Glossary
This glossary defines the terms used across the OLED TV calibration guide. The goal is practical clarity: what the term means, why it matters, and how it connects to the controls or standards you will actually see.
A-C
Accuracy
How closely a TV matches the standards used to master video. Accurate does not mean dull; it means the display is trying to reproduce the signal without inventing extra color, contrast, sharpness, or motion.
AutoCal
A software-assisted calibration process that writes adjustments directly into a compatible TV or display. AutoCal can be useful, but it still depends on the meter, pattern source, workflow, and verification afterward.
Bias lighting
A controlled light behind or near the display, usually set near D65, used to reduce eye strain and make dark-room viewing more comfortable without shining light onto the screen.
Bit depth
The number of digital steps available per color channel. More bit depth allows smoother gradients and reduces visible banding, especially in HDR and wide-gamut material.
Black level
The setting that determines where video black appears on the screen. On many TVs this control is called Brightness, even though it is really about shadow floor, not overall light output.
Blooming
A halo or glow around bright objects on dark backgrounds, usually associated with local-dimming LCD and mini-LED TVs. OLED pixels light individually, so OLED does not bloom in the same way.
Brightness
A confusing menu word. On many TVs, Brightness controls black level. On others, it may control panel light output. Always check what the specific control changes before adjusting it.
BT.1886
An SDR electro-optical transfer function intended to describe reference display behavior for HDTV mastering, especially in dark-room conditions. It is often grouped with gamma settings.
Calibration
The process of adjusting and verifying a display against known standards. Basic setup can be done by eye; measured calibration uses instruments and software.
Chroma subsampling
A way to reduce color resolution while preserving more brightness detail. Common formats include 4:4:4, 4:2:2, and 4:2:0. Video uses subsampling because human vision is more sensitive to luminance detail than color detail.
Clipping
Loss of detail because signal values have been pushed beyond what the display or setting can preserve. White clipping loses highlight steps; black clipping crushes shadow detail.
Color checker
A set of known color patches used to verify how accurately a display reproduces real-world colors. A ColorChecker result is usually reported with Delta E errors.
Color gamut
The range of colors a display or video standard can represent. Rec. 709, DCI-P3, and Rec. 2020 describe different gamuts.
Color management system (CMS)
A set of controls for adjusting primary and secondary colors. CMS controls can help in measured calibration, but casual adjustment can easily make color accuracy worse.
Color space
A defined map of colors and signal behavior. For TV work, the term often refers to Rec. 709 for SDR HDTV, P3 inside HDR workflows, or Rec. 2020 as an HDR container.
Color temperature
The tint of white, described in kelvin. Lower values look warmer or redder; higher values look cooler or bluer. Video mastering normally targets D65.
Colorimeter
A meter that measures display light through filtered sensors. It is the most common instrument for home TV calibration, especially when paired with suitable display corrections.
Contrast
The relationship between dark and bright parts of the image. In TV menus, Contrast often sets white level or signal gain rather than native panel contrast.
D-G
D65
The standard video white point, roughly corresponding to daylight at about 6500K. Accurate whites on a TV should usually target D65, even if they look warm at first.
Delta E
A measurement of visible color error. Lower values are better. A very low Delta E usually means the measured color is close to the target, though charts still need context.
Dolby Vision
An HDR format that uses dynamic metadata and Dolby-controlled processing paths. Dolby Vision behavior depends on the TV, source device, app, and selected Dolby Vision mode.
Dynamic contrast
Processing that changes contrast or luminance based on the scene. It can make images look punchier, but it often moves the picture away from the mastered signal.
EOTF
Electro-optical transfer function. It describes how digital signal values become screen light. Gamma, PQ, and HLG are all ways of defining this relationship.
Filmmaker Mode
A TV picture mode intended to reduce unnecessary processing and move the image closer to creative intent. It is usually a strong starting point for accurate viewing.
Full range
A signal range commonly used by computers, where black and white use the full digital range. If full range is mismatched with limited range, blacks and whites can look wrong.
Gamma
The SDR relationship between signal level and screen brightness. Gamma affects midtones, shadow visibility, and perceived contrast. Common targets include 2.2, 2.4, and BT.1886.
Gamut mapping
The process of fitting colors from one gamut into another. A TV may need to map HDR container colors or source colors into what its panel can actually reproduce.
Grayscale
The range from black through gray to white. In calibration, grayscale tracking shows whether neutral tones stay neutral at different brightness levels.
H-N
HDR
High dynamic range video. HDR uses a wider brightness range than SDR and often uses wider color, 10-bit signals, and formats such as HDR10, HDR10+, Dolby Vision, or HLG.
HDR10
The baseline HDR format for most HDR discs, streams, and games. It uses PQ and static metadata, so the TV decides how to tone map the program to its own brightness capability.
HDR10+
An HDR format that adds dynamic metadata to HDR10. It can give the TV scene-by-scene or shot-by-shot guidance for tone mapping.
HGiG
HDR Gaming Interest Group guidance for game HDR setup. In practice, HGiG modes often try to avoid extra TV tone mapping so the console or game can set HDR output more predictably.
HLG
Hybrid Log-Gamma, an HDR system designed for broadcast compatibility. It behaves differently from PQ and is common in live or broadcast-oriented HDR workflows.
HDMI range
The expected signal range over HDMI, usually limited range for video devices and full range for computers. A mismatch can crush blacks or wash out the image.
Luminance
Measured light output from the screen. In calibration, luminance is usually discussed in nits or cd/m2.
Metadata
Information carried alongside HDR video that describes mastering brightness, color volume, or dynamic tone-mapping instructions. Metadata helps, but the TV still makes choices.
Near black
The very dark region just above reference black. OLED TVs are often judged carefully here because near-black handling affects shadow detail, posterization, and perceived depth.
Nits
A common unit for screen brightness, equivalent to cd/m2. HDR discussions often use nits to describe peak brightness, highlights, and mastering levels.
O-R
OLED
A display technology where each pixel emits its own light. OLEDs can produce true black by turning pixels off, which gives them excellent contrast in dark scenes.
Overscan
Cropping or enlarging the picture so the edges fall off screen. Modern video usually should be shown with overscan off, using settings like Just Scan, Screen Fit, or 1:1.
Peak brightness
The brightest level a TV can produce, often discussed for HDR highlights. Sustained brightness and tone-mapping behavior matter as much as a single peak number.
PLUGE
Picture Line-Up Generation Equipment. A test pattern used to set black level by comparing below-black, reference-black, and just-above-black bars.
PQ
Perceptual Quantizer, the HDR transfer function used by HDR10, HDR10+, and Dolby Vision. PQ maps signal values to absolute brightness targets.
Primary colors
The red, green, and blue points that define a display or color space. Secondary colors are cyan, magenta, and yellow.
Rec. 709
The HDTV color standard used for most SDR video. Accurate SDR calibration usually targets Rec. 709, D65, and an appropriate SDR gamma.
Rec. 2020
A very wide color standard used as the HDR container. Current consumer TVs usually cannot cover all of Rec. 2020, so they map what they can display.
Reference monitor
A professional display used in mastering or evaluation. Consumer TVs can approach reference behavior in the right modes, but they are not reference monitors by default.
RGB balance
The relationship between red, green, and blue in grayscale. If RGB balance is off, neutral grays and whites will lean too red, green, blue, cyan, magenta, or yellow.
S-Z
SDR
Standard dynamic range video. SDR is still the foundation for broadcast TV, Blu-ray, many streams, and a huge amount of legacy content.
Shadow detail
Visible information in dark parts of the picture. Good black-level setup preserves just-above-black detail without raising black into gray.
Sharpness
A TV control that often adds edge enhancement rather than real detail. For accurate viewing, sharpness is usually reduced until halos and ringing disappear.
Spectrophotometer
A meter that measures the spectral makeup of light. It is often used to profile or correct colorimeters, especially for displays with unusual spectral behavior.
Static metadata
HDR metadata that describes the program as a whole rather than changing scene by scene. HDR10 uses static metadata.
Test pattern
A controlled image or video signal designed to isolate one part of display behavior. Patterns are useful for setup and verification, but real content remains the final sanity check.
Tint
A basic color control that shifts the balance between green and magenta. On modern digital sources, it usually should stay at the default unless a pattern and workflow prove otherwise.
Tone mapping
The process of adapting video mastered for one brightness or color volume to what a specific TV can display. HDR tone mapping is one reason the same movie can look different on different TVs.
Warm 2
A common TV color temperature preset that often comes closest to D65. It may look yellow at first if you are used to cooler modes.
White balance
Controls used to make grayscale neutral from dark to bright. Two-point and multipoint white balance adjustments are common measured-calibration tools.
White clipping
Loss of highlight detail when bright signal levels all collapse into the same white. SDR white clipping patterns help set contrast or white level.
White point
The target color of white. For video, the standard white point is usually D65.
Wide color gamut
A color range larger than Rec. 709. HDR material often uses P3 colors inside a Rec. 2020 container.
4:2:0 / 4:2:2 / 4:4:4
Chroma subsampling formats. 4:4:4 preserves full color resolution, while 4:2:2 and 4:2:0 reduce color detail to save bandwidth. Most video content is 4:2:0.
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