- The International Committee for Display Metrology (ICDM) and the Society for Information Display (SID) have released the Information Display Measurements Standard (IDMS).
- The IDMS document creates standard measurement procedures to quantify electronic display characteristics and qualities. It is the culmination of years of effort by engineers and scientists across dozens of organizations to codify the science of display measurement, explain some of the difficulties associated with making measurements, and offer solutions to help make the measurements properly. The IDMS has benefited from the expertise of display metrologists, electrical, mechanical, software and optical engineers, physicists, vision scientists, and many other display-related disciplines.
- To promote the spread and use of the measurement procedures and techniques within the display community, an electronic version of the IDMS will be made freely available. This decision follows the philosophy of the ICDM and SID, which is to provide the standard to as wide of an audience as possible to help establish the techniques within the document as the universal choice for display measurements. SID and the ICDM expect this document to continue to evolve over time, with updates, supplemental files, and other value-added content to follow.
- The IDMS features the following:
- Self-contained measurement procedures that are clear and easy to use
- A library of commonly used and newly developed display measurements
- Dozens of new display measurements for current and future displays
- Adaptability - allows a variety of equipment for measurements
- Tutorials and other supplemental sections included
- Includes diagnostics, cautions and useful hints
- According to the organization, benefits of using the IDMS include:
- Lower costs: consume less time and money due to unambiguous definitions of measurement methods
- Reduce development lead times by using standardized metrics
- Provide a common language to reduce risk of disagreements regarding performance
- Increase customer satisfaction by having more accurate, reliable, and repeatable performance characterizations
- Convenience: provide all measurement procedures and auxiliary information under a single cover
- "The IDMS is the first standard from the ICDM and SID," said ICDM Chair, Joe Miseli. "It is a defining work for evaluating displays and is the most comprehensive display measurement and metrology standard yet produced. It provides a full set of common and more specialized display measurement procedures to characterize display performance. It also includes new and innovative measurements never before standardized for characterizing modern displays, as well as many references to clarify and expand upon metrology foundations and techniques.
- "It builds upon the tremendous amount of work of many, especially the editor-in-chief, Ed Kelley, a former NIST physicist and one of the foremost metrologists in the display industry today. The IDMS is written in plain English with abundant use of graphics and examples that will make it simple to use and so can be widely applied throughout the display industry. It is all-inclusive so that everything one needs is available in a single volume."
- "SID is proud to announce the availability of the first release of the IDMS," said SID president, Brian Berkeley. "This landmark standard is the culmination of untold hours of effort on the part of contributors representing a broad cross-section of the display field. The IDMS is the single most significant display measurement standard to be released in more than 10 years. Working under the auspices of SID, and with the cooperation of the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA), the ICDM has created a valuable standard that truly advances display measurement science. The IDMS will enable and promote consistency in the characterization and reporting of critical display performance parameters. Considering the rapid pace of innovation and advances in display science over the past decade, the IDMS meets a tremendous need for the display industry. SID congratulates and extends its thanks to all of the ICDM members for their profound contribution."
- The IDMS is the follow-up to the Flat Panel Display Measurements Standard (version 2.0) and is used extensively by the industry since its publication by the VESA in 2001. The IDMS does not set performance standards, but gives guidance about how to measure displays. This will allow component suppliers, display manufacturers and customers to clearly communicate, understand and agree with the measurement and characterization methods upon which performance standards are based.
- An electronic version of the IDMS is now available as a free download from the ICDM home site at www.icdm-sid.org as well as at www.sid.org. A printed version will be available for purchase through the new SID online bookstore.
