LCD Panel Color Gamut values: good, poor, average

[kbhadsten]

Hi

Color Gamut as i've understood it, is the monitors ability to replicate the RGB color sent from the graphics card.

My question is then: what is good, average and poor values? e.g. the new BenQ E2200HDA monitor is listed to 72% (TN panel)
Is this average or what? I tried finding the Color Gamut values for some Samsung monitors, but it seems that Samsung does not specify this value.

Additionally:

I'm guessing that the panel type has a lot to say in this?
I've read somewhere that CRT's Color Gamut is about 75% of NTSC, is this the same for PAL?
Does the input signal type has anything to say: D-Sub / DVI?

Thanks in advance.
- Kasper, Denmark

 

[jaguarskx]

Color gamut of 72% - 75% is typically considered normal. Before wide color gamut monitors became available to the general consumer (initially they were only for expensive LCD monitors geared towards the graphics professional; about 2 years ago) all LCD monitors used standard color gamut.

Increasingly wider color gamut levels basically means more color/hue saturation; images tend to look slightly more greenish than standard color gamut before calibration.

Color gamut is determined by backlighting. CCFL (cold compact florescent lamps) can produce up to 114% color gamut. I believe LED backlighting has up to 142% I believe. Higher gamut does not mean better quality.

I believe 92% gamut is the standard level for any monitor claiming wide gamut as part of the specs.

Panel types basically determines the image quality and viewing angles of an LCD monitor. There are 3 basic types:

TN - Inexpensive, poor to fair color accuracy, poor viewing angles, fastest response times, fair black levels.

*VA - Includes P-MVA, S-PVA, A-MVA. These are good middle of the road panels. More expensive to manufacture than TN panels, good to excellent color accuracy, good viewing angles, slightly slower response times, good black levels. Text on some of the newer *VA may look less sharp than "older" *VA panels because of the way "the crystals" are aligned, but was done to improve black levels. Kinda technical to explain.

IPS - Most expensive types of LCD panels to manufacture. Excellent color accuracy, excellent viewing angles (both IPS and *VA list 178 degrees, but IPS is by far the best when actually seen at angles), slightly slower response times, sharp text and good to excellent black levels.

Note: to get good color accuracy you will need to buy a colorimeter (hardware).

 

[cjl]

72% is somewhat average, while 92% is fairly good. True photo grade panels exceed 100%. I don't know what the CRT values are.

 

[rgsaunders]

There is no easy answer to your question, as % of colour gamut is dependant ujpon which colour gamut is being used. CYMK, normally used for printers, is different than RGB, sRGB, Adobe RGB, CIE, REC-709 etc. NTSC, RGB, sRGB or Adobe RGB are commonly used for displays. An example of a wide colour gamut display would be the Samsung T series, ie 275T which has a 97% NTSC colour gamut coverage. Common consumer level displays run at around 72%, better ones at 92%, and some higher end ones at 97-104% of the NTSC standard. Once you go past this level, they become exceedingly expensive as you are getting into professional level displays.

 

[kbhadsten]

Thanks for the replies, that's just what I needed

 

[spiffer]

Color Gamut also refers to output from printers as well as monitors. In photofinishing it is important to be able to predict color output from paper that does not have the same gamut as the monitors the image is displayed on.
Although Adobe RGB has a wider gamut than SRGB, SRGB is closer to the gamut of photographic paper so we work in SRGB. In this case I would look for a monitor that displays SRGB well and work in that color space to get best display of reproducable colors.

Steve

 

[Guest]

Color Gamut also refers to output from printers as well as monitors. In photofinishing it is important to be able to predict color output from paper that does not have the same gamut as the monitors the image is displayed on.
Although Adobe RGB has a wider gamut than SRGB, SRGB is closer to the gamut of photographic paper so we work in SRGB. In this case I would look for a monitor that displays SRGB well and work in that color space to get best display of reproducable colors.

Steve

Good level headed advice - thanks