Well the luminance in combination with the Chroma is what creates the colors that we see on the screen in a combined way and so if we widen the luminance range and therefore have a larger number of values then it helps to represent a greater number of colors and when the luminance level is very high we decide it is when we talk about HDR technology, which has a certain trap.
One of the initial problems with the first LCD panels was their low level of contrast, which was directly related to luminance. This was in stark contrast to the panels based on a cathode ray tube where the luminance level was much higher. Even today the great disadvantage of flat screen monitors is the level of luminance, hence the development of HDR in order to improve its visual quality by improving the representation of colors and managing to conquer the last land of the world that the old CRTs still maintain absolute. domination to date.
Nits, the standard for measuring the level of light
According to the international system of units, one should use the measurement of luminous flux or lumen to talk about the light emitted by the backlight on an LCD panel or by the panel itself, we speak of an LCD, but it is a complex measurement for people to understand thickness and it is that it is a little complicated, since its definition is as follows:
One lumen is the luminous flux emitted by a uniform point source located at the apex of a solid angle of one steradian and whose intensity is one candela.
So this is a difficult measurement to understand and that is why manufacturers looked for a measurement that was much more understandable to the majority of the public and started talking about candles per square meter. In many monitor specifications, you will have seen how the term cd / m appears2. Well, cd is the shortening of candle which is candle in English and when we talk about candles per square meter we are talking about nits.
What happens if we place more and more candles on the same surface? Well, the mass or the light density is increasing. Thus Nits are used to specify the degree of luminance that can receive an area of the screen or even something as simple as a pixel, which depends on the level of brightness that can be given to achieve the representation of certain colors.
The DisplayHDR standard as the basis for the True Black version
Technology would not advance without common standards, it is an undeniable fact and this is why VESA invented the DisplayHDR standard for LCD screen which has several levels, which today are the following brightness levels: 400 nits, 500 nits, 1000 nits and 1400 nits.
It should be clarified that the standard separates the luminance level from which chrominance or chrominance is, and this is important because our PC does not separate the color of images into chroma and luminance. This is why when we talk about a graphics card that supports HDR we are talking about 10 or 12 bits per component, but in the DisplayHDR standard this value is completely separate and does not refer to how the card Graphic represents colors in HDR format in VRAM. , but in the way the panel represents it.
DisplayHDR is the standard version for LCD screens of various types like now IPS, TN, etc. Due to the nature of OLED displays, which operate differently from LCD displays, VESA has created a separate standard for OLED panels.
What is DisplayHDR True Black technology?
In the DisplayHDR specification there is a variant called DisplayHDR True Black, which was first announced in 2019 and was designed for monitors using OLED panels or other technologies such as MicroLED, the latter of which achieves an absolute black with respect with each pixel literally extinguishing each of them. So if you are going to buy a monitor, a good way to make sure that the panel actually has an OLED panel is to go through DisplayHDR True Black certification, which guarantees a level of quality black representation, being one of the strengths of this type of panel. compared to LCD panels.
And what is the DisplayHDR True Black certification based on? In that the panel when reaching its darkest or most absolute black point will not exceed 0.0005 nits, which in comparison with the DisplayHDR for LCD screen where the maximum black luminance level is 0.02 we’re talking about a 400-fold jump in the lows. The other difference is that panels supporting DisplayHDR True Black technology have the ability to darken at pixel level, while standard DisplayHDR does so relative to each area or area of the. screen.
The downside for the OLED version is that in exchange for getting a much more precise black level, the same brightness capability cannot be achieved, with the nits count being able to reach 600 nits, which is equivalent to to DisplayHDR True Black standard. the most recent specification in the specification.
