Glossary
The language of light.
Display terms, defined plainly, with the Alter Ego references they apply to.
- OLED
- Organic light-emitting diode. A display technology in which every pixel produces its own light and can switch fully off, giving true black and near-instant response. Used in Alter Ego Nocturne 49 and Solitaire 27.
- QD-OLED
- Quantum-dot OLED. Blue OLED emitters with a quantum-dot layer that converts blue light into red and green. It keeps colours saturated at high brightness. Used in Alter Ego Nocturne 49.
- WOLED
- White OLED. White-emitting OLED subpixels with colour filters, usually plus an unfiltered white subpixel for brightness.
- Self-emissive
- A display whose pixels produce their own light, with no backlight. OLED is self-emissive; LCD is not.
- True black
- Black produced by switching a pixel off entirely, rather than blocking a backlight. Only self-emissive displays such as OLED can show it.
- Contrast ratio
- The ratio between the brightest white and darkest black shown at once. OLED panels such as Nocturne 49 are rated at 1,500,000:1.
- 5K2K
- A resolution of 5120 × 2160 pixels in a 21:9 shape, about 11 million pixels. Used in Alter Ego Atelier 40.
- Dual QHD
- A resolution of 5120 × 1440 pixels in a 32:9 shape: two 2560 × 1440 screens side by side. Used in Nocturne 49 and Horizon 49.
- QHD
- A resolution of 2560 × 1440 pixels, also called 1440p. Used in Solitaire 27.
- 32:9
- A super-ultrawide aspect ratio, twice as wide as 16:9. A 49-inch 32:9 display equals two 27-inch 16:9 displays without a seam.
- 21:9
- An ultrawide aspect ratio used in cinema-style displays such as Atelier 40.
- Curvature (R)
- The radius of a curved display in millimetres. 1800R curves on an 1800 mm radius; 1500R is a tighter curve. Nocturne 49 is 1800R, Horizon 49 is 1500R, Atelier 40 is 2500R.
- Refresh rate
- How many times per second the picture is redrawn, in hertz. Solitaire 27 refreshes at 280 Hz and Nocturne 49 at 240 Hz.
- GtG (grey-to-grey)
- The time a pixel takes to change from one shade to another. OLED panels such as Solitaire 27 specify 0.03 ms.
- MPRT
- Moving picture response time: how long a moving object appears to persist on screen. Not directly comparable with GtG.
- DCI-P3
- The colour space used for digital cinema and most HDR content. Nocturne 49 and Atelier 40 cover 99% of it.
- sRGB
- The standard colour space for the web and most office work, smaller than DCI-P3.
- Adobe RGB
- A wide colour space used in print workflows. Nocturne 49 covers 99% of it.
- 10-bit colour
- Colour depth that can address 1.07 billion colours, giving smoother gradients than 8-bit. Both Alter Ego OLED references are 10-bit.
- DisplayHDR True Black
- A VESA HDR certification tier designed for OLED displays, focused on black level. Nocturne 49 is certified DisplayHDR True Black 400.
- Typical brightness
- The brightness a display produces across normal full-screen content. Alter Ego lists typical values as typical.
- Peak brightness
- The maximum brightness a small area can reach briefly, usually in HDR highlights.
- Adaptive-Sync
- Technology that matches the display refresh rate to the frames your computer produces, removing tearing. FreeSync is AMD's implementation.
- KVM switch
- A built-in switch that lets one keyboard, mouse and display control two computers. Included in Nocturne 49 and Horizon 49.
- USB-C power delivery
- Charging a laptop through the same USB-C cable that carries picture and data. Nocturne 49 supplies 90 W; Atelier 40 and Horizon 49 supply 65 W.
- Picture-by-picture (PbP)
- Showing two inputs side by side on one display.
- Pixel density (PPI)
- Pixels per inch. Atelier 40 is about 139 PPI; Nocturne 49 and Solitaire 27 are about 109 PPI.
- VESA mount
- A standard screw pattern for wall or arm mounting, such as 100 × 100 mm.
- Allocation
- At Alter Ego, a limited, numbered release of a reference, offered first to clients on the Alter Ego list.
- Reference
- At Alter Ego, a model in the collection, such as Nocturne 49. Each has a reference code, for example Réf. N49·240.
- Noir and Blanc
- The two Alter Ego finishes: Noir, an ink black, and Blanc, an ivory that continues around the back of the display.
- The Reflection
- The Alter Ego monogram: a letter A standing on a horizon line above its own mirror image.