Comfortable brightness of watching television in the dark

Abstract

This study exploits an optimal display brightness for watching television in the dark. Two experiments were carried out in a dark room, and static and moving images were tested in each experiment. In Experiment I, three different, full-screen color images were presented with brightness levels ranging from 20 to 400 nit. A total of 23 college students assessed each stimulus' degree of visual comfort. Experiment II was conducted with 31 participants, and six videos with a range of brightness from 20 to 500 nit were shown. As a result, when watching the static image, the participants' assessments were almost the same among stimuli. However, when watching a video, the characteristics of the stimuli made the evaluation vary. This study provides empirical evidence and estimations of visual comfort based on display luminance that should be considered when designing for more comfortable viewing in a dark environment.