Plasma Displays

The top chart shows the gray scale of the PME-50X6 relative to its color temperature at various levels of intensity, or brightness (20 IRE is dark gray; 100 IRE is bright white). The gray scale as set by the factory, in the D6500 color-temperature mode, measures 5,500 Kelvin with dark images and 6,700 K with brighter images. After making adjustments using the Photo Research PR-650, the gray scale measures within a couple hundred Kelvin of D6500, the accurate color temperature, across most of the range. This is a substantial improvement compared with the performance before calibration. The bottom chart shows the gray scale (or color temperature) relative to the color points of the display's red, green, and blue plasma phosphors. Green (x=0.272, y=0.647), red (x=0.631, y=0.355), and blue (x=0.165, y=0.099) are slightly off from those colors specified by SMPTE, which means that the display will reproduce most but not all of the colors available in the system. Reds may be slightly orange, while greens will be subtly cyan. The light output was approximately 40 foot-lamberts with a 15 percent white window but 18 ft-L with a full-white field. The display has fine DC restoration and an accurate color decoder. The Sampo displays approximately 480 lines (per picture height) with NTSC sources and, using our Leader LT-446 HD generator, is capable of resolving DTV signals out to the panel's resolution limit (1,366:768).—MW