Sharp to Begin Retina Display Shipments for New iPad

The Wall Street Journal reports that Sharp Corporation is still trying to ramp up production of displays for Apple's new iPad and expects to start shipments "as soon as possible".

The panels are to be used in Apple Inc.'s new iPad, according to people familiar the matter. The first batch of the U.S. company's newest tablet, released Friday, were not equipped with Sharp's LCD panels after the Japanese company faced difficulty in customizing the screens according to Apple's requirements, one of the people said last week

There has been some debate about Apple's suppliers for the new iPad display. The initial batch seems to be supplied solely by Samsung, but both Sharp and LG are reportedly expected to provide displays as well.

Despite a single display supplier, Apple seems to have been able to produce enough inventory of the new iPad to avoid sell-outs despite what Apple described as a "record weekend".

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Left to Right: iPad 3, iPad 3 (Yellow), iPad 2 (via Fry-man22)

Since the 3rd Generation iPad's launch, response to the new high resolution Retina display has been quite positive. There have been sporadic reports of defective yellow-tinged displays (see above) that have prompted some replacements. The new iPad screen has been described as slightly "warmer" than the iPad 2 screen, but comparison shots show a much larger difference in what are believed to be defective screens.

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Top Rated Comments

zin Avatar
176 months ago
The infamous yellow tint makes a return.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Rocko1 Avatar
176 months ago
People are SO used to overly hot displays with bright blue torch-cast that when you have a properly calibrated 6500 degree display they think it looks yellow.

I am personally convinced that a lot of 'yellow tinged' display returns were actually the most accurate displays these people had in their life and just didn't realize it because they were so acclimatized to blue-tinted displays.

THAT SAID - some people genuinely did receive defective yellow displays especially on iMacs.

I have seen many piss yellow displays. A pure white background is yellowish. White objects in pictures are yellowish, black objects are grayish. This is in no way 'accurate'.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
toddybody Avatar
176 months ago
Well, look on the bright side...customer's can choose from a "cool" Samsung model or "warm"/yellow tint of the Sharp.

Im fine with the Samsung personally :)
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
clibinarius Avatar
176 months ago
Why did you use quotes? Did you even read the article?

Some fanboys simply don't want to admit that Apple and Samsung don't hate each other and are strategic partners on top of competitors. Its not a zero-sum game. If you hate Samsung, just stop buying Apple products. Its that simple. Or petition Apple to find other suppliers.

Not, if you don't mind, I'm going to enjoy my new iPad with its Samsung/Toshiba/Qualcomm guts and be quite happy about it.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jonstatt Avatar
176 months ago
At the moment there are NO Sharp screens.

Right now there are ONLY Samsung screens.

The problem is the colour temperature varies enormously between these Samsung iPad 3s....Its not just blue or yellow but all the shades inbetween! Every iPad 3 appears to be a bit different.

What the true intention is, I have no idea.

And as for the glue drying. This is nonsense, sorry. It keeps getting repeated over and over on here for every product release. This applied to a certain batch of iPhones a couple of years ago that left the factory so quickly the glue hadn't dried. Most of the iPad 3s were manufactured weeks if not months ago so this is not the issue.

LEDs can change a bit over time and some may improve very slightly or get worse depending on how they age (and yes LEDs do change brightness and colour slightly with age). But if its very yellow, it will always be yellow...sorry.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kolax Avatar
176 months ago
Hope the Sharp panels are up to scratch.

Say what you want about Sammy, but they make the best panels out there. If I had a choice when I bought a new MacBook Pro, I'd want a Samsung in there.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)