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Black depth with backlight control

E

Erkk

n00b
Joined
Jul 27, 2016
Messages
4
Hi,

I recently bought a iiyama B2483HSU. The screen is perfect except for the black depth.
I watch movies in complete dark room and the black is not very black (i activated RGB Full Range on nvidia video settings, the black is 0 black, not 16)
My brightness setting is at 0 on the screen OSD.
I dont know if it's possible but i'd like to trade some of the peak brightness for a better black (so the contrast ratio is the same).
I thought that was possible if the screen could lower his backlight.
On this review, they manage to go very low with differents screens on the section "Minimum Backlight Level":
AOC G2770PQU Brightness And Contrast
And they are still at 84.4525 cd/m2 in whites which would be enought in dark room.

My question is: Is it really possible to trade some of the peak brightness for a better black? If so, is it common on other monitors and which is recommended for that.

I dont know if i should take the risk of changing my monitor and be possibily disapointed.
 
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Sure you can, every monitor with proper brightness control allows you to trade peak brightness for black levels, while the contrast ratio stays the same.
But even at 90cd/m² brightness the TN panel of the B2483HSU still has a black luminance of ~0.09cd/m³.
Same with IPS. Did you intend to buy another panel and get the wrong model?
The VA panel of the XB2483HSU (-B2) with 3 times the contrast would have a black level of roughly 0.02-0.03cd/m² at 90cd/m² and ~0.08cd/m² at the maximum brightness (250cd/m²).
This is better suited for movies in the dark but 0.03cd/m² still isn't really black - LCDs just can't display true black because the backlight is always shining through.
 
So with a proper screen with proper brightness control you can output black at level = (target peak brightness) / (contrast ratio) ?
You did 90/1000 to come up with 0.09cd/m² ?
Your theory is that an LCD panel can go as low as the brightness setting let him go?

I dont think i get 0.09 with my screen because it's the same as Android Nexus 5X. And the nexus 5X is 0.17 cd/m² at 50% brightness.
LG Nexus 5X review: Settling down

I think my screen limit me because i can't put the brightness below 0. I still see the black difference between 0 and 1 so it's possible the panel could go below that but the OSD dont let it.
I read many post where people say that the majority of LCD screen can't reduce black below peak brightness 100 cd/m². And i think mine is very limited in that regard.

I received the right screen and i knew LCD TN black level was bad but i expected more flexibility in brightness reduction to be able to lower the black level. My previous screen was a 22" Mitsubishi 230SB CRT so it was not an issue and i was used to have very low black.

I dont want to buy a VA screen because i fear the motion blur. I play FPS games sometimes.
I also fear text motion blur when i scroll pages on internet.

I read that bias lighting can make the black appear blacker. Maybe i should do that.
 
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It's not a theory, there are some Eizo monitors with hybrid dimming that go down to 2cd/m² at the lowest setting and they produce corresponding black levels of 0.002cd/m² despite having only ~1000:1 contrast panels.
But 2cd/m² is unusably dim, whites tend to lose punch even in the darkest room below ~60-80cd/m². The picture will get lifeless.
Most LCD nowadays use DC dimming and produce a minimum brightness between 30-90cd/m² and do maintain their contrast ratio so that should be fine.
I don't know the minimum brightness of your LCD but French review says it is 280cd/m² at 100 brightness and 150cd/m² at 39.
They measured a contrast ratio of 1090:1.

CRT have extremely low black levels, especially in low APL scenarios and importantly flawless black uniformity without any kind of glow or bleed.
But they are not great with ANSI contrast. (when bright and dark surfaces are displayed at the same time)

A simple bias light or an ambilight system (like lightpack) can help with perceived black levels as well as eye-strain.
Glossy coatings also can make blacks look better, there are some glossy IPS panels by Dell and HP available.
Either try these options, or try a VA panel. (If your main purpose is movie watching then a grainy-matte TN is not the right choice anyway)
 
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How those displays achieve Minimum Contrast Ratio like 9500:1 at 80.0679 cd/m2 and black level at 0.0121?
Asus VG248QE Brightness And Contrast

With those ratios at lower peak brightness, VA's seams useless for dark room watching. Maybe there is a catch and blacks loose all its nuances.

Thank you for you help!
 
These measurements are simply incorrect. A TN panel doesn't magically achieve a 9500:1 contrast at minimum brightness.
Their newer tests are more accurate - here's an example with correct measurements.
Currently contrast ranges are 600-1500:1 for IPS and TN and 2000-6300:1 for VA - across all brightness ranges. (especially with VA it strongly depends on the panel how high the contrast is)
 
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