lollerskater69
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I noticed on some TN monitors, the contrast ratio can be as high as 50000:1 and some IPS monitors are low like 1000:1 like the 2407WFP. How does this affect image quality?
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Contrast Ratio
- Thread starter lollerskater69
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Nenu
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Contrast ratios are at best a very vague guide to the real contrast ratio.
Look up reviews of previous monitors where the contrast ratio was measured scientifically.
Its better to look for user appraisals to see if the screens characteristics fit your requirements, rather than relying on the tech specs alone.
Look up reviews of previous monitors where the contrast ratio was measured scientifically.
Its better to look for user appraisals to see if the screens characteristics fit your requirements, rather than relying on the tech specs alone.
50.000:1 and higher contrast ratios are dynamic. That means that you have a dynamic backlight unit that is able to intensify and reduce light output. The dynamic contrast ratio is the ratio between the lowest black - when the backlight unit is dimmest - and the white - when the backlight unit 100 %.
In says nothing about the actual contrast ratio though. The "static" contrast ratio is almost never above 1000-1500:1 on LCD panels.
Scientific measurements are required to tell anything useable about the panel, like Nenu says.
In says nothing about the actual contrast ratio though. The "static" contrast ratio is almost never above 1000-1500:1 on LCD panels.
Scientific measurements are required to tell anything useable about the panel, like Nenu says.
Last week I was looking at projectors. One was listed at dynamic 70,000:1 but real life ANSI contrast was 350:1 as measured by the tester...
Contrast is generally not the spec you should be worried about these days. It's good enough everywhere basically.
Contrast is generally not the spec you should be worried about these days. It's good enough everywhere basically.
Also something to consider about contrast ratio is that good film in a dark theatre is about 500:1. That gives you some kind of reference point.
While as a general rule, more is better, I mean after all it would be nice to have a display that could do complete no-light black all the way up to as bright as the sun, in reality it doesn't matter so much.
What's more is that some LCDs have a high contrast ratio by having extremely high brightness. That is if you set their brightness to max, their CR is high. However if you lower brightness to a reasonable level, it doesn't do so well. Other LCDs maintain a pretty consistent contrast over their whole brightness range.
The good news is you don't have to worry much these days, most LCDs are good.
While as a general rule, more is better, I mean after all it would be nice to have a display that could do complete no-light black all the way up to as bright as the sun, in reality it doesn't matter so much.
What's more is that some LCDs have a high contrast ratio by having extremely high brightness. That is if you set their brightness to max, their CR is high. However if you lower brightness to a reasonable level, it doesn't do so well. Other LCDs maintain a pretty consistent contrast over their whole brightness range.
The good news is you don't have to worry much these days, most LCDs are good.
No TN panel has dynamic range over 1000:1. In fact, only VA based panels have broken the 3000:1 mark
Long story short, you only have to worry about the dynamic range (black vs white separate) and static (black vs white simultaneous).
Remember 99% of the time, the displayed image is composed of both dark and light elements. So having a display with high static contrast with 2.2 gamma definitely helps to produce realistic image. Unfortunately, this is where projectors and CRTs fail miserably
PS: Static is the only standardized method for measuring contrast ratio. Dynamic rage also recognized , but not dynamic contrast.
For more info, check my guide
And many reviewers find the dynamic function annoying while watching movies, and just wind up disabling it anyways. Notice how every spec that consumers pay attention to gets abused...
contrast -> useless dynamic contrast
megapixels -> camera lenses aren't even good even to resolve the sensor resolution
pixel response time -> they buffered multiple frames to plot voltage levels for fastest response, while introducing lag
MB / GB /TB -> 1024^3, a billion, what's the difference...
DSL/Cable and modems (serial communications) -> eh, aren't all bytes 10 bits?
CRT inches -> don't forget to count the glass underneath the plastic bezel!
HDD MTBF -> well, if you had 1,000,000 hdds one would fail within the hour... and then we stopped testing because 100 more would have failed in the second hour...
contrast -> useless dynamic contrast
megapixels -> camera lenses aren't even good even to resolve the sensor resolution
pixel response time -> they buffered multiple frames to plot voltage levels for fastest response, while introducing lag
MB / GB /TB -> 1024^3, a billion, what's the difference...
DSL/Cable and modems (serial communications) -> eh, aren't all bytes 10 bits?
CRT inches -> don't forget to count the glass underneath the plastic bezel!
HDD MTBF -> well, if you had 1,000,000 hdds one would fail within the hour... and then we stopped testing because 100 more would have failed in the second hour...