Display Standards Organization VESA has announced a new 1.2 specification for the DisplayHDR certification scheme. The revised version 1.2 standard adds a variety of new requirements, but the bottom line is that most so-called HDR-certified monitors don't actually support HDR yet.

In theory, VESA has slightly raised the criteria for what it needs to qualify as an HDR PC monitor. VESA has added requirements for color fidelity and static contrast, especially to lower-level authentication levels. However, the standard still allows something like a monolithic backlight on an LCD panel, which is not something of true HDR performance.

More specifically, the previous definition of DisplayHDR400 1.1 did not require static contrast or DCI-P3 gamut coverage. The new 1.2 version specifies a minimum of 1,300:1 for static contrast and 90% for DCI-P3 coverage.

The former is basically what a half-decent IPS panel achieves, 90% the same as the DCI-P3. Neither actually raises the bar much, nor does it approach securing real HDR functionality as well.

There are some further tweaks to the definition around color accuracy, including the smallest 8-bit color, but ultimately the version 1.2 DisplayHDR400 monitor is still monolithic, which, by the wise definition of the term "HDR", does not make it a true HDR display.

Further up the stack, things get a little more interesting. For example, the definition of DisplayHDR600 requires a static contrast of 8,000:1. This goes far beyond what existing LCD panels we know can achieve. The HDR1000 layer is even higher and has a 30,000:1 requirement. However, the HDR1000 also requires full array local dimming for higher contrast.

The HDR600 panel does not require full array dimming and has only a few zones where the edges light up, so it's not clear what 8,000:1 actually means. Given that it cannot be achieved with the LCD panel itself, it must include an edge-lit zone, which is certainly a very dull instrument.

DisplayHDR1.2 adds a wide range of tests, including Black Crush, which evaluates shadow details, and new metrics designed to accurately display sdr content in hdr mode.

It's all very welcome, but ultimately, nothing really pushes a more affordable monitor towards a real HDR display. Only the HDR1000 and HDR1400 require full array local dimming. So the HDR400, 500, and 600 layers are not really HDR-capable yet. Indeed, the HDR400's new 1,300:1 static contrast requirement seems to be reverse-engineered based on the reality of what an IPS panel can do. That would not change anything.

At best, DisplayHDR version 1.2 excludes some of the very worst low-fidelity monitors in terms of color accuracy. In that sense, it would be useful. If you see a cheap HDR400 version 1.2 panel, you can be pretty sure it's not complete crap. But ironically, you can also be sure that it is HDR rendering that you can't do HDR rendering.