The Color Space & Monitor (CSM) Test Pattern Suite

The Color Space & Monitor (CSM) Test Pattern Suite tests digital television transmission systems, processing chains, compression systems and displays. The suite tests for color space correctness and performance and reveals tradeoffs being made during conversion among various color spaces.

The CSM suite has been designed to reveal problems that may arise in color space processing including High Dynamic Range (HDR) and Wide Color Gamut (WCG) systems. The test suite is an “eyes-only” design—it gives meaningful information without the use of specialized test gear. Simple observation is often sufficient.

Formats and Patterns

Patterns can be rendered in any resolution, frame rate, and color space. The suite includes the following patterns:

Full gamut pattern – Color chips between white and points on the 2020 or P3 gamut
Inter gamut pattern – Color chips between 709 and P3, and between P3 and 2020
Triple gamut pattern – Color chips around each of three gamut triangles
BT.2111 HDR color bars – Standard ITU color bars for HDR systems
Multi-gamut color bars – 709, P3 and 2020 color bars in a 2020 container
Color chips – Standard Color Checker plus gamma/EOTF tracking test
Dark chips – low-light dynamic range threshold test
Dark moons – low-light dynamic range gradient test
Color ramps – Rotating gradients in W,Y,C,G,M,R,B at various brightness ranges
Jacob’s ladder –Nit-calibrated stairsteps, 13 steps per decade, 9 decades, 50Knits to .005 nits
Nit Chip 100 – Ten small-area calibrated brightness patterns, 4000 nits to 1 nit.
Multispace – Reference images presented in eight color spaces in one image
UHDA 540/10 – Brightness tests for the UHDA compliance points
Faces – Multi-racial skin-tone references
Colored line pairs – Instant visual test of EOTF and gamut correctness
Tone Map – Makes display EOTF compromises visible
Tone Map APL – reveals display power limiting
Yellow Brick Road – Probes three-dimensional color volume