True colors unveiled: How Infinipix processing elevates color precision

This is the third post in our Infinipix series, where we explore the cutting-edge technology behind Barco's LED image processing solutions. In our previous posts, we've covered the fundamentals of real-time LED processing and reliability features. Today, we're diving into what might be the most visually impactful aspect of all: color precision and accuracy.

Have you ever noticed how LED displays sometimes struggle with natural skin tones, making people look unnaturally orange or washed out? Or how subtle color variations in logos can appear incorrectly on large displays?

This is where Barco's Infinipix technology truly shines. Our P8 color correction delivers remarkably natural skin tones and precise color reproduction. What makes this possible isn't just powerful hardware, but intelligent software that can be automatically calibrated to exact color codes or even manually tweaked for perfect brand matches. This is especially important in broadcast, design studios, and other applications that rely on immaculate color reproduction.

Now let’s explain this a bit more technically. The ‘P8’ comes from the 8 color points we use to calibrate the colors. The calibration (aka color equalization) that we used in the past was always focusing on the 3 primary colors red, green and blue. Adding the color temperature (also known as the white point) we can say that we were using P4 calibration.

In some cases, we want to change the black level of the panels to a certain value. This then becomes P5 calibration. The black level (= K) is expressed as x,y for the color and Y for the corresponding luminance value. A default value for the black level x,y would be the same as the color temperature (white point), and the luminance value defaults to 0 to have true black. Increasing the luminance value (while preserving the x,y values the same as white) will change the black level to grey.

Adding the target values for cyan, magenta and yellow (CMY) we have a total of 8 color points for the calibration algorithm.

Traditional LED displays operate with a fixed brightness level across the entire wall. Infinipix takes a more sophisticated approach, working with what we call a "power budget" for each tile.

Here's how it works: If a tile is displaying mostly dark content, it has spare power capacity. Our processing intelligently redirects this power to highlight brighter areas – like city lights against a night sky, brilliant flashes in an otherwise dark scene, or (as you can see in the example below) the bright area behind the football/soccer player. Notice that the details in the darker areas are preserved as well! Notice the bricks on the walls on the left vs the right in the video. This “peak brightness” capability creates stunning visual contrast and is based on the same HDR technology principles we've perfected in our digital cinema projectors.

At Barco, light management isn't just a feature – it's our heritage.

To understand how we achieve such precise color, let's briefly explore how digital colors work.

Colors in digital systems are represented and calibrated using what we call 3D Look-Up Tables (LUTs).  This is a 3-dimensional matrix that maps input color values (in RGB) to output values in a way that corrects color inaccuracies. Unlike conventional 1D LUTs, which adjust each color channel independently, 3D LUTs consider the interaction between red, green and blue channels, allowing much more accurate and nuanced color transformations. Think of them as sophisticated color recipe books that tell the display exactly how to mix red, green, and blue to create every shade you see.

What makes our 3D LUTs special is their comprehensive nature – they don't just define vibrant colors, but also precisely calibrate how black appears. This is crucial because "perfect black" is as important to overall image quality as bright, vivid colors.

Our Infinipix processor can perform an impressive feat: changing any colors into another color you define, without affecting shades or transitions. Car designers particularly value this capability – they can switch a vehicle's color from red to blue without creating strange artifacts or unnatural transitions in shadows and highlights. 

One of the most frustrating aspects of traditional LED walls is calibration. It's typically a tedious process requiring each tile to be individually adjusted – sometimes taking hours with ultimately inconsistent results.

With Infinipix Smart Calibration, those days are gone. Our system instantly recognizes color requirements and ensures the entire LED display renders the right color combination automatically across all tiles simultaneously. This delivers superior color consistency while saving hours of technical work. Note that it remains possible to manually adapt the colors as well.

For applications pushing the boundaries of visual experience – like simulation environments and VR setups – we've developed specialized capabilities with our IND-100 processor.

This device features two DisplayPort 1.4 connections (not the older DP1.2 standard found in competing products) enabling what we call "dual eye-point processing."