Understanding Professional Displays With Flanders Scientific’s Bram Desmet

Day 15: 24 Insights In 24 Days – 2020 New Year Marathon!

An update on the state of professional displays in the year 2020

Every few years we like to get a review on the state of display technology. Our go-to person for this discussion is Flanders Scientific’s Bram Desmet. Bram has the unique skill of taking a complicated, and sometimes obtuse, discussion and simplifying it so that the rest of us can understand. In this Mixing Light Special Edition Podcast, I have Bram break down the technology of professional displays.

First, we discuss the first-time professional display buyer: What are their choices? What are the tradeoffs between their choices? Of course, Bram (understandably) doesn’t like commenting directly on his competitors so I use his product lineup as the springboard throughout this interview. The FSI display lineup has dramatically expanded from 6 years ago, up and down a full range of price points.

Next, we discuss professional High Dynamic Range LCD display technology. Bram offers his opinion of who’s the right type of professional for these uber-expensive displays and what are the tradeoffs between them?

In this conversation We Talk about:

• The key differences between consumer and professional displays
• The difference calibrating consumer and professional displays
• Are you fooling yourself by buying a less expensive professional display (for color grading)?
• The state of 8-bit, 8-bit plus FRC, 10-bit, and 12-bit displays
• What’s going on with OS-level color management and why do we need 3rd party break-out boxes?
• What are the different types of LCD panels being used in professional displays in the sub-$6,000 range?
• Advantages and drawbacks of RGB LED backlights
• Advantages and drawbacks of White LED backlights
• The different flavors of OLED technology
• The impact of ‘zone count’ on Zoned Backlight LCDs
• The trade-off in getting a display to 3,000 nits – and the advantages
• Fundamentals of Light Modulated Cell Layer LCD / Dual Layer LCD
• First impressions of a 15,000 zone backlight
• Are smaller, high-quality panels being mass-produced?
• Why are HDR displays so expensive and what are the technologies the FSI uses in its product line?
• What is FSI delivering at NAB 2020???
• What future-tech display technology is Bram keeping an eye on? What past tech are we sad that went away?

Find out more about Flanders Scientific

• FlandersScientific.com – Home page
• ShopFSI.com – Worldwide Online Store
• ShopFSI.eu – Europe Union Online Store
• Find FSI at NAB 2020 – SL6823

Enjoy!

-pi