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TV Science

How a screen actually makes a picture: where the light comes from, how colour is made, why some TVs smear motion and others burn in. Plain explanations, with the sources.

New: quantum dots

Quantum dots and the blue problemQLED and QD-OLED use red and green quantum dots, but no blue ones. Here's why blue is the hardest colour to make. Why a quantum dot's size is its colourSmaller crystals glow bluer, bigger ones redder: quantum confinement in one page.

How screens make light

How TV panels actually workLCD, mini-LED, QLED, WOLED, QD-OLED, QDEL and MicroLED, start to finish. Filtering light vs making lightThe one difference between LCD and OLED that drives almost everything else. OLED vs QLEDWhat the two names really mean, and which suits which room. QD-OLED vs WOLEDConverting blue light vs filtering white light, and the white subpixel. QD-OLED Penta TandemWhy panels now stack several blue OLED layers. Primary RGB Tandem WOLEDLG's newest stack, layer by layer. The panel type indexEvery panel type side by side.

Brightness, contrast and HDR

Local dimming and mini-LEDHow an LCD fakes deep blacks, and where blooming comes from. Why OLEDs dim on bright scenesThe automatic brightness limiter and full-screen white. The display reality indexMarketing numbers vs what panels really do. Key facts: TV and display technologyThe short, citable version.

Motion and speed

Refresh rate: is higher worth it?60, 120, 240 Hz and what your eyes actually notice. Response time: GtG vs MPRTWhy a "1 ms" screen can still blur. VRR flicker on OLEDWhy variable refresh can make dark scenes flicker. VA black smearWhy dark transitions trail on VA panels.

Wear and image quality over time

The physics of burn-inUneven ageing of organic emitters, and why blue goes first. OLED burn-in in real useHow much risk there really is, and how to avoid it. Burn-in warranty by brandWho covers it, and for how long. OLED text fringingSubpixel layouts and colour edges on text.

Projector science

ANSI lumens explainedHow projector brightness is measured. Native vs "supported" 4KPixel shifting and what a 4K projector really shows. Throw ratioLens maths for screen size and distance.