When I was trained in ISF (Imaging Science Foundation) video calibration years ago, we were told that there are four factors that matter in perceived image quality, and they matter in this order:
- Contrast
- Correct Colors
- Color Saturation
- Resolution
When we calibrate TVs and projectors we maximize the settings to get the best contrast (bright whites and dark blacks) and correct colors. Color saturation and resolution are often the result of the TV or projector’s capabilities.
High definition TVs were a revolution in the industry because they brought us much better resolution than we had before. The new 4K TVs have delivered even higher resolution, but we are getting to a point where we are getting diminishing returns from the added resolution.
One of the benefits of a 4K TV is that it will scale standard HD content to its higher resolution and make the picture look better.
HDR is finally going to deliver better contrast than we have ever seen before. However, we will need to get HDR content in order to see the difference. I have seen that the new Blu-Ray DVDs will be produced in HDR. I am not sure when we will see our standard and streaming content get there.
We have seen the demonstrations of the new HDR projectors and they look amazing. It looks like all of the best next-generation TVs from Samsung and Sony will feature HDR. I look forward to getting the content in place to take advantage of it.