Does Contrast Ratio matter? i read about it in FaQ but still confused.

[GrizzlyBear0]

so as the tile says Does Contrast Ratio matter? i read about it in FaQ but still confused.it's like does it matter if i get a 1000:1 or higher? etc..? can someone help me understand ^^" thanks.

Also whats the minimum MS for gaming? [refresh rate] is it 5 or what?

[AskingForAFriend]

Contrast ratio is the range between colors, dark blacks, and very white whites. Usually a contrast ratio that is made by the pannel itself is more accurate and wont darken the scene too much like a software contrast ratio (just go into a game and max the contrast). MS are Hz but they also don't matter too much, as the difference between 1 and 5 are negligible, but mostly look into a high refresh rate (like 120Hz or 144, some are going for about 250 dollars) so that you won't have to deal with Vsync, which adds 120ms of delay. I can't stress it enough, allways try to find a way around vsync. 

[Mira Yurizaki]

18 minutes ago, GrizzlyBear0 said:

so as the tile says Does Contrast Ratio matter? i read about it in FaQ but still confused.it's like does it matter if i get a 1000:1 or higher? etc..? can someone help me understand ^^" thanks.

Higher contrast makes images look less washed out or smudgy. Example (left is higher contrast, right is lower contrast):

 

However you want to look at the static contrast ratio (or just "contrast ratio"). The useless spec is "dynamic contrast ratio," because it's not really clearly defined and is measured only under the best conditions. Higher static contrast ratio is better.

 

EDIT: If there's only one contrast ratio spec and it's listed as something like 1,000,000:1 or higher, it's dynamic contrast ratio.

 

Quote

Also whats the minimum MS for gaming? [refresh rate] is it 5 or what?

This is pixel response time, or how long it takes for a pixel to change between something and back (usually "grey to grey"). Lower pixel response times lead to an effect known as ghosting, where a trail of images are left behind when the image moves. In practice, pixel response time is largely a "my stick is bigger than your stick" spec. Most monitors have low enough response time that ghosting is either non-existent or barely noticeable.

 

If you're asking about refresh rate, well 60Hz is the minimum for most. But 60Hz isn't hard to find either.

[Glenwing]

Contrast ratio does matter, it's just that the advertised specs usually don't tell you want the real contrast ratio is. These days they are becoming better about listing the real contrast ratio though.

 

Response time can matter if it's really bad, but most displays are fast enough it doesn't really matter. And, like contrast ratio, the advertised specs don't represent the real response time, so it's best not to pay attention to it.

[GrizzlyBear0]

4 minutes ago, M.Yurizaki said:

Higher contrast makes images look less washed out or smudgy. Example (left is higher contrast, right is lower contrast):

 

However you want to look at the static contrast ratio (or just "contrast ratio"). The useless spec is "dynamic contrast ratio," because it's not really clearly defined and is measured only under the best conditions. Higher static contrast ratio is better.

 

This is pixel response time, or how long it takes for a pixel to change between something and back (usually "grey to grey"). Lower pixel response times lead to an effect known as ghosting, where a trail of images are left behind when the image moves. In practice, pixel response time is largely a "my stick is bigger than your stick" spec. Most monitors have low enough response time that ghosting is either non-existent or barely noticeable.

 

If you're asking about refresh rate, well 60Hz is the minimum for most. But 60Hz isn't hard to find either.

 

1 minute ago, Glenwing said:

Contrast ratio does matter, it's just that the advertised specs usually don't tell you want the real contrast ratio is. These days they are becoming better about listing the real contrast ratio though.

 

Response time can matter if it's really bad, but most displays are fast enough it doesn't really matter. And, like contrast ratio, the advertised specs don't represent the real response time, so it's best not to pay attention to it.

what's the difference between dynamic and  Static Contrast Ratio?

[Mira Yurizaki]

Just now, GrizzlyBear0 said:

what's the difference between dynamic and  Static Contrast Ratio?

Static contrast ratio is the ratio between a white pixel and a black pixel, presumably at full backlight power.

 

Dynamic contrast ratio is whatever the manufacture wants to do to fudge the numbers. It's likely the "contrast ratio" between pure white at full backlight power and pure black at the lowest backlight power.

[GrizzlyBear0]

9 minutes ago, M.Yurizaki said:

Static contrast ratio is the ratio between a white pixel and a black pixel, presumably at full backlight power.

 

Dynamic contrast ratio is whatever the manufacture wants to do to fudge the numbers. It's likely the "contrast ratio" between pure white at full backlight power and pure black at the lowest backlight power.

a bit confused can u show me an example? still kinda don't understand the difference

basically i still don't know how to choose between monitors that got static /dynamic

[SolarNova]

Bassicaly Ignor dymanic contrast rastio numbers, its trickery.

Statis contrast ratio is what u want to look at, as that generaly indicates what the contrast ratio is between a bright white portion of the screen and the darkest black on the screen, using a test image that has both bright white and deep black onscreen at the same time.

 

If you look at a OLED Tv they usualy say the contrats ratio is infinity, as the ratio between white and black is effectivly the difference between a white pixel and an off pixel.

 

On a LCD your looking at the difference between a white pixel and a pixel that is not producing color but still has the backlight showing through, so its effectivly grey. How grey is dependent on LCD panal type and how much effort the manufacture put in to keep blacks and black as possible, also whether or not the Tv features FALD. This is where the ratio comes in, the higher the ratio the greater the difference between white and black.

[GrizzlyBear0]

4 minutes ago, SolarNova said:

Bassicaly Ignor dymanic contrast rastio numbers, its trickery.

Statis contrast ratio is what u want to look at, as that generaly indicates what the contrast ratio is between a bright white portion of the screen and the darkest black on the screen, using a test image that has both bright white and deep black onscreen at the same time.

 

If you look at a OLED Tv they usualy say the contrats ratio is infinity, as the ratio between white and black is effectivly the difference between a white pixel and an off pixel.

 

On a LCD your looking at the difference between a white pixel and a pixel that is not producing color but still has the backlight showing through, so its effectivly grey. How grey is dependent on LCD panal type and how much effort the manufacture put in to keep blacks and black as possible, also whether or not the Tv features FALD. This is where the ratio comes in, the higher the ratio the greater the difference between white and black.

so whats the minimum medium and best numbers for static contrast ratio?
 and lets say Manufacturer doesn't say the static number for example

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1317524-REG/acer_um_wx1aa_001_22_fhd_1920x1080_led.html

 

what do i do?

[Mira Yurizaki]

16 minutes ago, GrizzlyBear0 said:

a bit confused can u show me an example?

Well, there's not really an example I can show. It's a technology thing.

 

First it helps to understand how LCDs work. I'll let The Engineer Guy explain it:

The limiting thing about LCDs is that they cannot completely block light. So when measuring contrast on an LCD, it's the amount of light that passes through on a white pixel vs. the amount of light that passes through on a black pixel. For static contrast ratio, it's the ratio between those two points at any given brightness setting. For dynamic contrast ratio, because it's a manufacturer derived value, it can mean anything. At best all I can assume is it's white at full back light power and black at the lowest back light power setting (though that doesn't seem to hold water because a monitor I picked out would have a contrast ratio of 6600:1 if I went that method... so I have no idea where 1000000:1 or higher comes from)

 

On a side note, if a display type has pixels that produce their own light (a so-called emissive display), then the contrast ratio is effectively infinite, because black on those is actually emitting no light. So if you don't see contrast ratio on something like an OLED display, that's why. In that case, a higher brightness value is better.

 

3 minutes ago, GrizzlyBear0 said:

so whats the minimum medium and best numbers for static contrast ratio?

Most LCD monitors aim for a static contrast ratio of 1000:1 across the board (i.e., it doesn't matter what the backlight setting is) So that should be your target. Anything higher is better.

Quote

 and lets say Manufacturer isn't says the static number for example

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1317524-REG/acer_um_wx1aa_001_22_fhd_1920x1080_led.html

 

what do i do?

You'd have to find a review of it. There's nothing you can use to get the static contrast ratio from the specs alone if they don't list it.

 

[GrizzlyBear0]

1 minute ago, M.Yurizaki said:

Well, there's not really an example I can show. It's a technology thing.

 

First it helps to understand how LCDs work. I'll let The Engineer Guy explain it:

The limiting thing about LCDs is that they cannot completely block light. So when measuring contrast on an LCD, it's the amount of light that passes through on a white pixel vs. the amount of light that passes through on a black pixel. For static contrast ratio, it's the ratio between those two points at any given brightness setting. For dynamic contrast ratio, because it's a manufacturer derived value, it can mean anything. At best all I can assume is it's white at full back light power and black at the lowest back light power setting (though that doesn't seem to hold water because a monitor I picked out would have a contrast ratio of 6600:1 if I went that method... so I have no idea where 1000000:1 or higher comes from)

 

On a side note, if a display type has pixels that produce their own light (a so-called emissive display), then the contrast ratio is effectively infinite, because black on those is actually emitting no light. So if you don't see contrast ratio on something like an OLED display, that's why. In that case, a higher brightness value is better.

so whats the minimum medium and best numbers for static contrast ratio?
 and lets say Manufacturer doesn't say the static number for example

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1317524-REG/acer_um_wx1aa_001_22_fhd_1920x1080_led.html

 

what do i do? ^^" gotta know before i buy

[Mira Yurizaki]

1 minute ago, GrizzlyBear0 said:

so whats the minimum medium and best numbers for static contrast ratio?
 and lets say Manufacturer doesn't say the static number for example

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1317524-REG/acer_um_wx1aa_001_22_fhd_1920x1080_led.html

 

what do i do? ^^" gotta know before i buy

I edited my post to answer that as you were responding, so refresh to see it.

[GrizzlyBear0]

1 minute ago, M.Yurizaki said:

I edited my post to answer that as you were responding, so refresh to see it.

could u maybe list me from lowest to medium to high. of static numbers? like minimum to medium to best. for gaming

[Mira Yurizaki]

4 minutes ago, GrizzlyBear0 said:

could u maybe list me from lowest to medium to high. of static numbers? like minimum to medium to best. for gaming

The lowest you should consider is 1000:1. That's it. There's no medium or high. It's just "a higher contrast ratio is better."

[GrizzlyBear0]

2 minutes ago, M.Yurizaki said:

The lowest you should consider is 1000:1. That's it. There's no medium or high. It's just "a higher contrast ratio is better."

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1351089-REG/samsung_ls24d330hsj_za_24_330_series_16_9.html

so this is a good one yes?

[Mira Yurizaki]

6 minutes ago, GrizzlyBear0 said:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1351089-REG/samsung_ls24d330hsj_za_24_330_series_16_9.html

so this is a good one yes?

It's decent, but probably not that great.

[GrizzlyBear0]

1 minute ago, M.Yurizaki said:

It's decent, but probably not that great.

whys that mind me asking? it seems to have the best stuff for 1060 gtx?

[Mira Yurizaki]

Just now, GrizzlyBear0 said:

whys that mind me asking? it seems to have the best stuff for 1060 gtx?

It's a relatively cheap monitor. I can't expect it to pull anything but "decent" from an image quality standpoint on top of it being a TN panel monitor, which means color shifting if you don't look at it straight on.

[GrizzlyBear0]

1 minute ago, M.Yurizaki said:

It's a relatively cheap monitor. I can't expect it to pull anything but "decent" from an image quality standpoint on top of it being a TN panel monitor, which means color shifting if you don't look at it straight on.

so what would you call this then?

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1204610-REG/asus_vp247h_p_23_6_widescreen_led.html

[Mira Yurizaki]

7 minutes ago, GrizzlyBear0 said:

so what would you call this then?

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1204610-REG/asus_vp247h_p_23_6_widescreen_led.html

Still decent.

 

If all you want is a monitor with no other preferences, then those monitors you picked are fine. But if you're someone like me who's an IPS panel snob and has drank the high refresh rate Kool-Aid, then those monitors aren't even worth considering for serious use.

[GrizzlyBear0]

3 minutes ago, M.Yurizaki said:

Still decent.

 

If all you want is a monitor with no other preferences, then those monitors you picked are fine. But if you're someone like me who's an IPS panel snob and has drank the high refresh rate Kool-Aid, then those monitors aren't even worth considering for serious use.

anything is better then my current setup. tell me

whats better

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1351089-REG/samsung_ls24d330hsj_za_24_330_series_16_9.html 

or

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1059493-REG/ag_neovo_lw_22_22_widescreen_led.html

[Mira Yurizaki]

1 minute ago, GrizzlyBear0 said:

anything is better then my current setup. tell me

whats better

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1351089-REG/samsung_ls24d330hsj_za_24_330_series_16_9.html 

or

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1059493-REG/ag_neovo_lw_22_22_widescreen_led.html

For all intents and purposes, neither are better. Though it's likely the second one has an edge due to the specs stating its refresh rate can go to 75Hz. However, I'm not sure if this means 75Hz at all resolutions, or some (and likely the lower ones).

[GrizzlyBear0]

5 minutes ago, M.Yurizaki said:

For all intents and purposes, neither are better. Though it's likely the second one has an edge due to the specs stating its refresh rate can go to 75Hz. However, I'm not sure if this means 75Hz at all resolutions, or some (and likely the lower ones).

well whats the difference between panels? the FAQ doesn't say anything about them which is weird

[Mira Yurizaki]

Just now, GrizzlyBear0 said:

well whats the difference between panels? the FAQ doesn't say anything about them which is weird

They're both 1080p 250cd/m^2 TN panels. One has an advertised static contrast ratio of 1000:1, the other has an advertised refresh rate of up to 75Hz.

 

Take your pick of which one's better to you.

[GrizzlyBear0]

5 minutes ago, M.Yurizaki said:

They're both 1080p 250cd/m^2 TN panels. One has an advertised static contrast ratio of 1000:1, the other has an advertised refresh rate of up to 75Hz.

 

Take your pick of which one's better to you.

i meant what's the difference between all panels im gonna take your advice and choose a better monitor but i need to understand the difference between panels first