LCD TV Contrast Ratio - Should it Bother You?

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While purchasing a LCD display device, the salesperson might inform you about contrast ratio offered by the display. But, do you really understand what this term essentially refers to? The interesting fact is that most of the merchants and salesman selling these products are ignorant about a number of facts related to contrast ratio of LCD TV and other displays. You may learn about this term here, so that you may employ your knowledge next time you make a purchase for LCD display device.

What is LCD contrast ratio?

It is the ratio of light intensities of brightest and darkest colors of the display endowed with LCD capability. It might appear straightforward from the definition, but contrast ratio is difficult to measure. The reason behind this is that there are differences in the measurements of CR from different methods.

Types of Contrast Ratios

In general, there are two types of contrast ratios associated with LCD device displays. First is the static CR, which is the measure of ratio between brightest and darkest colors appearing on the screen concurrently. On the other hand, the second type of contrast ratio, known as dynamic CR, is measured as ratio between brightest and darkest colors appearing on the display at different times. The presence of these two contrast ratio values bring in the difference between different values we get from different methods.

Methods of measuring contrast ratios

There are various methods to measure the contrast ratio displayed by various LCD TVs and other devices. Here are few most popular of these methods:

The most popular method is to measure it in a room, offering no obstacle to reflect the light emitted by TV. This means that whole of these light rays are completely absorbed. However, it is not a good method to measure CR, as the room conditions of the LCD TV customers might vary.
Another method is that of Ansi contrast, which unlike the first method, consider varying room conditions into account. Thus, it is more apposite method to measure contrast ratio of a LCD TV.

Now, the most important question for which, you are reading this page! Should the contrast ratio influence your decision for buying a LCD TV? If you go by the specified value of dynamic CR, the chances are that the value in reality may differ from what is told to you. Thus, it is not advised to consider a particular LCD TV on the basis of dynamic contrast ratio only.

In a layman language, you may consider the contrast ratio of 1000:1 as an appropriate value for appreciating a LCD device. You may also take suggestions from experts in the field to choose a contrast ratio according to prevailing conditions of your room.