DisplayMate: Microsoft's Surface Pro 3 features an excellent top tier display

[Shawn Knight]

One of the key elements of a great mobile device is a top performing display and according to the experts over at DisplayMate, the Surface Pro 3 is worthy of such honor.

In a detailed review of Microsoft's new slate, DisplayMate president Raymond Soneira said it has one of the very best and most accurate displays available on any mobile platform and OS. It wasn't quite good enough to thump the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 from its perch as the top performing mobile display but it went neck-and-neck with Samsung's slate is most performance categories and even beat it in a few.

In terms of color accuracy, Soneira said the Surface Pro 3 exhibited the absolute best color accuracy they have ever measured.

The review also points out that while the Pro 3's display is considerably larger than other top tier tablets, it is more power efficient and actually uses less energy than many smaller slates. For example, for an equivalent area and display brightness, the Apple iPad Air uses 66 percent more display power than the Surface Pro 3.

Speaking of brightness, Microsoft's new flagship earned a rating of very good in this category but it does lag behind the competition. Its 371 nits is no match for the 449 nits afforded by the iPad Air and the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9's rating of 527 nits. Due to its size, however, Soneira speculates that the Surface Pro 3 is less likely to be opened outdoors in unshielded high ambient light environments like smartphones and smaller tablets.

For a complete breakdown of the Surface Pro 3's display, be sure to check out the full review.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/57606-displaymate-microsofts-surface-pro-3-features-an-excellent-top-tier-display.html

 

[Railman]

If I was a suspicious person I would question why there have been so many positive reviews of the Surface Pro 3 appearing at the moment! Are these paid for reviews?

 

[SNGX1275]

I think the price is pretty high. Sure it does more than an iPad, but it <mostly> doesn't outperform a MBA and is on a similar price level (or more expensive). I would seriously consider getting one if it wasn't so expensive.

 

[VitalyT]

Surfaces 1-2-3 went through the generations of "bad"->"mediocre"->"good". If they keep the momentum, Surface 4 may be an "excellent" product. And better support for high DPI will be one important step forward to make that happen.

 

[Guest]

If I was a suspicious person I would question why there have been so many positive reviews of the Surface Pro 3 appearing at the moment! Are these paid for reviews?

...and the fact that perhaps, just maybe, this tablet from Microsoft is the real deal and exactly as good as everyone claims it to be, didn't factor into your equations? Or is it just because this is a product from Microsoft, and they are bound to eternally make bad products that sell for more than your average content consumer tablet does? Good thing you covered yourself by saying, "If I was a suspicious person", because only suspicious people make assumptions now don't they?

 

[Guest]

Surfaces 1-2-3 went through the generations of "bad"->"mediocre"->"good"
. If they keep the momentum, Surface 4 may be an "excellent" product. And better support for high DPI will be one important step forward to make that happen.

I agree. I am very tempted to get this generation Surface Pro, but with the progress they have made, and coupled with the fact that they are almost at the perfect slate, makes we want to hold out for the Surface Pro 4. If they manage to make the leap they managed from SP2 to SP3, then the SP4 will basically be the tablet to rule them all, especially since Intel's next gen 14nm Broadwell processors will be available allowing for the first time full fan less and thinner designs. So bring on the i7 Broadwell quad core, 2k or 4k display Surface Pro 4. The price will probably be high, but to squeeze all that power into such a portable form factor, and still have the capacity to perform as a full laptop replacement will make it worth it, at least in my opinion.

 

[Railman]

If I was a suspicious person I would question why there have been so many positive reviews of the Surface Pro 3 appearing at the moment! Are these paid for reviews?

...and the fact that perhaps, just maybe, this tablet from Microsoft is the real deal and exactly as good as everyone claims it to be, didn't factor into your equations? Or is it just because this is a product from Microsoft, and they are bound to eternally make bad products that sell for more than your average content consumer tablet does? Good thing you covered yourself by saying, "If I was a suspicious person", because only suspicious people make assumptions now don't they?

The fact that you have posted as guest makes me suspicious you are an employee of MS

 

[captaincranky]

...and the fact that perhaps, just maybe, this tablet from Microsoft is the real deal and exactly as good as everyone claims it to be, didn't factor into your equations? Or is it just because this is a product from Microsoft, and they are bound to eternally make bad products that sell for more than your average content consumer tablet does? Good thing you covered yourself by saying, "If I was a suspicious person", because only suspicious people make assumptions now don't they?

Yeah, I suppose next you'll be in a TV commercial dancing on a desk top over it.....

 

[Guest]

I'm posting as a guest... And I agree that are just some clueless troll...

 

[Railman]

I'm posting as a guest... And I agree that are just some clueless troll...

I'm sure that sentence did make sense to you however it did not to me!

 

[Guest]

That's no way to treat guest. Where are your manners? Besides, guest bad like no very great right.

 

[captaincranky]

I'm posting as a guest... And I agree that are just some clueless troll...

That's no way to treat guest. Where are your manners? Besides, guest bad like no very great right.

Guest make big large progress! Yesterday no can able make wurd spell "troll". Now guest are one!

 

[pmcardle]

...and the fact that perhaps, just maybe, this tablet from Microsoft is the real deal and exactly as good as everyone claims it to be, didn't factor into your equations? Or is it just because this is a product from Microsoft, and they are bound to eternally make bad products that sell for more than your average content consumer tablet does? Good thing you covered yourself by saying, "If I was a suspicious person", because only suspicious people make assumptions now don't they?

Yeah, I suppose next you'll be in a TV commercial dancing on a desk top over it.....

Typical MS hater comment.

 

[captaincranky]

Typical MS hater comment.

You don't know me, you only think you do. Either that, or you like to say things that aren't clever, but mistakenly believe they are.

I have 7 Windows computers, have never gone near an Apple product, nor do I ever intend to.

With that out of the way, I'm not about to accept every turd M$ drops on me, wrap it in gold leaf, sit it on an altar and call it, "manna from heaven".

Sunday is a day to recover from Saturday, nothing more. So, they'll be no worship of anything M$, Apple, either of the annoying Steves, God or anything else done with it.

As near as I can tell, "Surface Tablets", are another chapter in the saga of M$' paid public beta tests.(*) They release them sequentially to the sole end of determining public stupidity. This with respect to how much any given fool will pay for any given lack of capability. When that fails, the next release does more, and costs less. And so on, and so forth. So, now we're at iteration 3, and people are still complaining it costs too much, and does too little. How about the first crop of fools who were parted with their money? "How do they feel about this"?

In any case, while I don't hate M$ in general, that Surface commercial I posted was a complete abomination. And I feel it appropriate as light entertainment / wake up call, for those drooling over M$, "next big thing".

In any case, here's something just for you:

Little Nipper waiting for "his master's voice".

In its day, it spoke to corporate devotion, as it should for you now.

(*)Some others have been, Windows ME, Vista, Windows 8.0. And I don't know who the hell made those keyboard/mouse USB to PS-2 adapters for the big "M", but everyone I've ever had has failed.

 

[Guest]

They release them sequentially to the sole end of determining public stupidity. This with respect to how much any given fool will pay for any given lack of capability. When that fails, the next release does more, and costs less. And so on, and so forth.

So basically you have just described every product released from every company in the history of product releases? You know, cars, appliances, gadgets, etc.? Unless you know of a company that releases the perfect product first time, always at extreme levels of affordability, and never needing to update it as we would all consider it a timeless classic which shall still be used in its current form 10 years from now, right? OR am I misreading your comment somehow?

 

[captaincranky]

So basically you have just described every product released from every company in the history of product releases? You know, cars, appliances, gadgets, etc.? Unless you know of a company that releases the perfect product first time, always at extreme levels of affordability, and never needing to update it as we would all consider it a timeless classic which shall still be used in its current form 10 years from now, right? OR am I misreading your comment somehow?

No, but your interpretation of it is infused with a grandiose sense of omniscience. Or a "gross overvaluation of your insight", if you will.

My impression of the Surface series is this; the technology was available at the time of the first Surface release, to deliver it in essentially the same form as it exists now. For less money. I think they held back in a valiant but misguided attempt to use Apple's snob appeal marketing methodology.

And for all intents and purposes, the "dancing dumbbells" ad campaign's only point, was to wear out the mute and channel changing buttons on everybody's TV remote trying to get away from it. It was just hopelessly hokey bandwagon propaganda that, (IMHO), only served to alienate the very people it was pandering to.

(I think I read here, that M$ was using the same ad agency as Apple. If that's true, it was a really dumb decision. M$ shooting itself in the foot, as it were)

Windows 8 was a massive conceit on the part of M$ in general, and Steve Ballmer in particular. It went over like a lead balloon.

FWIW, cars aren't always "updated" because it's "necessary". They're updated to appeal to driver's of the previous model year's vanity. "How long are we going to keep this wreck of a car, honey?, It's almost 2 years old? Look how much shinier the new model is, darling.

It's easy to get 10 years out of today's automobiles. Just change the oil once in a while, and don't hit a bridge abutment going 90... Is the new one faster, sure, maybe a little. However, either one is likely fast enough to get your license suspended. And either one will, "serve the purpose". It just might not impress the high maintenance bimbo you're trying to pick up with it.

If you want instant classics, here's three. The 1963 Corvette "Stingray" split window coupe. The original switch model, "Mister Coffee" (*). And last but not least, The Fender "Stratocaster".

If you're one of those, "I gotta be the 1st kid on the block to have a Surface", God bless you, and be quiet while he, (or perhaps she), is doing it.

I do freely admit that the first free standing DVD recorders weren't "instant classics". They were a $1000.00 IQ test on the part of Pioneer (and I believe others), to try and recoup their R & D costs from vain customers with more money that brains.

All your attempts at "sweeping generalities" aside, what I posted was essentially targeted at the M$ products I mentioned.

(*) In the case of the simple on/off mechanical Mr. Coffee, it's been going strong for decades, and it's still more reliable and cheaper than the digital control nonsense they'd prefer you buy.

 

[drjekel_mrhyde]

So anyone who writes something good about a Microsoft product=Shill
Anyone that writes something good about Apple or Google= Professional
Microsoft could find the cure for cancer, yet asshats still will see something negative in it

So basically you have just described every product released from every company in the history of product releases? You know, cars, appliances, gadgets, etc.? Unless you know of a company that releases the perfect product first time, always at extreme levels of affordability, and never needing to update it as we would all consider it a timeless classic which shall still be used in its current form 10 years from now, right? OR am I misreading your comment somehow?

No, but your interpretation of it is infused with a grandiose sense of omniscience. Or a "gross overvaluation of your insight", if you will.

My impression of the Surface series is this; the technology was available at the time of the first Surface release, to deliver it in essentially the same form as it exists now. For less money. I think they held back in a valiant but misguided attempt to use Apple's snob appeal marketing methodology.

And for all intents and purposes, the "dancing dumbbells" ad campaign's only point, was to wear out the mute and channel changing buttons on everybody's TV remote trying to get away from it. It was just hopelessly hokey bandwagon propaganda that, (IMHO), only served to alienate the very people it was pandering to.

(I think I read here, that M$ was using the same ad agency as Apple. If that's true, it was a really dumb decision. M$ shooting itself in the foot, as it were)

Windows 8 was a massive conceit on the part of M$ in general, and Steve Ballmer in particular. It went over like a lead balloon.

FWIW, cars aren't always "updated" because it's "necessary". They're updated to appeal to driver's of the previous model year's vanity. "How long are we going to keep this wreck of a car, honey?, It's almost 2 years old? Look how much shinier the new model is, darling.

It's easy to get 10 years out of today's automobiles. Just change the oil once in a while, and don't hit a bridge abutment going 90... Is the new one faster, sure, maybe a little. However, either one is likely fast enough to get your license suspended. And either one will, "serve the purpose". It just might not impress the high maintenance bimbo you're trying to pick up with it.

If you want instant classics, here's three. The 1963 Corvette "Stingray" split window coupe. The original switch model, "Mister Coffee" (*). And last but not least, The Fender "Stratocaster".

If you're one of those, "I gotta be the 1st kid on the block to have a Surface", God bless you, and be quiet while he, (or perhaps she), is doing it.

I do freely admit that the first free standing DVD recorders weren't "instant classics". They were a $1000.00 IQ test on the part of Pioneer (and I believe others), to try and recoup their R & D costs from vain customers with more money that brains.

All your attempts at "sweeping generalities" aside, what I posted was essentially targeted at the M$ products I mentioned.

(*) In the case of the simple on/off mechanical Mr. Coffee, it's been going strong for decades, and it's still more reliable and cheaper than the digital control nonsense they'd prefer you buy.

Coming from a guy who still types M$ for Microsoft. Hey do you got any BSOD jokes from last decade?

 

[RustyTech]

Thank you everyone for a very entertaining Monday morning!

 

[captaincranky]

Coming from a guy who still types M$ for Microsoft. Hey do you got any BSOD jokes from last decade?

I never actually seen a BSOD, even on my 10 YO eMachines. I wouldn't know what to do if I did... I guess you might say, I'd be, "BeeSOD mah self with grief and confusion, Miss Scarlet". If I could have worked, "I dontz knows nufin' 'bout Burfin no baby Surface tablets, Missy Scarlet", into the discussion, trust me, I would have.

(Those lines are from more than five decade ago. Have ur (*) grand mum explain them to you).

In any event I still use "M$", because if I used "MS" people might think I'm talking about the terrible disease, "multiple sclerosis". I'm certainly not about to type, "Micro Sawfft": Hey wait, I can't even spell it.... Well, it's also because I know it pisses off the new crop of juvenile delinquent / know-it-alls in residence.

Now, why don't you run along along and buy a Surface Pro and iPad both today. That'll teach that mean old grouchy stick in the mud cranky, how liberal and how progressive you are!

(*) Notice the progressive spelling of, "your" I used! I think I might be coming around!

 

[Arris]

I like the sad smiley they put in the Windows 8 BSOD screen...

 

[IAMTHESTIG]

We got a Surface 3 Pro at my work and it is pretty nice I gotta say. I'm not a M$ fan by any stretch of the imagination, but having a full blown PC in that tablet is very beneficial to those who can use it. The display is indeed great, but Windows still doesn't scale the interface well so that high res can be an eye strainer too. The display does need to be brighter as well, it must be said. All in all though the tablet is a nice package. Windows 8.1 still isn't my favorite though.

 

[captaincranky]

The display does need to be brighter as well, it must be said. All in all though the tablet is a nice package. Windows 8.1 still isn't my favorite though.

It has to be said that 90% of these new LED "wonder monitors", aren't bright enough either. There's no, "battery life" excuse either, they plug right into the wall.

Even @ the (alleged) 270 nits my 23" Dell IPS CCFL puts out, you can't get a decent bright white, and that's with the brill pegged.

I like the sad smiley they put in the Windows 8 BSOD screen...

They should have Steve Ballmer mooning you on the Windows 8 BSOD. He's earned the right!

I expect if you turned him sideways he'd look like a, "sad smiley". Hey wait, I might be on to something here....