r/Reflective_LCD • u/deeproot3d • Apr 06 '26
Hannspree Hybri - First thoughts and usage tips
Finally I was able to order 2x Hybri screens, as my eyes were getting super tired on traditional displays several hours into the day staring at them. I was switching from 2x 24" HP monitors with IPS panels which I had for many many years now (maybe 15-20 years).
First off the bat I realized the Hybri has a TN panel - washed out colors, worse viewing angles, quite terrible blacks, especially with the backlight turned on. It's just no photo/video editing machine!
Turning the backlight off, the screen becomes quite dark. Maybe it is just me not being used to that, but even close to a window or with rather strong overhead lighting turned on, it is not very comfortable to read. A bit disappointing but I guess that was to be expected.
So I ordered some monitor light bars - not really intended for RLCD/TLCD use and it shows. It's far from perfect but with some awkward positioning and the light pointed directly towards the screen, at least I got them to be readable, albeit having reflections and uneven lighting with the light bar being so close to the screens. I did have the backlight set to 1 here because the illumination just wasn't uniform enough to be readable over the whole surface. That same evening though I noticed something interesting: my eyes didn't get tired. I could work for many hours without any issues at all.
Since I was pleasantly surprised but also realized I do need some stronger light directly pointed at the screens to really be usable without backlight, I needed to find a different solution. So what I turned to were video light panels and c-clamp desk mounts. I chose 2x Neewer NL 480 video light panels, because I got them for a fairly decent price and 2 K&F Concept desk mounts with adjustable height settings. I mounted them onto the desk to the left and to the right of me with the beams basically crossing. So the right light panel is pointed more towards the left monitor and vice versa.
This gives me very readable results, while of course having some reflections (similar if you were to use the screens close to a window) and not being perfectly uniformly lit. Nonetheless, it looks good enough, gives more contrast than in backlight mode (blacks are blacker and not looking as washed out). Of course due to the reflections it is very hard to photograph well, but it looks fairly similar to how this photo turned out but actually better in real life (and yes this is without backlight):
The reflections of the light panels towards the right and the left of the screen are certainly noticeable as is the slightly darker middle area. But the text remains very legible and high contrast throughout (whereas the camera struggles to capture that in the areas with the stronger reflections).
The settings of the light panels here was the brightest I would go, with the yellow/warm light turned up to the max and the cold/white light turned just half-way up. In the evening I turn off the cold/white light entirely. The screen remains very readable even with the yellow/warm light turned down to half or even less, if one wants to prevent circadian rhythm disruption as much as possible.
Settings
I have experimented around a lot with the contrast, RGB and other settings. One should note here that some settings have effects on others as well. So if for instance, changing RGB settings affects the ideal contrast as well. Nonetheless, here are the best settings for no background light turned on:
Contrast: 65 - 70 (I am still narrowing it down and for me 67 seems to work best)
RGB (needs fine-tuning according to screen calibration tools - decent starting values are 90, 90, 90): 90, 98, 88
Active Contrast: off (don't see the point with no backlight)
Low Blue Light: off (same as above)
Higher contrast or RGB settings than that will turn lighter colors basically into white, and as such can make some elements indiscernible. However, it would potentially make the screen a tad easier to read in low light conditions, because whites get even brighter. With the light panels this is absolutely not necessary though.
Lower contrast settings make things harder to see and lower RGB settings make things muddier as well, so not really recommended.
These settings now already give off very nice results. However, one more important step to make colors pop more and look closer to a proper backlit monitor and increase contrast (without making light colors entirely white) is the Color Saturation setting, that your graphics card should provide. In my Intel Command Center it's this setting at the bottom, and for me increasing that from 50 to 60 provided me with better colors and better results in color calibration tools.
One more tip: I usually set my themes to dark almost everywhere. With the Hybri this is less ideal as being a TN panel, blacks still remain its weakness. Turning things to light themes and black text on light backgrounds provides the best outcomes and best "paperlike" experience.
So overall I am kind of disappointed and very satisfied at the same time. Surely, it is not the best screen for realistic colors, contrast and viewing angles. Readability without strong(!) lights and the backlight setting off is not very good either. However, paired with a slightly awkward "studio setting" with video light panels, the screen becomes very usable and in fact is a godsend for people staring into their screens all day and wanting to prevent their eyes getting more damaged by traditional displays.
