VESA launches DisplayHDR 1.1 spec, DisplayHDR 1400 tier

The Video Electronic Standards Association (VESA) has announced an update to its DisplayHDR high dynamic range standard, setting a higher bar for adherence while adding a new DisplayHDR 1400 performance tier aimed at professional creators.

Launched back in December 2017, VESA's DisplayHDR certification system aimed to quantify the quality of displays offering high dynamic range (HDR) functionality. More properly, though cumbersomely, called the VESA High-Performance Monitor and Display Compliance Test Specification (DisplayHDR), the standard demanded adherence to eight specific parameter requirements and associated tests plus a minimum attainable brightness level. Depending on the brightness on offer, display manufacturers could achieve one of three certification tiers: DisplayHDR 400, DisplayHDR 600, and DisplayHDR 1000, with the numerical suffix detailing the brightness of the display in nits.

Since the launch of the specification itself, the organisation has supported it with a Windows-only testing utility and in January this year the DisplayHDR True Black standard aimed at OLED and micro-LED displays. Now, DisplayHDR itself is getting a version boost to 1.1 - and bringing with it both tighter requirements plus a new top-end tier, DisplayHDR 1400.

'Since we launched the DisplayHDR compliance test specification nearly two years ago, display manufacturers have made excellent progress in refining the performance and capabilities of their HDR displays beyond what was originally defined in the standard. To represent the gains that the display ecosystem has made in that time, VESA has updated the DisplayHDR standard with substantially tighter performance metrics,' claims Roland Wooster, chair of the VESA task group responsible for DisplayHDR. 'While systems that already received DisplayHDR certification under the existing 1.0 spec are not required to recertify their products under DisplayHDR version 1.1, we believe that many of the systems that passed the original spec will also pass the new 1.1 spec. Going forward, we expect that the majority of new devices will be certified to DisplayHDR 1.1, resulting in an even greater and more consistent HDR experience for consumers.'

The changes in the DisplayHDR 1.1 specification include mandated performance levels for active dimming functionality, the requirement that accurate luminance and colour gamut information is present in the DisplayID or EDID data provided by the monitor, a new ten-percent colour patch test, a dual-corner box test which improves the testing quality of dynamic contrast ratio functionality, a new delta-ITP test which aims to confirm the accuracy of luminance and D65 white balance display, and the requirement that on-screen displays clearly identify modes which are DisplayHDR compliant.

Somewhat more controversially, VESA has now tied the DisplayHDR standard into its DisplayPort ecosystem: Any display with a DisplayPort-family connector seeking DisplayHDR certification must also undergo full DisplayPort certification, which the organisation claims ensures 'the display performs optimally with VESA DisplayPort-certified cables and other peripherals.'

The new standard is available to download now from the DisplayHDR website.