Black level test

[Fox5]

I can't see past RGB(5,5,5) with my Hyundai L90D+. Oh, and the gradations between each shade are definetely not smooth, not sure if they're supposed to be but they're solid bands.

 

[Dr J]

All kidding aside, all I see is black, one consistent shade of black ... no differentiation.

John

 

[xtknight]

Originally posted by: CP5670
I can see down to (1,1,1) if I look very closely. This is a nice test page but I think the name is kind of misleading. It's more of a test of dark gradients and color steps than the black level (i.e. how bright pure black looks). A monitor would do well on this as long as it's 8-bit, even if its black point is bad.

True...though you are testing your brightness level of black relative to every other color. It isn't black point though.

The NEC 20WMGX2 (8-bit) actually doesn't do that great on it. After calibrating I can still only see (7,7,7). In standard mode I can't get it much better but gaming does reveal the darker tones much better, though it clips the overall color gradient a lot so I would never consider using it.

8-bit/6-bit itself has little bearing on how LCDs can display the darker tones. The 6-bit/Hi-FRC LCDs can display them, with a little bit of noise. The main factor in question is contrast and how consistent the brightness is across the color spectrum.

Originally posted by: Fox5
I can't see past RGB(5,5,5) with my Hyundai L90D+. Oh, and the gradations between each shade are definetely not smooth, not sure if they're supposed to be but they're solid bands.

Nope, they are each 40 pixels wide.

Originally posted by: Dr J
All kidding aside, all I see is black, one consistent shade of black ... no differentiation.

John

If all you see is black across the whole thing then monitor adjustments can probably remedy it.

 

[Dr J]

"Remedy it?"

I don't understand, remedy what? I don't know what it is I'm supposed to be looking or aiming for?

John

 

[jiffylube1024]

I see colour down to (3,3,3) on my 22" Acer widescreen. I also love my monitor . And my Canadian spelling of colour .

 

[xtknight]

Originally posted by: Dr J
"Remedy it?"

I don't understand, remedy what? I don't know what it is I'm supposed to be looking or aiming for?

John

Just a consistent gradient of dark colors.

RGB(0,0,0) is black, RGB(1,1,1) is the darkest gray, RGB(1,1,1) to RGB(2,2,2) is as consistent as (0,0,0)->(1,1,1), etc.

 

[Dr J]

If I crank the brightness and contrast, then, I can see the gradients. Is this really the idea, to have RGB (0,0,0) as black, because if so, I find these settings way too bright.

Is it worth trying to set up an lcd panel with Digital Video Essentials, or something similar?

thanks,

John

 

[ronnn]

think my crt is fried, I can see the columns right up to rgb 000

 

[xtknight]

Originally posted by: Dr J
If I crank the brightness and contrast, then, I can see the gradients. Is this really the idea, to have RGB (0,0,0) as black, because if so, I find these settings way too bright.

Is it worth trying to set up an lcd panel with Digital Video Essentials, or something similar?

thanks,

John

Yep, RGB(0,0,0) is supposed to be black. I've never used DVE. It's probably better to have a lighter black and still be able to see all the dark tones. Try a high contrast (~80) with a low brightness (~10).

Originally posted by: ronnn
think my crt is fried, I can see the columns right up to rgb 000

:laugh:

That's the optimal outcome...dark at the beginning and lighter at the end, each band of colors being 40 pixels wide.

 

[extra]

On my Samsung 23" HDTV LCD that I use as my monitor on my desktop it pretty much all looks like one level of black.

On my laptop (Dell xps1210) I can very easily see ALL of the different levels. I love this thing!

I haven't tried it on my old Viewsonic $5 state surplus 19" CRT or my $5 state surplus special 21" trinitron (it's in another state!)

 

[bobsmith1492]

What the heck does the test mean??? I wish they would explain these things...

 

[ronnn]

levels of black that your monitor will differentiate

 

[Dr J]

I've made a new discovery. While the whole image looks black, when I look straight on, if I get out of my desk chair and stand to one side, I can see the gradients. What doest that mean?

Thanks for the responses,

John

 

[Dom1105]

Well suprisingly I can see up to (2,2,2) on my nice $200 dollar Acer AL1917.

 

[xtknight]

Originally posted by: Dr J
I've made a new discovery. While the whole image looks black, when I look straight on, if I get out of my desk chair and stand to one side, I can see the gradients. What doest that mean?

Thanks for the responses,

John

When you look from the side, you're looking at a different "plane" of the crystals that displays the images as brighter and faded. Since you'll be looking at a zero-degree angle most of the time, you should calibrate for how it looks in front of you.

Originally posted by: bobsmith1492
What the heck does the test mean??? I wish they would explain these things...

Well, it's simple really. The more dark colors you can distinguish on your monitor in the gradient, the more dark/subtle details you'll be able to pick up in photos.

 

[Slammy1]

I think what the test is dealing with is minimum black levels. When you talk about monitor specs, along with contrast ratio you have the lowest black level (I forget what they call it, there's a tech term for it) which, combined with contrast, will give a better indication of PQ than just 1 or the other. Contrast ratio is the difference between the blackest black and the whitest white. I don't think optimization helps much (at least on my monitor). I upped brightness, contrast, and backlight and ended up in the same place.

 

[bobsmith1492]

Originally posted by: xtknight

Originally posted by: Dr J
I've made a new discovery. While the whole image looks black, when I look straight on, if I get out of my desk chair and stand to one side, I can see the gradients. What doest that mean?

Thanks for the responses,

John

When you look from the side, you're looking at a different "plane" of the crystals that displays the images as brighter and faded. Since you'll be looking at a zero-degree angle most of the time, you should calibrate for how it looks in front of you.

Originally posted by: bobsmith1492
What the heck does the test mean??? I wish they would explain these things...

Well, it's simple really. The more dark colors you can distinguish on your monitor in the gradient, the more dark/subtle details you'll be able to pick up in photos.

Well, I don't think it works very well... if I crank up the brightness and contrast, I can see all the bands; everything looks crappy, though. So, what's the point of being able to differentiate these levels if it makes everything look bad? Are you supposed to run your monitor normally so that you can see all the bands? I have a BenQ 202FPW, by the way.

 

[xtknight]

Originally posted by: bobsmith1492

Originally posted by: xtknight

Originally posted by: Dr J
I've made a new discovery. While the whole image looks black, when I look straight on, if I get out of my desk chair and stand to one side, I can see the gradients. What doest that mean?

Thanks for the responses,

John

When you look from the side, you're looking at a different "plane" of the crystals that displays the images as brighter and faded. Since you'll be looking at a zero-degree angle most of the time, you should calibrate for how it looks in front of you.

Originally posted by: bobsmith1492
What the heck does the test mean??? I wish they would explain these things...

Well, it's simple really. The more dark colors you can distinguish on your monitor in the gradient, the more dark/subtle details you'll be able to pick up in photos.

Well, I don't think it works very well... if I crank up the brightness and contrast, I can see all the bands; everything looks crappy, though. So, what's the point of being able to differentiate these levels if it makes everything look bad? Are you supposed to run your monitor normally so that you can see all the bands? I have a BenQ 202FPW, by the way.

It's important to realize this is only one aspect of color quality. The goal is to get a black that actually looks black, while still being able to see the steps and having a bright white. That would be the ideal condition. Seeing the steps doesn't mean anything if your black (RGB(0,0,0)) looks medium gray. You're just trying to reproduce the dark side of the gradient as well as you possibly can, while still having an even-looking bright gradient (which is what I made the gradlin programs for).

When you achieve that, you'll have great color. What that entails depends on your monitor. Some do well with just some brightness and contrast tweaks while others need more comprehensive gamma adjustment. All need gamma compensation a tad bit. For some monitors, it will be impossible to achieve reasonable results.

 

[McArra]

I use the "internet" settings in everyday use, is not overbright at all. (215TW)
The Belinea looks almost the same in every condition (S-MVA)

The test only makes sense to prove your monitor if the image looks ok in every conditions.

 

[Slammy1]

Yeah, I was able to get proper observation of the bars with gamma corretion (to 1,1,1), but I ound the PQ better without it. It made the blacks appear rather gray. I guess first gen. panel and all that.

 

[niall]

I have no idea if I'm doing this right, but this is what I see when I go to the black test site, both with my home CRT (Compaq V710) and my office LCD (Philips 170S6FB)... no matter the adjustments I make. Is it supposed to look like that?

 

[xtknight]

Originally posted by: niall
I have no idea if I'm doing this right, but this is what I see when I go to the black test site, both with my home CRT (Compaq V710) and my office LCD (Philips 170S6FB)... no matter the adjustments I make. Is it supposed to look like that?

A screenshot can't capture what the monitor is displaying. Also for anyone wondering, please read the thread as I've explained numerous times what you're looking for.

 

[Maluno]

Originally posted by: wizboy11
It really starts to show at the 4,4,4 mark on my VX2025.

Then you must really have the contrast cranked up, because I can't see past 9,9,9 on my 2025, unless I set it to 100% contrast, then I can see to 4,4,4, but the picture looks really bad.

 

[Jodiuh]

I'm going to lose it here. Just as with Bob's discovery, I can see it all if I bump the gamma/brightness up a touch. But then everything's WAY too bright. I've got a pic of a pc tower as my wallpaper and adjusting this so I can see all the blacks brings all the darker portions of the photo to viewable. But again, this page looks BRIGHT and washed out.

I'm ready to go buy a $$$ tool that will do it for me. Are there any EASY to use free utilities or sites?