What is Dynamic Contrast Ratio, and why does it matter so much when you’re buying a TV? This article, although short, contains the essential information you need to know. To start with, we’ll look at contrast in general, before moving on to talk about “dynamic contrast”.
Why is Contrast Important?
Put simply, contrast is the relationship between the light and dark areas on your TV screen. If you were to watch a TV that had poor contrast, then you wouldn’t be able to see much detail, particularly in the light and dark areas of the image. This would be because the extreme blacks and whites would actually be shades of grey. So, having a TV with high contrast will give you really black blacks and really white whites.
Dynamic Contrast Ratio
These days, TV’s come with specific contrast ratios. The thing is though, there is a difference between static contrast and dynamic contrast. A static ratio would indicate a TV’s absolute ratio of black to white that can appear on the screen at any one time.
The dynamic ratio, on the other hand, gives a much larger number, because this refers to the difference between the blackest black and whitest white, at any time, not necessarily on the screen at the same time. So, if the overall brightness of the scene you’re watching is quite dark, then the screen will be able to display better dark contrast than if there were lighter sections on the screen.
Which TV Has Better Contrast: LCD or Plasma?
Without a doubt, Plasma TV’s tend to offer much higher dynamic contrast ratios than LCD TV’s. To give you an idea, a typical ratio for an LCD TV these days would be 120,000:1, but a Plasma might have a ratio of 3,000,000:1. What a difference, hey? Plasma rules when it comes to contrast!.
If you’re after a TV with a fantastic contrast ratio, take a look at the following: For a Plasma TV with high contrast, check out the LG 42PJ350. For a high contrast LCD TV, go to the Samsung LN46C630