The World’s Premier Monitor Control Software
FAQs
What is Display Tune®? Who needs Display Tune? How does Display Tune replace the display’s OSD? What are Display Tune plug-ins? How can Display Tune’s color plug-in cause an LCD to exhibit color like a calibrated CRT? Isn’t the standard hardware OSD sufficient for the end user? What about Microsoft®’s implementation of DDC/CI? I am a developer, how can I learn more about Display Tune? How does an OEM customer qualify for receipt of the Display Tune Reference Design Package?
What is Display Tune®?
Display Tune is a utility that provides the user with a guided process of tuning their display to achieve optimal viewing results. The display’s on-screen display (OSD) is not required during the tuning process. In day-to-day operation, Display Tune allows the user to make periodic, simple adjustments to the display’s behavior without resorting to the OSD. In addition, Display Tune has a provision for plug-ins to add new features for even greater management of the display. The first plug-in available for Display Tune is color calibration. Display Tune’s color calibration plug-in goes beyond mere characterization applications which produce residual color management profiles seldom used by Windows applications. The color calibration plug-in applies its color correction in real-time, all of the time.
TopWho needs Display Tune?
One of the most common reasons for display out-of-box dissatisfaction and return is improper set-up of the display at the user’s site. Display Tune allows for quick, easy to understand, display tuning for optimal performance to avoid unnecessary support calls or returns. Anyone wishing to achieve the highest level of visual performance from their display can benefit from Display Tune. Display Tune features a simple process to achieve optimal results. With Display Tune the user attains a high degree of confidence that the display is properly adjusted.
TopHow does Display Tune replace the display’s OSD?
Display Tune provides the user with a simple user interface allowing adjustment of the functions normally associated with the display’s OSD. Changes to Brightness, Contrast, Position, and other standard monitor characteristics are made easily and intuitively. Any changes made through Display Tune’s interface are communicated to the display through the standard video cable or on supported select enabled displays - USB.
Display Tune uses the Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) provided by modern Windows operating systems (OSs) to establish two-way communication with the monitor over the DDC channel. In most cases Display Tune directly addresses the graphics hardware in the host PC in order to support legacy OSs and graphic controllers that would otherwise be unsupported by the newly emerging APIs. This comprehensive method of establishing chip-by-chip support makes Display Tune the most compatible Display Data Channel/Command Interface (DDC/CI) solution available. Like all other Portrait Displays’ products, Display Tune has a long-term commitment to compatibility.
TopWhat are Display Tune plug-ins?
Display Tune architecture provides for additional functionality to be added to Display Tune over time. This provides an elegant update path for Display Tune as DDC/CI monitors become ubiquitous in the market place. The first plug-in available from Portrait Displays is color calibration. Currently Portrait Displays has added plug-in support for Auto Pivot, Theft Deterrence, Asset Management, PIP Control, and Zone Control.
TopHow can Display Tune’s color plug-in cause an LCD to exhibit color like a calibrated CRT?
Accurate Windows color reproduction on a display device requires conformity to the sRGB standard. To achieve this conformity the tonal response of the monitor must generally follow a gamma 2.2 curve. CRTs in their native state come very close to approximating this curve and simple adjustments can bring them into very good calibration. But LCDs typically vary a great deal from this ideal response curve and most suffer from severe color crossover effects as well. Display Tune uses a patent-pending method of presenting the user with a series of targets corresponding to critical points along the tone curve. User adjustments with respect to these targets establishes the variance in the LCD’s tonal response to an ideal gamma 2.2 response curve. Based on this point data, Display Tune calculates the overall video signal compensation necessary to cause the display to exhibit a gamma 2.2 behavior along the entire tone curve. Display Tune then uses an intelligent agent to apply the calculated compensation at all times, achieving the desired result. Display Tune is the only application capable of producing the wide-ranging, multi-point calibration necessary to properly calibrate LCD displays.
TopIsn’t the standard hardware OSD sufficient for the end user?
Conventional hardware OSD’s that come with displays are crude and unintuitive. They don’t provide feedback to the user on how the adjustments to the display should be made. There are no instructions or target screens to easily allow for correctly “dialing in” the display’s characteristics. Thus the user is left with a frustrating experience when calibrating the display for the work environment.
TopWhat about Microsoft®’s implementation of DDC/CI?
Microsoft supports DDC/CI as part of the Vista OS API. Display products that bear the Vista Premium logo have been tested and comply with DDC/CI support. Note that the Vista API does not support table commands as defined in the DDC/CI standard.
TopI am a developer, how can I learn more about Display Tune?
For certified developers, Portrait Display’s can supply the Display Tune Reference Design Package. To learn more about the Design Reference Package and qualification process contact your local Portrait Displays Sales Representative.
TopHow does an OEM customer qualify for receipt of the Display Tune Reference Design Package?
In order to receive the Display Tune Reference Design Package, the customer must have a DDC/CI compliant prototype display with which to test. When used with the prototype hardware, the firmware within the display can be tested and debugged for full compliance while running Display Tune Toolbox™. The Display Tune Toolbox™ is a software application that tests the DDC/CI communication and correct implementation of the Virtual Control Panel (VCP) commands. To obtain more information about the Display Tune Reference Design Package contact your local Portrait Displays Sales Representative.