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- Table of Contents
- Intro
- Test Methodology Coverage
- When It Matters
- Our Tests
- Additional Information
- Conclusion
- Comments
Our TV Picture Quality Tests
Ambient Black Level Raise
When discussing contrast and a TV's overall picture quality, we often talk about the TV's performance in a dark room. But how do those TVs look if you're not in a light-controlled environment? Understanding how indirect light impacts black levels is one key factor in a TV's picture quality when you're not in a perfectly dark room. This is one of four main tests we do to see how well a TV performs in a bright room, with the others being our Direct Reflections, Ambient Color Saturation, and Total Reflected Light tests.
Test results
Test Methodology Coverage
We added this test as part of our 2.0 test bench update. Before that, we had no equivalent test, so TVs that haven't been tested on 2.0 or later don't have these results. Learn how our test benches and scoring system work.
| 1.11 | 2.0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Ambient Black Level Raise | Black Luminance @ 0 lx | ❌ | ✅ |
| Ambient Black Level Raise | Black Luminance @ 1000 lx | ❌ | ✅ |
When It Matters
Let's face it: most of us don't have perfectly light-controlled rooms with blackout curtains and black walls designed to deliver a flawless home theater viewing experience. Yet, most picture quality testing is done in a light-controlled environment. So, how do we know what a TV will actually look like in a normal room with some ambient light from lamps or windows? The ambient black level raise test is one way to measure a TV's bright room performance. It tells us how indirect ambient light falling on the TV impacts its black levels, which, combined with the direct reflections and ambient color saturation test, is one aspect of how good a TV looks in a bright room.
This specific test shows how light impacts a TV's contrast ratio. A model's performance on this test depends on its screen finish, anti-reflective coating, and the panel's internal structure.
Our Tests
We do this test using our SDR-calibrated settings for each TV, with local dimming enabled. It's done in a light-controlled environment, using a ring light calibrated to produce a consistent amount of light at a specific color temperature. This is important for consistent results, as just using the ambient light in the room would yield different results depending on the time of day, outside weather, etc.
We start by taking a baseline measurement of the TV's black levels in a dark room, then measure the same spot while the light ring is shining on the screen.
Black Luminance @ 0 lx
We start with a baseline measurement of the TV's black levels. This is done in a light-controlled room with no ambient light on the TV. Using a PC, we display a pure black slide on the screen. We use a Colorimetry Research CR-100 colorimeter to measure the screen's black level in our SDR-calibrated settings, with local dimming enabled if the TV supports it. For TVs with a good local dimming feature or for OLEDs, the starting black level should be 0.
Black Luminance @ 1000 lx
Next, we turn on our ring light and adjust it to shine on the center of the screen at approximately 1000 lux. This roughly corresponds to a fairly bright room during the day. We use the CR-100 to remeasure the black level in the bottom left quadrant of the screen, with the TV showing the same black slide used for the previous test. This new measurement shows us the black level at 1000 lux. We can extrapolate the results with these two data points to create a graph showing the black level raise from 0 to 3,000 lux.
Additional Information
How to Get The Best Results
Most TVs are designed to look their best when used in a perfectly dark room, but in a bright room, the picture quality highly depends on the unit's construction. The black level raise on a TV is entirely due to the panel technology used and the specific screen coating applied by the manufacturer, so other than controlling the amount of ambient light in your room, there's really nothing you can do to improve this.
Certain types of panel technology are more prone to black level raise than others. For example, QD-OLED displays are among the worst at this test, as the lack of a polarizing layer causes blacks to raise significantly in a bright room. It's always a tradeoff, though, as adding a polarizer significantly cuts the peak brightness of the display.
Measuring Your Room
Gauging the overall brightness in your room can be difficult, especially since it varies daily and depends on the weather outside. Normally, a simple lux meter is needed to precisely measure your ambient lighting conditions. If you want to get a rough idea of what to expect, there are apps available that use your smartphone's front-facing camera and a homemade diffuser to give you an approximate measurement of the ambient light in your room. They're not perfect, but they'll give you a rough idea of what to expect.
Conclusion
Since most people aren't watching TV in a pitch-black light-controlled room, it's important to understand how ambient light will affect the picture quality of your TV. Contrast is one of the most important aspects of a TV's picture quality, and the ambient black level raise test shows us how ambient light impacts contrast.
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Our TV Picture Quality Tests: Ambient Black Level Raise: Main Discussion
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