As it turns out I unfortunately do in fact have the defective display that seems to be fairly common:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads...tness.2050799/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads...trait.2051126/
The forum poll shows it's occurring on almost 50% of respondent's devices, which is disappointing. Some people have been through as many as 6 units trying to get a decent screen. I will be exchanging mine and playing the display lottery again - my concern is that this would not be covered by Apple Care. Disappointing for a $1000 device for sure, and will have to order another screen protector on top of that.
It's less noticeable with high brightness levels, but very noticeable on certain uniform backgrounds (or any white/off grey background), and is exaggerated with low brightness. If you get one, check for this right away. It's clear as day in Gmail, the notes app, or anything with a similarly white or off white background.
No updates yet either for the 10.5 resolution, every app seems to be running on the 9.7 resolution still. Hopefully soon.