Dynamic Contrast Ratio

blackmafioso · 8 Jan 2009 at 19:55

I am planning on getting a new lcd monitor/tv. It seems like a pretty decent screen with a multitude of inputs and comes from a reputable manufacturer (LG). Although there seems to be one problem with it: Dynamic Contrast Ratio. After viewing countless sites, it seems like the the majority of people think DCR is a gimmick while a small minority think it's actually pretty cool allowing colours to be much more bright and vivid. I've also read that the new OLED screens coming out later this year will implement DCR.

Now my first question is whether or not DCR is any good?

Secondly, if DCR is hated so much isn't it quite likely that OLED screens will be a flop with consumers sticking to LCDs? Is it work manufacturers like sony investing so much money into technology that people seem to hate?

wuyanxu · 8 Jan 2009 at 20:27

just got my new Samsung T240, a bit colour problem with blue, but should be sorted out with Samsung within 2 weeks, i hope.

anyway, i see there's a MagicBright option, and under it, you can turn DCR on or off, so i did a comparison shot:
bare with the quality, it's taken with an iphone, best camera i have at the moment.

without DCR

with DCR

you can see on the rocks on the left are more vibrant.

i keep it off because IMHO the contrast is too much.

blackmafioso · 8 Jan 2009 at 20:35

That does look somewhat odd. When I get the monitor i'm probably gonna keep it off.

Goofball · 8 Jan 2009 at 21:11

Looks like Samsung's dynamic contrast stuff does more than it should. That orange and some of the green below it looks fine in the top image, but quite a bit (well, a lot actually) oversaturated in the bottom one. Just adjusting the brightness shouldn't do anything like that.

Usually, dynamic contrast is just adjusting the backlights to the image being displayed, so that the blacklevel will drop on dark scenes and still have full brightness on bright ones. Problem with that is that stuff that is supposed to have a fixed color, like hud-elements in a game, will vary in brightness as well. It works somewhat for certain movies I guess, buf it's more annoying than usefull on a computer.

Dynamic contrast works somewhat for TVs in certain movies if it's done right, for computer use it's 99% a marketing gimmic and the ratios given should be considered ********.

Edit: OLEDs getting insane static contrast numbers (infitite in theory). No need for cheap tricks like dynamic contrast ratios when your black point doesnt emit any light.