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To learn about our HDR testing, see our breakdown of how we test PC monitors.
With a 1,000-nit backlight, the 558M1RY’s HDR promise is great. With no full-array local dimming (FALD) backlight here, like what you’ll find on many of the best HDR monitors, you’ll need dynamic contrast to render truly excellent HDR. Luckily, Philips did its homework.
HDR Brightness & Contrast
For these tests, we measured the Personal and DisplayHDR 1000 modes once the HDR signal was applied. Personal tops out at around 750 nits, which is plenty for any living room or office. If you want the monitor’s full brightness capability though, select the DisplayHDR 1000 mode and watch the peak output go over 1,276 nits. That’s seriously bright. You’ll want to use that when there is a lot of ambient light, like sunlit windows or floodlights. For most environments, Personal is fine, and it also provides better color accuracy.
With super-low black levels, the 558M1RY delivers an impressive 30,720.7:1 contrast ratio for HDR content. That’s a depth you can easily see. Properly-encoded HDR content looks fantastic here, and we had to remind ourselves that the backlight is not a FALD unit. Philips has done a great job here. Only the FALD-equipped HP and Alienware OLED can beat it.
Grayscale, EOTF & Color
You can see the difference between Personal and DisplayHDR 1000 modes above. The latter has a reddish-green tint, which is visible in real-life content, at 40% brightness and higher. The EOTF luminance curve follows the spec reasonably well but gets to the tone-map transition point a little soon. Still, DisplayHDR 100 mode is the mode to choose if you want maximum brightness, as its color, especially red, is also over-saturated.
Personal is much more color-accurate with near perfect DCI-P3 target matching and grayscale that’s a little blue in the brightest parts of the image. The EOTF follows a similar track to the DisplayHDR 1000 mode but the lower peak brightness is easier on the eyes when viewed in average room light or in the dark. Personal is the mode we used for our hands-on tests.
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