We put the Xiaomi 14 Ultra through our rigorous SBMARK Display test suite to measure its performance across four criteria. In the results of this test, we will analyze how it performed in a series of tests and in several common use cases.
Overview
Key display specifications
- 6.73 inch AMOLED
- Dimensions: 161.4 x 75.3 x 9.2 mm (6.35 x 2.96 x 0.36 inches)
- Resolution: 1440 x 3200 pixels, (density ~522 ppi)
- Aspect ratio: 20:9
- Refresh rate: 120Hz
Pro
- Good color rendering in most lighting environments
- Readable in most lighting environments
- Flicker-free display and high PWM
Against
- Lacks brightness and detail when watching HDR10 video in low light
- Poor brightness uniformity
- Flat render in sunlight
The Xiaomi 14 Ultra’s display performance was average for an Ultra-premium device, aided by excellent results in terms of color and touch.
Although the Xiaomi 14 Ultra has low-level modulation, which reduces flicker, and high PWM (1920 Hz), its readability was limited by brightness results outdoors, particularly under sunlight, which are inferior to some of its competitors such as the Samsung Galaxy S24Ultra. Low contrast levels in all lighting conditions also affected readability.
The high brightness mode proved effective and provided more visible details in dark regions at the expense of overall contrast.
The display’s colors were accurate in faithful mode and rendered very well in most lighting conditions.
The screen’s low brightness levels, primarily in low-light conditions, also affected the HDR10 video viewing experience, which improved when viewing content in an indoor-lit environment. Additionally, the display’s handling of HDR video frame drops was far better than SDR video frame drops.
The display’s touch interactions were accurate, with quick response times.
Test summary
About SBMARK display tests: For scoring and analysis, a device is subjected to a series of objective and perceptual tests under controlled laboratory and real-life conditions. The SBMARK Display Score takes into account the overall user experience provided by the screen, considering hardware capability and software optimization. Only factory-installed video and photo apps are used during testing. More in-depth details on how SBMARK tests displays can be found in the article “A Closer Look at SBMARK Display Testing.”
The following section focuses on the key elements of our comprehensive testing and analysis performed in SBMARK laboratories. Comprehensive reports with detailed performance evaluations are available upon request. To order a copy, contact us.
How the display readability score is composed
Readability evaluates the user’s ease and comfort in viewing stationary content, such as photos or a web page, on the display under different lighting conditions. Our measurements performed in laboratories are complemented by perceptual tests and analyses.
Skin tone rendering in an indoor environment (1000 lux).
From left to right: Xiaomi 14 Ultra, Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, Vivo X100 Pro
(Photo for illustrative purposes only)
Skin tone rendering in a sunny environment (>90,000 lux).
From left to right: Xiaomi 14 Ultra, Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, Vivo X100 Pro
(Photo for illustrative purposes only)
SCI stands for Specular Component Included, which measures both diffuse reflection and specular reflection. The reflectance of a simple glass plate is around 4%, while it reaches around 6% for a plastic plate. Although the first surface of smartphones is glass, their total reflectance (uncoated) is usually around 5% due to multiple reflections created by the complex optical stack.
The average reflectance is calculated based on the spectral reflectance in the visible spectrum range (see graph below) and human spectral sensitivity.
Uniformity
This graph shows the luminance distribution across the entire display panel. Uniformity is measured with a 20% gray pattern, with bright green indicating ideal luminance. An evenly distributed bright green color across the screen indicates that the display brightness is uniform. Other colors indicate a loss of uniformity.
Displays flicker for 2 main reasons: refresh rate and pulse width modulation. Pulse width modulation is a modulation technique that generates pulses of variable width to represent the amplitude of an analog input signal. This measurement is important for comfort because low-frequency flickering can be perceived by some individuals and, in more extreme cases, can induce seizures. Some experiments show that discomfort can occur more frequently. A high PWM frequency (>1500 Hz) tends to disturb users less.
How the display color score is composed
Color evaluations are performed under different lighting conditions to see how well the device handles color with its surroundings. The devices are tested with sRGB and Display-P3 image models. Both faithful mode and default mode are used for our evaluation. Our measurements performed in laboratories are complemented by perceptual tests and analyses.
Circadian action factor is a metric that defines the impact of light on the human sleep cycle. It is the ratio between the light energy that contributes to sleep disorders (centered around 450 nm, representing blue light) and the light energy that contributes to our perception (covering 400 nm to 700 nm and centered at 550 nm, which is green light). A high circadian action factor means that the ambient light contains strong blue light energy and is likely to affect the body’s sleep cycle, while a low circadian action factor means that the light has weak blue light energy and is less likely to affect sleep patterns.
How the Display Video score is composed
The video attribute evaluates the handling of Standard Dynamic Range (SDR) and High Dynamic Range (HDR10) video in indoor and low-light conditions. Our measurements performed in laboratories are complemented by perceptual tests and analyses.
HDR video rendering in a low light environment (0 lux).
Clockwise from top left: Xiaomi 14 Ultra, Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, Vivo X100 Pro
(Photo for illustrative purposes only)
These indicators present the percentage of frame irregularity in a 30-second video. These irregularities are not necessarily perceived by users (unless they are all with the same timestamp) but are an indicator of performance.
How the Display Touch score is composed
We evaluate touch attributes in many types of content where touch is critical and requires different behaviors such as gaming (fast touch and response times), web (smooth page scrolling), and images (accurate and smooth navigation from image to image). other ).
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