Contrast Ratio - How Much Does It Matter?

[kx11]

here's the story

i was at the local sony showroom and they showed the new bravia x-300 or somthing and the contrast ratio was 8000:1


so i asked the guy samsung is already released 25000:1 contrast lcd's !!

he said : sony does'nt care about contrast that much it's the colors and PQ they care about and if you put the latest samsung lcd next to bravia x-300 you'll see the defferince in the color depth



so what you guys think??

[Slec]

Contrast ratio's are such a farce. There's static and Dynamic (the 25k is dynamic), they are figured many different ways too... They are a guideline at best, but don't make your decision based on just the contrast ratio. IIRC static is what can be displayed on the screen at one time, dynamic is between the brightest bright and the darkest dark... but because they are figured differently by manufacturer they can't always be directly compared.

From the tv's I've looked at, Sony's have always had incredible picture quality. This is all opinion, mind you, but the only tv I've seen with a better picture was a pioneer Elite that cost over twice as much. Sony does a great job with their televisions. Samsung has some tv's that rival the Sony's, but I haven't really looked at tv's since last year.

Does this help at all?

[kurtis21]

Contrast ratio basically says how BLACK your blacks are. If it looks good and dark to you....buy it. I have 3 Sonys and all of them have great blacks and great picture quality

[ManUtd]

As mentioned before, do not compare contrast ratio numbers between different companies simply because there is no industry standard in measuring them. If a TV has enough contrast for you then get it, just don't get up with the contrast ratio numbers.

[bassbone57]

The human eye can only see a contrast ratio of 800:1 in daylight, and 1200:1 after 30 min in the dark. So a lot of these numbers (that are really NEVER attainable) don't really matter if you have you TV setup correctly (ISF calibrated, etc.).

-K

[MaleManGuy]

Originally Posted by kx11

here's the story

i was at the local sony showroom and they showed the new bravia x-300 or somthing and the contrast ratio was 8000:1


so i asked the guy samsung is already released 25000:1 contrast lcd's !!

he said : sony does'nt care about contrast that much it's the colors and PQ they care about and if you put the latest samsung lcd next to bravia x-300 you'll see the defferince in the color depth



so what you guys think??

Picture quality is measured in many different ways, at different color tempertures, uniformity of display, clouding, banding, bleeding, contrast, color accuracy at certain color tempertures... plasmas perform best for picture quality. Comparing LCD's for picture quality is like comparing a $100 1974 Pinto to a $100 1979 El Camino... instead of getting the 2008 Plasma corvette... hehe.
Ok, anyways... contrast IS very important altho you may not get the correct measurements from the manufacturer. There are ISO standards for measuring contrast... whether you can getit or not who knows.
I'd check out the new panasonic plasmas for 2008. 30000:1 real contrast ratio... or 1000000:1 DC. Contrast and dark blacks are important, especially in movies like 2001 a Space Odyssey and other space movies where space is black, not gray.

JL

[Blu-ray Fanatic]

Originally Posted by kx11

here's the story

i was at the local sony showroom and they showed the new bravia x-300 or somthing and the contrast ratio was 8000:1


so i asked the guy samsung is already released 25000:1 contrast lcd's !!

he said : sony does'nt care about contrast that much it's the colors and PQ they care about and if you put the latest samsung lcd next to bravia x-300 you'll see the defferince in the color depth



so what you guys think??

I know exactly which Samsung you're talking about. It's the 25,000:1, auto-motion plus, and its 120 hz. That's the one I'm in love with right now, though, I already own my Sharp. I'm just waiting to pay it off so that I can get that Samsung at Best Buy. And all of are right about contrast ratios, its a bunch of bull when it reaches high numbers.

[Blu-ray Fanatic]

I did see a Samsung with 500,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio; like it really makes a difference according to the naked eye. I stick to the tvs that have 25,000:1 and below. Anything else above that is bull

[Tyler2106]

you can't compare contrast ratios from one company to another company...the scales they use are the same ratings so if one tv has a high contrast then another, if they used the same scale the lower tv would actually be higher...that is just an example and if I were you I really wouldn't care about the contrast ratio much because if you don't like the look of the tv or picture then the contrast ratio isn't going to matter...