Up until now, the HDR market had not seen a significant surge because of cost issues and the lack of HDR content. But now things have changed. Display manufacturers are clamoring to get into HDR technology development. LG Display is also spurring this on with the integration of HDR into both OLED and LCD panels. HDR was made possible through the grafting of the great technology only available from LG Display such as M+, which can reduce power consumption while increasing brightness, and local diming that can display clear black.
LG Display HDR Made Better with M+
In order for HDR to make areas of the display brighter, higher luminance is needed. More lamps can be added to an LCD to increase the brightness(luminance) but further research must be done to minimize costs(consumption of electrical power) while making the display brighter.
HDR display can shine like fluorescent light at maximum brightness with backlights, however, it will increase power consumption and damage to viewers' eyes. The technology that solves this problem is certainly a technology for the consumer.
The technology that solves the problem of power consumption is M+ from LG Display. M+ with improved panel penetration emits brighter light and reduces power consumption through adding white pixels to the red (R), green (G) and blue (B) RGB structure. When compared to the existing RGB pattern, RGB with HDR technology improves the high-brightness while reducing costs. Energy efficient M+ with improved panel penetration and brighter display will be a true demonstration of the HDR era.
Local Dimming Overcomes the Limits of LCD
It is difficult for LCD, which uses backlight illumination, to display perfect black. As LCD cannot display perfect darkness if even one small region of the screen requires light, the increased brightness of HDR technology does not make this possible either. So achieving 'darker than dark' display is necessary. The addition of LG Display local dimming technology resolves this very issue.
The implementation of local dimming controls a specific region of the LCD backlight and makes dark areas of an image even darker while displaying a more precise black. LG Display subdivides the local dimming range even further and displays even the smallest black region of the screen darker than was possible before.
HDR, with high overall contrast range, displays bright areas brighter and darker areas darker through an algorithmic approach to brightening certain regions of an image. Just as HDR improved image quality, LG Display technology is making a picture that is noticeable and distinctly improved.
All In Step Together with Realistic Imaging! HDR Technology Development Team
The ultimate goal of high-definition display is to deliver people the visual experience they get in the real world through a display terminal. There are individuals who have taken on the challenge of delivering realistic images that are found in the real world through HDR. These individuals are the people striving to develop HDR technology at LG Display.
These people are working together across each of their different departments to develop true HDR technology. The Product Planning Team accesses the market and establishes HDR strategy, the Quality Development Team proposes direction for HDR display through research of HDR spec requirements and the Algorithm Team develops algorithms for increasing the brightness range of OLED and LCD. These and other teams put their heads together daily to develop a product that truly stands out.
Senior researcher Jangjin Yoo of the Quality Management Team said, 'The technology is still in development and there are lots of issues that need to be resolved.' He added that while they are still figuring out 'how to implement technology upgraded on a device, the LCD and OLED departments have well-intentioned competition between them and are striving to make better displays in their field.'
Taesu Ha from the OLED TV Product Development Team made a positive assessment of the HDR market saying, 'Recent movie and broadcast companies are making fervent efforts to produce HDR ready content. In the past, display content was SDR, but as HDR content production continues to increase, there will be a proper need in the market for HDR displays.'
Like Hollywood, the movie industry is giving a lot of attention to HDR. What will these realistic images look like? Sunggyun Kim of the Algorithm Team said, 'Our goal is to implement HDR technology in to both our OLED and LCD products and deliver a clear and realistic picture to consumers.
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