How to read a monitor spec sheet
Typical or peak brightness, GtG or MPRT response, contrast, colour gamut and HDR labels. A plain guide to the numbers on a display specification, and what they leave out.
One of our principles is that every figure we publish comes from the panel's specification sheet, and typical values are labelled typical. That only helps if the labels mean something to you. This is a short guide to the numbers you will meet on any display specification, including ours.
Brightness: typical and peak
Typical brightness is what the panel produces across normal, full-screen content. Peak brightness is the maximum a small area can reach for a short time, usually in HDR highlights. A sheet that lists only peak brightness is telling you about the best moment, not the usual one. We list typical brightness for every reference, and peak where the specification states it.
Response time: GtG and MPRT
GtG (grey-to-grey) measures how quickly a pixel changes from one shade to another. MPRT (moving picture response time) measures how long a moving object appears to persist, which depends heavily on refresh rate and, on many LCDs, on backlight strobing.
The two are not comparable. A "1 ms MPRT" figure and a "0.03 ms GtG" figure describe different things. Our OLED references, Nocturne 49 and Solitaire 27, specify 0.03 ms GtG. Horizon 49 specifies 1 ms MPRT. We label each one.
Contrast
Contrast is the ratio between the brightest white and the darkest black a display can show at once. LCD panels typically range from about 1000:1 (IPS) to 3000–4000:1 (VA). Self-emissive OLED panels can switch pixels fully off, which is why they are rated at 1,500,000:1. Beware "dynamic contrast" figures in the millions on LCD sheets: those usually describe the backlight dimming between scenes, not contrast within one image.
Colour gamut
Gamut figures say how much of a standard colour space a display can show. sRGB is the web and most office work. DCI-P3 is digital cinema and most HDR content. Adobe RGB matters for print. Higher is better, but the standard named matters more than the number: 100% sRGB is a smaller space than 90% DCI-P3.
HDR labels
DisplayHDR is a VESA certification with defined tiers. "True Black" tiers, such as DisplayHDR True Black 400 on Nocturne 49, are designed for OLED and focus on black level rather than raw brightness. A plain "HDR" label means the display accepts HDR signals, without a certified level.
Refresh rate
Refresh rate is how many times per second the picture is redrawn: 120 Hz, 240 Hz, 280 Hz. Higher rates make motion smoother and reduce blur, provided your computer can supply that many frames. Adaptive-Sync and FreeSync match the refresh rate to the frames your computer produces, which removes tearing.
What a spec sheet leaves out
How a display looks with the power off. How its stand moves. How it feels to sit in front of it for ten hours. Those are the things we care about just as much. See the collection.
