A note about contrast ratios

Skrizzles · March 1, 2015

I've been asked alot about this lately, so I thought I would share with you guys, too.

About Contrast Ratio: The biggest lie used to sell tvs and monitors

Even if you don't bother to read the full post, know this - ALL contrast measurements are flawed, highly exaggerated and completely unregulated. There is no governing board to say precisely what is what, and as a result every manufacturer has different ways of calculating these numbers, and different scales for measuring. For this reason, comparing 20 million:1 from one brand to a 50 million:1 from another brand is absolutely pointless.

Contrast ratio is simply the ratio between the brightest white measurement and the darkest black measurement. A recent example of the ratio is 10,000:1 meaning there are 9,998 shades of gray between the darkest black and the brightest white that the TV will produce. One of the big problems with this ratio is that there is no standardized testing procedure by which all manufacturer's must measure and report the ratio. We have our own standardized procedure for the contrast ratio which is to measure white and black levels on an ANSI checkerboard pattern after having previously calibrated the TV to a D6500K color temperature picture setting.

Dynamic Contrast Ratio is a very non-dynamic specification for the fact that it has little to do with reality and everything to do with fantasy. The calculation manufacturer's use to generate wild dynamic contrast ratio measurements is anyone's guess. Our best approximation is that they (manufacturer's) derive these figures is by measuring different input signals from an isolated panel with an extremely photosensitive measuring device. The TV is turned off to measure black, while tweaking to full power and contrast settings to measure white.

Native contrast ratio is a narrower measurement generated also by manufacturers to denote that the ratio is confined at least to white and black measurement from the same screen at the same time from the same source. This would compare to our ANSI checkerboard pattern. However, the manufacturer may still be using the highest contrast ratio setting for the TV (even from the service menu which consumers do not have access to). Certainly the TVs are not set to a standard color temperature settings when calculating the measurement.

So, look at the TV or monitor you're thinking about buying, and compare it to others in the store. Pick the one that you like best, or looks best to you(YOUR EYES MATTER, not the salesperson). But leave contrast ratio out of it, as this number has had little to no meaning since its inception, other than "big numbers sell TVs."

Good luck, happy hunting.

79wjd · March 1, 2015

Speaking of meaningless measurements, response times are also meaningless.

P.s. Buying based on what looks better in a store isn't necessarily the right answer either, as a lot of stores will alter settings depending on which model they want to sell.