Take everything you think you know about show and throw it out the window . It ’s time for a clinic on what video display spec really mingy - brace yourself for the alarming Sojourner Truth
Vision is our most awesome and complex good sense , so it ’s no surprise that display applied science is so awe-inspiring and complicated . It ’s also no surprisal that most consumers do n’t have a honorable discernment of how displays run , or the best elbow room to take them , buy them , apply them , and adjust them .
Not only are displays getting more complicated and harder to infer , but the competitor between manufacturers has get so brutal that marketing whatsis - stratagem that exploit the average consumer ’s technical ignorance - are play an increasing use in driving sale . The goal of this clause is to point out and explain some of the most authoritative myths , misconception , and misinterpretation about showing technology . Much of what you ’re expire to scan is like the classic tale of The Emperor ’s New Clothes . What you ’ve been narrate about the latest and greatest thing really is n’t there , or better , or meaningful , or even visible .
In the following pages , I ’m going to talk over user controls , demarcation ratios , pixel reply time , and color gamut . These topics comprise just a portion of what a savvy consumer needs to know , so we ’ll be address other confusing display topics in succeeding issues of the magazine and on MaximumPC.com . But for now , permit ’s just bulge our journeying with what should be the best question to expect before buying a new show : “ What are the most important manufacturer specs to equate ? ” unluckily , the result is none , because they ’re all exaggerated marketing specs rather than objective scientific specs . The only spectacles that are utile and meaningful are those in reviews that value every display with the same consistent methodological analysis - like the reviews in Maximum PC .
Confusing Users with User Controls
One reason why most consumers do n’t understand their monitors and TVs is because some of the most important user controls have misleading and technically incorrect gens . No wonder folks ca n’t figure out how to align them . In fact , they misadjust them , and then usually just bequeath them misadjusted permanently . Here are some highlights - well , lowlights really - of inane drug user - control engineering .
When Brightness Is n’t
On mobile presentation with only a single user control , the dominance label “ brightness ” does in fact really control the brightness of the image on the screen by increase or decreasing the backlight intensity . However , on most admonisher and TVs , the command labeled “ brightness ” does not verify the brightness . It in reality hold the signaling - level scope for Shirley Temple on the display , which indirectly has a minor outcome on brightness .
Contrast ? Not So Much
The control condition labeled “ line ” has utterly no issue on image contrast . It in reality curb the luminance of the image , by increasing or decreasing the amplitude of the telecasting signal . proctor and TVs really should have a true contrast restraint , but the close you ’ll find on some HDTV is an obscure control labeled “ gamma , ” and I have yet to see one that works right . For more data on gamma , see my article on color and white-haired - scale truth here :
www.displaymate.com/ShootOut_Part_2.htm .
control of a Bygone Era
Even more lurid , today ’s digital monitor and HDTVs still have the same canonical drug user controls that were come up in the original analogue NTSC color telly from 1953 : brightness , contrast , tone , and sharpness . These control only made sensory faculty for linear signals on the old NTSC television arrangement . Brightness control the CRT lineal - current preconception , contrast controlled the video amplifier gain , tint controlled the phase of the coloring subcarrier , and sharpness performed analogue in high spirits - relative frequency peaking to indemnify for the limited video bandwidth of the old vacuum tube amplifier . Today , none of these control are necessary for digital signals .
Brightness and contrast controls should n’t be there because , for digital video recording , the black point is deposit at level 16 , reference white-hot at 235 , and heyday white at 255 . likewise , tint and phase have no real substance for digital signals . Finally , the acuity control is n’t appropriate for digital exhibit because in a digital image there ’s no transmission degradation - the image is take in just as it appear at the informant . point the image involves digitally processing the pixels , which leads to artifacts and noise unless it ’s done at resolution much higher than the final displayed resolution , which , of course of action , is n’t the case inside your monitor or high-definition television .
Controls that Do Worse Than Nothing
Most monitoring gadget and HDTV user - menu option are actually unneeded features supply for merchandising function - gimmicks to suggest the display has unequalled features that other models lack . Even worse , most of these options actually decrease figure of speech and picture quality .
In many cases , it ’s not even light what these sham controls really do . The software documentation rarely explains them , and I even know engineers from high - spirit level manufacturers who do n’t know what the control condition do , either . When I test TVs , I spend an inordinate amount of time using test patterns to figure out what the options and selections really do , and in most case , turning off the fancy alternative lead to the dear pic quality and accuracy .
The followers is a inclination of useless ( or near - useless ) menu option and selection from three high-definition television sell by major brands : Black Corrector , Advanced CE , Clear White , Color Space , Live Color , DRC Mode , DRC Palette , Dynamic Contrast , xvYCC , Color Matrix , RGB Dynamic Range , Black Level , Gamma , White Balance , HDMI Black Level , Fresh Contrast , Fresh Color , Flesh Tone , Eye Care , Digital NR , DNIe , Detail Enhancer , Edge Enhancer , Real Cinema , Cine Motion , Film Mode , Blue Only Mode .
Some of the terminal figure sound impressive , but almost all of this is unneeded puffery and slang that confuses not only consumers but the pro , as well .
Contrast Ratio, Ad Absurdum
Both manufacturers and consumers are obsess with contrast ratios . Because many people choose the model with the highest bit , manufacturers have formulate young dividing line proportion glasses to win at this plot .
It ’s a sordid business enterprise , but deserves exposure , so let ’s jump in .
When Contrast Ratio in reality Matters
A deliberate , accusative measurement of contrast ratio can be very revealing . After the display is accurately graduate for optimum picture quality , the contrast proportion is square up by dividing the brightness of peak white-hot by the light of black . In precept , the greater the ratio the better . Just be cognizant that direct contrast ratio is important only for modest - ambient - luminance viewing , which is where grim brightness values count most . ( In mellow - ambient - luminousness preferences , reflections off the screen abound , and they ’re all brighter than the display ’s own internal black . )
Even more to the point , a high contrast proportion really only thing when there is pregnant dark exposure contentedness , like you see in some movies . It ’s much less relevant for most television receiver shows because the picture seldom has much very blue content , and the prototype never really dips down to bleak except in brief between scenes . As for games , well , just consider which plot really run a lot of “ thoroughgoing ” black . If for some reason you ’re still playing in the dark , underground worlds of Doom 3 , you postulate a high contrast ratio . But if the colored earth of Plants vs. Zombies is more your velocity , you need not worry .
keep Up with the Inigo Jones
direct contrast - ratio specs are tremendously inflated . For the near LCDs , scientifically measure contrast ratio are actually between 1,500 and 2,000 . But manufacturers almost never publish real contrast ratios any longer . You ’ll only find these straight value in a small numeral of article and publications . Yes , direct contrast - proportion value have been steady improving over the twelvemonth , but the yr - to - class variety is comparatively small , which is n’t estimable for marketing .
In their quest to cite ever - larger numbers , some manufacturers invented a completely nonmeaningful spec called “ dynamical contrast proportion , ” which is what ’s being prominently advertised now . Sometimes they do n’t even chafe mentioning the “ active ” part . deplorably , all maker are now squeeze to play this game , as consumers would n’t be concerned in monitors and tv set that tout the true value . nonmeaningful dividing line - proportion specs help deficient manufacturers by making their displays seem to be just as good as those from the good manufacturers , or even practiced , because the bragging liar wins . This not only wound consumer , but it also hurts the good manufacturers because they ’re unable to publicize their ranking technology .
gravid but Not Big Enough
So what ’s really so “ dynamic ” about this bastardized line - ratio spec ? It ’s really quite childlike : When the display ’s video signal is entirely mordant or very snug to total darkness , the exhibit ’s electronics go into a standby modality that importantly decoct the light outturn of the social unit . This much dreary standby economic value is then used when figure the contrast ratio - instead of the real value of when a picture is actually present .
Obviously , this trick does n’t change the honest black or true contrast proportion for any video that ’s not all dim , so it ’s nonmeaningful for picture quality . The master reason for measuring the specification this way is that published demarcation ratio can now go from about 1,500 up to , well , infinity . In 2008 , many TVs were advertise with a “ dynamic contrast ” in the range of 15,000 to 35,000 . Now , in 2010 , some go into the millions and beyond . There ’s no real melioration , of path . It ’s just the same trick with a bigger magnification .
When Infinite stand for Nothing
At my local Walmart in Amherst , New Hampshire , the Sony KDL-52EX700 , an LED - base TV , is list by Walmart as birth an “ infinite contrast proportion ” on its information label . First of all , “ dynamic ” was left off - it should say “ multitudinous dynamic contrast proportion . ” This is then technically correct because the LED wrench off when an all - black image is present . This lead in a division by zero , and produces the infinite result . But this is also nonsense because the LED take to be on whenever an actual picture is present !
pronounce like this is purposely misleading to consumers . Walmart should set an good example for other retailer and resist to show misguide manufacturer eyeglasses to its shoppers .
Response Times: How Fast Is Fast Enough?
All displays show artefact of one sort or another when their screen door images convert rapidly . It ’s most easily detected with moving objects , or when the entire screen moves due to camera panning . In many cases , it ’s not the defect of the display . Rather , it arises somewhere in the signal way of life from the source , which can be get by camera blur , fretted scanning , MPEG densification artifacts , piteous video processing , insufficient bandwidth , or insufficient CPU speed in the case of games . Further confusing matter , artifacts can come for different understanding with CRT , LCD , LCoS , plasma , and DLP technologies . It can even occur with OLEDs , if trade speeds are n’t sufficiently high .
But when the great unwashed talk over question artifacts , they are generally talking about LCD response fourth dimension . And not surprisingly , the producer ’ published specs for reply clip have become one of the major resolve issues for many consumers . As a final result , in the last five long time or so , manufacturer have somehow pushed response fourth dimension number from 25ms ( millisecond ) to an essentially indefensible 1ms .
So what , if anything , do these spectacles really mean ?
Behind the Basics of Blur
Motion blur arises when the liquid crystal - the participating ingredient within an LCD - is ineffective to alter its orientation and transmittal rapidly enough when the mental picture exchange from one frame to the next . Because the received video recording charge per unit is 60 frames per second , a pixel is expected to fully update its clean - contagion opacity within 16.7 millisecond ( that is , in one 60th of a mo ) . If it consider any longer than that , the effigy will show some degree of meantime , which appears as a trailing smear or blur whenever there is movement .
LCD motion blur is generally valuate with an industriousness - standard specification called reception metre that ( supposedly ) measures the meter that it takes for a pixel to go from black to elevation - intensity white , and then back to black again . However , most video transitions affect much small-scale and more subtle shades of grey - to - gray transitions , which can take longer to complete .
But it gets even more complicated than that because every pixel is in reality made up of autonomous cherry , greenish , and blue sub - pixels that have their own separate intensities , frame - to - frame passage , and clock time . The upshot is that ocular fuzz within a detailed , moving flick is a fairly complex and nebular phenomenon .
Motion Blur : Visual Proof
Motion blur is one of the most visually tangible video display problems - the evidence speaks for itself in screenshots and picture taking , both of which can illustrate the family relationship between response sentence and motion fuzz . In this clause , I ’ve included in high spirits - speed screenshots of moving DisplayMate test pattern , as well as displace mental test photos consume of a top - of - the - line , 120Hz Sony HDTV ( shot with a Nikon DSLR using a fast shutter amphetamine of 1/160 of a second ) . These images were taken in 2008 , but the results would n’t be much different today .
Sony ’s publish response time for this XBR model is 8ms . Since this corresponds to a double transition ( from black to peak bloodless , and then back to total darkness again ) , the single transition fourth dimension ( from black to white , or from white to black ) should therefore be about 4ms .
But is the pixel reaction sentence really that fast ? To find out , I range DisplayMate trial in which inglorious and bloodless squares move across the screen at measured speeding . In the example here , one photo show the square racing across at 1,093 pixels in a unmarried second . The 2nd pic indicate the squares moving about 50 percent faster , covering 1,609 pixels in a single second . The lily-white tips seen on the border of the ghost images are artefact resulting from electronic overdrive processing that ’s being used to attempt to improve the response time by exaggerating transitions .
As you’re able to see from my screenshots - each a abbreviated snapshot in time with a shutter speed of 1/160 of a second , which is less than the refresh charge per unit - it ’s possible to make out at least eight case-by-case silver screen refresh cps on this 120Hz presentation . Indeed , in the screenshots , each square is shifted from the other by 1/120 of a second , which is 8ms , and those ghosted squares signal that the older images have n’t yet frivol away . The effect is that you ’re look at a true reaction prison term of about 65ms . In fact , a answer time of much less than the 8ms refresh charge per unit would be needed for there to be no seeable fuzz . Obviously , 65ms fuzz in the CRT screen shots does n’t jibe with the manufacturer ’s individual - transition response time spec of 4ms .
The DisplayMate tests clear demonstrate that the Sony ’s real LCD reaction time is substantially long than its published spec would indicate . And by no means are we picking on Sony , as it actually had the best performance of all of the LCDs in our trial .
But What about move photo ?
It must be express that DisplayMate test pattern are very tender to figure effects - this is by intent . Photographic image , on the other hand , typically consist of a very complex and wide-ranging admixture of blended picture elements . With so much locomote on in an trope , question blur is easily obscured and lost within the building complex , variegated imagery of a typical photograph . In especial , photographs of real - world subject matter lack uniform background knowledge , and uniform setting - like those in my DisplayMate tests - make it easier to see the move blur trails . For this cause , we would have a bun in the oven moving photographs to show much less visible blur than what ’s demonstrated with trial pattern .
To wit : If you look cautiously at the magnified march ring figure below , you’re able to see a aggregate of at least six refresh cycle in the second photograph . This correspond to a real - creation pixel reaction prison term of 50ms . But the motion fuzz is still much less noticeable than what we see in DisplayMate ’s punish exam patterns .
Photographs are stable effigy and moving them across a blind is quite different from live video , where image are a complex and wide-ranging mixture of continually merge picture components that are themselves constantly change in both time and position . With all this screen activeness go on , we would expect to detect much less motion fuzz in live video than with either of the incite static pic or trial patterns .
And Now for the Tests You ’ve All Been wait For
To appraise gesture fuzz and artifacts in alive video with lots of high - motility word-painting content , we set up a side - by - side comparison shoot - out with 11 HDTVs , and had both consumers and expert judge them . The top - of - the - product line LCDs from Sony and Sharp had 120Hz screenland refresh rates , the top - of - the - personal line of credit Samsung LCD had strobed light-emitting diode backlighting , and the other social unit had standard 60Hz covert refresh rates . Two of the unit were plasma displays , and one was a pro - grade CRT studio monitor . The goal was to determine the degree to which this varied technology strike visible motion fuzz .
All of the HDTVs were fed identical , coincident digital video using an all - digital High Definition Tivo and a Blu - ray actor . They were all compare side - by - side in the shape as shown in the photo . The cognitive content include both day and nighttime sporting outcome , TV shows , and motion picture , all with spate of action mechanism . If any viewer believe he or she observe motion fuzz on any high-definition television , we would repeatedly weight-lift the eight - second Tivo backup button and watch the episode over and over again on all of the units until we in full understood exactly what was happening on each display . We did the same matter with the Blu - ray player and its subject .
The determination from all participants were coherent across the gameboard , and will probably surprise most consumers : There was essentially no visually perceptible apparent motion fuzz on any of the LCD HDTV in any of the video depicted object we assemble .
When people cerebrate they see motion blur , with only a handful of small exceptions , the blur was either in the rootage video or a irregular visual illusion that vanish when the segments in interrogation were reviewed . Unlike what we empirically identified in proceed mental test practice and moving exposure , the eye is ineffective to detect the blur in live picture because the images are much more dynamic and complex - and undoubtedly because of the way the brain process and extracts of the essence entropy from optic ikon .
So , Is Blurring Even an Issue for Videos , Movies , and Games ?
For all of the test - the DisplayMate test pattern , the strike photos , and the live video - we found that there was no visually perceptible difference in motion blur for the mid- to top - of - the - melodic line LCD HDTVs . This disregardless of their claimed pixel reception time , 60Hz or 120Hz refresh rate , strobed light-emitting diode backlighting , or motion - enhancement processing . If you discover this surprising then just re - show the classic tale of The Emperor ’s New Clothes .
The rudimentary rationality why eminent refresh rates do n’t extenuate blurring is that the true pixel response time of presentation are well longer than the 60Hz TV frame charge per unit , so it does n’t matter whether the screen refresh pace is 60Hz or 120Hz , or whether the LED backlights are strobed off during the frame update . Similarly , adjust the electronic processing enhancements that some models propose - controls that are supposed to quash motion blur - only served to insert obnoxious form , bound , and other artifacts onto displace aim without reduce the overall motion blur .
So that ’s the level on picture . What meaning do these results have for PC gamers ?
First , while motion blur is n’t generally detectable with alive television , it ’s more likely to be visit by gamers who intently focus on particular moving objects . For this grounds , the blur illustrate above with test patterns and test exposure applies .
Second , do n’t pay much attention to a producer ’s response time specs because they are so different from the real response time and gesture blur that we have demonstrated here .
Third , while 120Hz refresh charge per unit monitor and HDTVs do n’t inherently improve on motion blur over the 60Hz models , they are in general equip with undecomposed performing panels and electronics , so they may still produce superior prototype and picture lineament . And if you ’re a movie buff , the 120Hz unit should offer better movement interposition from the 24 inning per second used in all film shot on movie . The 60Hz models need 3:2 pulling - down , which produces judder , but most mass seldom notice it .
Fourth , be aware that the previous 240Hz video display do n’t offer any real picture - timber functioning improvement , and are just a selling gimmick taken to an cockeyed level .
For more info and details , see my article on LCD response time and motion fuzz here : www.displaymate.com / LCD_Response_Time_ShootOut.htm .
Color Gamut or Marketing Gambit?
Color gamut , which is the range of colour that a video display can farm , is undoubtedly the most misunderstood and exploited specification - exactly because it ’s natural to think that the range should be as large as possible . While that ’s unfeigned for most specs ( even when they ’re magnified ) , it ’s definitely not the case for the colour gamut .
The color gamut that you desire on all of your PC monitors , laptops , HDTVs , and even smartphones is the same color gamut that was used when the content you ’re viewing was created . If a different gamut is engage , you ’ll see unlike colours than you ’re supposed to see .
Virtually all consumer content is created using diligence criterion that specify the exact color gamut to be used . For computers and digital photographic camera it ’s sRGB . For digital HDTV , it ’s called ITU - R BT.709 ( often referred to as Rec.709 ) . Fortunately , both of these standards specify the same precise gamut . Yes , there are other color gamut for specialised applications ( more about that after ) , but sRGB and Rec.709 cover most all consumer content , and that is the vividness gamut you desire on all of your showing . The colour gamut in these criterion specifies the exact color coordinates for the three red , green , and blue elemental colors , which are used to produce all semblance smorgasbord on sieve .
Now that you ’re versed on what color gamut is , let ’s partake what it isn’t - as illustrated by six examples of manufacturing business misinformation .
magnanimous Is n’t Better
One common misconception frequently exploit by manufacturers is that a wide gloss gamut indicates a better display that bring forth more naturalistic colouring . This is absolutely wrong . A larger gamut will just make all of the CRT screen colour for received output content look more saturated than they ought to come out . Indeed , displays claiming more than 100 percent of the standard color gamut but ca n’t show colors that are n’t in the original rootage icon . expatiate gamuts are just gimmicks that make consumers cerebrate they ’re fetch something better .
The Perils of Recalibration
If you do get a display with a larger colour gamut , it ’s necessary to reduce the gamut back to the sRGB / Rec.709 standard value by conform color saturation via a user control condition . Unfortunately , if the show is n’t calibrate at the manufactory to fit the standard people of colour gamut , it ’s unlikely you ’ll be capable to visually adjust it decently yourself . This kind of adjustment typically requires professional calibration using instrumentality .
NTSC ? Never !
The often - quoted NTSC Color Gamut is from 1953 . It ’s also disused and irrelevant . data processor , digital cameras , and HDTVs use the sRGB / Rec.709 colour space , and specs should refer to them alternatively of NTSC . As explained above , economic value greater than 100 percent of the stock color gamut are n’t desirable - unless you care punchy , unrealistic , oversaturated colors .
Adobe RGB or Not to Be ?
As stated above , there are specialized people of colour gamut for specialised applications , and some of these are larger than the sRGB / Rec.709 . Adobe RGB , one of the more common I , is used by imaging professionals and you ’ll find it as an option on some digital cameras and digital scanner . Just be cognizant that if you use the Adobe gamut , you will also require a display that bring out the Adobe gamut , and only a small fraction of consumer presentation can do this . If you display an image produced with an Adobe gamut on a varan with a standard sRGB / Rec.709 gamut , the colors will be wrong and oversaturated .
How the middle flirt Tricks
Adobe RGB is a large gamut than sRGB / Rec.709 , but be aware that for most coating , gamut size does n’t matter very much . The further out you go in color space , the less frequent the semblance appear in nature , so the human eye does n’t discover that they ’re not quite correct except in rarified circumstances ( like when view a full - concealment rendition of a very red tulip ) . When face with a gamut beyond their fork up range , displays only wind up reproduce the closest most saturated coloration they can under the circumstance .
spot - Depth Misconceptions
Manufacturers will also dupe consumers by advertise useless and shoddy specs about the number of projection screen colors produced by their displays . Screen color counts have absolutely nothing to do a with display ’s color gamut , though manufacturers will attempt to tie them together . In reality , a show ’s maximum bit of colors is a map of the entire number of intensity - level combinations that the gimmick can create .
Let ’s do the maths . Standard 24 - bite color has eight fleck per principal color , and eight bits generate 256 chroma horizontal surface . Because there are three primary colour , the figure of possible color combinations is 256³-16.8 million people of colour . Now , if a manufacturer employ 12 - act color processing internally within the same show , there are ( in possibility ) 4,096 intensity levels and 68.7 billion possible coloration . Sounds impressive , yes , but the video display ’s color gamut stay the same as before and the extra number of colors does n’t stand for anything visually .
Still not confident ? First , remember that fundamentally all consumer content is 24 - bit color . Thus , the source double have only 16.8 million colors , and the display ca n’t “ invent ” intensities and color combinations that do n’t exist in the original .
2nd , true onscreen 24 - spot color does a honorable task of play the human eye ’s color and brightness discrimination abilities . you may read more about that here under “ Digital Granularity”:www.displaymate.com / ShootOut_Part_3.htm .
Third , be cognisant of the real reason why additional processing bits are necessary . Onscreen strength level are not guess to be analogue . Rather , they should succeed a standard gamma curve with a nonlinear mathematical 2.2 power - law exponent ( think the screen brightness for any sub - pixel varies as s²·² , where s is the input signal signaling intensity level level 0 - 255 ) . The extra processing bits are necessary just to get the showing to produce the gamma curve accurately on screen .
Ending Display Fraud
It ’s both shocking and sad that video display specs have been overdone to the point of nonsense . And you ’re not the only one who suffer - innovative manufacturer that develop new and good display engineering ca n’t trumpet their hard work with higher-ranking performance specs . Instead , they ’re forced to playact the game or lose substantial job .
The National Institute of Standards and Technology ( NIST ) could help , but its show division was terminated in 2009 . The only naturalistic solution that I see is the creation of an organization ( that is completely sovereign of the manufacturers ) to acquire a set of square , documentary standard for measuring and advertising show spec . Manufacturers that meet those monetary standard would be allow to advertise their eyeglasses with a special controlled earmark , like the EnergyStar program . consumer would learn to only hope specs with that trademark .
I purport this back in 2003 , but it go nowhere because too many manufacturers resist the idea . But it ’s high sentence for this answer to finally be follow through - or just enforce . It ’s in everyone ’s interest except for the subset of manufacturers that can only compete using dupery .
Maybe Sharp Should’ve Consulted Mr. Spock Instead
By now , you ’ve surely seen advert for Sharp ’s Quattron four - colouring material technology . George “ Mr. Sulu ” Takei assume a lab coat , and fawns over Sharp ’s initiation of a yellow primary - color wedge - pixel to the traditional three - sub - pixel , RGB primary - color arrangement . According to Sharp , this leave in “ flourish the color gamut and faithfully rendering nearly all colors that can be pick out with the unaided human eye , specially golden yellow . ”
If you have say this far , you already hump that Quattron is just another shameful marketing thingumajig . HDTV television and movie substance is produced and colour - balanced on three - people of colour exhibit that are accurately calibrated to Rec.709 . Sharp ’s fourth elemental coloring is jaundiced , and there is n’t anything for it to do because chickenhearted is already being accurately reproduced with intermixture of the exist red and light-green primary winding . More significantly , a Quattron exhibit ca n’t show colors that are n’t in the original three - colour source range of a function . So what honorable is it ? None , unless you like to see over - exaggerated yellows .
But could it be that live consumer HDTV are ineffectual to reproduce the standard sRGB / Rec.709 color gamut , so Sharp ’s quaternary main color actually has something useful to do ? We decided to find out .
Colors and color gamut can be accurately quantify and then plotted in a chromaticity diagram to compare economic value to the criterion . What keep an eye on is from a 2008 clause where I used a spectroradiometer to measure the color gamut of HDTVs in the DisplayMate lab . To the right wing , are the solvent for a Sony consumer LCD high-definition television . The black triangle is the Rec.709 touchstone and the ruddy dots are the measured note value for the violent , light-green , and blue primary colors of the Sony video display . Notice that the Sony measure all light exactly where they should on the triangle vertices . It ’s gross ! In little , this Sony HDTV accurately show precisely the same colors seen by , say , the director at a TV studio . Ipso facto , Sharp ’s 4th coloration is absolutely superfluous and can only decrease picture timber and truth ! Undoubtedly , part of the Quattron ’s “ Yellow button ” is being produced with bare video processing . Some people have been impressed follow the Sharp demo on the Quattron , but manufacturers demos are always fine - tuned to get a maximum wow response , so be deliberate before skip to any ratiocination about how it will perform expose content at nursing home .
mark that in our figure , the out white curve defend the limit of human vision . While the Rec.709 standard is much smaller , it ’s important to mention that the colour between the black Triangulum and white curve are n’t common in nature . Yes , a display can only reproduce the colors that rest inside of the polygonal shape formed by its primary color , but because lily-livered fall between the red and green primaries , Sharp ’s chicken primary would need to lie somewhere outside of the red and green leg of the color trilateral . But there is n’t much way between the Rec.709 triangle and the human vision curvature , is there ? For this reason , it ’s hard to see why a yellow elemental sub - picture element is need unless Sharp is n’t capable to put its red and green primaries where they go .
Sharp shows its Quattron vividness gamut in some promotional textile by using an honest-to-goodness ( x , y ) distorted CIE Diagram from the yr 1931 because it makes its extended colour gamut count much larger than it really is . Our figure is the ( u’v ’ ) 1976 Uniform CIE Diagram and show the color gamut accurately .
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Dr. Raymond Soneirais President ofDisplayMate Technologies Corporationof Amherst , New Hampshire , which produces video recording standardization , evaluation , and symptomatic products for consumer , technicians , and maker . A research scientist with a career that spans physical science , information processing system science , and tv scheme blueprint , Soneira was a Long - Term Member of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton , and a Principal Investigator in the Computer Systems Research Laboratory at AT&T Bell Laboratories .
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