allows the Night Shift to be turned on and off automatically every day. The measured variation in the display light spectrum with the adjustable Night Shift slider is shown in this Figure and below.

 

As the Night Shift slider setting is increased, the amount of Blue light emitted by the display decreases. When that happens, White and all screen colors take on an increasing yellowish tint and color cast. At the Middle setting the measured White Color Temperature decreases to 4,160 K, and at the Warmest setting it decreases to 2,740 K, the Color Temperature of traditional incandescent lighting, which is yellowish. With Night Shift at its Maximum setting, the measured Blue Light component from the iPhone 13 Pro Max is reduced by 80 percent. Turning down the screen Brightness will further decrease the amount of Blue Light.

 

Note that as Night Shift changes the White Point of the display from the 6500 K Standard, the Absolute Color Accuracy throughout the entire Color Gamut is affected and reduced. The measured display spectra for several of the Night Shift settings are included in this Figure and below.

 

	Display Spectra Click to Enlarge

 

· Super Dim Setting

The iPhone 13 Pro Max also has a Super Dim Setting that allows the Maximum Screen Brightness to be set all the way down to just 2 cd/m² (nits) using the Brightness Slider. This is perfect for night use on a beside table, and useful for working comfortably without eye strain or bothering others in very dark environments, or affecting the eye’s dark adaptation, such as when using a telescope. The display still provides full 24-bit color and the picture quality remains excellent.

 

· Dark Mode

The iPhone 13 Pro Max has a Dark Mode display setting that inverts the typical White Background with Black Text to a Black Background with White Text. This significantly reduces the overall Brightness of the entire display for most applications, and should reduce eye strain when viewing the display in low to dark ambient light. An additional bonus is that switching to a Black Background will in most cases significantly reduce the battery power used by the OLED display.

 

· True Tone Viewing Mode

The True Tone viewing mode automatically changes the White Point and color balance of the display based on real-time measurements of the Ambient Light falling on the screen. The idea is to make the display behave more like paper reflecting ambient light and taking on its color. It is implemented with an Ambient Light Sensor that measures the Color of the Ambient Light in addition to its Brightness. Note that as the display White Point changes from the 6500 K Standard the Absolute Color Accuracy throughout the entire Color Gamut is affected and reduced.

 

· Diamond Pixels

A high resolution screen shot obtained with an optical microscope camera shows a Diamond shaped layout for the Sub-Pixels on the iPhone 13 Pro Max. This Diamond Sub-Pixel layout is used on many OLED displays. On the iPhone 13 Pro Max the resulting Sub-Pixel fill factor is much higher than other OLEDs, which is a key factor in providing the much higher Peak Luminance of over 1,000 nits at 100% APL.

 

The Red, Green, and Blue sub-pixels have very different sizes -- Blue is by far the largest because it has the lowest light emission efficiency, and Green is by far the smallest because it has the highest efficiency. The alternating Red and Blue sub-pixel arrangement leads to a 45 degree diagonal symmetry in the sub-pixel layout. This allows vertical, horizontal, and particularly diagonal line segments and vectors to be drawn with reduced aliasing and artifacts. In order to maximize the sub-pixel packing and achieve the highest possible pixels per inch (ppi), that leads to a Diamond rather than Square or Striped arrangement of the Sub-Pixels. It's a form of high-tech display art...

 

· Viewing Angle Performance

While Smartphones 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. The angle is often up to 30 degrees, more if the phone is resting on a table or desk.

 

While LCDs typically experience a 55 percent or greater decrease in Brightness at a 30 degree Viewing Angle, the OLED iPhone 13 Pro Max display shows a much smaller 24 percent decrease in Brightness at 30 degrees. This also applies to multiple side-by-side viewers as well, and is a significant advantage of OLED displays.

 

All displays have Color Shifts with Viewing Angle

OLED displays generally have smaller Color Shifts with Viewing Angle than most LCDs (except for IPS and FFS based LCD displays). For OLEDs the Color Shifts with Viewing Angle result primarily from the Cavity Effect that that is used to increase the Brightness efficiency of the display. The Color Shifts throughout the Color Gamut then vary as combinations of the Primary Red, Green, and Blue Color Shifts.

 

The Color Shift of White, which is the most common background color is particularly noticeable on many OLED and LCD displays.

The iPhone 13 Pro Max has a White Shift of 3.1 JNCD at 30 degrees, which is unlikely to be noticeable for typical Viewing Angles.

 

The Color Shifts throughout the entire Color Gamut vary as combinations of the Primary Color Shifts.

The Color Shift for the Red Primary is 3.4 JNCD at 30 degrees, which is Very Good.

The Color Shift for the Green Primary is 3.7 JNCD at 30 degrees, slightly greater than the 3.5 JNCD limit for a Very Good Rating.

The Color Shift for the Blue Primary is 6.8 JNCD at 30 degrees, much greater than the 3.5 JNCD limit for a Very Good Rating,

But Color Shifts in the Blue Region are less visually noticeable as discussed in this article

 

See the Viewing Angles section for the measurements and details.

 

· Viewing Tests Performance

The iPhone 13 Pro Max provides very nice, pleasing and very accurate colors and picture quality. The very challenging set of DisplayMate Test and Calibration Photos that we use to evaluate picture quality looked absolutely stunning and Beautiful, even to my experienced hyper-critical eyes.

 

The iPhone 13 Pro Max excels due to its impressive Absolute Color Accuracy (0.5 JNCD), which is Visually Indistinguishable from Perfect, and is very likely considerably better than any mobile display, monitor, TV or UHD TV that you have. So photos, videos, and online content and merchandise will appear correct and beautiful. See the Color Accuracy Figures and the Colors and Intensities section for quantitative details.

 

· Display Power Efficiency

The Display’s Power Efficiency is extremely important for Battery Running Time because the display can use up to 80% of the Total iPhone Power for an all White Screen at the Maximum Brightness setting.

 

The iPhone 13 Pro Max comes with Auto-Brightness turned On, which automatically changes the display Brightness based on the current level of ambient light measured by a sensor near the top of the phone. This provides longer running time on battery than Manually adjusting the Brightness Slider yourself when Auto-Brightness is Off.

 

For the static Test Pattern Images, the iPhone 13 Pro Max has 25% higher display Power Efficiency than the iPhone 12 Pro Max. Most of the measured improvement is the result of the Pro-Motion Display Driver automatically reducing the Refresh Rate down to 10 Hz for the static test pattern images,

 

See the Display Power section for the measurements and details.

 

· Display Related Enhancements

 

· The iPhone 13 Pro Max is IP68 water resistant in up to 6 meters (19.7 feet) of water for up to half an hour, which means you can comfortably view the display in typical wet indoor and outdoor conditions – even carefully use it in a tub or shower, and it should be fine if you accidentally drop it in a sink or toilet.

 

· The iPhone 13 Pro Max can be used with Polarized Sunglasses in both the Portrait and Landscape orientations unlike many LCDs, which generally work in only one of the two orientations.

 

· The iPhone 13 Pro Max has a new Cover Glass technology, called Ceramic Shield, that is much more durable and scratch resistant.

Ceramic Shield provides 4x higher resistance to breakage according to Apple.

 

 

 

 

iPhone 13 Pro Max Conclusions:

The primary goal of this Display Technology Shoot-Out article series has always been to publicize and promote display excellence so that consumers, journalists, reviewers, and even manufacturers are aware of and appreciate the very best in displays and display technology. We point out which manufacturers and display technologies are leading and advancing the state-of-the-art for displays by performing comprehensive and objective scientific Lab Tests and Measurements together with in-depth analysis. We point out who is leading, who is behind, who is improving, and sometimes (unfortunately) who is back pedaling.

 

All of the DisplayMate Display Performance Grades, Ratings and Awards are based entirely on the extensive objective Lab tests and measurements that we also publish, so that everyone can judge and compare the display performance data for themselves as well.

 

With consumers now spending rapidly increasing amounts of time watching content on their Smartphones, the shift in emphasis from primarily improving Display Hardware Performance to enhancing the overall Display Picture Quality and Color Accuracy is an important step that DisplayMate Technologies has been pushing for many years in our Display Technology Shoot-Out article series, so it is great to see manufactures improving and then competing on these DisplayMate Lab Measurement Objective Display Performance Metrics.

 

Summary of the iPhone 13 Pro Max Display Functions, Features, and Performance Records:

The iPhone 13 Pro Max has many major and important state-of-the-art display performance enhancements, features and functions, including setting many new Display Performance Records, which are summarized below.

 

See the Display Shoot-Out Comparison Table section below for the complete DisplayMate Lab measurements and test details.

 

See the Highlights and Performance Results section above for a detailed overview with expanded discussions and explanations.

 

See the Display Assessments section for the evaluation details.

 

The iPhone 13 Pro Max has the following State-of-the-Art Display Performance Functions and Features:

 

· A state-of-the-art OLED display that is manufactured on a flexible plastic substrate. While the OLED display itself is flexible, the screen remains rigid under an outer hard cover glass.

 

· A Full Screen design with a large 6.7 inch OLED display that fills almost the entire front face of the iPhone 13 Pro Max from edge-to-edge, providing a significantly larger display for the same phone size.

 

· A display form factor with a taller height to width Aspect Ratio of 19.5 : 9 = 2.16, which is 22% larger than the 16 : 9 = 1.78 on most Smartphones (and widescreen TVs) because the display now has the same overall shape as the entire phone. It is taller in Portrait mode and wider in Landscape mode.

 

· A 2.8K High Resolution 2778 x 1284 Full HD+ Display with 458 pixels per inch, and Diamond Pixels with Sub-Pixel Rendering for enhanced sharpness and higher Peak Brightness.

 

· The iPhone 13 Pro Max display appears Perfectly Sharp for normal 20/20 Vision at Typical Smartphone Viewing Distances of 12 to 18 inches (30 to 46 cm).

 

· A New Higher 120 Hz Display Refresh Rate that improves image Scrolling and Videos, plus Motion and Gaming Performance in Apps, and may also reduce Screen Flicker that some people experience.

 

· A Record High Full Screen Brightness for OLED Smartphones of 1,050 nits for 100% APL in High Ambient Light, which improves screen visibility in high Ambient Light.

 

· Each iPhone 13 Pro Max display is individually calibrated at the factory for both Color Accuracy and Contrast Accuracy.

 

· Very High Absolute Color Accuracy (0.5 JNCD) that is Visually Indistinguishable From Perfect.

 

· Color Accuracy and Intensity Scales that are Independent of the Image Content APL.

 

· Automatic Color Management that automatically switches to the proper Color Gamut for any displayed image content within the Wide DCI-P3 Color Space that has an ICC Profile, so images automatically appear with the correct colors, neither being over-saturated or under-saturated.

 

· 2 Industry Standard Color Gamuts: the sRGB / Rec.709 Color Gamut that is used for most current consumer content, and the new Wide DCI-P3 Color Gamut that is used in 4K Ultra HD TVs. The DCI-P3 Gamut is 26 percent larger than the sRGB / Rec.709 Gamut.

 

· A full 100% DCI-P3 Color Gamut that is also used for 4K Ultra HD TVs, so the iPhone 13 Pro Max can display the latest high-end 4K video content.

 

· A High Dynamic Range Mobile HDR Display which allows the iPhone 13 Pro Max to play 4K High Dynamic Range content produced for 4K UHD TVs. The HDR Peak Brightness is 1,200 nits.

 

· A Very Low Screen Reflectance of 4.6 percent.

 

· A Night Shift Mode that allows the user to adjust and reduce the amount of Blue Light from the display for better night viewing and improved sleep.

 

· A Dark Mode setting that inverts the typical White Background with Black Text to a Black Background with White Text, which significantly reduces the overall Brightness of the entire display for most applications, and should reduce eye strain when viewing the display in low to dark ambient light.

 

· A True Tone viewing mode that automatically changes the White Point and color balance of the display based on real-time measurements of the Ambient Light falling on the screen to make the display behave more like paper reflecting Ambient Light and taking on its color.

 

· Small to Medium Color Shifts and Small Brightness Shifts with Viewing Angle.

 

· Vision Accessibility Display Modes to help people with vision impairments.

 

· The iPhone 13 Pro Max can be used with Polarized Sunglasses in both the Portrait and Landscape orientations unlike many LCDs, which generally work in only one of the two orientations.

 

The iPhone 13 Pro Max sets or matches 12 Smartphone Display Performance Records for:

Numerical Display Performance Differences that are Visually Indistinguishable are considered Matched and Tied Performance Records.

JNCD is a Just Noticeable Color Difference and APL is the Average Picture Level for on-screen Image Content.

 

· Highest   Absolute Color Accuracy  (0.5 JNCD for sRGB and 0.5 JNCD for DCI-P3)  –  Visually Indistinguishable From Perfect.

 

· Smallest  Shift in Color Accuracy with APL  (0.4 JNCD for sRGB and 0.2 JNCD for DCI-P3)  –  Visually Indistinguishable From Perfect.

 

· Smallest  Maximum Color Shift with APL  (0.7 JNCD for sRGB and 0.3 JNCD for DCI-P3)  –  Visually Indistinguishable From Perfect.

 

· Highest   Image Contrast Accuracy and Intensity Scale Accuracy  (2.21 Gamma)  –  Visually Indistinguishable From Perfect.

 

· Smallest  Shift in Image Contrast and Intensity Scale with APL  (0.00 Gamma)  –  Visually Indistinguishable From Perfect.

 

· Smallest  Change in Peak Luminance with APL  (2 percent)  –  Visually Indistinguishable From Perfect.

 

· Highest   Full Screen Brightness for OLED Smartphones  (1,051 nits at 100% APL).

 

· Highest   Contrast Ratio  (Infinite).

 

· Lowest    Screen Reflectance  (4.6 percent).

 

· Highest   Contrast Rating in Ambient Light  (228 for 100% APL).

 

· Smallest  Brightness Variation with Viewing Angle  (24% at 30 degrees).

 

· Highest   Visible Screen Resolution 2.8K (2778x1284)  –  4K Does Not appear visually sharper on a Smartphone.

 

The iPhone 13 Pro Max earns our Highest A+ Display Performance Assessment Rating

OLED has evolved into a highly refined and mature display technology that now produces the best and highest performance displays for Smartphones.

OLED Display Performance continues to provide major Record Setting improvements with every new generation.

 

With consumers now spending rapidly increasing amounts of time watching content on their Smartphones, the shift in emphasis from primarily improving Display Hardware Performance to enhancing the overall display Picture Quality and Color Accuracy is an important step that DisplayMate Technologies has been pushing for many years in our Display Technology Shoot-Out article series, so it is great to see manufacturers improving and then competing on these DisplayMate Objective Lab Measurement Metrics.

 

Apple has concentrated on significantly raising the on-screen Absolute Picture Quality and Absolute Color Accuracy of the OLED display by implementing Precision Factory Display Calibration, moving the overall iPhone 13 Pro Max Display Performance up to Record Setting Outstanding Levels with close to Text Book Perfect Calibration Accuracy that is Visually Indistinguishable From Perfect.

 

DisplayMate Display Performance Ratings:

All of the Results in this article are based Entirely on our Objective and Extensive DisplayMate Lab Tests and Measurements that are all listed in a section below.

 

· To get a DisplayMate A Display Performance Rating the display must get All Green [Very Good to Excellent] Ratings for All of the Display Tests and Measurements [except for Color Shifts at 30 degrees Viewing Angle, which are deemed less important].

 

· Then to get a DisplayMate A+ Display Performance Rating the Average Absolute Color Accuracy and the Average Absolute Color Accuracy Shifts with Average Picture Level APL must All be less than 1.0 JNCD, and the Largest Color Errors must All be less than 3.0 JNCD.

 

The iPhone 13 Pro Max delivers Uniformly Consistent Top Tier Display Performance and receives All Green [Very Good to Excellent] Ratings in All DisplayMate Lab Test Display Performance and Accuracy Categories and has Absolute Color Accuracy much better than 1.0 JNCD.

 

The iPhone 13 Pro Max display meets all of the criteria and requirements for a DisplayMate A+ Grade, earning DisplayMate’s Highest Overall Display Assessment Rating and Highest Display Performance Grade of A+.

 

DisplayMate Display Performance Rating and Best Smartphone Display Award

Based on our extensive Lab Tests and Measurements the iPhone 13 Pro Max has a Very Impressive Excellent Top Tier World Class Smartphone Display with close to Text Book Perfect Calibration Accuracy and Performance that is Visually Indistinguishable From Perfect. Based on our objective Lab Tests and Measurements the iPhone 13 Pro Max receives a DisplayMate Best Smartphone Display Award earning DisplayMate’s highest ever Display Performance Grade of A+ and setting or matching 12 Smartphone Display Performance Records including 6 that are Visually Indistinguishable From Perfect that are listed above.

 

The iPhone 13 Pro Max joins the very select Top Tier of Smartphone Displays which all provide Close to Text Book Perfect Calibration Accuracy and Performance that is Visually Indistinguishable From Perfect, so they all received and maintain Concurrent DisplayMate Best Smartphone Display Awards. All are Excellent State-of-the-Art Displays, each is better in some Display Performance Categories, but None are Best in All the Display Performance Categories. Note that measured numerical display performance differences that are Visually Indistinguishable are equivalent.

 

As Display Performance continues to improve we have and will continue to raise the Performance Levels necessary to receive a DisplayMate Best Smartphone Display Award and an A+ Display Rating, so The Top Tier of Smartphone Displays will continue to evolve and change with each new display generation, but only the Very Best Displays will continue to receive A+ Ratings each year.

 

Follow DisplayMate on Twitter to learn about our upcoming Smartphone display technology coverage.

 

See the links below for all of the iPhone 13 Pro Max Measurements, Evaluations, Analysis, and Assessments

 

Data Tables:    See the Display Shoot-Out Lab Measurements Comparison Table section below has the complete set of measurements and tests.

 

Highlights:       See the Display Highlights and Performance Results section above for detailed information, explanations, and analysis.

 

Features:         See the Display Performance Functions and Features section above for a list of the main functions and features.

 

Records:          See the Display Performance Records section above that lists the Lab measurement performance records.

 

Assessments:   See the Display Performance Assessments section below summarizes the display evaluation details.

 

Improving the Next Generation of Mobile Displays

The iPhone 13 Pro Max has a very high resolution 2.8K 2778x1284 pixel display with 458 pixels per inch (ppi) producing images that look perfectly sharp with normal 20/20 Vision under all normal viewing conditions, which always includes some ambient light that always lowers the visible image contrast and perceived image sharpness (Modulation Transfer MTF). Note that displays are almost never viewed in absolute darkness under perfect viewing conditions with ideal image content. Some clueless reviewers have been pining for 4K 3840x2160 Smartphones, which would require more than double the pixels, memory, and processing power of the 2778x1284 display on the iPhone 13 Pro Max, but there would be no visual benefit for humans! As a result, it is absolutely pointless to further increase the display resolution and pixels per inch (ppi) for a marketing wild goose chase into the stratosphere, with no visual benefit for humans!

 

Improving Display Performance for Real World Ambient Light Viewing Conditions

With screen size and resolution already functionally maxed out, manufacturers should instead dedicate their efforts and resources into improving real world display performance in ambient light by using advanced technology to restore and compensate for the loss of color gamut, color saturation, and image contrast due to ambient light, something that every consumer will benefit from, and will also immediately notice and appreciate – providing a true sales and marketing advantage.

 

Currently all existing displays are Color and Contrast Accurate only when they are viewed in Absolute Darkness 0 lux.

The most important improvements for OLED and LCD displays will come from improving their image and picture quality and screen readability in Real World Ambient Light, which washes out the screen images, resulting in Reduced Image Contrast, Reduced Color Saturation, and Reduce Color Accuracy. The key will be in lowering the Screen Reflectance and implementing Dynamic Color Management with automatic real-time modification of the display’s native Color Gamut and Dynamic Intensity Scales based on the measured Ambient Light level in order to have them compensate for the reflected light glare and image wash out that causes a loss of color saturation and image contrast from ambient light as discussed in our Innovative Displays and Display Technology and SID Display Technology Shoot-Out articles.

 

Currently all existing displays deal with increasing Ambient Light by simply increasing the display’s own Brightness - a brute force method that does very little to improve the washed out Colors and Image Contrast, but it significantly increases Display Power, which then reduces the Running Time on Battery. A major bonus for using Dynamic Color Management and Dynamic Intensity Scales is that it significantly reduces Display Power, which then increases the Running Time on Battery, another major sales and marketing advantage for this new high tech approach.

 

The displays, technologies, and manufacturers that succeed in implementing this new real world high ambient light performance strategy will take the lead in the next generations of mobile displays… Follow DisplayMate on Twitter to learn about these developments and our upcoming display technology coverage

 

DisplayMate Display Optimization Technology

All Smartphone, Tablet, Monitor and TV displays can be significantly improved using DisplayMate’s proprietary very advanced scientific analysis and mathematical display modeling and optimization of the display hardware, factory calibration, and driver parameters. We help manufacturers with expert display procurement, prototype development, display performance improvement and optimization, testing displays to meet contract specifications, and production quality control so that they don’t make mistakes similar to those that are exposed in our public Display Technology Shoot-Out series for consumers. This article is a lite version of our advanced scientific analysis – before the benefits of our DisplayMate Display Optimization Technology, which can correct or improve all of these issues. If you are a display or product manufacturer and want to significantly improve display performance for a competitive advantage then Contact DisplayMate Technologies.

 

 

Display Shoot-Out Comparison Table

Below we examine in-depth the OLED display on the Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max based on objective Lab measurement data

and criteria in the following sections:  Display Specifications,  Overall Assessments,  Screen Reflections,  Brightness and Contrast,

Colors and Intensities,  Absolute Color Accuracy,  Viewing Angles,  OLED Spectra,  Display Power.

 

For additional background information see this earlier article covering the Flagship OLED 2017 Smartphones.

 

Detailed Test and Measurement Comparisons between the iPhone 13 Pro Max and iPhone 12 Pro Max.

You can directly compare the data and measurement results for the iPhone 13 Pro Max with the iPhone 12 Pro Max

in detail by using a Tabbed web browser with our comprehensive Lab measurements and analysis for each of the displays.

For each Tab click on a Link below. The entries are mostly identical with only minor formatting differences,

so it is easy to make detailed side-by-side comparisons by simply clicking through the Tabs.

Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max Lab Measurements Comparison Table

Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max Lab Measurements Comparison Table

 

For comparisons with the other leading Smartphone displays see our Mobile Display Technology Shoot-Out article series.

 

Categories	Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max		Comments
Display Technology	Flexible OLED Display with Diamond Pixels 6.7 inch Diagonal  / 17.0 cm Diagonal Excluding the Rounded Corners		Flexible Organic Light Emitting Diode Diamond Pixels with Diagonal Symmetry.
Screen Aspect Ratio	19.5 : 9 = 2.16 Higher Aspect Ratio Most Smartphones and Widescreen TVs have 16 : 9 = 1.78		Height to Width Aspect Ratio iPhone 13 Pro Max display screen is 22% longer than most Smartphones and widescreen 16:9 TV content.
Screen Size	2.80 x 6.06 inches 7.12 x 15.40 cm		Display Width and Height in inches and cm.
Screen Area	16.8 square inches  / 108square cm The Sensor Slot at the Top of the Screen is only 1.3% of the Screen Area		A better measure of size than the diagonal length.
Supported Color Gamuts	Wide Gamut  –  DCI-P3 Digital Cinema Content Standard Gamut  –  sRGB / Rec.709 Content		The iPhone 13 Pro Max supports 2 Color Gamuts including the new wider DCI-P3 Color Gamut that is used in the 4K Ultra HD TV content.
Display Refresh Rates	New Higher 120 Hz Refresh for Smoother Scrolling and Motion The Refresh Rate changes Automatically based on the image content The Refresh rate can go as low as 10 Hz for static images		Higher Refresh Rates improve image Scrolling plus Video and Motion Performance in Apps, and may reduce Screen Flicker that some people experience.
Display Resolution	2778 x 1284 pixels 2.8K  Full HD+		Screen Pixel Resolution. Quad HD can display four 1280x720 HD images.
Total Number of Pixels	3.6 Mega Pixels		Total Number of Pixels.
Pixels Per Inch	458 PPI with Diamond Pixels Excellent		Sharpness depends on the viewing distance and PPI. See this on the visual acuity for a true Retina Display
Sub-Pixels Per Inch	Red  324 SPPI  Green  458 SPPI    Blue  324 SPPI		Diamond Pixel displays have only half the number of Red and Blue Sub-Pixels as RGB Stripe displays. See the Diamond Sub-Pixel layout
Total Number of Sub-Pixels	Red  1.8 Million Sub-Pixels Green  3.6 Million Sub-Pixels   Blue  1.8 Million Sub-Pixels		Number of Mega Sub-Pixels for Red, Green, Blue. Diamond Sub-Pixel displays have only half the number of Red and Blue Sub-Pixels as RGB Stripe displays. At High PPI this is generally not visible due to the use of Sub-Pixel Rendering.
20/20 Vision Distance where Pixels or Sub-Pixels are Not Resolved	7.5 inches / 19.1 cm for White and Green Sub-Pixels with 20/20 Vision  10.6 inches / 27.0 cm for Red and Blue Sub-Pixels with 20/20 Vision		For 20/20 Vision the minimum Viewing Distance where the screen appears perfectly sharp to the eye.
Display Sharpness at Typical Viewing Distances	iPhone 13 Pro Max Display appears Perfectly Sharp Pixels are not Resolved with 20/20 Vision at Typical Viewing Distances of      12 to 18 inches 30 to 46 cm		The Typical Viewing Distances for this screen size are in the range of 12 to 18 inches or 30 to 46 cm.   Also note that eye’s resolution is much lower for Red and Blue color content than White and Green.
Appears Perfectly Sharp at Typical Viewing Distances	Yes		Typical Viewing Distances are 12 to 18 inches or 30 to 46 cm for this screen size.
Overall Assessments This section summarizes the results for all of the extensive Lab Measurements and Viewing Tests performed on the display. See  Screen Reflections,  Brightness and Contrast,  Colors and Intensities,  Viewing Angles,  OLED Spectra,  Display Power.   The iPhone 13 Pro Max has Automatic Color Management that switches to the appropriate Color Gamut for Content with ICC Color Profiles.   The DCI-P3 Digital Cinema Gamut is used in 4K Ultra HD TVs, and other advanced imaging applications. The sRGB / Rec.709 Gamut is used for most current consumer photo, video, web, and computer content.
Categories	Wide Gamut DCI-P3 Content	Standard Gamut sRGB / Rec.709 Content	Comments
Viewing Tests in Subdued Ambient Lighting	Excellent Images Photos and Videos have Excellent Color and Accurate Contrast   Accurate DCI-P3 Content	Excellent Images Photos and Videos have Excellent Color and Accurate Contrast   Accurate sRGB Content	The Viewing Tests examine the accuracy of photographic images by comparing the displays to an calibrated studio monitor and TV.
Variation with Viewing Angle Colors and Brightness   See Viewing Angles	Color Shifts Small to Medium with Viewing Angle   Small Brightness Shifts with Viewing Angle	Color Shifts Small to Medium with Viewing Angle   Small Brightness Shifts with Viewing Angle	The iPhone 13 Pro Max display has a relatively small decrease in Brightness with Viewing Angle and relatively small to Medium Color Shifts with Viewing Angle.   See the Viewing Angles section for details.
Overall Display Assessment Lab Tests and Measurements	Excellent OLED Display Accurate DCI-P3 Content	Excellent OLED Display Accurate sRGB Content	The iPhone 13 Pro Max OLED Display performed very well in the Lab Tests and Measurements.
Absolute Color Accuracy Measured over Entire Gamut   See Figure 2 and Colors	Excellent Color Accuracy Color Errors are Very Small Accurate DCI-P3 Content	Excellent Color Accuracy Color Errors are Very Small Accurate sRGB Content	Absolute Color Accuracy is measured with a Spectroradiometer for 41 Reference Colors uniformly distributed within the entire Color Gamut.   See Figure 2 and Colors for details.
Image Contrast Accuracy   See Figure 3 and Contrast	Excellent Accuracy Image Contrast Very Accurate	Excellent Accuracy Image Contrast Very Accurate	The Image Contrast Accuracy is determined by measuring the Log Intensity Scale and Gamma.   See Figure 3 and Contrast for details.
Performance in Ambient Light Display Brightness Screen Reflectance Contrast Rating   See Brightness and Contrast See Screen Reflections	High Display Brightness Very Low Reflectance   High Contrast Rating for Ambient Light   Higher Brightness with Auto-Brightness On	High Display Brightness Very Low Reflectance   High Contrast Rating for Ambient Light   Higher Brightness with Auto-Brightness On	Smartphones are seldom used in the dark. Screen Brightness and Reflectance determine the Contrast Rating for High Ambient Light.   See the Brightness and Contrast section for details. See the Screen Reflections section for details.
Overall Display Calibration Image and Picture Quality Lab Tests and Viewing Tests	Excellent Calibration Accurate DCI-P3 Content	Excellent Calibration Accurate sRGB Content	iPhone 13 Pro Max display delivers accurately calibrated colors and images for both Wide DCI-P3 and Standard sRGB Content.
Overall Display Grade Overall Assessment	Overall iPhone 13 Pro Max Display Grade is Excellent A+ DisplayMate Best Smartphone Display Award with 12 Smartphone Display Performance Records including 6 that are Visually Indistinguishable From Perfect An Excellent Top Tier World Class Smartphone Display		The iPhone 13 Pro Max display delivers excellent image quality for Wide DCI-P3 Color Content and Standard sRGB Color Content, with high Screen Brightness and low Reflectance, has good Viewing Angles, and is an all around top performing Smartphone display.
	Accurate DCI-P3 Content For Viewing 4K UHD TV DCI-P3 Cinema Content	Accurate Standard sRGB Content For Viewing Most Current Content Photo Video Movie Web
Categories	Wide Gamut DCI-P3 Content	Standard Gamut sRGB / Rec.709 Content	Comments
Screen Reflections All display screens are mirrors good enough to use for personal grooming – but that is actually a very bad feature… We measured the light reflected from all directions and also direct mirror (specular) reflections, which are much more distracting and cause more eye strain. Many Smartphones still have greater than 10 percent reflections that make the screen much harder to read even in moderate ambient light levels, requiring ever higher brightness settings that waste precious battery power. Manufacturers should reduce the mirror reflections with anti-reflection coatings and matte or haze surface finishes.   Our Lab Measurements include Average Reflectance for Ambient Light from All Directions and for Mirror Reflections. We use an Integrating Hemisphere and a highly collimated pencil light beam together with a Spectroradiometer. The Screen Reflectance is exactly the same for all Color Gamuts.   The iPhone 13 Pro Max has close to the lowest Screen Reflectance levels that we have ever measured for a Smartphone. These results are extremely important for screen readability, picture quality, and color accuracy in ambient light.
Categories	iPhone 13 Pro Max		Comments
Average Screen Reflection Light From All Directions	4.6 percent for Ambient Light Reflections Excellent		Measured using an Integrating Hemisphere and a Spectroradiometer. The lowest value we have ever measured for a Smartphone is 4.3 percent.
Mirror Reflections Percentage of Light Reflected	5.6 percent for Mirror Reflections Very Good		These are the most annoying types of Reflections. Measured using a Spectroradiometer and a narrow collimated pencil beam of light reflected off the screen. The lowest value we have ever measured for a Smartphone is 5.4 percent.
Brightness and Contrast The Contrast Ratio is the specification that gets the most attention, but it only applies for low ambient light, which is seldom the case for mobile displays.   Much more important is the Contrast Rating for High Ambient Light, which indicates how easy it is to read the screen under high ambient lighting and depends on both the Maximum Brightness and the Screen Reflectance. The larger the better. The display’s actual on-screen Contrast Ratio changes with the Ambient Light lux level and is proportional to the Contrast Rating.   The iPhone 13 Pro Max comes set with Auto-Brightness turned On, which automatically changes the display Brightness based on the current level of Ambient Light measured by a sensor located in the centered Display Slot at the top of the Screen.. The Maximum Brightness is higher with Auto-Brightness On.
Categories	Wide Gamut DCI-P3 Content	Standard Gamut sRGB / Rec.709 Content	Comments
Manual Brightness Mode Auto-Brightness Off
Home Screen Peak Brightness Measured for White	Brightness 854 cd/m2 Excellent	Brightness 854 cd/m2 Excellent	The Peak Brightness for White on the Home Screen.
Measured Maximum Brightness 50% Average Picture Level	Brightness 853 cd/m2 Excellent	Brightness 854 cd/m2 Excellent	This is the Brightness for typical screen content that has a 50% Average Picture Level.
Measured Maximum Brightness 100% Full Screen White	Brightness 842 cd/m2 Excellent	Brightness 846 cd/m2 Excellent	This is the Brightness for a screen that is entirely all white with 100% Average Picture Level.
Measured Maximum Brightness 1% Average Picture Level	Brightness 839 cd/m2 Excellent	Brightness 840 cd/m2 Excellent	This is the Brightness for a screen that has only a tiny 1% Average Picture Level.
Dynamic Brightness Change in Luminance with Average Picture Level	2 percent Decrease Excellent	2 percent Decrease Excellent	This is the percent Brightness decrease with APL, Average Picture Level. Ideally should be 0 percent.
Auto-Brightness Mode Measured for High Ambient Light
Measured Maximum Brightness 50% Average Picture Level	Brightness 1,060 cd/m2 Excellent	Brightness 1,062 cd/m2 Excellent	This is the Brightness for typical screen content that has a 50% Average Picture Level.
Measured Maximum Brightness 100% Full Screen White	Brightness 1,051 cd/m2 Excellent	Brightness 1,050 cd/m2 Excellent	This is the Brightness for a screen that is entirely all white with 100% Average Picture Level.
Measured Maximum Brightness 1% Average Picture Level	Brightness 1,042 cd/m2 Excellent	Brightness 1,042 cd/m2 Excellent	This is the Brightness for a screen that has only a tiny 1% Average Picture Level.
Dynamic Brightness Change in Luminance with Average Picture Level	2 percent Decrease Excellent	2 percent Decrease Excellent	This is the percent Brightness decrease with APL, Average Picture Level. Ideally should be 0 percent.
Low Ambient Light
Lowest Peak Brightness Super Dim Setting Brightness Slider to Minimum	2 cd/m2 For Very Low Light	2 cd/m2 For Very Low Light	This is the Lowest Brightness with the Slider set to Minimum. This is useful for working in very dark environments. Picture Quality remains Excellent.
Black Brightness at 0 lux at Maximum Brightness Setting	0 cd/m2 Outstanding	0 cd/m2 Outstanding	Black Brightness is important for Low Ambient Light, which is seldom the case for mobile devices.
Contrast Ratio at 0 lux Relevant for Low Ambient Light	Infinite Outstanding	Infinite Outstanding	Only relevant for Low Ambient Light, which is seldom the case for mobile devices.
High Ambient Light Contrast Rating For White with the Brightness Slider at Maximum
Contrast Rating for High Ambient Light   The Higher the Better for Screen Readability in High Ambient Light	182 – 185 With Manual Brightness Mode Very Good   227 – 230 With Auto-Brightness On Excellent	183 – 186 With Manual Brightness Mode Very Good   227 – 231 With Auto-Brightness On Excellent	Depends on the Screen Reflectance and Brightness. Defined as Maximum Brightness / Average Reflectance.   The display’s actual on-screen Contrast Ratio changes with the Ambient Light lux level and is proportional to the Contrast Rating.
Screen Readability in High Ambient Light	Very Good  A With Manual Brightness Mode   Excellent  A+ With Auto-Brightness On	Very Good  A With Manual Brightness Mode   Excellent  A+ With Auto-Brightness On	Indicates how easy it is to read the screen under High Ambient Lighting. Depends on both the Screen Reflectance and Brightness. See High Ambient Light Screen Shots
Colors and Intensities                         Figure 1 Color Gamuts Click to Enlarge   Figure 2 Color Accuracy Click to Enlarge   Figure 3 Intensity Scales Click to Enlarge   Figure 4 Color Shifts Click to Enlarge     The Color Gamut, Intensity Scale, and White Point determine the quality and accuracy of all displayed images and all the image colors. Bigger is definitely Not Better because the display needs to match all the standards that were used when the content was produced.   The iPhone has Automatic Color Management that switches to the appropriate Color Gamut for Content with ICC Color Profiles.
Categories	Wide Gamut DCI-P3 Content	Standard Gamut sRGB / Rec.709 Content	Comments
Color of White Color Temperature in degrees   Measured in the dark at 0 lux See Figure 1	6,470 K 0.3 JNCD from D65 White Very Close to Standard   Excellent Accurate White Point   See Figure 1	6,470 K 0.3 JNCD from D65 White Very Close to Standard   Excellent Accurate White Point   See Figure 1	D65 with 6,500 K is the standard color of White for most Consumer Content and needed for accurate color reproduction of all images.   JNCD is a Just Noticeable Color Difference. White Point accuracy is more critical than other colors.   See Figure 1 for the plotted White Points. See Figure 2 for the definition of JNCD.
Color Gamut Measured in the dark at 0 lux   See Figure 1	102 percent DCI-P3 Cinema Gamut Very Close to Standard   Excellent Accurate Wide Gamut   See Figure 1	104 percent sRGB / Rec.709 Gamut Very Close to Standard   Excellent Accurate Standard Gamut   See Figure 1	Most current consumer content uses sRGB / Rec.709. The new 4K UHD TVs and Digital Cinema use DCI-P3.   A Wide Color Gamut is useful in High Ambient Light and for some applications. It can be used with Color Management to dynamically change the Gamut.   See Figure 1
Absolute Color Accuracy
Absolute Color Accuracy Average Color Error at 0 lux   For 41 Reference Colors Just Noticeable Color Difference See Figure 2	Average Color Error From DCI-P3 Δ(u’v’) = 0.0020 0.5 JNCD   Excellent Accuracy Accurate DCI-P3 Content   See Figure 2	Average Color Error From sRGB / Rec.709 Δ(u’v’) = 0.0021 0.5 JNCD   Excellent Accuracy Accurate sRGB Content   See Figure 2	JNCD is a Just Noticeable Color Difference.   See Figure 2 for the definition of JNCD and for Accuracy Plots showing the measured Color Errors.   Color Errors below 2.0 JNCD are Excellent Color Errors below 3.5 JNCD are Very Good. Color Errors  3.5 to 7.0 JNCD are Good. Color Errors above 7.0 JNCD are Poor.
Absolute Color Accuracy Maximum Color Error at 0 lux   For 41 Reference Colors Just Noticeable Color Difference See Figure 2	Largest Color Error From DCI-P3 Δ(u’v’) = 0.0077 1.9 JNCD for 100% Blue   Excellent Accuracy Accurate DCI-P3 Content   See Figure 2	Largest Color Error From sRGB / Rec.709 Δ(u’v’) = 0.0073 1.8 JNCD for 100% Blue   Excellent Accuracy Accurate sRGB Content   See Figure 2	JNCD is a Just Noticeable Color Difference.   See Figure 2 for the definition of JNCD and for Accuracy Plots showing the measured Color Errors.   Color Errors below 2.0 JNCD are Excellent Color Errors below 3.5 JNCD are Very Good. Color Errors  3.5 to 7.0 JNCD are Good. Color Errors above 7.0 JNCD are Poor.
Shifts in Absolute Color Accuracy with Average Picture Level APL Measured Shifts in the Absolute Color Accuracy with Image Content from Low 1% APL to High 50% APL
Shift in the Color of White   Just Noticeable Color Difference   See Figure 4	White Point Color Shift from Low to High APL Δ(u’v’) = 0.0007 0.2 JNCD   Excellent   See Figure 4	White Point Color Shift from Low to High APL Δ(u’v’) = 0.0014 0.4 JNCD   Excellent   See Figure 4	JNCD is a Just Noticeable Color Difference   See Figure 2 for the definition of JNCD. See Figure 4 for the measured Color Shifts.   Color Shifts below 2.0 JNCD are Excellent Color Shifts below 3.5 JNCD are Very Good. Color Shifts  3.5 to 7.0 JNCD are Good. Color Shifts above 7.0 JNCD are Poor.
Average Color Shift   For 41 Reference Colors Just Noticeable Color Difference   See Figure 4	Average Color Shift from Low to High APL Δ(u’v’) = 0.0007 0.2 JNCD   Excellent   See Figure 4	Average Color Shift from Low to High APL Δ(u’v’) = 0.0016 0.4 JNCD   Excellent   See Figure 4	JNCD is a Just Noticeable Color Difference.   See Figure 2 for the definition of JNCD. See Figure 4 for the measured Color Shifts.   Color Shifts below 2.0 JNCD are Excellent Color Shifts below 3.5 JNCD are Very Good. Color Shifts  3.5 to 7.0 JNCD are Good. Color Shifts above 7.0 JNCD are Poor.
Maximum Color Shift   For 41 Reference Colors Just Noticeable Color Difference   See Figure 4	Largest Color Shift from Low to High APL Δ(u’v’) = 0.0014 0.3 JNCD for 75% Cyan-Blue   Excellent   See Figure 4	Largest Color Shift from Low to High APL Δ(u’v’) = 0.0029 0.7 JNCD for 50% Blue   Excellent   See Figure 4	JNCD is a Just Noticeable Color Difference   See Figure 2 for the definition of JNCD. See Figure 4 for the measured Color Shifts.   Color Shifts below 2.0 JNCD are Excellent Color Shifts below 3.5 JNCD are Very Good. Color Shifts  3.5 to 7.0 JNCD are Good. Color Shifts above 7.0 JNCD are Poor.
Intensity Scale and Image Contrast Accuracy
Dynamic Brightness Change in Luminance with Average Picture Level	2 percent Decrease Excellent	2 percent Decrease Excellent	This is the percent Brightness decrease with APL, Average Picture Level. Ideally should be 0 percent.
Intensity Scale and Image Contrast   See Figure 3	Very Smooth and Straight Excellent Very Accurate See Figure 3	Very Smooth and Straight Excellent Very Accurate See Figure 3	The Intensity Scale controls image contrast needed for accurate Image Contrast and Color reproduction. See Figure 3
Gamma for the Intensity Scale Larger has more Image Contrast   See Figure 3	Gamma 2.21 Excellent Gamma Very Accurate	Gamma 2.21 Excellent Gamma Very Accurate	Gamma is the log slope of the Intensity Scale. Gamma of 2.20 is the standard and needed for accurate Image Contrast and Color reproduction. See Figure 3
Image Contrast Accuracy	Excellent	Excellent	See Figure 3
Viewing Angles The variation of Brightness, Contrast, and Color with Viewing Angle is especially important for Smartphones because of their larger screen and multiple viewers. The typical manufacturer 176+ degree specification for LCD Viewing Angle is nonsense because that is where the Contrast Ratio falls to a miniscule 10. For most LCDs there are substantial degradations at less than ±30 degrees, which is not an atypical Viewing Angle for Smartphones and Tablets.   The Viewing Angle variations are essentially identical for both of the Color Gamut Modes.   Note that the Viewing Angle performance is also very important for a single viewer because the Viewing Angle can vary significantly based on how the Smartphone is held. The Viewing Angle can be very large if resting on a table or desk.   · The iPhone 13 Pro Max display has a Brightness (Luminance) fall off with Viewing Angle that is much smaller than the best LCD displays.   Color Shifts: · The White Point Color Shift is the most viewer noticeable Color Shift with Viewing Angle because it is often the screen background. The 13 Pro Max has a White Shift of 3.1 JNCD at 30 degrees, which is unlikely to be noticeable.   · The Color Shifts throughout the entire Color Gamut vary as combinations of the Primary Color Shifts.   · The Color Shift for the Red Primary at 30 degrees Viewing Angle is relatively small with 3.1 JNCD, which is Very Good.   · The Color Shift for the Green Primary at 30 degrees Viewing Angle is 3.7 JNCD, slightly greater than the 3.5 JNCD limit for a Green Very Good Rating.   · The Color Shift for the Blue Primary at 30 degrees Viewing Angle is 6.8 JNCD, much greater than the 3.5 JNCD limit for a Green Very Good Rating. But Color Shifts in the Blue Region are less visually noticeable as discussed in this article   Most current model OLED Smartphone Displays have 1 or 2 Primary Color Shift Yellow ratings.
Categories	Wide Gamut DCI-P3 Content	Standard Gamut sRGB / Rec.709 Content	Comments
Brightness Decrease at a 30 degree Viewing Angle	24 percent Decrease Small Decrease Very Good		Most screens become less bright when tilted. OLED decrease is due to optical absorption. LCD decrease is generally greater than 50 percent.
Contrast Ratio at 0 lux at a 30 degree Viewing Angle	Infinite Contrast Ratio Outstanding		A measure of screen readability when the screen is tilted under low ambient lighting.
White Point Color Shift at a 30 degree Viewing Angle	Small Color Shift Δ(u’v’) = 0.0126 Shift  3.1 JNCD  Very Good		JNCD is a Just Noticeable Color Difference. See Figure 2 for the definition of JNCD. Color Shifts below 3.5 JNCD are Very Good.
Color Shifts for the Primaries
Red Primary Color Shift at a 30 degree Viewing Angle	Small Color Shift Δ(u’v’) = 0.0137  3.4 JNCD  Very Good		JNCD is a Just Noticeable Color Difference. See Figure 2 for the definition of JNCD. Color Shifts below 3.5 JNCD are Very Good.
Green Primary Color Shift at a 30 degree Viewing Angle	Medium Color Shift Δ(u’v’) = 0.0147  3.7 JNCD  Good		JNCD is a Just Noticeable Color Difference. See Figure 2 for the definition of JNCD. Color Shifts  3.5 to 7.0 JNCD are Good.
Blue Primary Color Shift at a 30 degree Viewing Angle	Medium Color Shift Δ(u’v’) = 0.0263  6.8 JNCD  Good		JNCD is a Just Noticeable Color Difference. See Figure 2 for the definition of JNCD. Color Shifts  3.5 to 7.0 JNCD are Good.
Color Shifts for Color Mixtures at a 30 degree Viewing Angle Reference Brown (255, 128, 0)	Small Color Shift Δ(u’v’) = 0.0070 1.7 JNCD  Excellent		JNCD is a Just Noticeable Color Difference. Color Shifts for non-IPS LCDs are about 10 JNCD. Reference Brown is a good indicator of color shifts with angle because of unequal drive levels and roughly equal luminance contributions from Red and Green. See Figure 2 for the definition of JNCD.
Display Spectra The Display Spectra for the iPhone 13 Pro Max including the Night Shift mode are measured in Figure 5 below.   The Night Shift mode is designed to change the color balance of the display in order to reduce the amount of Blue Light produced by the display, which some recent research indicates can affect how well users sleep afterwards. The White Point can Shift down to a Warm 2,740 K White Point.   The measured display spectra for several of the Night Shift settings are included in Figure 5b.       Figure 5 Display Spectra Click to Enlarge     Display Power Consumption The display power was measured using a Linear Regression between Luminance and AC Power with a fully charged battery.   Since the displays can have different screen sizes and maximum brightness, the display power values below are also scaled to the same screen Brightness (Luminance) and same Screen Area in order to compare their Relative Power Efficiencies.   Comparison with LCDs While LCDs remain more power efficient for images with mostly full screen white content (like all text screens on a white background, for example), OLEDs are more power efficient for typical mixed image content because they are emissive displays so their power varies with the Average Picture Level (average Brightness) of the image content over the entire screen. For OLEDs, Black pixels and sub-pixels don’t use any power so screens with Black backgrounds are very power efficient for OLEDs. For LCDs the display power is fixed and independent of image content.   Currently, OLED displays are more power efficient than LCDs for Average Pictures Levels of 70 percent or less, and LCDs are more power efficient for Average Picture Levels above 70 percent. Since both technologies are continuing to improve their power efficiencies, the crossover will continue to change with time.   For OLEDs the Display Power depends on the Picture Content. An entirely Black OLED Screen uses 0 watts of Display Power.   When the display is at Full Screen Peak White the display uses 80% of the total iPhone power, so the display settings are a major factor in the Battery Running Time.   For the static Test Pattern Images, the iPhone 13 Pro Max has 25% higher display Power Efficiency than the iPhone 12 Pro Max. Most of the improvement is the result of the automatic Pro-Motion Display Driver reducing the Refresh Rate down to 10 Hz for static images,   Categories iPhone 12 Pro Max iPhone 13 Pro Max Comments Average Display Power Maximum Brightness at 50% Average Picture Level 50% Average Picture Level   2.40 watts with 829 cd/m2 16.7 inch2 Screen Area 50% Average Picture Level   1.80 watts with 854  cd/m2 16.8 inch2 Screen Area This measures the Average Display Power for a typical range of image content.       Relative Power Efficiency 50% Average Picture Level Compared to iPhone 12 Pro Max For the same 829 cd/m2 For the same Screen Area Relative Average Power 100%   2.40 watts with 829 cd/m2 16.7 inch2 Screen Area Relative Average Power 73%   1.74 watts  with the same 829 cd/m2 with the same 16.7 inch2 Screen Area This compares the Relative Power Efficiency by scaling the measured Display Power to the same Screen Brightness and same Screen Area as the iPhone 12 Pro Max.   Maximum Display Power Full White Screen at Maximum Brightness Maximum Power Full Screen White   4.60 watts  with 825 cd/m2 16.7 inch2 Screen Area Maximum Power Full Screen White   3.75 watts  with 846 cd/m2 16.8 inch2 Screen Area This measures the Maximum Display power for a screen that is entirely Peak White.         Relative Power Efficiency Maximum Display Power Compared to iPhone 12 Pro Max For the same 825 cd/m2 For the same Screen Area Relative Maximum Power 100%   4.60 watts  with 825 cd/m2 16.7 inch2 Screen Area Relative Maximum Power 79%   3.64 watts  with the same 825 cd/m2 with the same 16.7 inch2 Screen Area This compares the Relative Power Efficiency by scaling the measured Display Power to the same Screen Brightness and same Screen Area as the iPhone 12 Pro Max.

 

 

About the Author

Dr. Raymond Soneira is President of DisplayMate Technologies Corporation of Amherst, New Hampshire, which produces display calibration, evaluation, and diagnostic products for consumers, technicians, and manufacturers. See www.displaymate.com. He is a research scientist with a career that spans physics, computer science, and television system design. Dr. Soneira obtained his Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics from Princeton University, spent 5 years as a Long-Term Member of the world famous Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, another 5 years as a Principal Investigator in the Computer Systems Research Laboratory at AT&T Bell Laboratories, and has also designed, tested, and installed color television broadcast equipment for the CBS Television Network Engineering and Development Department. He has authored over 35 research articles in scientific journals in physics and computer science, including Scientific American. If you have any comments or questions about the article, you can contact him at dtso.info@displaymate.com.

 

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