LG Display, a sister company of LG Electronics, announced that OLED panels used in its televisions recently received the “Perfect Black” verification. The verification process was carried out by an independent quality control laboratory UL Solutions and applies to LG OLED panels with a diagonal of 42 to 97 inches.
LG TVs were measured by UL Solutions in a “brightly lit environment” similar to a “full daylight living room”. In this situation, black levels were 0.15 nits – about 40 percent lower than Perfect Black’s standard criteria of 0.24 nits, according to the company.
No more black
OLED televisions are among the the best 4K TVs and have long been known for “Infinite Contrast”, an opportunity LG has been promoting since the first kits using this technology. Anyone who has looked at an OLED TV can confirm that the black actually looks perfect black and remains so even when viewing images from a very distant chair.
As for the measurements cited in the LG Display press release, after dipping below 1 nit, any differences are basically questionable. To the human eye, a black level of 0.24 nits and 0.15 nits will appear as perfect black.
Given these tiny differences, the main goal of LG’s verification process seems to be proving that OLED displays can retain extremely deep blacks and the resulting infinite contrast in bright environments, rather than dark, preferred by cinema fans – those who are more willing to pay extra money too the best OLED TVs.
Analysis: The fight in the living room between OLED and mini-LED is gaining momentum
Why is LG suddenly boasting amazing black OLED performance, which we already knew very well? The likely reason is that QLED mini-LED TVs are gaining market share, especially with lower-cost models such as those with TCL and Hisense tossed into the mix along with Samsung, Sony as well as more premium LG deals.
Mini-LED TVs are able to achieve the same infinite contrast as OLEDs, but they do so by modulating backlight zones using a process called local dimming. To display deep black shadows, the LEDs in the specific zone where they appear can be turned off completely.
OLED TVs, on the other hand, are self-emission – each pixel on the display is its own light source. Individual pixels on the TV can also be turned off completely as well as modulated to display a very low level of black. This feature gives it an advantage over regular LED TVs as well as mini-LED TVs where backlight blurring can appear in high contrast images, causing a visual artifact known as “blooming”.
Even with this limitation, mini-LED TVs are able to achieve near OLED black levels with infinite contrast, and the best models can keep flowering to a minimum – so much that most viewers won’t notice. They are also able to provide significantly higher peak brightness than OLEDs, even with inexpensive models like the Hisense U8H we checked that the measurement is twice as bright as the average OLED.
High brightness is a key thing that matters in a typical living room, and here QLED mini-LED TVs have a distinct advantage over OLED. To put LG’s somewhat strange announcement into perspective, the company seems to be trying to convey that OLED will continue to do what it does best, even in a bright room.
I can’t say that this statement is as clear as black and white. But as for the black part, the message is received.