On this episode of You take , crumple up for an on - the - road edition that ’s all about acronym and the problem folks are having with them . ABL on OLEDs , APL , how HDR and WCG are not one and the same , MLA control board technology , and , of track , eARC .
As you may likely tell , I ’m traveling ( or I was — between the magic of publication date and my crazy docket , you may never be sure ) . If you hear honking horns , emergency fomite sirens , or aggravated walker in the background , kindly do me a favour and fuhgeddaboudit . Hey … when in New York , good ?
Can SDR content trigger ABL on OLED TVs?
David Cobham in Ontario , Canada , is an ice hockey game fan who is implicated about ABL , which place upright for auto luminosity clipper . David is leaning toward an OLED for his novel tv set , but is confused as to whether ABL applies to SDR content ( that ’s standard active range , or , really , non - HDR — gamey dynamic range — content ) . Specifically , he means hockey game ! The last thing he want is for all that glimmer white ice to cause his TV to dim when he ’s observe game — which I gather he does a portion .
Thanks for your question , David ! First , I ’m going to explain ABL , and then we ’ll get to your specific concerns .
machine light limiter is a feature of speech that was make for OLED ( organic sparkle - pass off junction rectifier ) TVs . As just point out , the O in organic light-emitting diode stand for organic . And as organic beings , we are very conversant with the biologic imperative that is age and end . The organic chemical compound that make light in an OLED TVdowear down over prison term . And just as stress accelerate aging in humans , it accelerates the degradation of the organic compound in an OLED television set . In other Word : The harder you beat back an OLED TV , the quicker it will wear out .
To prolong the life of OLED TVs , an algorithm detects when an OLED TV is being drive intemperately for longsighted periods of time , which is an of import modifier . It then reduces the brightness of the idiot box mechanically . That ’s ABL .
The good news is that as OLED video tech has advanced , car brightness limiting has been loosen quite a bit . But if there ’s one character of content that you may count on to trigger ABL , it ’s hockey , which has a lot of bright white in it . And , unfortunately , field hockey tends to make the automobile brightness level limiter more obvious because our eyes are tender to reduction in white light luminosity .
Over the long time , I ’ve test to include an ABL test in my reviews , but it’sless pressing of an issue these twenty-four hours . I hypothesise I should consider tension - testing every OLED for ABL , but I just do n’t see it any longer in most eccentric of content .
Now , let ’s answer David ’s interrogative : Yes , SDR content can trigger ABL . In fact , ABL does n’t care whether you ’re watching SDR or HDR . It worry about how bright the TV is being inquire to be . There ’s this notion that HDR content is universally bright , and that is not the case . HDR unlocks more dynamic range of mountains . And , yes , that intend the brilliant brights can be brighter . But HDR content is not bright all the time . In fact , some common people complain that HDR depicted object in reality is more dim .
So it really depends on how promising you set up your organic light-emitting diode to be when it is playing HDR content . If you max out the OLED light degree , and you choose option like “ brightness preferred ” or HDR visor cleverness set to high , then your SDR content will have a high average picture degree . That ’s APL , which is way too close an acronym to ABL .
With that say , I do n’t think you ’ll find that watching ice hockey means your TV is always dim . The TV is going to get enough breaks showing participant ’s uniforms , the crowd , and the observer , and the ABL is less likely to be triggered . If you hesitate on a very bright moment in the game , you would see the image dim slow over time . But this result where the TV slowly dims over time and never lighten up up ? That ’s a hemipterous insect that was encounter in a very few television , and it was sterilise .
So , from an ABL perspective , I reckon you ’re dependable go with organic light-emitting diode . It ’s in reality the electric potential for suntan - in that I ’d be thinking about . If you have hockey game on the TV 8 to 10 hours a Clarence Day , four or more day a week , that score and entropy ticker down at the bottom of the telecasting could cause suntan - in . But , hey , if you ’re apprehensive about that , you’re able to always buy an LG G4 . It ’s got a five - class warranty that handle tan - in .
Wide color gamut and HDR
Jay inquire : Wide colouration gamut has always been upgrade as an advantage of HDR video . Very seldom , though , have I ever get a line it discussed in television or video reviews or promoted by TV manufacturing business . All the discussion about HDR seems to center on brightness level and specular highlights , not the improve colors over SDR . So my query is do film and television Divine have to purposely plan for and shoot in a broad semblance gamut , or do those extra colors just “ magically appear ” when watching HDR video ? Are we often watching HDR telecasting that does not take vantage of WCG ?
We often do see HDR and WCG , or all-encompassing colour gamut , mentioned in the same intimation . But , in fact , HDR and wide colour gamut are not intrinsically link up . Technically verbalize , you may have HDR without blanket color gamut , and you may have wide of the mark color gamut without HDR . But the manner content is packaged up , we simply do n’t see wide vividness gamut content come across without HDR .
extensive colour gamut touch to a TV ’s ability to grow more colour than was possible from the pre - ultra - high - definition day . Broadcast , DVD , and Blu - light beam discs were once cap at sRGB or Rec.709 , which are represent by the smaller rectangles on the color gamut chart .
With Ultra HD , we got wide color gamut , which expanded the kitchen range of people of color out to this large trilateral on this color chart . We call this color standard DCI - P3 , or just P3 for short . And since we ’re doing acronym today , I ’ll note that the DCI in DCI - P3 support for Digital Cinema Initiatives .
So , while HDR can have an effect on colour brightness and color volume , HDR is about dynamical range of brightness , and not expand a color palette . panoptic colouration Gamut increases the range of coloring material shades by having a higher bit deepness — increase from 8 - bit color to 10 - bit colouring . HDR mean a wider stove of colors , and WCG means more shades of the people of colour in that range .
The content gaining control — at least for movies — was never a restriction . It ’s always been the delivery organization . Ten - scrap color requires a lot of storage space or a mass of net bandwidth to be delivered . And 4 K Blu - light beam and modernistic streaming services made it possible for us to get content with all-embracing color gamut . And it always come with HDR , too .
But the boob tube needs to be able to pull off across-the-board color gamut . That ’s what makes quantum dot so suitable . The quantum dot help expatiate semblance gamut and colour volume by making a more pure white light source from which colour filters make color . OLED have naturally better colour purity and are also capable of across-the-board color gamut .
Anyway , desire that is helpful . And to any color scientists out there : Please forgive me for irrigate down this explanation . I ’m aware there is a lot more to it . But , we ’re tying to keep it at the 101 level here .
Any downsides to MLA OLED technology?
Roy Rosenthal writes : I enjoyYou Askeda lot . My question is about LG MLA applied science . All of the reviews make it sound great . But is there any downside to MLA ? For example : Is the off - axis viewing that is so good with even organic light-emitting diode affected ? Or is there any sort of content that MLA does n’t handle well ? Or is it just a gross profits ?
I ’ve just gotten done examination theLG G4 organic light-emitting diode , which has LG’sMLA panel . And almost as I can severalize , MLA is just a virginal win . I do n’t see any takings inbuilt to the carrying out of the micro lenses that make up MLA . And perhaps that ’s due to how MLA work .
We have a whole explainer on MLA , but the short version is that MLA stands for micro lens array and refers to a layer in certain agiotage OLED panels that contains zillion of tiny lenses — they measure out in micrometer — to focus light out to the watcher . MLA help OLED idiot box be brighter simply by funneling Inner Light out to the witness that otherwise is typically disperse and lost . It ’s like reclaimed light yield . And it does n’t seem to get in the way of anything at all .
eARC on HDMI 2.1 ports
Bruce Macartney - Filgate writes in with questions about eARC , which stand for enhanced Audio Return Channel . Bruce ’s question is around why he so commonly hears reviewers such as myself complaining about a telecasting ’s eARC port wine taking up one of a television set ’s HDMI 2.1 ports when he thinks that would be an advantage for folks using an A / fin pass receiver as a video whipper .
Bruce is correct . For anyone who is give way to use an HDMI 2.1 - capable A / V receiver as a video switcher — which means you would stop up all the source equipment , like secret plan console , Blu - ray player , cyclosis boxes , and maybe a cable or satellite box into it — it would be an advantage for the TV ’s eARC larboard to also be an HDMI 2.1 port .
Also , for those of you not familiar with eARC or ARC in general : Audio return distribution channel is what let an HDMI connection to be a two - way street . HDMI cables unremarkably extend signal in one direction , from a source to a display or profound machine . It gets a signalfrompoint Atopoint B.
ARC and eARCallow for a video recording and audio signal to go one mode — we ’ll call it upriver — and for an audio signal to go the opposite means , or downstream . This way , kinfolk can get strait from their TV — whether it ’s from built - in apps or from any devices connected to the TV — into a soundbar or recipient . And , finally , the eastward in eARC bear for raise , and it just means that it can carry more entropy , so you’re able to get lossless , uncompressed audio down the grapevine .
Now , a quick reminder for everyone : The only devices that occasionally take an HDMI 2.1 port are the Xbox Series X or S , the PlayStation 5 , or a high - end play PC . That ’s because those are the only devices that can offer 4 K simulacrum resolution at 120Hz , so they need the extra bandwidth afforded by HDMI 2.1
So , if you had more than one of those three devices and an A / V receiver , then you would be glad that the eARC port was also HDMI 2.1
But for a lot of folks , that eARC port is going to be used with a soundbar or perhaps an A / cinque liquidator or preamp / mainframe that does n’t handle HDMI 2.1 . In those vitrine , if you had more than one of those special equipment that need HDMI 2.1 , then you would want them to be gratis on your boob tube , self-governing of the eARC port , because all the eARC embrasure needs to do is get great audio frequency to your soundbar , or receiver .
