Most of the displays we
review at TFTCentral are desktop monitors and although sizes have been
increasing over the years, the majority of these displays are still around 27"
in size. Some ultrawide format models are larger at around 34 - 38"
diagonally, but
still very usable for desktop and PC usage. They might be a lot wider, but they
are similarly sized vertically. We have with us now something a
little different, the Philips 436M6VBPAB from their new 'Momentum' line-up. This
display is 42.51" in size (43" class) and is designed as an alternative display
option to a TV, being aimed primarily at console gaming. It's a very large format and
has quite a few features you would typically find on a TV. We can't really call
it a TV as it lacks an in built-tuner but it's certainly in that kind of size
range and ultimately aimed at a similar market.
The 436M6 (as we will
shorten the name to throughout the review) has a good range of modern features
and specs to make it a very interesting choice for console gaming. The key
features of the screen are:
Ultra HD 3840 x 2160 for
high resolution and compatibility with the latest generation of consoles
Ultra HD Premium and VESA DisplayHDR
1000 certifications to support high end HDR capabilities
Quantum Dot film coating to offer a
wide DCI-P3 colour space coverage along with 10-bit colour depth support for HDR
HDMI 2.0 connection to support HDR
from games consoles
60Hz refresh rate with Adaptive Sync
support for the latest compatible consoles like the X Box One
Low input lag mode to offer superior
gaming experience compared to many TV's
Philips have also included some key things
you would expect to see from their popular TV range like integrated DTS sound
speakers and an 'Ambiglow' lighting system, Then for PC usage they've included
things like a USB 3.0 hub, USB type-C and DisplayPort connections, a factory
calibration and a wide range of monitor-type settings and options. It's really a
hybrid of a desktop monitor and a console gaming TV and so an interesting
display to review.
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Specifications and
Features
The following table gives detailed
information about the specs of the screen as advertised:
Monitor
Specifications
Size
42.51" (108cm)
Panel Coating
Glossy with 2% haze
Aspect
Ratio
16:9 format, flat
Interfaces
1x
DisplayPort 1.4
1x Mini DisplayPort 1.4
1x HDMI 2.0
1x USB type-C
Resolution
3840 x 2160
Pixel Pitch
0.245mm (103.64 PPI)
Design
colour
Glossy black bezel and dark
grey aluminium stand
Response Time
4ms G2G
Ergonomics
Tilt only
Static Contrast Ratio
4000:1 SDR
Dynamic Contrast Ratio
50 million:1
VESA Compatible
Yes 200mm
Brightness
720 cd/m2 (typical)
1000 cd/m2 (peak HDR)
Accessories
DisplayPort, HDMI, USB
type-C and USB normal cables. Power cable and brick
Viewing Angles
178 / 178
Panel Technology
TP Vision VA-type
Weight
with stand: 14.71 Kg
Backlight Technology
B-LED with Quantum Dot
Enhancement Film (QDEF)
32-zone edge lit local dimming
Physical Dimensions
(WxHxD) with stand
976 x 661 x 264 mm
Colour Depth
1.07b (8-bit+FRC)
Refresh Rate
60Hz
48 - 60Hz Adaptive Sync range
Special
Features
2x USB 3.0 ports with fast
charging, Adaptive Sync/FreeSync support, Remote control, audio input,
headphone output, 2x 7W DTS speakers, Ambiglow lighting, PiP and PbP modes,
VESA DisplayHDR 1000 support with 32-zone local dimming backlight
Colour
Gamut
Extended gamut 97.6% DCI-P3
145% sRGB, 119% NTSC
The 436M6 offers a good range of connectivity
options including DisplayPort 1.4, Mini DisplayPort 1.4, HDMI 2.0 and USB
type-C. The DisplayPort and HDMI ports can support Adaptive Sync and run the
screen at its native 3840 x 2160 resolution @ 60Hz refresh rate. Cables are
provided in the box for all the video connections except Mini DisplayPort.
There is an additional 2 port USB 3.0 hub, with the ports located
on the back of the screen. Both have fast charging support. There is also an
audio input and a headphone jack too, with the screen also having 2x 7W
integrated DTS sound speakers. The screen has an external power supply and comes
packaged with the power cable and brick you need. The fact that this display
doesn't include a TV tuner was no major deal, as a lot of people would use
external set-top boxes, cable, satellite etc anyway nowadays. Although only
having a single HDMI connection does then present an issue and you might need a
separate HDMI switcher to connect multiple external devices over HDMI.
Below is a summary of the features and
connections of the screen:
Feature
Yes / No
Feature
Yes / No
Tilt adjust
DVI
Height adjust
HDMI
Swivel adjust
D-sub
Rotate adjust
DisplayPort
VESA compliant
Component
USB 2.0 Ports
Audio connection
USB 3.0 Ports
HDCP Support
Card Reader
MHL Support
Ambient Light Sensor
Integrated Speakers
Human Motion Sensor
PiP / PbP
Touch Screen
Blur Reduction Mode
Factory calibration
G-Sync
Hardware calibration
Adaptive Sync/FreeSync
Uniformity correction
Wireless charging
Design and
Ergonomics
Above: front views of the screen. Click for larger versions
The 436M6 has a glossy black bezel around all
4 sides. This measures ~18mm along the top edge, ~16mm along both sides and
~23.5mm along the bottom edge. The glossy appearance means that it can pick up
finger prints quite easily, but it fits in with many modern TV sets in terms of
appearance as well as the glossy screen coating. There is a small, subtle grey "436M6" label in the bottom left hand
corner, a larger Philips logo in the middle of the bottom bezel and then a
fairly larger rectangular power LED strip in the bottom right hand corner. This
glows white during operation and blinks white on/off when the screen is in
standby.
The stand is already attached to the screen
when you unbox it and is made of a dark silver aluminium. It provides a wide and
sturdy base for the screen and is thankfully not too deep so it doesn't require
a very deep desk to accommodate the large screen if you want to use it as a
desktop monitor.
Above: rear side views of the screen. Click for larger versions
The back of the screen is encased in a matte
black plastic. There is a single OSD control joystick on the left hand
side (when viewed from behind) which controls the menu and all the screen
settings. A remote control is also provided in the box to control the OSD and
settings more easily, and from a distance.
The stand provides only a simple tilt
adjustment given the very large screen size, although this is more than a lot of
TV sets will offer to be fair. If you need more flexibility and movement then
you can also remove the stand and VESA mount the screen using the 200 x 200mm
mounting holes you can see on the back of the screen in the image above.
Above: side view of the screen. Click for larger version
The side view of the screen is pretty thin as
you can see above thanks to the modern backlight. As we said earlier, there is
only a basic tile function available from the stand given the screen size. It
doesn't offer a massive adjustment range but we found it sufficient for normal
uses as a desktop monitor and certainly as a more distance TV/console gaming
screen. It was smooth and fairly easy to reposition the screen using the tilt.
Height adjustment wasn't really necessary on a screen this large, and so wasn't
missed. A side to side swivel might have been useful for when using the screen
for longer range, console gaming, movies etc. The screen remained sturdy and
stable when moved, and there was no wobble from the stand.
A summary of the ergonomic adjustments are
shown below:
Function
Range
Smoothness
Ease of
Use
Tilt
Yes
Smooth
Fairly easy
Height
n/a
-
-
Swivel
n/a
-
-
Rotate
n/a
-
-
Overall
Only tilt offered so
ergonomics are limited. There are VESA 200mm mounting options if really
needed.
The OSD control joystick allows quick and
easy access to the OSD menu although it was tucked quite a long way round the
back on the right hand side (when viewed from the front) so wasn't the easiest
to find and use sometimes.
Above:
included remote control
More useful is the included remote control
which allows quicker and easier navigation of the menu. This is particularly
useful for when using the screen from a distance for console gaming, movies, TV
etc of course but if using the screen from close up and PC use might find the
control joystick on the back a bit quicker and more natural. There was a really wide range of
options and settings available in the menu giving a lot of flexibility.
The back of the screen features the
connections. There is HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.4, Mini DisplayPort 1.4, USB
type-C, 2x USB 3.0 downstream, an audio input and headphone jack. It was good
to see a wide range of connections offered here for PC use as well as for
consoles. Perhaps an additional HDMI port would have been useful in case you
wanted to connect a satellite/cable box, or a Blu-Ray player to the screen.
The screen also includes Philips 'Ambiglow'
lighting system which projects a range of lighting options from the bottom
edge of the screen which we felt worked nicely and added to the feeling of
immersion well. This only projects from the bottom edge and not the sides
of the screen like some Philips TV's offer. The Philips website gives a bit
more information about this feature: "Ambiglow adds a new dimension to your viewing experience. The innovative
Ambiglow technology enlarges the screen by creating an immersive halo of
light. Its fast processor analyses the incoming image content and continuously
adapts the colour and brightness of the emitted light to match the image.
User-friendly options allow you to adjust the ambiance to your liking.
Especially suited for watching movies, sports or playing games, Philips
Ambiglow offers you a unique and immersive viewing experience."
Power Consumption
In terms of power consumption the
manufacturer lists a typical usage of a rather specific 62.69W, and 0.5W in
standby.
We carried out our normal tests to establish its power consumption ourselves in
a few states.
State and Brightness Setting
Manufacturer Spec (W)
Measured Power Usage (W)
Default (60%)
62.69
116.4
Calibrated (3%)
-
55.4
Maximum Brightness
(100%)
-
159.6
Minimum Brightness
(0%)
-
51.2
Standby
0.5
0.6
Out of the box the screen used 116.4W at the
default 60% brightness setting. Once calibrated the screen reached
55.4W
consumption, and in standby it used only 0.6W. We have plotted these results
below compared with other screens we have tested. The consumption (comparing the
calibrated states) is higher than the other screens included in the comparison,
mainly because of the larger screen and backlight size on this 43" display.
Panel and Backlighting
Panel Manufacturer
TP Vision
Colour Palette
1.07 billion
Panel Technology
VA-type
Colour Depth
8-bit + FRC
Panel Module
TPT430U3-QVN03.U
Colour space
Extended gamut
Backlighting Type
B-LED with Quantum
Dot coating. 32-zone edge lit local dimming
Colour space coverage (%)
97.6% DCI-P3 quoted
119% NTSC
145% sRGB
Panel Part and Colour Depth
The Philips 436M6VBPAB features a
TP Vision TPT430U3-QVN03.U VA-type technology panel which is capable of producing
1.07 billion colours. This is achieved through a 8-bit+FRC colour depth as
detailed in the manufacturers specification. Some people may complain that the
panel is not a native full 10-bit panel, but in reality you are going to be very
hard pressed to see any real difference in practice between a good 8-bit+FRC
panel and a true 10-bit panel. Even more so when you consider whether you're
going to actually be able to use the 10-bit colour depth in real use.
This screen is aimed at console gaming
primarily and so if you have a modern console that can output 10-bit content
then you can make use of this capability and the 1.07b colour depth of the
display.
Both NVIDIA and AMD users should be able to
play 10-bit capable PC games from their graphics cards as well, although
consumer grade gaming cards cannot be used for 10-bit content in professional
applications. If you have a professional grade graphics card the screen will
support 10-bit colour depth for professional applications like Adobe Premiere
Pro or Photoshop, as long as you have the necessary end to end 10-bit workflow.
This display isn't really aimed at professional users, so we don't need to
really worry about that here. Key thing is that it will support 10-bit colour
depth for consoles and PC gaming where needed.
The panel part is confirmed when dismantling
the screen as shown below:
Screen Coating
The
screen coating is a glossy finish with a light 2% haze applied. This glossy
coating creates a clean and crisp image which can help make colours and blacks
"pop" and is similar to what you'd see on most TV screens. The slight haze helps
cut back on reflections quite nicely compared to an untreated surface. We didn't
experience any issues really with reflections in practice.
Backlight Type and Colour Gamut
The screen uses a B-LED backlight
unit with an added Quantum Dot Enhancement Film (QDEF)
coating to extended the colour space and gamut. This allows for a high coverage
of the DCI-P3 colour space which is the reference used for HDR content and
displays and something you will see more commonly talked about with TV's and
monitors in the future. This screen offers 97.6% of the DCI-P3
colour space according to the specs, something that we will verify and test in a
moment. This also allows for 119% coverage of the NTSC colour space, and
corresponds to around 145% of the commonly used sRGB reference.
Basically the screen is capable of producing
a wide range of colours than most monitors, which are normally based around
providing coverage of the common sRGB colour space. With the Quantum Dot coating
film, the 436M6 can cover beyond that, producing more bright and
vivid colours to enhance gaming, multimedia and HDR content. High coverage of
the DCI-P3 colour space is a requirement if a display is to conform to common
HDR standard such as the Ultra HD Premium certification (used in the TV market
predominantly) and the new VESA DisplayHDR certifications.
If you want to read more about colour spaces and gamut then please have
a read of our
detailed article.
Backlight
Dimming and Flicker
We tested the screen to establish the methods
used to control backlight dimming. Our in depth article talks in more details
about a previously very common method used for this which is called
Pulse Width Modulation (PWM). This in itself gives cause for concern to some
users who have experienced eye strain, headaches and other symptoms as a result
of the flickering backlight caused by this technology. We use a photosensor +
oscilloscope system to measure backlight dimming control with a high level of
accuracy and ease. These tests allow us to establish
1) Whether PWM is being used to control the
backlight
2) The frequency and other characteristics at which this operates, if it is used
3) Whether a flicker may be introduced or potentially noticeable at certain
settings
If PWM is used for backlight dimming, the
higher the frequency, the less likely you are to see artefacts and flicker. The
duty cycle (the time for which the backlight is on) is also important and the
shorter the duty cycle, the more potential there is that you may see flicker.
The other factor which can influence flicker is the amplitude of the PWM,
measuring the difference in brightness output between the 'on' and 'off' states.
Please remember that not every user would notice a flicker from a backlight
using PWM, but it is something to be wary of. It is also a hard thing to
quantify as it is very subjective when talking about whether a user may or may
not experience the side effects.
100%
70%
50%
20%
0%
Above scale
= 1 horizontal grid = 5ms
Zoomed
scale vertically to show oscillation
Horizontal scale
= 1 horizontal grid = 5ms
At 100% brightness the screen shows a flat
graph and indicates a constant voltage applied to the backlight. As you dim
the brightness control a low amplitude, high frequency oscillation is
introduced. It is not a full on/off switching of the backlight like you would
see from PWM and shows only a small difference between the luminance levels.
This oscillation operates at a high 1,333Hz frequency at all brightness
settings below 100%. The amplitude (fluctuation between the luminance levels) increases slightly as you lower the
brightness control. The screen is still PWM-free and this oscillation
shouldn't present any real problems in practice.
Pulse
Width Modulation Used
No, but low
amplitude/high frequency oscillation
Cycling
Frequency
1,333Hz oscillation
Possible Flicker at
100% Brightness
No
50% Brightness
Unlikely
0% Brightness
Unlikely
Brightness
and Contrast
We wanted to measure the luminance range
available from the backlight as well as see how much variance there
was in the screens contrast as we adjusted the monitor setting for brightness.
In theory, brightness and contrast are two independent parameters, and good
contrast is a requirement regardless of the brightness adjustment.
Unfortunately, such is not always the case in practice. We recorded the
screens luminance and black depth at various OSD brightness settings, and
calculated the contrast ratio from there. Graphics card settings were left at
default with no ICC profile or calibration active. Tests were made using an
X-rite i1 Display Pro colorimeter. It should be noted that we used the
BasICColor calibration software here to record these, and so luminance at
default settings may vary a little from the LaCie Blue Eye Pro report.
OSD
Brightness
Luminance
(cd/m2)
Black Point (cd/m2)
Contrast Ratio
( x:1)
100
667.69
0.16
4173
90
613.95
0.15
4093
80
555.04
0.14
3965
70
501.11
0.12
4176
60
442.73
0.11
4025
50
384.17
0.09
4269
40
324.93
0.08
4062
30
263.25
0.06
4388
20
209.11
0.05
4182
10
148.04
0.04
3980
0
90.56
0.02
4528
Total Luminance Adjustment Range
(cd/m2)
577.13
Brightness OSD setting
controls backlight?
Total Black Point Adjustment Range (cd/m2)
0.14
Average Static Contrast Ratio
4167:1
PWM Free?
Recommended OSD setting for 120 cd/m2
5
At the top end the maximum luminance reached
a very high 668
cd/m2
which was extremely bright, although a little less than the specified maximum
brightness of 720 cd/m2
from the manufacturer for SDR content. There was a wide 577 cd/m2 adjustment range in
total, so at the minimum setting you could reach down to a fairly low luminance
of 91 cd/m2. This should be more low enough for most people although
if you're using the screen up close for PC work in a darkened room it might not
be quite dark enough for some. Remember that this is a console gaming screen and
you're likely to want a brighter display to view from several metres away.
A setting of 5 in the OSD
menu should return you a luminance of around 120 cd/m2 at default
settings. It should be noted
that the brightness regulation is controlled without the need for
Pulse Width Modulation for all brightness settings so the screen is flicker
free. There is a low amplitude/high frequency oscillation present however as
covered in the section above.
We have plotted the
luminance trend on the graph above. The screen behaves as it should in this
regard, with a reduction in the luminance output of the screen controlled by the
reduction in the OSD brightness setting. This is a linear relationship
as you can see.
The average contrast ratio of the screen
was measured at 4167:1 which was excellent thanks to the VA panel, and a little
above the specified 4000:1 figure even. This remains pretty stable across the
brightness adjustment range with rounding errors with the black point
measurements likely accounting for any fluctuations seen in the graph.
SDR content contrast ratio with HDR modes active
The figures above are for the
static contrast ratio without the HDR settings turned on in the OSD,
where the 32-zone edge lit local dimming backlight is activated. That local
dimming backlight operate in both SDR and HDR content and can
significantly increase the active perceived contrast ratio of the screen. Dark
areas are dimmed, and brighter areas are turned up at the same time. We measured the contrast
ratio in each of the three HDR modes at a range of target luminance levels for
normal SDR content. HDR contrast will be
looked at later on in the review.
We choose to measure an "up to" perceived contrast ratio here to demonstrate
what the maximum potential contrast ratio would be on the screen when viewing an
image with a bright white area, and a black dark area at the same time. We take
the minimum black measurement on the screen by testing various places but
generally this is at a point furthest away from the white measurement area in
the centre. The actual perceived contrast ratio in real use could of course vary
depending on the content you are viewing, and areas closer to the white area may
not be as dark because of the way the local dimming operates. This doesn't
change the fact though that the overall contrast ratio experienced on the
screen is dictated by the difference between the brightest area, and the darkest
area. This measurement gives you an idea of how high the contrast ratio can
reach as a maximum in the tests.
OSD
brightness
Target
luminance
HDR mode
Normal
VESA
HDR 1000
UHDA
White
Black
CR
White
Black
CR
White
Black
CR
3
120
121
<0.02
>6000:1
121
<0.02
>6000:1
121
<0.02
>6000:1
16
200
203
0.02
10,150:1
203
0.03
6767:1
203
0.03
6767:1
32
300
298
0.04
7450:1
300
0.04
7500:1
297
0.04
7425:1
48
400
401
0.05
8020:1
402
0.05
8040:1
402
0.05
8040:1
100
Max
722
0.08
9025:1
718
0.09
7978:1
711
0.09
7900:1
With a screen calibrated to around 120
cd/m2
and HDR mode activated in the OSD we measured a black depth of <0.02 cd/m2
(the limit for the i1 Display Pro device) and therefore an active contrast ratio
of over 6000:1. Looking at the other measurements we estimate that it can
reach up to probably 10,000:1 or more. This was for where a small white sample on the screen was
compared with a measurement of a black part of the screen furthest away and so
should be considered the maximum perceived contrast ratio you might reach.
Compared with when
the local dimming backlight is turned off, you can
see the higher contrast ratios achieved at different luminance levels above when
it is turned on,
peaking at around 10,150:1. The ability to use the local dimming backlight even
for non HDR content was very useful and could certainly help boost the contrast
ratio even more than the excellent panel contrast ratio.
Testing
Methodology
An important thing to consider for most users
is how a screen will perform out of the box and with some basic manual
adjustments. Since most users won't have access to hardware colorimeter tools,
it is important to understand how the screen is going to perform in terms of
colour accuracy for the average user.
We restored our graphics card to default
settings and disabled any previously active ICC profiles and gamma corrections.
The screen was tested at default factory settings using our new
X-rite i1 Pro 2
Spectrophotometer combined with
LaCie's Blue Eye Pro software suite. An X-rite i1 Display Pro colorimeter
was also used to verify the black point and contrast ratio since the i1 Pro 2
spectrophotometer is less reliable at the darker end.
Targets for these tests are as follows:
CIE Diagram - validates the colour
space covered by the monitors backlighting in a 2D view, with the black triangle
representing the displays gamut, and other reference colour spaces shown for
comparison
Gamma - we aim for 2.2 which is the
default for computer monitors
Colour temperature / white point - we
aim for 6500k which is the temperature of daylight
Luminance - we aim for 120
cd/m2,
which is the recommended luminance for LCD monitors in normal lighting
conditions
Black depth - we
aim for as low as possible to maximise shadow detail and to offer us the best
contrast ratio
Contrast ratio -
we aim for as high as possible. Any dynamic contrast ratio controls are turned
off here if present
dE average / maximum
- as low as possible.
If DeltaE >3, the color displayed is significantly different from the
theoretical one, meaning that the difference will be perceptible to the viewer.
If DeltaE <2, LaCie considers the calibration a success; there remains a slight
difference, but it is barely undetectable. If DeltaE < 1, the color fidelity is
excellent.
Default Setup
The screen does have a factory calibration but that is relevant only if you
switch to the sRGB preset mode. We will
test that in a moment, but for now we
wanted to test the default out of the box setup.
Default settings of the screen were as follows:
Philips
436M6VBPAB
Default Settings
Monitor
OSD Default Settings
Smart Image preset
Off
HDR mode
Off
Brightness
60
Contrast
50
Color Temp
6500k
Gamma
2.2
RGB
n/a
Luminance
Measurements
luminance (cd/m2)
455
Black Point (cd/m2)
0.11
Contrast Ratio
4025:1
Colour
Space Measurements
sRGB coverage
146.1%
DCI-P3 coverage
107.7%
Rec.2020 coverage
77.3%
Initially out of the box the screen was set
with the 'Smart Image' preset mode set to 'Off' and the other default
settings shown above. The screen felt very bright to the naked eye, even though
the brightness control was set at a fairly modest 60% - a lot of screens come
set at 100%. You could tell that the screen had a wide gamut backlight as
colours felt vivid and bright, if somewhat oversaturated. That's fairly typical
for a wide gamut screen. The image looked clean and clear thanks to the glossy
screen coating, and it helped the colours and blacks 'pop' compared with a
normal AG coating.
We went ahead and measured the default state
with the i1 Pro 2. The
CIE diagram
on the left of the image confirms that the monitors colour gamut (black
triangle) extends a long way beyond the sRGB colour space reference
(orange triangle). We measured using ChromaPure software a 146.1% sRGB gamut
coverage which corresponds to 107.7% of the DCI-P3 reference and 77.3% of the
Rec.2020 reference. This corresponded closely to the manufacturer specification
of 145% sRGB coverage, although the DCI-P3 coverage exceeded the 97.6% quoted by
a little way.
For comparison we have provided the CIE
diagram of the screen's colour space compared with the Adobe RGB reference
above. You can see that the backlight gamut closely matches the
Adobe RGB colour space with a little over-coverage in reds and greens.
Default gamma of the screen was recorded at 2.2
average, with a very small 1% deviance from the target which was great news. The
gamma looked to be a little further off in the darker grey shades but not by
much. White point was measured
at a slightly too warm 5975k being a moderate 8% out from our 6500k target.
Luminance was recorded at a very bright 455
cd/m2
which is far too high for prolonged general use up close, you will need to turn that
down for close up PC viewing. It may be more suitable though for longer distance
console game viewing, which is the screen's intended primary use. The screen
was set at a default 60% brightness in the OSD menu but you can change that to reach a more comfortable setting
for your uses and ambient light conditions without impacting any other aspect of
the setup. The black depth was 0.11 cd/m2
at this default brightness setting, giving us an excellent static contrast ratio
thanks to the VA-type panel of 4025:1.
Remember that the active contrast ratio will be
significantly enhanced if you
operate the local dimming backlight via the OSD HDR settings for both normal SDR
content and when using HDR
content.
Colour accuracy was hard to measure in this
mode since the screen is operating with a wide gamut output, and the colours are
then compared to an sRGB reference. Testing the screen with colour gradients
showed mostly smooth transitions, with some gradation in the darkest tones
evident. There was no banding thankfully.
Color Temp Setting Measurements
Colour
Temp OSD setting
White
point measurement
Native
6245k
5000k
4661k
6500k
5975k
7500k
6429k
8200k
6922k
9300k
7690k
11,500k
8899k
sRGB
5848k
User Define (Default)
6256k
Given the default 6500k colour temperature
mode was a little off the target (8% deviance at 5975k) we also measured the
range of colour temp modes available in the OSD menu as shown above. The 7500k
mode was actually closest to our 6500k target and might be best to switch to if
you want to reach that typical white point. Out of the box the 6500k is a little
warmer than intended. The 'User Define' mode gives you
direct control over the RGB channels which will be useful for
calibration in a
moment. You may also want to try our recommended OSD settings from the
calibration section perhaps to see how those look.
Factory
Calibration
The screen carries a factory calibration which is applicable in the sRGB mode of the monitor.
You need to switch to this mode in the 'color' section of the OSD. The provided
calibration report confirms that it has been factory calibrated to a 2.2 gamma
and a low dE. In our example it reports the average dE as 1.66. The report also
states that the uniformity is between 95% and 103% when the SmartUniformity mode
is activated. We will test that
later on in the review as well.
Above: factory calibration report. Click for larger version
The screen comes with a specific factory
calibration report for the unit as shown by the example which came with ours
above.
We carried out the same test in the sRGB
factory calibration mode. When you switch to this mode you can see a change in
the colours of the screen, as it offers an sRGB colour space emulation. Colours
are restricted to more closely match the sRGB reference. We measured a 92% sRGB
coverage which is a little low, but at least quite close to the sRGB colour
space. This would have been useful to those who want to work with sRGB content
potentially for colour critical work, and avoid the vivid and oversaturated
colours, and complications with colour management that the native wide gamut
output creates. However, the annoying thing about this mode is that it locks you
to a very specific brightness level of 60. If you try to change from this level, or
change some of the other OSD controls like contrast or gamma, it reverts you
back to the normal colour temp mode, and therefore back to the full native wide
gamut of the screen. With the luminance measured at a very bright 460
cd/m2 in
this sRGB mode, it makes it pretty much unusable for any real use. We really dislike
these sRGB factory calibration modes provided on screens where you can't at
least adjust the brightness level. It feels like it's there for the sake of a
spec, when actually it's pretty useless in practice. It's a shame as the gamma,
white point and dE were all good in this mode and represented a decent factory
calibration.
Update 5/8/20 - an owner of this screen has been in touch to let us know
that it seems to be possible to override the locked brightness/contrast settings
when using the sRGB mode if you install the 'SmartControl' utility. That would
allow use of the sRGB emulation but at more comfortable brightness levels. We no
longer have access to the screen to verify or test this, but include it in case
it's useful for anyone else to experiment with.
Calibration
We used the
X-rite i1 Pro 2
Spectrophotometer combined with the LaCie Blue Eye Pro software package to
achieve these results and reports. An X-rite i1 Display Pro colorimeter was used
to validate the black depth and contrast ratios due to lower end limitations of
the i1 Pro device.
Philips
436M6VBPAB
Calibrated
Settings
Monitor
OSD Default Settings
Smart Image preset
Off
HDR mode
Off
Brightness
3
Contrast
50
Color Temp
User Define
Gamma
2.2
RGB
99, 96, 98
Luminance
Measurements
luminance (cd/m2)
120
Black Point (cd/m2)
0.03
Contrast Ratio
3982:1
Colour
Space Measurements
sRGB coverage
146.1%
DCI-P3 coverage
107.7%
Rec.2020 coverage
77.3%
We are calibrating the screen here for
general close-up desktop use, as we do for our normal monitor reviews. You can
alter the brightness to whatever you like if you are using the screen from
further away for console gaming etc. In fact, the 'accuracy' may be less
important for console gaming than achieving a bright, vivid and colourful image
so you may wish to do some by-eye calibration instead to get it looking how you
like.
We changed here to the user define mode in the
colour temp menu
which gives you access to the RGB channel adjustments. We stuck with the default
2.2 gamma mode which we knew to be very close to the target out of the box. Settings were
adjusted as shown in the table above, as guided during the calibration process
and measurements.
These OSD changes allowed us to obtain an optimal hardware starting point and
setup before software level changes would be made at the graphics card level. We
left the LaCie software to calibrate to "max" brightness which would just
retain the luminance of whatever brightness we'd set the screen to, and would
not in any way try and alter the luminance at the graphics card level, which can
reduce contrast ratio. These adjustments before profiling the screen would help
preserve tonal values and limit banding issues. After this we let the software
carry out the LUT adjustments and create an
ICC profile.
Average gamma was measured at 2.2 average (0%
deviance now) which fixed the very small 1% deviance we'd seen out of the box at default
settings. The white point was now corrected to 6509k, sorting out the 8%
deviance we'd seen out of the box. Luminance had been improved thanks to the
adjustment to the brightness control and was now being measured at a far more
comfortable 120
cd/m2.
This left us a black depth of 0.03 cd/m2 and a static contrast ratio
of 3982:1 which was excellent thanks to the VA panel technology. Colour accuracy of the resulting profile was excellent too, with dE
average of 0.4 and maximum of 0.9. LaCie would consider colour fidelity to be
excellent.
Testing the screen with various colour
gradients showed very smooth transitions with only some very minor gradation in darker
tones.
You can use our settings
and try our calibrated ICC profile if you wish, which are available in
our ICC profile database. Keep in mind that results will vary from one
screen to another and from one computer / graphics card to another.
Calibration
Performance Comparisons
The comparisons made in this section try to
give you a better view of how each screen performs, particularly out of the box
which is what is going to matter to most consumers. We have divided the table up
by panel technology as well to make it easier to compare similar models. When
comparing the default factory settings for each monitor it is important to take
into account several measurement areas - gamma, white point and colour accuracy.
There's no point having a low dE colour accuracy figure if the gamma curve is
way off for instance. A good factory calibration requires all 3 to be well set
up. We have deliberately not included luminance in this comparison since this is
normally far too high by default on every screen. However, that is very easily
controlled through the brightness setting (on most screens) and should not
impact the other areas being measured anyway. It is easy enough to obtain a
suitable luminance for your working conditions and individual preferences, but a
reliable factory setup in gamma, white point and colour accuracy is important
and some (gamma especially) are not as easy to change accurately without a
calibration tool.
From these comparisons we can also compare
the calibrated colour accuracy, black depth and contrast ratio. After a
calibration the gamma, white point and luminance should all be at their desired
targets.
Default setup of the screen was reasonable
with an accurate gamma and strong contrast ratio provided. The white point was a
little too warm (8% deviance) but actually quite easy to correct by either switching
to the 7500k mode (taking you closer to the 6500k target) or making changes to
the RGB channels in the 'user define' mode. We were disappointed with the sRGB
emulation mode which although it carried a decent factory calibration and setup,
was pretty much useless as you couldn't change the default 60% brightness
setting - which was far too bright.
When it comes to black depth and contrast
ratio the screen performed very well thanks to the VA panel. It outperformed
many recent VA panels we've tested and it was way beyond anything possible from
IPS or TN Film panels.
Note that this is the static contrast ratio
without the local dimming activated through the HDR modes. That can
operate in both SDR and HDR content and can significantly increase the active
contrast ratio of the screen. Dark areas are dimmed, and brighter areas are
turned up. This is thanks to the local dimming backlight which
can help increase the screens active contrast ratio beyond the native 3982:1
(calibrated state) and
up to around 10,000:1.
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Viewing Angles
Above: Viewing angles shown from front and side, and from above and below.
Click for larger image
Viewing angles of the screen were quite
comparable to other VA panels we've seen in the past although perhaps a little
better than some. Horizontally as you moved you line of sight past about 45�
contrast shifted and a yellow tint appeared on the image. The image got
progressively more washed out as you moved further away from a central point of
view. Vertically the contrast shift was more pronounced and the image became
more washed out from a shorter angle. This was actually apparent a little when
using the screen from a couple of feet away on a normal desktop position due to
the sheer size of the panel when viewed up close. You will see some contrast and
colour tone shift as you look towards the edges of the screen as a result. They
image didn't appear as washed out as some VA screens we have tested though which
was pleasing. You will note that the side edges of the screen also appeared to
be a little darker where the panel meets the bezel which is related to the
backlight uniformity and screen construction rather than the viewing angles.
Viewing angles were not as wide as IPS-type
panels as you might expect given this is a VA matrix. Being VA based the panel
did suffer from the off-centre contrast shift you will see from these technology
panels. If you view a very dark grey image with a black background head on, the
grey content is somewhat lost in the image and appears darker than intended.
Only as you move your line of sight slightly away from a head on central field
of view does the grey content appear again. This is common of all VA matrices,
and is one of the reasons why IPS is so popular for colour critical work. It
should be noted that not everyone would even see this issue or be bothered by
it. The viewing angles are certainly much better than TN Film panels of course.
Above: View
of an all black screen in a dark room from the side. Click for larger version
On a black image there was a slight pale glow
from an angle but it was nothing really bad at all. Certainly you don't get the
obvious white glow you see on a lot of IPS-type panels when viewing dark content
from an angle. From that point of view this is one area where VA panel viewing
angles are preferred. The blacks are also very deep thanks to the high contrast
ratio of the panel, even more so if you enable the local dimming backlight
settings.
Panel Uniformity
We wanted to
test here how uniform the brightness was across the screen, as well as identify
any leakage from the backlight in dark lighting conditions. Measurements of the
luminance were taken at 35 points across the panel on a pure white background.
The measurements for luminance were taken using BasICColor's calibration
software package, combined with an X-rite i1 Display Pro colorimeter with a
central point on the screen calibrated to 120 cd/m2. The below
uniformity diagram shows the difference, as a percentage, between the
measurement recorded at each point on the screen, as compared with the central
reference point.
It is worth
noting that panel uniformity can vary from one screen to another, and can depend
on manufacturing lines, screen transport and other local factors. This is only a
guide of the uniformity of the sample screen we have for review.
Uniformity of Luminance
Normal Default Mode
The
uniformity of our sample was not very good with only 54% of the
screen within a 10% deviance of the centrally calibrated point. The upper
area dropped down in luminance to around 97 cd/m2 in the most
extreme examples (-24% deviance). The lower area of the screen was a little
brighter than the centrally calibrated point, reaching up to 139 cd/m2
at +14% deviance. You couldn't really spot these variations in practice, and
certainly not in gaming, but it could present a problem if you're doing any
colour critical work or need an ultra-uniform panel for any particular
reason. This might of course vary from sample to sample, but we suspect this
is one of the challenges with such a large screen and backlight.
We also
measured the screen's uniformity when the 'SmartUniformity' mode was
activated. This is supposed to be a correction mode to improve the screens
luminance uniformity, but actually we experienced the exact opposite! In
this mode you can still change the brightness control which is good, as the
screen is quite a bit darker overall when you turn it on. You'd need to turn
the brightness control up to around 20% to get a luminance of about 120 cd/m2
in the centrally calibrated area. However, the problem with this mode is
that it makes the top portion of the screen much, much darker than the
bottom portion, creating a huge difference in luminance from the top to
bottom. For instance a measurement along the top area reached down to around
79 cd/m2, then it was 120 cd/m2 in the middle area,
but up to around 190 cd/m2 along the bottom area. There was a
maximum difference between any two measurements of a whopping 95%! This
so-called uniformity correction mode obviously didn't work properly. Perhaps
it was faulty on our unit but we certainly preferred the screen with it
turned off.
Backlight Leakage
The
below photo is NOT representative of what you
see in real-life, it has been digitally altered to highlight the backlight
uniformity variations
Above: All
black screen in a darkened room. Click for larger version
It was tricky to take a good photo showing
the screen in a dark room, with a black screen as the very high contrast ratio
of the panel produced deep blacks especially at our calibrated brightness level.
There were some small variations visible with the naked eye in the four corners
in real life, but they were very slight. When viewing the captured photo on a
different display with a lower contrast ratio you couldn't really see this at
all and it just looked like a black image, so we have instead digitally altered
the brightness on the above photo to accentuate the variation. This is NOT
really meant as a true reflection of what you see in real life. You will spot
some slight clouding in the four corners, in the areas accentuated above,
but they are pretty minimal.
Note: if you want to test your own screen for
backlight bleed and uniformity problems at any point you need to ensure you have
suitable testing conditions. Set the monitor to a sensible day to day brightness
level, preferably as close to 120
cd/m2 as you can get it (our tests
are once the screen is calibrated to this luminance). Don't just take a photo at
the default brightness which is almost always far too high and not a realistic
usage condition. You need to take the photo from about 1.5 - 2m back to avoid
capturing viewing angle characteristics, especially on IPS-type panels where
off-angle glow can come in to play easily. Photos should be taken in a darkened
room at a shutter speed which captures what you see reliably and doesn't
over-expose the image. A shutter speed of 1/8 second will probably be suitable
for this.
General and Office Applications
We should start by saying that this display
isn't really aimed at desktop Office uses. It's very large and is a display
really aimed at console gaming as a TV alternative. Having said that we will consider
its usage as a desktop monitor as well. The 436M6 features a 3840 x 2160 Ultra HD
resolution which is very useable without scaling on a screen this size. With a
0.245mm pixel pitch, the font size is very similar to a a 27" 2560 x 1440
resolution screen (0.2335mm). You can therefore make use of that full Ultra HD
resolution to give you a larger desktop real estate. Although the font sizes are
fine, the screen is just really too big as a desktop monitor, when used from a
couple of feet away. It's hard to look towards the edges when the screen is so
huge and in your face and it just doesn't feel very comfortable for this kind of
use.
Above: close
up photograph of the BGR sub-pixel layout of the panel
Text on the screen also felt a bit strange
and showed a bit of blur and 'fringing' which we were disappointed with. On
examining the sub-pixel structure of the panel close up we could see why. This
panel uses an unusual BGR (Blue, Green, Red) layout instead of the normal RGB
layout. This sub-pixel layout isn't expected by modern Operating Systems and so
you end up with some blurriness to text. Microsoft Windows users may find they
can improve things a bit using the Cleartype feature but it's not possible to
eliminate it entirely, and Mac OS users do not have an equivalent and so are
stuck. We found this to be a bit problematic for close up office-type uses to be
honest, and it made the screen a bit uncomfortable to use for text work and
reading. If you move back a couple of extra feet you can't really notice this text
blurriness at all, and it's certainly not an issue from a typical console gaming
/ movie viewing distance. It just makes the screen a little difficult to use for
extended periods up close.
Above: close
up photo showing the static dithering type artefacts visible from close up in some
situations
The other issue we identified when using the
screen from up close for PC and office use was the checkerboard patterns
identifiable on some coloured areas. For example the photo above from a
Microsoft Excel window shows a noticeable grid-like pattern on the solid green
and blue areas. This is related to the way the sub-pixels are being lit, and is
essentially a form of static dithering where two slightly different colours are
shown next to one another in a repeated pattern in order to trick your eye in to
seeing a third intermediate colour. Unfortunately you could spot this quite
easily from close up viewing of a couple of feet but only on certain colours and
backgrounds, so it again made some day to day office work a bit annoying. It
would likely lead to problems with any colour critical work you may want to do
on the display, although again that's really not the intended use. If you move
back more than a couple of feet, you won't notice this static dithering pattern
at all, so it was absolutely not a problem for more distant viewing and console
gaming. It's a "feature" of the panel itself and has been seen on other VA-type
panels of this kind of size in the past, especially where the panels are
designed for longer-range viewing instead of as a desktop monitor.
The glossy screen coating of the panel is welcome,
and helps provide a crisp and sharp image compared with some grainier AG coatings.
The pretty wide
viewing angles provided by this panel technology on both horizontal and vertical
planes, helps minimize on-screen colour shift when viewed from different angles.
Although the sheer size of the 42.51" screen means that you will see some
contrast and colour tone shift as you look towards the edges of the screen from
a central, close up position.
The default setup of the screen was moderate
for these kind of uses with a reliable gamma at least and a very strong contrast
ratio. You will need to adjust the colour temperature to bring it closer to
6500k and of course turn the brightness down to a far more comfortable level.
You do need to live with using the full native gamut of the screen for all uses,
as unfortunately (and annoyingly) the sRGB emulation mode which carries a
factory calibration is pretty much unusable. That is because you are stuck with
a very bright setting and are not able to change this without moving back away
from the RGB emulation. That means anyone wanting to work with typical sRGB
content might struggle a bit outside of colour managed workflows as the colours
would appear oversaturated and unrealistic. This isn't really an issue for
gaming or HDR where you want the wider colour space and more vivid colours, but
it's another reason why this display isn't really ideal for normal office/photo
type work.
The
brightness range of the screen was quite good, with the ability to offer a
luminance between 668 and 91 cd/m2. This should mean the screen is
mostly useable in a wide variety of ambient light conditions, although it might
not reach low enough for some darkened rooms and low ambient light. A setting of
5 in the OSD brightness control should return
you a luminance close to 120 cd/m2 out of the box. The brightness regulation is controlled without the need for the
use of a typical off/on
Pulse-Width Modulation (PWM), although there is a low amplitude and high
frequency oscillation so it's not 100% flicker free. It shouldn't present issues
though to most people at all. A range of blue
light filter modes are provided to help reduce blue spectral output and make the
screen easier on the eyes, especially for lots of text work or in darker room
conditions.
The screen offers 2x USB 3.0 ports which is
very handy although they are located on the back of the screen with the video
connections so aren't really easy access. There is also a headphone jack if you
are sending sound to the screen via HDMI, and some fairly decent 2x 7W DTS sound integrated
speakers offered here. There aren't
any other extras like card readers or ambient light sensors provided here which are sometimes useful on
office environments. The stand offers a limited range of adjustments with only
tilt available, although given the screen size it's adequate really. You
wouldn't really need height adjustment for instance.
Responsiveness and Gaming
Panel Manufacturer and
Technology
TP Vision VA-type
Panel Part
TPT430U3-QVN03.U
Quoted G2G Response Time
4ms G2G
Quoted ISO Response Time
n/a
Overdrive Used
Yes
Overdrive Control
Available Via OSD Setting
Smart Response
Overdrive OSD Settings
Off, Fast, Faster,
Fastest
Maximum
Refresh Rate
60Hz
Variable
Refresh Rate technology
Adaptive Sync / FreeSync
Variable
Refresh Rate Range
48 - 60Hz
Blur
Reduction Backlight
No
The 436M6 is rated by Philips as having a
4ms G2G response time. The screen uses
overdrive / response time compensation (RTC) technology to boost pixel
transitions across grey to grey changes as with nearly all modern displays.
There is a user control in the OSD menu for the overdrive under the 'Smart
Response' setting with 4 options available -
Off, Fast, Faster and Fastest. The part
being used is
TP Vision TPT430U3-QVN03.U VA-type technology panel. Have a read
about response time in our
specs section if you need additional information about this measurement.
We measured the response times in each of the
'Smart Response' modes to establish which offered the optimal performance. We
were impressed actually with the response times even in the 'off' mode where we
measured an average G2G of only 7.1ms. There was no sign of the usual very slow
black > grey transitions which are often a problem on VA-type panels, and
can lead to noticeable black smearing in practice. That was great news and
showed that even though this was a VA panel, it didn't need to suffer from some
slow transitions like many screens do with this technology. The response times
improved a little down to 6.6ms G2G when changing up to the 'fast' response time
setting, although some moderate overshoot started to creep in which you could
detect in motion tests too. By the time you push up to the 'faster' or 'fastest'
settings the overshoot was too high, and became very obvious in real use. There
were actually minimal benefits in the response time measurements as well, so we
certainly wouldn't recommend bothering with the top two modes. We felt that
the 'off' setting actually delivered the optimal performance, without any
overshoot being measured here and still with pretty fast response times. You may
wish to experiment with the 'fast' mode to see what you think, but we preferred
the 'off' mode.
Detailed Response Times
Smart Response = Off
We carried out some further tests with a
wider range of transitions in the optimal 'off' mode. The average G2G response
time was now measured at a more accurate 7.9ms which was impressive and very
good for a VA-type panel. This screen was not plagued by the often very
slow black > grey transitions that you will see on many VA panels. For
instance even the Asus ROG Strix XG35VQ which is aimed at gaming had some
particularly slow transitions changing from black to dark grey (see the
detailed response time measurements section if you scroll down a little way
here). This meant that there was not the common black smearing on moving
content that you commonly see on VA panels. The overall response times were fast
enough to keep up with the frame rate demands given this was only a 60Hz capable
screen and there was no overshoot at all which was great news.
For PC gaming the 436M6 is not going to offer
the same motion clarity that you could get from a high refresh rate panel, as it
is limited to only 60Hz. It isn't really well geared towards PC gaming given the
huge screen size and some of the text clarity issues when viewed from a very
close distance but that's not its intended use anyway. There is support for AMD
FreeSync / Adaptive Sync though offering a range between 48 - 60Hz to cope with
varying frames rates. That is useful given the high resolution of the Ultra HD
panel, which is bound to be a drain on resources and your system. This Adaptive
Sync is also supported over HDMI and so will offer variable refresh rate support
for modern games consoles where it is supported. There is no
blur reduction backlight system available on this screen it should be noted.
Gaming Comparisons
We have provided a comparison of the 436M6
against other competing screens. This display was actually one of the fastest
VA-type panels we have tested from a pixel response time point of view. This was
thanks to the decent black > grey performance which often slows down even the
fastest gaming VA screens. Of course the 436M6 is only a 60Hz refresh rate
screen so although response times were impressive, it cannot match the fluidity,
frame rate and motion clarity of a high refresh rate panel in practice. Remember
though that this screen is aimed at console gaming which only offers 60Hz
maximum at the moment anyway. Compared with other 60Hz VA-screens you should see
comparatively low levels of motion bur thanks to the impressive response times.
In fact even if you compared this 60Hz panel against many high refresh rate VA
screens you would see some benefits here thanks to the absence of black smearing
that plagues many other VA screens, even those with high refresh rates.
Additional
Gaming Features
Aspect Ratio Control -
the screen has a really wide
range of options for
hardware level
aspect ratio control
options. There are 3 main settings for 'panel size', 1:1 and aspect available
from within the OSD menu. If you drill in to the 'panel size' option there is
a massive range of different screen sizes and aspect ratios to emulate if you
need them. The aspect mode is really useful as it will maintain the source device aspect
ratio while filling as much of the screen as possible. If you want to directly
map pixels you can use the 1:1 mode as well.
Preset Modes -
There are a quite a few modes
available in the 'Smart Image' preset mode menu giving you different modes to
set up for different gaming uses. There are modes for FPS, Racing, RTS, Gamer 1
and Gamer 2 modes.
Lag
We have written an in depth article about
input lag and the various measurement techniques which are used to evaluate
this aspect of a display. It's important to first of all understand the
different methods available and also what this lag means to you as an end-user.
Input Lag vs. Display Lag vs. Signal
Processing
To avoid confusion with different terminology
we will refer to this section of our reviews as just "lag" from now on, as there
are a few different aspects to consider, and different interpretations of the
term "input lag". We will consider the following points here as much as
possible. The overall "display lag" is the first, that being the delay between
the image being shown on the TFT display and that being shown on a CRT. This is
what many people will know as input lag and originally was the measure made to
explain why the image is a little behind when using a CRT. The older stopwatch
based methods were the common way to measure this in the past, but through
advanced studies have been shown to be quite inaccurate. As a result, more
advanced tools like SMTT provide a method to measure that delay between a TFT
and CRT while removing the inaccuracies of older stopwatch methods.
In reality that lag / delay is caused by a
combination of two things - the signal processing delay caused by the TFT
electronics / scaler, and the response time of the pixels themselves. Most
"input lag" measurements over the years have always been based on the overall
display lag (signal processing + response time) and indeed the SMTT tool is
based on this visual difference between a CRT and TFT and so measures the
overall display lag. In practice the signal processing is the element which
gives the feel of lag to the user, and the response time of course can
impact blurring, and overall image quality in moving scenes. As people become
more aware of lag as a possible issue, we are of course keen to try and
understand the split between the two as much as possible to give a complete
picture.
The signal processing element within that is
quite hard to identify without extremely high end equipment and very complicated
methods. In fact the studies by Thomas Thiemann which really kicked this whole
thing off were based on equipment worth >100,1000 Euro, requiring extremely high
bandwidths and very complicated methods to trigger the correct behaviour and
accurately measure the signal processing on its own. Other techniques which are
being used since are not conducted by Thomas (he is a freelance writer) or based
on this equipment or technique, and may also be subject to other errors or
inaccuracies based on our conversations with him since. It's very hard as a
result to produce a technique which will measure just the signal processing on
its own unfortunately. Many measurement techniques are also not explained and so
it is important to try and get a picture from various sources if possible to
make an informed judgement about a display overall.
For our tests we will continue to use the
SMTT tool to measure the overall "display lag". From there we can use our
oscilloscope system to measure the response time across a wide range of grey to
grey (G2G) transitions as recorded in our
response time
tests. Since SMTT will not include the full response time within its
measurements, after speaking with Thomas further about the situation we will
subtract half of the average G2G response time from the total display lag. This
should allow us to give a good estimation of how much of the overall lag is
attributable to the signal processing element on its own.
Lag Classification
To help in this section we will also introduce a broader classification system
for these results to help categorise each screen as one of the following levels:
Class 1)
Less than 16ms / 1 frame lag at 60Hz - should be fine for gamers, even at high
levels
Class 2)A lag of 16 - 32ms
/ One to two frames at 60Hz - moderate lag but should be fine for many gamers.
Caution advised for serious gaming
Class 3)A lag of more than
32ms / more than 2 frames at 60Hz - Some noticeable lag in daily usage, not
suitable for high end gaming
For the full reviews of the
models compared here and the dates they were written (and when screens were
approximately released to the market), please see our
full
reviews index.
(Measurements in ms)
Total Display Lag (SMTT
2)
5.86
Pixel Response Time
Element
3.95
Estimated Signal
Processing Lag
1.91
Lag Classification
1
Class 1
We have provided a comparison above against
other models we have tested to give an indication between screens. The screens
tested are split into two measurements which are based on our overall display
lag tests (using SMTT) and half the average G2G response time, as measured by
the oscilloscope. The response time is split from the overall display lag and
shown on the graph as the green bar. From there, the signal processing (red bar)
can be provided as a good estimation.
We measured the total display lag of 5.86ms.
With approximately 3.95ms of that accounted for by pixel response times we had
an estimated signal processing of just 1.91ms, which was basically nothing which
was excellent news. This result was consistent whether you had the low input lag
setting turned on or off in the OSD menu. This shouldn't
represent any problem for fast paced or competitive gaming.
This very low result was obtained when the
aspect ratio control was set to just fill the screen (screen size, 43"), but we did notice some
additional lag was added if you switch to either the 'aspect' or '1:1' modes.
This increased from total of 5.86ms to around 36ms if you use either of those
scaling modes with the low input lag setting off, or to around 24 - 27ms if you
enabled the low input lag mode.
The screen is 16:9 in format and so most of
the time you are going to be fine outputting at this aspect ratio and filing the
screen, either at the full native 3840 x 2160 resolution or at a lower
resolution like 1920 x 1080 that can just be scaled up to full screen anyway
without issue. You will benefit from the very low lag then in those instances.
If you are connecting a device with an unusual aspect ratio like 5:4 for
instance, you may experience some added lag, but we would recommend using the
'low input lag' mode to help minimise this as much as possible.
Movies and Video
The following summarises the screens
performance for videos and movie viewing:
Category
Display
Specs / Measurements
Comments
Size
43" widescreen
Very large for a desktop
display and entering TV size territory. Great for more distant viewing
like console gaming and movies
Aspect Ratio
16:9
Well suited to most
common 16:9 aspect content and input devices
Resolution
3840 x 2160
Can support native 1080p
content and Ultra HD content natively
HDCP
Yes
Suitable for encrypted
content across both ports
Connectivity
DisplayPort 1.4
Mini DisplayPort 1.4
HDMI 2.0
Useful additional HDMI
input for external Blu-ray players or games consoles. Capable of
supporting the high resolution as well. Might have been useful to have a
second to connect a Blu-ray player / TV box as well as a games console.
Cables
DisplayPort and HDMI
Both provided in the box
which is good news
Ergonomics
Tilt only
Limited adjustments like
most TV's but tilt is very useful when used from closer up as a desktop
screen. Side to side swivel would have been handy.
Coating
Glossy
Provides clear,
non-grainy image which helps make colours and blacks 'pop'. The low haze
treatment helps ensure it's not too glossy and reflective.
Brightness range
91 - 668 cd/m2 (SDR)
up to 1119 cd/m2 peak brightness in HDR mode
Very good adjustment range
offered although cannot reach very low settings which could have been
useful for desktop usage in darker rooms. Flicker free backlight operation with no
full PWM, but some low amplitude and high frequency oscillation. In HDR mode the
32-zone local dimming backlight is capable of producing very high peak brightness >1000 cd/m2 and
strong HDR contrast ratios
Contrast
4167:1 SDR
up to 10,150:1 SDR with local dimming
Up to 54,540:1 and above in HDR mode
Very strong contrast ratio
thanks to the VA panel even with local dimming turned off. When turned on,
that can boost SDR contrast ratio nicely, and this reaches very high
levels in HDR content.
Preset modes
None
No specific movie preset
modes but you could easily set up one of the other customisable modes to
your liking, like the 'gamer 1' or 'gamer 2' modes.
Response times
7.9ms G2G with no
overshoot
Very good overall and
more than fine for movie viewing certainly. Free from the black smearing
that most VA panels suffer from where transitions from black > grey can be
very slow. Stick with the 'Off' response
time setting for optimal performance and freedom from any overshoot.
Viewing angles
Fairly good
Fairly good for a VA type
panel but contrast and colour tone shifts can be more obvious than on IPS
panels. From a longer viewing distance for movies they are unlikely to
cause any real problem. Good contrast ratio and VA panel helps avoid any
obvious pale glow on dark content when viewed from an angle.
Backlight bleed
Moderate
No real bleed but you
could pick out some slight backlight clouding in the four corners on our sample.
Screen uniformity was not great given the large panel and backlight size.
Audio
2x 7W DTS speakers
Headphone jack
Decent integrated speakers
like many TV sets, and a headphone jack available also
Aspect Ratio Controls
1:1, Aspect, Full plus a
wide range of different screen sizes
Good options to account
for non-native format inputs if needed although lag is lowest if you stick
to full screen.
PiP / PbP
Both supported
Good range of options
available. Refer to the user manual for more information
HDR support
Yes, certified with:
VESA DisplayHDR 1000
Ultra HD Premium
Useful remote control
included which works well and makes navigation of the menu much easier.
Definitely handy if using this large screen for movies or console gaming
from a distance.
High Dynamic Range (HDR)
HDR stands for
High Dynamic Range and is a
technology just starting to make its way in to the desktop monitor market. It's
been around in the TV market for a couple of years and is used
primarily to provide a better dynamic range and contrast to the image for
multimedia, movies and games - that
being the difference between light and dark parts of an image. This improvement
to the dynamic range is usually
paired with other specific features under the banner term of "HDR" including a wider colour gamut for richer,
more vivid colours and specs like a 10-bit colour depth support and a high Ultra HD
resolution. Overall, an HDR Capable screen is designed to offer a more life-like
images, with better contrast ratios between light and dark areas and more vivid,
bright colours. You only need to go in to a high street store to observe the
difference that HDR makes on TV sets, so we would encourage you to do that if
you want to see first hand the improvements it makes to the image quality.
HDR Standards Conformity
Ultra HD
Premium Spec Guidelines
Yes/no
Display Spec
At least Ultra HD
Resolution 3840 x 2160
3840 x 2160 supported
10-bit colour depth
processing
8-bit + FRC panel
DCI-P3 colour space
coverage
107.7% DCI-P3 measured
Suitable HDR connectivity
DisplayPort 1.4 and HDMI 2.0
at least 1000 cd/m2 peak luminance
1119 peak cd/m2 measured
at least 20,000:1 active contrast ratio
>54,550:1 maximum measured
Backlight dimming system
(not defined in Ultra HD Premium requirements)
32-zone edge-lit local
dimming
The
436M6 is promoted for its HDR capabilities, and unlike many screens in
the market this one does actually live up to the billing. It even carries
official certification under the new VESA DisplayHDR 1000 standards, and the
established TV Ultra HD Premium certification as well making it a "true" HDR
screen.
Local dimming is achieved through a 32-zone edge-lit backlight. This can't offer
the level of control that a Full Array Local Dimming (FALD) backlight can, but
should still offer some good benefits in practice like many LCD TV's with HDR. Read
our HDR article for more information about these methods to achieve local
dimming necessary for HDR. Thanks to the VA panel and high contrast ratio there
was low levels of blooming in HDR content and multimedia which was good news. VA
panels do tend to do better in this regard than IPS panels and so the 436M6
worked nicely.
The screen
can also offer the necessary 1000 cd/m2 peak brightness spec
required for the mentioned HDR certifications and to provide a great dynamic range contrast in
practice. The Quantum Dot coating boosts the colour gamut so that there is a
high DCI-P3 coverage, and the 8-bit+FRC panel supports 10-bit colour depth too.
You need to enable one of the HDR modes in the OSD menu to operate the
local dimming backlight for either SDR content, or if you want to view proper
HDR content.
HDR
Contrast and Peak Brightness
The
following tests allow us to measure how efficiently the backlight operates for
HDR content. The brightness of the screen should be controlled automatically
based on the content being shown, so it is firstly important that the correct
brightness levels are achieved. We test this by sending an image mastered at
various different target brightness levels, and with varying sizes to the screen
and measuring the resulting luminance output achieved. A good screen will show
the brightness levels as intended by the content.
Secondly we can also then measure how efficient the backlight is at dimming
other darker parts of the image. The whole idea of HDR is that bright areas are
made brighter by the backlight, while darker areas are dimmed. The local dimming
backlight allows this to happen by controlling different zones on the screen to
achieve different brightness/darkness levels. We choose to measure an "up to"
HDR contrast ratio here to demonstrate what the maximum potential contrast ratio
would be on the screen when viewing an image with a bright white area, and a
black dark area at the same time. We take the minimum black measurement on the
screen by testing various places but generally this is at a point furthest away
from the white measurement area in the centre. The actual perceived contrast
ratio for HDR content could of course vary depending on the content you are
viewing, and areas closer to the white area may not be as dark because of the
way the local dimming operates. This doesn't change the fact though that the
overall contrast ratio experienced on the screen is dictated by the difference
between the brightest area, and the darkest area. This measurement gives you an
idea of how high the contrast ratio can reach as a maximum, and also fits in
with the way HDR contrast ratios are measured and specified within HDR
standards.
Method: A white box is displayed on the
screen which covers 1% of the overall screen size initially. This is designed
to show at several target luminance levels, starting at 100 and then changing to
400 and 1000 cd/m2 (and beyond if needed). We measure the actual
luminance of that white box to see how close to the target luminance the screen
actually performs at each step. When the screen reaches the maximum peak
luminance possible, we also measure the black depth of the screen at a point
furthest away from the white area. This can then allow us to calculate the
maximum HDR
active contrast ratio, the difference between the bright white area on screen, and the
dark black areas elsewhere.
This 1% white screen coverage is designed to give a rough representation of how
a small highlight area in HDR content might appear and work in normal
multimedia. The box then increases to a larger size, covering 4, 9, 25, 49 and
finally 100% of the screen area. This represents different sized areas of bright
content in HDR multimedia. Again those progressively larger boxes are shown at
the different luminance targets, and we measure the actual screen luminance
achieved for each.
The
436M6 has 3 different modes for HDR in the OSD. We will test each of these. Once
enabled, many of the screen settings including the brightness control are
unavailable.
HDR mode = Normal
White window size
100 cd/m2 target
400 cd/m2 target
1000 cd/m2 target
2000 cd/m2 target
4000 cd/m2 target
Peak luminance
(cd/m2)
Min black depth
(cd/m2)
HDR contrast (x:1)
1%
30
204
281
293
304
304
<0.02
>15,200
4%
42
305
469
487
512
512
<0.02
>25,600
9%
60
421
618
642
664
664
<0.02
>33,200
25%
84
515
699
720
751
751
<0.02
>37,550
49%
108
541
724
746
772
772
0.03
25,733
100%
131
547
731
754
779
779
n/a
n/a
This
mode seemed to have trouble reaching the target luminance levels properly even
for lower brightness content mastered at 100 and 400 cd/m2. For
smaller bright areas the content was displayed too dark, and for larger areas it
was too bright. The screen never reached up above about 779 cd/m2 in
any measurement and so was not pushing the 1000 cd/m2 capability of
the backlight either. We did measure high HDR contrast ratios reaching up above
37,550:1 but the fact that the content was not being displayed at the required
brightness was a problem.
HDR mode = HDR VESA 1000
White window size
100 cd/m2 target
400 cd/m2 target
1000 cd/m2 target
2000 cd/m2 target
4000 cd/m2 target
Peak luminance
(cd/m2)
Min black depth
(cd/m2)
HDR contrast (x:1)
1%
113
460
1047
1066
1073
1073
<0.02
>53,650
4%
117
468
1065
1083
1091
1091
<0.02
>54,550
9%
117
470
1068
1086
1083
1083
<0.02
>54,150
25%
119
474
1075
1094
1101
1101
<0.02
>54,150
49%
121
482
1092
1111
1119
1119
0.12
9,325
100%
120
477
1077
1095
1103
1103
n/a
n/a
This
mode was better than the normal mode. 100 cd/m2 content was a little
too bright but only by a small amount. 400 cd/m2 content was a bit
too bright as well but thankfully by the time you reach 1000 cd/m2
content the backlight is pushed to its upper limited and that luminance is
achieved nicely, and in fact exceeded a little. Even where parts of the screen
reached over 1000 cd/m2 we measured a black depth of <0.02 cd/m2
(the limit for the i1 Display Pro measurement device) and so we achieved very
high HDR contrast ratios up over 54,150:1.
HDR mode = UHDA
White window size
100 cd/m2 target
400 cd/m2 target
1000 cd/m2 target
2000 cd/m2 target
4000 cd/m2 target
Peak luminance
(cd/m2)
Min black depth
(cd/m2)
HDR contrast (x:1)
1%
98
393
893
956
1014
1014
<0.02
>50,700
4%
100
399
902
968
1027
1027
<0.02
>51,350
9%
102
401
904
971
1029
1029
<0.02
>51,450
25%
103
403
909
973
1035
1035
<0.02
>51,750
49%
103
404
908
974
1036
1036
0.12
8,633
100%
105
410
921
988
1050
1050
n/a
n/a
This
mode was also pretty reliable, with the content mastered at 100 cd/m2
and 400 cd/m2 being shown very accurately for all sample sizes. The
content at 1000 cd/m2 was a little dark by about 100 cd/m2
(-10%) and it was only where brighter content mastered at 2000 or 4000 cd/m2
was shown that the backlight was pushed to its upper limit. Again we measured
very strong HDR contrast ratios of over 51,750:1 (measurement limited by the
black depth limit of the i1 Display Pro device). This UHDA mode was basically a
little darker than the VESA 1000 mode, so you've got a choice there depending on
your preference, ambient light conditions, viewing distance etc.
Although achieving HDR from a PC is very
difficult (see
our HDR article for more information), thankfully the console gaming part of
the gaming market is a bit more mature. With console gaming being the primary
focus of this display, that's a good thing. It is far simpler to achieve HDR thanks to the enclosed nature of the system - no
software, graphics card or OS limitations to worry about here. If you have a
console which can output HDR for gaming such as the PS4, PS4 Pro or X Box One S
then the display will support those over the HDMI 2.0 connection.
Conclusion
We spend a massive amount
of time producing these detailed reviews, and this one seems to be even bigger
than normal! Loads to test and plenty of exciting and interesting things to look
at. If you appreciate and enjoy our reviews, and would like to help supportTFTCentral we really
appreciate it.
As we said in the introduction, this screen
is a little different to most of the displays we review as it's not really aimed
at desktop uses at all. It's aimed at the console gaming market as an
alternative to TV screens and for those uses we felt it performed really well.
The response times were very low, particularly low in fact for a VA-type panel
like this. There was very low lag, something which is often a problem on TV
screens due to all their internal electronics, scalers and picture enhancement
technologies. The support for Adaptive Sync was also useful for modern games
consoles, and HDR performance was really good as well. The ability to support
high peak brightness, a wide DCI-P3 colour space and 10-bit content was great
news, and the local dimming operated very well, producing very strong contrast
ratios and low blooming.
Inclusion of things like a remote control,
integrated speakers, the glossy screen coating and the Ambiglow lighting system
were nice touches and crossed that boundary from monitor to TV nicely. While it
was great to see HDR support over HDMI for consoles, it was a bit of a shame we
felt not to have at least another HDMI port as users are likely to want to
connect TV boxes or Blu-ray players to the screen as well we think. There was a
good range for PC users, but missing a bit when it came to its intended
audience.
For other uses besides distant console gaming
viewing we felt the screen struggled. The main issue was with the clarity of
text, where the unusual pixel structure caused fringing and blurring to appear
from close range. The static dithering-like artefacts visible close up on some
colours was also annoying. The basically useless sRGB preset mode (with factory
calibration) was also frustrating. Having said that, the default setup of the
screen was decent, static contrast ratio was very high and the resolution was at
least usable without scaling on a screen this size. We just didn't find it
comfortable for desktop use day to day due to the text clarity and the sheer
size of the screen to be honest.
We shouldn't penalise the screen too much for
these issues as it's really not designed for close up desktop use. It can handle
it a bit, probably better than many TV's to be fair, but it's really designed
for console gaming and viewing from a further distance. For those uses we felt
it was a really good alternative to a TV set and performed very well.
Pros
Cons
Fast response times, very
low lag, Adaptive Sync support all make for a great console gaming
experience
sRGB factory calibration
mode unusable
Good HDR support with
high peak brightness, good local dimming, high HDR contrast and low
blooming
Not ideal for close up PC
use due to text fringing and static dithering artefacts
Large screen size and
TV-like features make it a good alternative to a normal TV for console
gaming
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