Contrast Ratio

Mikoyan · 28 Oct 2008 at 10:15

Hey guys,

Looking to get a new lcd monitor soon.

I am just a little confused as to the contrast ratio..I read somewhere we dont see any difference above 1000:1? is this true?

Also am I right in saying the higher the contrast ratio the better the white/blacks?

I see the Acer G24 has 50000:1 :eek:

but it looks fugly

How important is it?

Cheers

Mikoyan

DrBombcrater · 28 Oct 2008 at 11:25

Any contrast ratio above 1000:1 is almost certainly 'dynamic contrast', which means the monitor turns its backlight up and down depending on how light or dark the current image is. It's an annoying and distracting gimmick that's there only so the manufacturer can claim a ludicrous contrast ratio.

Contrast affects the whole image, not just black and white. The higher the ratio the less washed out the picture will look, but it's only a small factor in how good a monitor is. There are a whole pile of other factors involved, which is why spec numbers don't always have much to do with a monitor being good or not. A full review conducted by someone who knows what they're doing and has the right equipment to measure a monitor's performance is the only reliable guide.

Blackbadger · 28 Oct 2008 at 11:31

It's a really tough one to answer because each manufacturer/model is measured in totally different ways resulting in most advertised specifications being total misleading fud.

we can see far far greater than 1000:1 , easily 100k+ just as we can see easily 100's of fps in motion.

A nice article about a hdri monitor here explains the contrat ratio effects.
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2005/10/04/brightside_hdr_edr/4

It's allways fun using a good monitor, showing a white and black image/pattern, which displays the white and black absolutely fine, then you place a newer high contrast, high nit (brightness) monitor next to it.
Suddenly you can see the original monitor you were using was infact displaying light grey for the white, and a dark grey for the black.

The monitor you mentioned
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2008/09/04/acer-g24-widescreen-gaming-monitor/3
Use's some fancy system to achieve it's ratio which appears to work well in some scenario's and others not, but it's not a true 50000:1. I cant comment as I have not used it.

To conclude contrast ratio is noticeable, more-so once you have seen what real white/black looks like, then you find it hard to use a lower spec monitor.

Baddass · 28 Oct 2008 at 15:55

see here as well: http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/specs.htm

EsaT · 28 Oct 2008 at 17:37

Only S-PVA monitors can achieve contrast ratios near 1500:1, other panel types achieve 1000:1 at best.
Anything more than those on consumer LCD is big stinking pile of **** and will stay that way until this mother of all compromises technology is replaced by real flat displays.
(there would be only one situation when you can trust advertisers: when they're pointed with "business end" of 7,62x39mm)

This is what brightness pumping you can expect from this dynamic fraud: