For OLED-Like Distinction, Stack an LCD on Prime of One other LCD

When positioned side-by-side, it turns into instantly apparent why an OLED pc display screen can price lots of to 1000’s of {dollars} greater than a standard LCD show: the OLED’s distinction and black ranges far outperform it. However is there a method for LCDs to catch up? There may be, for those who’ve acquired the {hardware} hacking abilities to stack two of them collectively.

You’ve in all probability seen that the components of your LCD TV or monitor which are alleged to look black truly find yourself wanting much more grey. The problem comes from how the show know-how works. LCD panels don’t produce any mild of their very own, and as a substitute depend on a glowing panel behind them to supply a visual full-color picture. To recreate blacks, LCDs try to utterly block the sunshine coming from behind them from shining by way of, however they’re not nice at it, which is why the darker areas of their photographs are likely to look grey.

There have been some enhancements made to LCD display screen know-how to assist improve their skill to correctly show the black halfs of a picture, together with breaking apart their backlights into smaller zones that may be selectively turned on and off as wanted, however the outcomes have by no means come near the efficiency of OLED shows, which enable particular person pixels to be utterly turned on and off.

However what if an LCD panel could possibly be virtually pretty much as good at distinction as an OLED? Matt Perks, from the YouTube channel DIY Perks, questioned if two LCD panels stacked atop one another could be higher at blocking the sunshine from an illuminated panel from getting by way of. The precept is just like throwing on an additional blanket on a chilly night time to assist stop physique warmth from escaping.

The reply, surprisingly, was sure, but it surely took so much to make it occur, and there have been nonetheless some efficiency compromises. The primary downside that Perks needed to take care of when making a dual-layer LCD show was neutralizing the consequences of polarized filters, which assist enhance the picture high quality of LCD screens however get in the best way for those who’re placing one panel over one other. Eradicating them wasn’t an possibility, however a easy layer of tracing paper sandwiched between the 2 was sufficient to unravel the issue… whereas creating others.

The entire level of layering two LCD panels was to dam mild, however the added layer of tracing paper additionally lowered the depth of the sunshine a lot that it was tough to supply an precise picture. The answer was to construct an upgraded mild panel behind the dual-layer LCD display screen, which then required much more layers to diffuse the LED lights, which meant extra energy and even cooling, courtesy of 4 large followers on the again. On prime of all of that, every LCD panel nonetheless wanted its personal controller, leading to a customized display screen measuring a number of inches deep.

The outcomes of this construct are spectacular, with the customized display screen providing a a lot improved distinction ratio, and blacks that really look as darkish as if the show had been turned off. Brighter areas had extra saturation and depth, too, however total, even with the upgraded mild panel sucking extra energy, the customized display screen nonetheless wasn’t as shiny as both of the LCD screens used to construct it initially had been. It additionally exhibited some undesirable artifacts round high-quality particulars, together with some noticeable blooming round white textual content, and virtually a drop shadow impact on black textual content. It’s removed from good, however the construct truly price significantly lower than a similarly-sized OLED display screen would, so possibly it was value all the trouble?