This article covers the following frequently asked display questions:

What is the difference between a SDR and an HDR display?
What is a reference display?
What are the most common technologies in modern displays?
Is my display suitable for Dolby Vision content creation?
How do I setup my display for Dolby Vision content creation?
Why do I have to calibrate my display?
What type of meter should I use to calibrate my display?

What is the difference between a SDR and an HDR display?

The fundamental difference between SDR & HDR displays is their image quality specifications.

SDR displays have limited peak brightness capabilities and often lack support for popular HDR EOTFs, and instead only support popular power gammas such as 2.2, 2.4, and 2.6. SDR displays typically only support SDR color gamuts such as Rec. 709 or sRGB.

HDR displays feature expanded peak brightness capabilities as well as improved black level performance, giving these displays a much larger contrast ratio than their SDR counterparts. Additionally, HDR displays feature support for popular HDR EOTF & color gamut standards such as PQ/HLG and P3/Rec. 2020.

What is a reference display?

A reference display is a specialized device that like the name implies, is designed to serve as a true image quality reference for content creators. Reference displays are highly engineered devices that strictly conform to industry color and EOTF standards. They are often used by production professionals for color critical work such as color grading, quality control and on-set monitoring.

Aside from their image quality specifications, these displays often feature an abundance of connectivity options, most importantly, 12G-SDI – for uncompressed, high quality video signals. Likewise, reference displays often contain robust image monitoring features such as built-in waveform & vectorscope monitors, false color analysis, LUT import support, signal metadata detection and much more.

What are the most common technologies in modern displays?

The majority of modern displays feature either a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) or Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) design. There are several different types of both of these common backlight designs. To learn more about the differences between these implementations, refer to our dedicated article: Display Technologies Overview

Is my display suitable for Dolby Vision content creation?

Dolby does not recommend or publish a list of preferred HDR displays for Dolby Vision content creation. However, we have recenetly updated our recommended guidance on HDR display specifications. To read more about important factors to consider when choosing a display for Dolby Vision content creation, refer to our dedicated article: HDR Display Considerations. To learn more about Dolby's updated guidance on HDR display specifications and how to evaluate displays for color-critical use, refer to our new document: Dolby Vision HDR Display Evaluation Guideline.

How do I setup my display for Dolby Vision content creation?

When configuring your display for Dolby Vision, it’s important to output the highest quality video from the color corrector or mastering system, while having suitable mastering targets setup correctly. The following guidelines can be used when setting up your display for SDR & HDR Dolby Vision content creation:

SDR:

Signal Format	RGB 4:4:4
Transer Matrix	None
Signal Range	Full or SDI Full
EOTF	Gamma 2.4/BT.1886
Black Level	0.05 nits (minimum)
Peak Luminance	100 nits
Color Gamut	BT.709
White Point	D65 (Xw 0.3127, Yw 0.3290)

 

HDR:

Signal Format	RGB 4:4:4
Signal Range	Full or SDI Full
EOTF	SMPTE ST 2084 (PQ)
Black Level	0.005 nits (minimum)
Peak Luminance	1000/2000/4000 nits (depending on display)
Color Gamut	P3/BT.2020
White Point	D65 (Xw 0.3127, Yw 0.3290)

To learn more about configuring a proper color grading and mastering suite setup for Dolby Vision, refer to our dedicated article: Color Grading & Mastering suite setup

Why do I have to calibrate my display?

The primary goal of display color calibration is to preserve the creative intent of content creators. If you’re creating content on an uncalibrated display, there’s little chance your content will have any consistent look once distributed. To learn more about display calibration, refer to our dedicated article: Display Color Calibration
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​​​​​​​What type of meter should I use to calibrate my display?

During display calibration, measurement devices are necessary to properly assess the performance of the device and to make meaningful adjustments. Colorimeters and spectroradiometers are two common types of devices that are used for display calibration. To learn more about these two types of meters, refer to our dedicated article: Display Calibration: Colorimeters vs. Spectroradiometers. ​​​​​​​For more detailed information about display evaluation/testing parameters, refer to our new document: Dolby Vision HDR Display Evaluation Guideline.


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