A monitor’s spec sheet includes the fine details about its display panel, like its peak brightness, color accuracy, and contrast ratio. Rather than dive into the specifics about a monitor’s display technology, consumers often look for a high dynamic range (HDR) certification. This badge hints at a monitor’s performance, specifically as it relates to the aforementioned brightness and color categories. VESA, short for the Video Electronics Standards Association, created DisplayHDR tears to help consumers easily spot HDR-capable monitors. But not every monitor sporting the “DisplayHDR” badge is really capable of great HDR.
VESA’s DisplayHDR certification process involves putting monitor screens through performance validation tests. In other words, a monitor sporting a DisplayHDR logo has met the quality requirements for a specific tier set by VESA. This is designed to let you know how a display will handle HDR content. However, not all HDR is the same. There’s one VESA standard that misses the mark in terms of HDR performance, and yet it bears the DisplayHDR brand anyway.
That HDR-400 badge only tells you one thing
Brightness is just a small part of the HDR viewing experience
VESA’s DisplayHDR is an open standard built atop the HDR10 protocol. If you see a monitor featuring the DisplayHDR specification, you can be sure it meets VESA’s certification requirements for a particular tier. But some monitors skirt official DisplayHDR certification processes by making vague claims.
For example, HDR-400 isn’t the same as DisplayHDR 400. The former claims that a monitor can hit 400 nits of brightness, and this is unvalidated. The latter claims the monitor meets all of VESA’s DisplayHDR 400 certification requirements, and has been independently validated. VESA explains as much on its DisplayHDR website:
If a monitor claims HDR support without a DisplayHDR performance specification, or refers to pseudo-specs like “HDR-400” instead of “DisplayHDR 400” it’s likely that the product does not meet the certification requirements.
If your monitor advertises HDR-400 support but isn’t on VESA’s official list, it doesn’t actually live up to the DisplayHDR 400 standard. Unfortunately, even if your monitor is DisplayHDR 400 certified, it probably still won’t be great for HDR content. This is because the “400” in DisplayHDR 400 only tells you one thing — a display’s minimum peak luminance expressed in candela per square meter (cd/m2), also referred to as nits. A DisplayHDR 400 monitor has a peak brightness rating of at least 400 nits, but peak brightness is only one part of achieving quality HDR.
In fact, the 400-nit peak brightness rating offered by DisplayHDR 400 monitors isn’t much higher than the 350 nits that is standard on many non-HDR monitors. Plus, color accuracy, contrast ratio, and black levels are just as important as brightness for HDR content playback. While DisplayHDR 400 monitors have a modest 400-nit peak brightness rating, their other display specs leave much to be desired.
Your monitor should support DisplayHDR 500 or higher
These standards offer better color accuracy, contrast, and black levels
To understand why DisplayHDR 400 doesn’t cut it, we need to dive into what the acronym “HDR” really means. It stands for high dynamic range, and the range part of this term is crucial. A good HDR monitor can display bright peaks and deep blacks at the same time. This requires a monitor screen to support a wide color space, a high contrast ratio, and a low black level luminance. The minimum requirements for DisplayHDR 400 certification fail to meet this threshold.
For example, a DisplayHDR 400 monitor is only guaranteed to cover 90% of the DCI-P3 color gamut. It is only required to offer a static contrast ratio of 1,300:1 and a maximum black level luminance of 0.4 nits or fewer. In other words, a monitor branded as DisplayHDR 400 certified delivers whites that are 1,300 times brighter than blacks. It also can’t produce true blacks, as they can be as bright as 0.4 nits in certain situations. The relatively poor contrast ratio and black levels, at least in the context of HDR monitors, make a DisplayHDR 400 monitor unequipped to provide quality HDR.
It’s clear that DisplayHDR 400 isn’t true HDR when comparing the differences between the entry-level tier and DisplayHDR 500. The latter only offers a minimum peak luminance that is 100 nits brighter than DisplayHDR 400. The bigger upgrades are in color accuracy, contrast ratio, and black levels. DisplayHDR 500 covers 5% more of the DCI-P3 color gamut, has a higher 7,000:1 contrast ratio, and a dimmer 0.1-nit maximum black level luminance. Put simply, DisplayHDR 500 can truly maximize HDR content because it can accurately display bright whites and deep blacks on the same screen with superb contrast.
The HDR quality only improves with higher tiers, such as DisplayHDR 600, DisplayHDR 1000, and DisplayHDR 1400. Monitors branded as “True Black” offer a maximum black level luminance of 0.0005 across the board. Your monitor should support DisplayHDR 500 or higher if you care about sharp, vibrant HDR playback with excellent contrast. DisplayHDR 400 has HDR in the name, but it’s not true HDR.
How to tell if your laptop or monitor supports HDR
Check for a VESA badge, or look at these key specifications
A monitor with high peak brightness levels has one piece of the HDR puzzle, but high contrast is just as important. A bright screen alone won’t deliver impressive dynamic range if it can’t recreate deep blacks alongside the bright whites. This is why you should look for monitors with local dimming zones if HDR is your goal. LCDs with global dimming can only adjust backlight brightness for the entire screen, whereas LCDs with localized dimming can brighten or dim specific parts of the screen. It’s a crucial specification for HDR-ready monitors.
You can also look for a monitor with a VESA DisplayHDR certification badge, but specifically one rated at DisplayHDR 500 or higher. As we’ve discussed, the contrast ratio and black levels of the DisplayHDR 400 tier don’t truly meet the demands of HDR content. Don’t just look at the peak brightness level — the contrast ratio and maximum black level luminance are arguably more insightful specifications.
When you know what to seek out, finding the right HDR monitor for your setup is simple. Unfortunately, complicating matters are confusing standards like DisplayHDR 400 that aren’t up for the job.