Preferred and maximally acceptable color gamut for reproducing natural image content

Abstract— With the development of wide‐gamut display technology, the need is clear for understanding the required size and shape of color gamut from the viewers' perspective. To that end, experiments were conducted to explore color‐gamut requirements based on viewers' preferred level of chroma enhancement of standard‐gamut images. Chroma preferences were measured for multiple hues using single‐hue images, and a corresponding hue‐dependent preferred chroma enhancement was successfully applied to natural, multi‐hue images. The multi‐hue images showed overall success, though viewers indicated that reds could be decreased even further in colorfulness, and yellows could be increased, which may argue in favor of multi‐primary displays. Viewer preferences do vary within the population, primarily in overall chroma level, and the differences can be largely accounted for with a single parameter for chroma‐level adjustment that includes the preferred hue dependence. Image content dependencies were also found, but they remain too complex to model. The hue‐dependent chroma preference results can be applied to display design and color‐enhancement algorithms.     

Relationship between mode‐boundary from surface color to fluorescent appearance and preferred gamut on wide‐gamut displays

Abstract— Color‐gamut design is a major concern in wide‐gamut displays. To determine a preferred gamut for displaying object color in natural scenes on a wide‐gamut display, subjective evaluations were conducted to investigate the preferred color and acceptable limit. Then, simple synthesized images were used to determine the mode boundary between surface color and fluorescent color appearance. It was found that (1) observers perceived the colors with high saturation and high lightness as fluorescent colors and (2) the fluorescent appearance decreased preference. The color‐mode index (CMI) was defined as an evaluation index of the color‐appearance mode so that the boundary between surface color and fluorescent color appearance was defined as CMI 100. Additionally, it was found that the CMI 100 loci could be interpreted as an optimal color loci. Then, it was clarified that the mode boundary and the preferred gamut were closely related and that the acceptable limit for L* was 1.1 times L* for CMI 100.     

Wide color gamut and high dynamic range displays using RGBW LCDs

An increasing number of studies on efficient implementation of vivid and realistic displays are being conducted as liquid crystal displays (LCDs) become widely used in TV applications. For vivid displays, the specifications such as wide color gamut (WCG) and high dynamic range (HDR) should be implemented in LCDs. However, the low transmittance rate of the WCG and the significant costs for the peak luminance capability of the HDR are major obstacles. Hence, an RGBW LCD, which is capable of increasing the transmission efficiency, may be a good platform to overcome these problems.In this paper, we estimate the perceived brightness effect of the WCG by using the Helmholtz–Kohlrausch (H–K) effect on RGB and RGBW LCDs. The simulation results showed that the RGBW LCD was more suitable for adopting the WCG than the RGB LCD in terms of the brightness balance of achromatic and chromatic colors, and the results were also confirmed by subjective tests. In addition, we propose an effective method to implement the HDR display based on the RGBW LCD. The data stretch, considering a local adaptation characteristic of a human visual system (HVS), greatly enhanced the details of the dark regions, and the local peak dimming using the white channel analysis and the white channel data itself increased the expressiveness of the peak luminance in irradiative or specular regions to 1500 nits.     

Power‐saving primary design for displays enclosing a target color gamut

Abstract— Display primaries are optimized for the trade‐off between the total primary power and color gamut under the requirement that a target color gamut is enclosed by the color gamut of the display. LED displays and HDTV color gamut are taken as examples. Compared to the display using a set of typical commercial RGB LEDs, it was found that a total optical (electrical) power of 23.6% (15.6%) can be saved for the display using optimal RGB LEDs. Although the size of the display color gamut is sacrificed, the color gamut of the display using optimal RGB LEDs still encloses the HDTV color gamut. The combined effect of the LED luminous efficiency and white‐point condition on the determination of the optimal LED wavelengths and bandwidths is also studied.     

Analysis of color volume of multi‐chromatic displays using gamut rings

There are claims that multi‐chromatic displays can achieve a wider color gamut by the use of additional highly saturated secondary color channels. However, there are other claims that these displays lose lightness and/or color saturation at brighter levels. These apparently divergent views have led to some controversy in the display industry and at standard setting organizations. This study examines the color gamut volume for a variety of simulated and measured multi‐chromatic (sometimes incorrectly referred to as “multi‐primary”) displays using combinations of white and/or secondary color channels, such as cyan, magenta, and yellow. Furthermore, a two‐dimensional gamut representation, referred to as “gamut rings,” is introduced to illustrate that the addition of nonprimary optical color channels to a trichromatic (RGB) display can result in a significant decrease in the chroma at higher lightness levels. The additional saturated color channels can increase the gamut volume only around their hues at darker levels. The results also confirm the validity of comparing the color light output and white light output for revealing the design trade‐offs between the high‐peak white and the color‐image brightness for multi‐chromatic displays.     

Ultrawide color gamut LCD display with CdSe/CdS nanoplatelets

We present a liquid‐crystal display (LCD) backlight made of nanoplatelets (NPLs) for the first time. Owing to the narrow emission linewidth of NPLs (8‐12 nm) and quantum dots (QDs), the spectrum exhibits a wide color gamut display with a 139.9% color gamut of National Television System Committee (NTSC) 1953 standard and 104.5% Rec.2020 (ITU‐R Recommendation BT.2020), realizing a truly ultrawide color gamut LCD display.     

A method for selecting display primaries to match a target color gamut

Abstract— A method for selecting primaries of a wide‐gamut display is proposed, in which display color gamut is designed to match a target color gamut in CIELAB color space. A standard deviation of the relative maximum chroma of display and target color gamuts is defined. The selection method optimizes display primaries for the minimum standard deviation so that display and target color gamuts are similar in shape. It is shown that the color gamut of a laser display designed by this method is similar in shape to the theoretical maximum, or optimal, color gamut of objects. It is also shown that the color gamut of an LED display can be designed to include 99.7% of the gamut of Pointer's real‐world surface colors. LED primaries are selected to minimize the standard deviation of the relative maximum chroma of effective display color gamut and a target color gamut which is defined to include Pointer's real‐world surface colors. For both the laser and LED displays, it is necessary to constrain the red‐primary wavelength to avoid excessive optical power for the red primary.     

Achieving standard wide color gamut by tuning LED backlight and color filter spectrum in LCD

In order to achieve the standard red, green, and blue (sRGB) standard color gamut in color liquid crystal display and improve the image quality, the impact of the backlight and color filter spectrum on module's chroma was simulated and analyzed. The color gamut was enhanced by adjusting and optimizing the two parts of spectrums of LED backlight and color filter and by using red and green phosphor LED backlight to match the new color filter with an appropriate thickness. Experimental results show that: When the thickness of color filter is 2.2 µm, National Television System Committee color gamut increases from 65.3% to 74.9%, and sRGB matching rate enhances from 83.2% to 100%, achieving a full coverage of the sRGB standard color gamut, the transmittance of white light reaches 28.1%. Also, it is verified that shifting the peak position of the backlight and color filter spectrum to purification direction, as well as narrowing its half‐width can upgrade the color gamut. Meanwhile, the thicker the thickness of color filter is, the wider color gamut it has, based on the same pigment material.     

High efficiency and ultra‐wide color gamut quantum dot LEDs for next generation displays

Colloidal quantum dot‐based hybrid light‐emitting diodes (QLEDs) have been demonstrated that exhibit quantum efficiencies (EQEs) >10% for all three fundamental colors red, green, and blue (21% EQE, 82 cd/A for green). This is the first report of a green QLED with EQE >20% and current efficiency >80 cd/A. The devices have the longest lifetimes reported in the literature (280k hrs) and extremely well‐tuned color fidelity. The narrow QLED emission spectra (full width at half maximum < 30 nm) and well‐controlled peak wavelengths generate a color gamut covering >170% of the National Television System Committee (NTSC) 1987 color space and ~90% of the Rec. 2020 color space. This color gamut is larger than that of OLED televisions in mass production and is the largest of all QLEDs reported. Additionally, these devices are completely fabricated using solution‐processing techniques. The extremely desirable properties of high efficiency, color tunability/fidelity, long lifetime, and low cost processing from solutions make QLED technology disruptive and will lead to next generation displays.     

A novel spectrum‐sequential display design with a wide color gamut and reduced color breakup

Abstract— The advantage of RGB color‐sequential displays is that they have no color filters, but the disadvantage is that they need to run at high refresh rates (> >180 Hz) to prevent flicker and color breakup. An alternative color‐sequential display, which can operate at relatively low refresh rates (～ 100 Hz) without disturbing color breakup or flicker, has been developed. The display has two color filters per pixel (cyan and magenta) on the LCD panel and the backlight can generate two types of spectra (blue‐green and green‐red), which results in a wide gamut four‐primary display, effectively. One part of the paper describes the color reproduction, including color‐filter design, gamut mapping, and multi‐primary conversion. The other part deals with the reduced perception of color breakup on the novel spectrum‐sequential display compared to conventional color‐sequential displays.     

A phosphor sheet and a backlight system providing wider color gamut for LCDs

SrGa₂S₄:Eu and CaS:Eu phosphors are useful to provide a wider color gamut to LCDs since their emissions are narrower, but they easily react with moisture. The phosphor sheet containing them was developed. The moisture barrier layers on it can separate them from a humid atmosphere. The LCD with the phosphor sheet could realize the wider color gamut of 90% NTSC‐xy, while the color gamut of the original LCD with the white LEDs containing YAG:Ce phosphor was 71% NTSC‐xy. The improvement of the brightness of the LCD with the phosphor sheet was studied. Encapsulates with a greater curvature on blue LEDs used with the phosphor sheet can increase the brightness. The brightness of the LCD with the phosphor sheet and blue LEDs with the spherical encapsulates of which the curvature = about 0.7 was estimated to reach to 85% of that of the original LCD. The simpler phosphor sheet with the aluminum film edge seals was also developed. It was confirmed that it has sufficient reliability during storage and operation at high temperature and high humidity and there is no difference in its reliability between the edge area and the center area. The importance of the moisture barrier layers which protect the SrGa₂S₄:Eu and CaS:Eu phosphors was confirmed. The phosphor sheet with the moisture barrier layers had better reliability than that with the PET layers.     

A dual‐gap RGBW transflective TFT‐LCD with adjustable color gamut

Abstract— An adjustable‐color‐gamut dual‐gap RGBW transflective liquid‐crystal display that uses a four‐color manufacturing process and a color‐processing algorithm to achieve the appropriate color performance in both the transmissive and reflective modes is presented. Based on superior‐color‐transformation units, the total brightness and color gamut can be modified under different ambience. The highest NTSC color gamut in the reflective mode (reflectance, 4.4%) that has been fabricated successfully for a RGBW 1.5‐in. dual‐gap panel is 23% with a 7%, 17%, and 40% NTSC color gamut in the transmissive mode by using different algorithms. Compared to a typical RGB panel, it not only provides flexibility for any environment but also satisfies a variety of personal requirements. Based on personal preference, users have more choices to adjust the LCD settings such as color saturation, brightness, etc. The smart RGBW TRLCD will definitely become the developing trend towards sunlight‐readable LCDs in the near future.     

Wide gamut LCD using locally dimmable four‐primary‐color LED backlight

This paper proposes a wide gamut LCD using locally dimmable four‐primary‐color (4PC) LED backlight. Although the color gamut of LCDs has been improved in recent years, it is insufficient to reproduce all the colors in the real world. The objective of this paper is to propose a wide gamut LCD that reproduces all the colors in the real world while keeping the cost increases to a minimum. We evaluated the color gamut reproduced by LEDs of multiple primary colors and selected cyan as the optimal color to be added to the three primary colors to reproduce all the colors in the real world. Therefore, we designed an LED backlight consisting of an additional only‐cyan LED with three‐primary‐color LEDs and developed a prototype LCD with 4PC LED backlight. Furthermore, we developed a local dimming algorithm for the 4PC LED backlight. As a result, we confirmed that the prototype LCD with the 4PC LED backlight is able to cover almost all the colors in the real world and also able to display natural images with highly saturated colors by local dimming.     

Optimal and acceptable color ranges of display primaries for mobile applications

Abstract— For many new display types, especially for mobile applications, the chromaticity coordinates of the primaries differ from those recommended by the EBU (European Broadcast Union). In order to identify optimal and acceptable ranges in which these primary colors may vary two studies were conducted: one related to the hue of the primaries [also reported in an earlier paper (Ref. 4)] and one related to their saturation. In the first part of the present study, observers set the saturation of one single primary (red, green, or blue) separately or of all three primaries simultaneously, to an optimum, for seven different (natural) images. In the second part, the same observers decreased the saturation until they perceived the image as “just acceptable” (defined as “having natural colors, given its content”). Both parts were conducted on an LCD monitor and repeated later with a different group of subjects on a CRT monitor. In this paper, the results of the current study are reported and they are combined with the results of the previous one. The results of the experiments show that for optimal image quality the saturation of the red and green primaries of a display must be at least 90% with respect to the EBU standard. For the blue primary it can be somewhat lower (at least about 70%). In the acceptance task, observers were the least tolerant in accepting a saturation reduction of the red primary (70%) and the green primary (60%) and they were almost twice as tolerant for the blue primary (35%). Ellipses were fitted to the results of the hue and saturation studies in 1976 CIE (u'v')color space such that display manufacturers can easily test whether the color reproduction of their displays is optimal, acceptable, or unacceptable with respect to reproducing natural colors.     

Color‐tuning projection system for adaptive combination of high brightness and wide color gamut

Abstract— The demand for projectors with high brightness and wide color gamut has been increasing; however, UHP lamp projectors cannot deliver those two qualities efficiently and simultaneously because of its color‐separation system. The newly developed projection system — “Color‐Tuning Projection System” — realizes the adaptive combination of high brightness and wide color gamut with one projector. This projector features a fourth liquid‐crystal panel — “Color Tuner” — with a 3LCD optical engine, which controls yellow light separately from the RGB light of a UHP lamp. This color‐tuner‐based optical engine — “Color‐Tuning Optical Engine” — and a new color‐conversion signal‐processing algorithm — “Adaptive Color Conversion Algorithm” — controls the yellow‐light volume and corrects color‐shifted pixels according to the brightness and chromaticity analysis of the input image, key technologies of the Color‐Tuning Projection System. This additional panel system enables the projector to ach ieve up to 115% higher brightness and 120% wider color gamut according to the input image. This paper presents an innovative design concept, a novel technology regarding brightness and a color‐gamut conversion projection system, and the characteristics of the prototype.     

Luminance and luminance contrast requirements for legibility of self-luminous displays in aircraft cockpits

A series of studies was conducted to investigate the effects of display background luminance, display contrast ratio and adaptation luminance on the legibility of self-luminous displays in aircraft cockpits. The studies were designed to avoid the typical confounding of these three variables, and employed luminance levels that are representative of operational conditions. The data show that with typical display symbols and luminances under low and moderate ambient illumination, contrast ratio is the major determinant of legibility; that increasing contrast ratios beyond as little as 1·4:1 may provide no significant improvements in legibility; and that, beyond their contribution to contrast ratio, the absolute luminances of the symbol and the background have no significant effect on legibility. Given the high ambient illumination typical of a sunny day, however, the pilot is adapted to luminances of up to 32 264 cd/m² (10 000 fL). Under these conditions, increases in contrast ratio of up to 30:1 are shown to improve legibility. When the adaptation luminance is more than 100 times that of the display background luminance, symbols on the display cannot be immediately identified, and the absolute luminances of the adapting field and the display background contribute to recovery time apart from their ratio relationship. Hyperbolic functions are applied to describe the multiplicative effects of these variables on legibility.     

Micro‐cavity design of bottom‐emitting AMOLED with white OLED and RGBW color filters for 100% color gamut

Abstract— Two optical structures used for a bottom‐emitting white organic light‐emitting diode (OLED) is reported. An RGBW color system was employed because of its high efficiency. For red, green, and blue (RGB) subpixels, the cavity resonance was enhanced by the use of a dielectric mirror, and for the white (W) subpixel, the mirror was removed. The optical length of the cavities was controlled by two different ways: by the thickness of the dielectric filter on top of the mirror or by the angle of oblique emission. With both methods, active‐matrix OLEDs (AMOLEDs) that reproduced a color gamut exceeding 100% of the NTSC (National Television System Committee) standard were fabricated. More importantly, the transmission of a white OLED through R/G/B color filters was significantly higher (up to 50%) than that of a conventional structure not employing a mirror, while at the same time as the color gamut increased from ～75 to ～100% NTSC.     

Effects of display properties on perceived color‐gamut volume and preference

Abstract— The effect of varying the color gamut of an extended‐gamut LCD on color appearance and preference was measured psychometrically in two experiments at each of two separate laboratories over a representative set of 10 images each. The first experiment measured the effect of color gamut on appearance, and the effect on the appearance attribute colorfulness was shown to be relatively strong compared with other attributes as the volume of display color gamut is varied. Overall, colorfulness monotonically increased at constant sensitivity as the gamut area in xy chromaticities increased while tending to become less and less sensitive to increasing the gamut volumes in CIELAB and CIECAM02. In the second experiment, the overall preference indicated an optimal color gamut for the display gamut volume even though the results were shown to be highly scene dependent.     

Color‐gamut expansion in CRTs

Abstract— This paper describes the architecture for a color picture tube (CPT), which enables a cost‐effective expansion of the color gamut. Besides a gamut expansion based on application of more‐saturated phosphors in the present three‐primary system, four‐ and five‐primary systems are described. Gun‐pitch modulation allows the application of a conventional electron gun for both a four‐ and five‐primary CRT. In these systems, the mask and matrix transmissions need to be reduced to maintain color purity. From this point of view, a five‐primary CRT is unrealistic. Two four‐primary CRTs are evaluated in more detail. But, here, the total anode current to generate white has to be increased substantially because of the reduced mask and matrix transmissions. Nonetheless, in this paper it is argued that with one of the four‐primary CRTs more‐saturated yellow colors can be displayed at 85% of the display luminance of a conventional system without loss of perceived sharpness.     

Seventeen‐inch laser backlight in‐plane switching liquid crystal display with 8K, 120‐Hz driving,and BT.2020 color gamut

We have developed a 17‐inch laser backlight in‐plane switching liquid crystal display satisfying the main BT.2020 specifications, which are 8K, 120‐Hz driving, and a BT.2020 wide color gamut. The color gamut of the developed in‐plane switching liquid crystal display covers 98% of the BT.2020 wide color gamut, thanks to a laser backlight and appropriate color filters. The liquid crystal response time of 5 ms, which is sufficient for 120‐Hz driving, is achieved by adapting a faster in‐plane switching liquid crystal display, namely, the short‐range lurch control in‐plane switching liquid crystal display.