Assessing a prototype Samsung OLED TV panel for use in visual psychophysics

We summarize results of a suite of calibration measurements conducted to assess the usability of a prototype Samsung OLED TV panel in visual psychophysics experiments. Specifically, we characterize the panel’s adherence to the principles of (a) linear channel summation, (b) spatial independence, (c) chromatic stability, and (d) temporal stability. We found that, although the panel has desired properties in several of the examined aspects, it violated the principle of spatial independence. Spatial independence was violated because of dramatic changes in the luminance of a target region depending on the panel’s activation in surrounding regions. We postulate that this is due to a gain control mechanism which changes the panel’s output so to maintain the temperature of certain components within acceptable limits. We derived a model which accurately predicted the emitted luminance of a target region embedded in arbitrary complex surround activation patterns, thereby partially overcoming the violation of spatial independence. We also observed a temporal stability issue in initial tests, but this was eliminated by replacing the Tcon board of the panel.