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The VI-01 correctly processes HDR10 signals with a dedicated picture mode and automatic switching. There are no picture options available, but I found decent accuracy and a picture that was slightly better than its SDR counterpart.
HDR Brightness and Contrast
The VI-01 delivers good brightness in HDR mode with just over 363 nits peak. That’s enough to make a little extra impact in the highlight areas of the image. But with no dynamic dimming feature, black levels are the same as they are in SDR mode. That means contrast is the same as well. HDR delivers a bit more color saturation but that is all.
Grayscale, EOTF and Color
I was happy to see that the VI-01 was very color accurate in HDR mode, especially in the grayscale test where I recorded no visible errors and a near-perfect EOTF. The only flaw in luminance tracking is a high reading at 5% black, which is too light. Fixing this parameter alone would increase HDR contrast by a good deal. The rest of the curve is right on the reference line with the tone-map transition point at 65%.
In the HDR gamut test, I noted over-saturation in red by around 15%. This isn’t a huge problem and given the VI-01’s light gamma, it makes color more vibrant at the expense of a little fine detail. Some bright areas show a bit of clipping, but you have to be looking for it. In the heat of an action game, you aren’t likely to notice a problem.
Hue tracking is on point except for blue, which shows the same shift toward cyan that I observed in SDR mode. The VI-01 interprets Rec.2020 much the same way with over-saturation of the inner points. It manages to get up to around 88% red, but the other colors top out closer to 70%. This is typical performance when compared to all wide gamut monitors.
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