Apple may start using a new backlight technology in some of its products this year. Here’s what Mini LED is all about.
We’ve heard rumors for about a year or so that Apple is on the verge of launching some products with Mini LED display technology. It could come to MacBooks, iPads, iMacs—really anything with a display, though it’s quite unlikely to ever end up in Apple Watch or iPhone (which use OLED displays).
What is a Mini LED display and what will it do for you? This short explanation may help you understand why this technology can be such a big step forward for Apple’s products.
A better backlit LCD
To understand Mini LED, you first have to know the basics of how a traditional backlit LCD works. That’s what we have in all our iPads, MacBooks, and iMacs today.
It can get complicated, but in short, there’s a backlight (usually white), with an LCD layer on top of it. The purpose of the LCDs is to block a controlled amount of light from the backlight. On top of the LCDs are color filters that turn the light red, green, or blue. That’s the basic structure, but modern LCDs have other layers like polarizers, anti-glare coatings, and so on. A big white light, covered by a bunch of tiny LCDs (three for each pixel) to block or let through various amounts of light, and a color filter to turn the light red, green, or blue.
Read more at MacWorld.com