After a display’s Brightness and Contrast controls have been accurately adjusted to maximize the display’s dynamic range, the display’s luminance at 100% stimulus (peak white) should be adjusted. Many displays provide a means of setting the overall display luminance, independent of the Contrast control.
NOTE: In HDR applications, Luminance adjustments are usually not required
In LCD displays, this is usually called Backlight; in plasmas, it is called Cell Light; for projectors, it is the lamp mode, and OLEDs may use OLED Light. We will refer to any of these controls, generically, as backlight. The backlight should be adjusted to produce the desired display luminance at 100% stimulus.
Adjusting a display’s backlight is desirable to establish picture luminance levels that are most appropriate for the room viewing conditions. Some general guidelines:
Recommended Display Luminance Levels:
- Bright Room: 200+ cd/m2
- Dim Room: 140-170 cd/m2
- Dark Room: 100-140 cd/m2
- SDR Reference: 100 cd/m2
- Theater Room projector: 50-100 cd/m2
- High Dynamic Range: 600-2000 cd/m2 (based on commonly available TVs as of July 2019)
To Adjust Luminance:
- Display 100% stimulus test pattern
- Click the Read Continuous button at the bottom right of Calman to automatically read the display’s 100% white luminance level.
- Adjust the display’s backlight control to produce a luminance level according to the above general guidelines.