"We don't need the ability to specify that a pixel should be brightness level 64823 vs 64824."
Actually what is needed is anatomically defined range - the "true brightness", like it is for the 24-bit "photographic" (tetra-chromatic) range of colors. This would be a limit defined by the anatomical limits of human eye. There is a limit of absolute darkness (relative to the eye) and there is also a limit in the brightness of the light that the human eye can safely be exposed to. In this defined range there is a limit in granularity that the human eye can distinguish. I am not aware if such a definition exists, but I am aware that a display to respect the "true brightness" is impossible (for the mere fact that the light reflected from our faces sheds upon the dark portions of the display, and those dark portions can not perfectly absorb the external supplement of light).
Actually what is needed is anatomically defined range - the "true brightness", like it is for the 24-bit "photographic" (tetra-chromatic) range of colors. This would be a limit defined by the anatomical limits of human eye. There is a limit of absolute darkness (relative to the eye) and there is also a limit in the brightness of the light that the human eye can safely be exposed to. In this defined range there is a limit in granularity that the human eye can distinguish. I am not aware if such a definition exists, but I am aware that a display to respect the "true brightness" is impossible (for the mere fact that the light reflected from our faces sheds upon the dark portions of the display, and those dark portions can not perfectly absorb the external supplement of light).