New LCD kid on the block - 30 bit, billion color display

[DougAxford]

HP DreamColor LP2480zx Professional Display Small & Medium Business

I just got an email on this announcement and wanted to share. Start saving up for the $3,300. shell-out. I'm not in line, just wanted to share some new (apparently) technology, since I know some of you guys will be peed off that you now don't have the most expensive monitor on the block. I'll wait until they're on sale for $289.

BTW, Noel & I are still happy with our ancient Dell LCD's although mine is a little slower to warm up now - just like me.

DougA

[Noel_Carboni]

Agreed, my Dell 2001 FPs are still running perfectly. I'm waiting for one or both to go out before moving into a cool new 30 incher.

-Noel

[AndrewRodney]

Its a very interesting new display technology, I had a chance to see one. The idea that its able to "produce billions of colors" isn't what's at all useful or interesting! Its really been designed for the film industry. I'd keep an eye on this newer technology but its not quite time for those of us in the still market to jump on board (assuming you have such deep pockets).

[Richard_Coyle]

Andrew et al:
Can the film industry really take advantage of 30 bit color? What's their highest input source, and what is the latest digital theater output? (Of course the home theater potential for larger versions of this unit may eventually be a potential market.) And from a digital still capture perspective, from my limited knowledge, the maximum input currently is the new Hasselblads at 16 bit, which would seem to limit the benefits of this application for some time? Finally, what is the "human element" limit regarding our perception ability?

PS: Interesting that with all the advances, it doesn't have dual 60/120Hz capability, and a greater contrast ratio, among others.

[AndrewRodney]

This recent post by Tom on the ColorSync list sums it up best. It was Tom who showed me the unit, give me a quick demo of his test unit (not final production):

Hi to all,

The HP 2480zx is a 24 inch display, not thirty. It has a gamut that exceeds the primaries for Adobe RGB and normally meets the Digital Cinema P3 gamut, but that may be just missed due to LED variability so it is labeled P3 emulation. The display has a radically different numeric pipeline. It has a complete matrix shaper look up table capability. The display can accept dual link multi-byte 10 bit image data and the pipeline works to 12 bits. The LCD module has a true 10 bit interface. This means that full 10 bit data is being passed to the display module which is very unusual. The LUTS are 12 bit deep. The matrix multiplier allows the display to change color spaces instantly. The display has an LED backlight and that is used to control luminance and white point. This display has been designed to work at lower luminances. It can be adjusted from 45 to 250 NITS. This lower range is needed in the Motion Picture Market. The Contrast Ratio is 1000:1 or greater. The display is aimed primarily in the video and motion picture market place, where they have a number of color space standards based upon media and content delivery. The "shift on the fly" color space emulation is very suited to color evaluation in these markets. For the photographic and Graphic arts community, the display's gamut and it's ability to handle greyscale ramps without banding artifacts should be appreciated. I have never seen gray ramp performance as good as this on an LCD. It will take a while for the average graphics card to catch up with the interface capibility of this display. I wish HP lots of luck with this design. It is a radical departure from typical displays and it hits a price point that is well below most of the professional displays in the video and motion picture market.

Regards,
Tom L.
Director Video and Motion Picture Technology
X-Rite.

[AndrewRodney]

Originally Posted by Richard_Coyle

PS: Interesting that with all the advances, it doesn't have dual 60/120Hz capability, and a greater contrast ratio, among others.

Actually it is its contrast ratio that IS an issue for us doing photo work (we need less, not more)!

[DougAxford]

Originally Posted by AndrewRodney

Actually it is its contrast ratio that IS an issue for us doing photo work (we need less, not more)!

For once I have to agree with Rodney on this. Almost everyone I know cranks their contrast way too high for effective color matching. Lower is better. Actually, the lower the contrast, the more accurate the display must be because subtle differences are masked at high contrast. The same applies to having it too bight.

DougA