Samsung UN85S9AF LCD/LED Ultra HDTV Video Test Bench
BEFORE Calibration
AFTER Calibration
The pre-calibration RGB Balance shown in the accompanying chart was taken in the Movie mode, at the above 35 ft-L brightness level and with the Color Tone on Warm2. The pre-calibration gray scale Delta E values in this mode averaged 0.93 (!), with a maximum of 1.31 at 100%. While this hardly demanded any improvement, I went ahead and did a calibration, using only the 10p White Balance controls. The post-calibration, gray scale Delta E averaged 0.39, with a high of 1.00 at 90%.
(Delta E is a figure of merit that indicates how closely a display adheres to the Rec. 709 HD color standard. Experts generally agree that at levels below 3 to 4, the result is visibly indistinguishable from perfect color tracking. A Delta E may be used to characterize either white balance (gray scale), as above, or color, as below.
In the Rec. 709 color gamut setting, the color gamut’s pre-calibration color Delta E averaged a solid 2.3. After calibration, it averaged an exceptional 0.81, with a maximum of 2.4 in magenta (primarily for slightly excessive saturation). No other color’s Delta E was higher than 0.89 (blue).
With the Dynamic Contrast on Low (the setting I marginally preferred) and the Gamma control centered, the gamma averaged 2.17 with a low of 2.03 at 90% brightness and a high of 2.29 at 20%. With Dynamic Contrast Off, the average gamma was 2.26, with a high of 2.33 at 20% brightness and a low of 2.17 at 90%.—TJN