Keep the LCD best color performance in high brightness condition

calendar_month Dec 30, 2024
person By RisingStar Engineering Team

While the display has higher brightness, the color performance is often worse than with lower brightness. Here are some solutions from RisingStar to keep the display with excellent color performance.


The nature of color in digital displays is actually a mix of primary colors (usually red, green, and blue). More levels of brightness for each of the colors mean the color range of the LCD will be larger. 


This is how we calculate it: In RGB mode, each color has 256 levels of brightness. With three colors, there are 256^3 types of colors that can be displayed in this mode. 256^3=167772162563=16777216, which is approximately 16.7 million, or 16.7M. This is the 16.7M color range we can see in the specifications of the LCD monitor on Amazon.

RGB vs CMYK colour spaces explained | Dusted

Now, you know why the brightness of the LCD will affect the color range because higher brightness will affect the brightness of the colors. One example is the white and black colors on the screen; we can still use RGB mode.


Ideally, when the LCD screen displays black, the brightness level of each of the RGB colors should be (0, 0, 0) at minimum; when the LCD screen displays white, the numbers will be (256, 256, 256) at maximum. This is what pure white and black look like.

RGB parameter of purify white colorRGB parameter of purify black color

However, when we observe an LCD in real life, it usually looks like this:

Night photo showing on LCDthe color RGB parameter showing by the professional software

The sky looks grayish instead of perfectly black. At this time, the minimum color of the LCD is (21, 23, 32), which means the color range of the LCD is lower than the 16777216 we just calculated.


This is because the LCD has a different structure from LED and OLED screens. The backlight is always working, even when the LCD is showing black colors. The light penetrates the film and glass in front of the LED backlight, making the screen look grayish instead of perfectly black.

DLED LCD panel structure

To understand simply, there is an additional color (white) when the LCD displays in RGB mode. To solve this problem, we need adjust the backlight with the LCD open cell and make them matched to decrease the effects from high brightness.


In general, the LCD open-cell actually filters the white light from the LED backlight. If we change the color of the light from the backlight, the color displayed by the LCD after the filter will change as well. This gives us a way to revise the color performance while the LCD is in high brightness conditions.


This calibration will take time until we find the color that can perfectly match the colors filtered by the LCD, minimizing the effects of higher brightness as much as possible.

About the author

RisingStar Engineering Team

Display engineering, thermal design & technical documentation — Shenzhen, China

The RisingStar Engineering Team is the technical core behind every display we ship. Based at our 4,000 m² ISO 9001-certified facility in Shenzhen — home to a Class 10,000 cleanroom — our engineers have specialised in high-brightness, sunlight-readable LCD technology since 2009, covering optical design, thermal management, structural sealing and system integration.

Working directly with Tier-1 panel partners including LG Display, AUO, INNOLUX, BOE and Tianma, the team tunes luminance from 500 to 5,000 nits, engineers IP65/IP66 enclosures, and validates 24/7 performance across a -20°C to 70°C operating range with a service life of up to 50,000 hours. Every unit leaves the line under 100% factory inspection — from 7" panels and open-frame modules to 100" outdoor totems and ultra-wide stretch bars.

Our engineers also write and review the articles published here. Instead of paraphrasing marketing material, they draw on hands-on deployment experience in outdoor advertising, retail window displays, EV charging, transportation PIDS, food processing and industrial HMI — so specifiers and integrators can choose hardware on verified figures.

  • Since 2009 17 years of display engineering
  • 4,000 m² facility ISO 9001 certified, Class 10,000 cleanroom
  • 500+ clients Delivered across 50+ countries
  • 500–5,000 nits IP65/IP66 · -20°C to 70°C · 50,000 h lifespan

verified Reviewed by the RisingStar Engineering Team · Dec 30, 2024

Keep exploring

More from RisingStar

Request a
Solution

Please use the form to send us
detailed requirements