STACK #199 May 2021

LIFE TECH FEATURE

visit stack.com.au

Now that you’ve sorted out the type of TV that best suits your requirements, here are some other important key features to look out for:

LOCAL DIMMING

HDR (HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE)

What is it? Simply put, HDR heightens a picture’s dynamic range – the contrast between bright whites and deep blacks – revealing more details in the bright and dark areas of an image. It also significantly expands the range of colour, especially on TVs with wide colour gamut.

What is it? A feature of LCD/LED TVs, local dimming reduces the LED light in dark areas of the screen while keeping the bright bits bright, creating a better contrast ratio. This is particularly noticeable when watching HDR- supported content on a 4K LCD/LEDTV. Why it’s important: Full Array Local Dimming – used in most top-end LCD/LEDTVs – utilises an array of LEDs behind the LCD panel that are divided into zones. Where required, the specific areas of the picture that need to be darker are dimmed without compromising the areas that need to be brighter.

There are presently three types of HDR:

HDR10 The standard for streaming content and 4K UHD discs, using static metadata to set brightness and colour levels at a specific value. HDR10+ Developed by Samsung, HDR10+ adds dynamic metadata – scene-by-scene image optimisation – to further enhance the picture, giving it the edge over HDR10.

DOLBY VISION Dolby Laboratories’ certified HDR format, which does for video what Dolby Surround did for audio. Like HDR10+, Dolby Vision uses dynamic metadata to optimise each scene in a movie, rather than a set value for the whole film.

Note: HDR can sometimes make an image appear considerably darker, but still more warm and natural looking in terms of colour and contrast. Tip: If your TV has the option to turn off ambient light detection, disabling this function will brighten the image somewhat while still retaining those “brightest brights and deepest darks.”

Why it’s important: HDR is one of the most important features to look for when choosing a 4K UHDTV. When the content you’re watching supports HDR, you’ll notice the difference immediately – it’s like a stunning matte finish has been added to an already vibrant and detailed image, making finer details and colours really pop (particularly in dark scenes) and giving the picture a warmer and more natural look. Movies on 4K UHD discs more closely resemble how they looked in the cinema, and HDR support is now common on content offered by the more popular streaming services (if you have a speedy internet connection).

TV CALIBRATION TIPS

Most smart TVs come with picture settings precalibrated for the best possible image quality, largely eliminating the need for further fiddling with colour, contrast and brightness levels. Moreover, many feature built-in AI that will automatically adjust and optimise the screen image according to the video source and environmental factors like a room’s ambient light. But great picture quality is subjective, of course, so if you feel the need for further tweaking, an internet search will return a plethora of suggested settings according to your

TV model. However, it can also send you down a rabbit hole of technobabble and leave you stressing about things like the right Chroma level. The best and simplest way to refine the picture to your liking is to first select the Picture Mode setting (see page 13) and then toggle between the options to determine which one looks best to your eye – Movie/Cinema mode is a good one-fits-all setting. Colour, contrast and brightness are the key settings you may want to adjust – ideally, colour and brightness should be set at 50 per cent, with contrast as

high as possible. Sharpness should be left under 50 per cent or at zero, while colour temperature/tone is best set to Warm.

When you’ve found the right balance, set and forget. But if levels still don’t look quite right, revert to the default/factory settings and start over.

12 MAY 2021

jbhifi.com.au