ICDM Home Page

(International Committee for Display Metrology)

The ICDM is a committee in the display industry's most prestigious and prolific organization, SID (Society for Information Display), part of the SID Definitions and Standards Committee.

The ICDM is working to produce the first standard ever for SID, the ICDM Display Measurement Standard (DMS) to solve the needs of the display industry to have a single top-notch reference standard for how to measure and characterize displays.

What's Happening

The ICDM Display Measurement Standard is coming in 2009!

Here is the ICDM Calendar

More details of the ICDM meetings can be found below.

Writing of the ICDM is underway! The stage is set, the outline is written, there is a new reporting template, and we are working to complete the ICDM Display Measurement Standard in time for SID Display Week 2009 in San Antonio, Texas, beginning on May 31.

The ICDM DIsplay Measurement Standard (DMS) is the most ambitious display evaluation standard every undertaken in the display industry. It will have about 140 display measurement which cover every area of displays. The standard is intended to include nearly every display technology and is usable for every level, from display manufacturers to consumers.

It takes the expertise of the best display evaluation experts to produce a document this important and of this scope and to do it right. Most can be found in the SID membership. Here is a quote from a display industry technical publication editor:
“(the) ICDM has assembled some of the best display metrology experts in the world.”

The ICDM ambitious goal is to cover all the ordinary topics of display evaluation today as well as the needs of current and future displays. Most importantly, we take on the difficult areas which in some cases have never been addressed. Key areas of the ICDM DMS standard for display evaluation will include the following.

Full Screen Measurements
3D-Stereo
Viewing Angle
Grayscale / Gamma
Temporal Characteristics - Response Time
Motion Artifacts
Uniformity
Low Luminance & Contrast Measurements
Reflection Measurements
Color Characteristics
Touch Screens & Surface Displays
Front-Projection Screens
Physical Characteristics
Electrical

Generally the display measurement section, such as those shown above, will be short, concise, and with minimum detail.

Besides those display evaluation sections, there will be sections for giving details and discussions in support. These will include these sections.

Metrology Considerations
Technical Discussions
Variables and Nomenclature
Tables and Formulae
Glossary
Acronyms
Acknowledgements
References

There will be considerations for the characteristics of modern displays. An example is dynamics, where displays may have global dimming, local dimming, APL (Average Picture Level), luminance enhancement, etc.

We also work to clarify the variations in names of display performance items and how they are called out. Examples follow:

Dynamic Contrast = Global Dimming
Brightness and Luminance are often confused.
- They cannot be used interchangeably.
Residual Image = Image Retention = Image Sticking
- Note that residual Image ≠ Burn-in

We are fighting to standardize "specsmanship" where displays are creatively specified to show their strong points and avoid their weaknesses.

Here are some of the prolific problem areas in display evaluation today, areas which have no readily-available information to clarify what they are or how they are measured. Sometimes, "specsmanship" is part of reason they are not well-defined. The ICDM DMS will address issues such as these.

Response Time: There are 5 different types of response times. In specifications of displays, you may see "response time" but you will rarely see the details of the response time defined.

Viewing angle as you normally see it for LCDs is very deceptive. It is almost always given in numbers which mask the real viewing angle limitations of that display.

The ICDM will also have a subjective analysis section which in some cases will allow some level of display performance understanding with no laboratory equipment — making it something that display end users (consumers) could use for understanding how good their display is.

Work is in progress for the ICDM Display Measurement Standard, the standard which will describe nearly any parameter for displays, how to measure them, and what the results mean. Its purpose is:

To help the display industry by providing common language for measurements of displays
To provide users of displays identification of what display parameters are, what is expected of them, and to help avoid tricks or "specsmanship" which may be involved in specifying displays in a creative manner. These are items which might not always be clear and could mislead how someone judges a display product for its quality and performance.

The ICDM consists of some of the best display evaluation and qualification experts in the world, and will work to produce the document that will set the industry onto a path which corrects inaccuracies, and steers all to use a common language about display evaluation and characterization. It will apply to LCD's, PDP's, OLED's, Projectors, 3D displays, flexible displays, etc., ... even CRT's.

This web site is the home page for the ICDM. It went active on Sunday, March 23, 2008.

Requests, suggestions, questions, etc. are welcome. Just use the "Contact Us" link below.

Activities & Meetings

Upcoming Meetings / Events

ICDM 3-day Meeting in San Francisco, California

Dates: January 21-23, 2009
- Location: Dolby Laboratories in San Francisco
Meeting will primarily be for in-depth and comprehensive meeting of the ICDM subcommittees for development of the ICDM DIsplay Measurement Standard (DMS).

ICDM 3-day Meeting in Karlsruhe, Germany

Dates: February 25-27, 2009
- Location: autronic-Melchers, Karlsruhe, Germany
Meeting will primarily be for first-pass review of the ICDM draft release, for some ICDM subcommittee final development, and for support of the validation and verification subcommittee for review of the ICDM DIsplay Measurement Standard (DMS) draft information

ICDM 3-day Meeting in Colorado (near Boulder)

Dates: March ???, 2009 (Dates to be finalized)
- Location: to be determined
Meeting will be for final in-person review of the ICDM DIsplay Measurement Standard (DMS) draft 2 in preparation for its release for publication in April. Will be to support the editor and to catch up on final subcommittee development requirements.

Past Meetings

ICDM Evening Meeting during IDW'08, Niigita, Japan

Date: Thursday, December 4, 2008, 6:00PM to 9:00PM
- Location: TBD near the Toki Messe Niigata Convention Center

ICDM 3-day Meeting in Redmond, Washington

Dates: November 12-13, 2008
- Location: Radiant Imaging Facilities, Redmond
Meeting will primarily be for in-depth and comprehensive meeting of the ICDM subcommittees for development of the ICDM DIsplay Measurement Standard (DMS).

ICDM 1-day Meeting During IMID 2008, Seoul Korea

During the time of the IMID/IDMS/Asia Display Symposium, near Seoul
Date/Time: Wednesday, October 15, 2008
full day meeting, 8:30AM to 5:00PM
Location: The Lexington Hotel, Seoul, Korea
Most of the meeting was for ICDM subcommittees
16 persons attended

3-Hour Meeting at SID 2008

Met at SID 2008, Tuesday, May 20, 2008.
There were about 65 who attended and the discussion topics were general ICDM discussion and break-out meetings of most of the ICDM subcommittees.

ICDM (International Committee for Display Metrology)

SID (Society for Information Display) Telephone Number: 1 (408) 879-3901 | San Jose, CA

The ICDM is a Committee of SID, part of the Standard and Definitions Committee.

Questions or comments? Contact the webmaster.

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