Dr Ray Soneira of DisplayMate Technologies Corp has published an article about the importance and variability of display performance in high ambient light, using a Samsung 65Q9 QLED TV, which he identifies as having the by far the best high ambient light performance of any display that he has ever tested. It has a maximum brightness of 930 cd/m² for SDR content, low screen reflectivity of 1.2% and a record Ultra HD TV Wide Color Gamut of 108% DCI-P3.
In his article, he explains performance at five lower brightness levels and compares colour performance at each level. Of course, if you mainly watch in dark conditions then the results do not really apply, but if you use the TV in bright conditions or with normal room lighting, then they do.
There are three key ways to boost colour performance in bright conditions:
- Increase the brightness
- Decrease the reflectance
- Enlarge the gamut
Soneira highlights that improving the gamut is better than boosting the brightness as it is much more power efficient. This is important in big screen applications for environmental and cost reasons and in small displays for smartphones and tablets because of the impact on battery life.
Comparing the Samsung to a generic LCD TV, Soneira shows that the Samsung maintains a much better colour performance in colour gamut both in high brightness mode and in ‘Movie Mode’. It also has better colour performance at lower brightness than the generic set. In Dynamic mode, where the gamut is dynamically adjusted using a light sensor, the Samsung can create as wide a colour gamut at 240 cd/m² as it does at 930 cd/m². However, in the dynamic mode, power consumption is just 25% of the level as in the high brightness mode.
Analyst Comment
At IFA, Samsung was clearly promoting this message on the advantage of its QLED TVs in high ambient light and, no doubt, the company will have supported Soneira in his work. (I regard Soneira as incorruptible in terms of his results, so don’t doubt the results, or his opinions). (BR)
