High dynamic range displays.(new product DR37-P from Brightside Technologies)

The human eye is an incredible instrument. It has the ability to process a very high range of colors and even a larger range of luminance variations. Indeed, when we hear display contrast ratios like 500:1, 2000:1, or even 50,000:1, they ultimately pale to the roughly 1,000,000:1 luminance range of our eyes. Similarly, the 24-bit color processing (or 32-bit, including alpha channel) that seemed pretty good a decade ago now feels unsatisfying in the quest to produce lifelike images and video.

And that is just why a small but growing number of applications, some as common as Adobe Photoshop CS2, and computer games are moving toward high dynamic range imagery (HDRI) and creating HDRI with as much as 16 bits per color.

Of course, while the software can process more data, you probably don't have a monitor that can show it. Naturally, "quality in" begets "quality out," and maintaining a high dynamic range throughout the creation and editing processes will reduce rounding errors and yield a better image even on a low dynamic range monitor.

Still, a monitor that could display the full quality of imagery would be so much better.

Now there is at least one such monitor. Brightside Technologies is a small Western Canadian company with the first HDR-capable display. Unfortunately for most of us, Brightside's high dynamic range display--priced at $49,000--isn't likely to show up on our individual desktops very soon. But, the technology is eye-opening and, hopefully, it's a glimpse at the future.

Lighting It Up, and Down

On the surface, Brightside's DR37-P uses a fairly straightforward LCD panel, similar to any other higher quality 37-inch LCD TV/monitor. But there are a couple of critical variations: First, Brightside uses a much different backlight; and second, that backlight doesn't just turn on and off with the power switch.