Polarized Glasses May Cause Display of New iPad To Appear Black

New iPad

(Image Credit: apple.com)

A number of issues have affected the performance of the new iPad which resulted to some not-so-encouraging comments from users of the device. The latest issue may be trivial since it only arises once the new iPad is used while the user wearing a pair of polarized sunglasses.

The latest issue on the new iPad shows that the screen will turn black once the new iPad is viewed on portrait mode while the user wears polarized glasses.

The phenomenon is also known as extinction, something that is established by the manufacturer. This is a phenomenon that is not limited to the new iPad since it was also noted in previous models of the device. Even as the phenomenon was dealt with by Apple on the iPhone, it was not addressed on its tablet offerings. Majority of other tablets have also worked on this rather marginal issue.

All iPad units including the new iPad would appear black when a pair of polarized sunglasses is used while the device is on Portrait mode. Some displays would show the issue while on Landscape mode. Some observers have hinted at a 45-degree extinction angle to avoid the issue while the device is in either Landscape or Portrait mode. Compensating films can also be used to deal with this latest issue facing the new iPad.

Both the Samsung Galaxy Tab and the iPhone 4 do not have any extinction. The extinction phenomenon is applicable to LCDs since polarized light is used internally. OLED do not appear to experience the extinction phenomenon.

The extinction of the Samsung Galaxy S is at 45 degrees although it only occurs when the device is used outdoors whenever the polarized sunglasses are used by the users.

It would have been better if Apple set the extinction level at 45 degrees or they could have used compensating films in order to deal with the issue.