contrast ratio for lcd monitors in stock

If you’re in the market for a new TV, projector, camera, or any other type of display, you should pay attention to the contrast ratio. But what does this measurement mean, and how do you know whether your display has good contrast?

While most displays have a contrast setting that the viewer can manually adjust, the ratio refers to the panel’s limitations—in other words, the largest possible difference between its lightest (white) and darkest (black) areas.

Contrast ratio is the measurement of the difference between a display"s maximum and minimum brightness; put another way, it"s the ratio between the brightest white and the darkest black. For example, a contrast ratio of 1,000:1 means that the brightest white image is 1,000 times brighter than the darkest black.

Generally, a higher contrast ratio is better since a display with a 100,000:1 ratio can produce darker black levels and more saturated colors than one with a 1,000:1 rating, thus achieving a more natural-looking image. That said, a bigger number isn"t always better, as you need to take external lighting conditions into account the lighting conditions and the type of display into account.

As previously mentioned, a higher contrast ratio has its benefits but isn’t the only thing you should consider. For example, a projector with a lower contrast ratio could provide an optimal viewing experience if you’ll be using it in a room with a lot of ambient light.

Contrast ratios can also vary significantly across different display types. While a transmissive digital projector may only have a contrast ratio of 200:1, many newer TVs are over 4,000:1. But even these figures don’t tell the whole story, as contrast ratios are dependent on the underlying technology and how they are measured.

When looking at a display’s contrast ratio, it’s important to understand the various ways in which they are measured. The actual ratio you see can be broken down into two different types: Static Contrast and Dynamic Contrast.

Static Contrast, otherwise known as “native” or “onscreen,” is a ratio comparing the brightest and darkest shade a display system is capable of producing at the same time. Since this ratio reflects the results from when the panel was made, industry experts typically consider this a more accurate representation of a display’s capabilities.

Dynamic Contrast offers a more theoretical range of a display’s contrast ratio, as it’s heavily dependent upon the screen’s underlying technology. Here, the range between the lightest areas of an all-white/light scene and the darkest areas of a black/dark scene is measured.

The problem with dynamic contrast measurements is that they are typically dishonest, as you’re unlikely to experience such a wide contrast range in the same scene. On top of this, manufacturers can manipulate contrast to make a scene lighter or darker using a display’s backlighting and firmware.

Unfortunately, there is no standardized measurement of contrast ratio. Particularly in the TV market, manufacturers can essentially inflate their ratings due to a combination of measurement and unstated variables. That said, most contrast ratios are measured using one of two methods:

Displays that measure with this method tend to register lower contrast ratios as ANSI contrast provides a more realistic measurement of the screen’s capability. However, since the test can include a room’s lighting conditions in its measurement, it needs to be performed in an ideal environment for the most accurate reading.

This method measures an all-white screen with an all-black screen and reflects equal proportions of light from the display to the room and back. It"s the preferred method for many manufacturers, as it cancels out exterior lighting conditions and results in an ideal (and thus higher) contrast ratio. Unfortunately, dynamic contrast specs are often misleading since they can be inflated and don"t indicate much about how an average image"s contrast will look.

The eye test is the best tool at your disposal — if a display’s black levels look washed out and gray, its contrast ratio probably isn’t high enough. However, there are other ways to ensure you’re not being misled:

Look for vendors that publish ANSI contrast specs, as this is a more accurate reflection of the display’s true contrast range. Unfortunately, many companies don’t disclose these figures, as ANSI readings tend to be much lower than Full On/Off, and it’s simply a better marketing strategy for these companies to focus on the latter.

Pay attention to backlighting technology.If you’re looking for a TV with a high contrast ratio, an OLED display will offer a better viewing experience than an LCD panel, as the OLED’s pixels don’t rely on a backlight and can display deeper blacks without a “blooming” effect.

Stick to the same manufacturer when making comparisons.Since every company arrives at its contrast ratios through different means, comparing displays produced by the same manufacturer is an excellent way to get consistent figures.

As it pertains to monitors, the contrast ratio is the ratio between the brightest white’s highest lumination level and the deepest black color the monitor is capable of producing. If a monitor has a high contrast ratio, it means it offers deeper shades of black, indicating a higher level of picture quality overall.

Contrast ratio is crucial for projector image quality. The higher the contrast ratio, the more detail viewers can see on the image projected. A higher contrast ratio also means more color subtlety is available, and more shading is visible.

Modern computer LCD monitors typically have a contrast ratio of between 1000:1 and 3000:1. A good gaming monitor may range toward the higher end of the spectrum, but use your eyes when considering a monitor you"re comfortable with and note that ambient light will affect what you"re seeing.

As a first step, try using the calibration settings we recommend (provided we have reviewed your monitor). This will get good, basic contrast - meaning no additional contrast-enhancing settings - and with no loss of detail in dark portions of the image. You can find this information in the "Post Calibration" section of the review.

Contrast:Adjusting this will let you affect how much contrast the monitor has. We list a recommended setting with all of our reviews, but it"s almost always fine to just set this to the maximum. On rare occasions, gamma might be affected, leading to a loss of detail in highlights.

Local Dimming: The local dimming feature dims the backlight behind darker portions of the screen. It can deepen contrast, and it"s worth using when implemented well. It can introduce issues like light blooming off of light objects within dark areas, and when done especially poorly, can dim the entire image. We discuss local dimming in more detail here.

Backlight settings have a very minor impact on contrast, and so you should set it to whatever looks best in your viewing space. With LED Monitors, both white and black will become about equally brighter or dimmer when the backlight is adjusted, preserving the ratio of light to dark. With OLED monitors, adjusting the OLED light only increases the peak brightness; blacks are still perfectly black.

One frequently asked question is which is more important, a panel"s native contrast or contrast with local dimming? It"s a good question. The answer is a bit complicated, but basically, it depends. Unlike TVs, most monitors don"t have a local dimming feature. The few that do, generally speaking, don"t work very well. They usually have very small zone counts, and the algorithms can"t keep up with fast-paced motion, so the leading edge of a bright object in a dark scene ends up looking darker than the rest, and there"s a trail of light behind it.

Because of these issues with local dimming, it"s almost always more important to look at the native capabilities of a monitor instead of the contrast ratio with local dimming. Because most monitors have poor local dimming features, there"s usually not that much of a difference between the native contrast of the panel and the contrast with local dimming when tested with a checkerboard pattern. In fact, of the 23 monitors with local dimming that we"ve tested on our latest test bench, only 4 of them can improve contrast by 10% or more with our test pattern through local dimming.

There are different ways to measure contrast. We measure contrast with a checkerboard pattern and take the average black level from four squares, but some other review sites measure it differently, which can lead to a difference in posted numbers. Some of the other methods we"ve seen websites use include:

Full On/Off: Some websites measure the contrast using a full white screen, and a full black screen. This is generally considered a less accurate way to measure contrast, and it isn"t very realistic. Contrast measurements with local dimming tend to appear much better with this measurement technique, as it"s easy for any monitor with local dimming to turn the entire screen off at once.

Small Samples: Similar to the full-screen method, but instead of large slides, contrast is measured using small slides that only cover part of the screen. This method isn"t ideal either, as imperfect uniformity can significantly skew the results.

ANSI Checkerboard: The most generally accepted way to measure contrast; a checkerboard pattern very similar to ours is used, but with an asymmetric test pattern. The ANSI method measures the output in all 16 squares and averages the values for the white and black squares. It usually produces very similar results to our own.

Because of differences in measurement techniques, equipment used, and even differences between units, it"s extremely common for different websites to report different contrast measurements.

Monitors use different display technologies, each with advantages and disadvantages. Knowing which type of panel is used in your monitor can already give you a good indication of what to expect in terms of contrast ratio:

OLED: Very few OLED monitors exist, but they essentially have perfect contrast, as each pixel is self-emissive, the black level of black pixels is essentially zero.

Even within the same panel types, it"s normal for the contrast to vary a bit between units, even of the same model, due to manufacturing tolerances. Manufacturers used to provide the typical contrast ratio for each monitor, but recently, some brands, including LG, have started listing the minimum contrast ratio you could get. For IPS and TN panels, this difference usually isn"t very significant, and most people shouldn"t worry about it, but for VA panels, the variance between individual units and measurement techniques can be significant. For example, the LG 32GN600-B is advertised to have a typical contrast ratio of 3000:1, but according to LG, it could be as low as 1800:1 for some units. We measured a contrast ratio of 3248:1, almost double the minimum contrast for that model.

A monitor’s contrast ratio indicates the depth of blacks – a higher contrast ratio means deeper blacks – and, by extension, better picture quality. It’s a very important part of picture quality, so if you want something that looks good (particularly in a dark room), be sure to get a monitor that has good contrast.

There are a few things that can be done to improve contrast, but there are limits. As a good first step, look to our recommended picture settings (listed with every review), as those can help you get a good baseline. From there, you can enable or disable a few different settings that might help deepen blacks. Just remember that some of those settings will have other consequences on picture quality.

If the games you play and movies you watch on your best computer display, HDR monitor, or HDTV seem a bit washed-out or not as detailed as they should despite high resolutions and high-end settings, you might want to look into adjusting your contrast ratio.

Contrast ratio (which we’ll refer to here sometimes as “CR” is defined by the range between the luminance (brightness) of the brightest white and the darkest black that any given monitor or tv can display. More technically speaking, luminance is a number used to measure the intensity of light present on any given surface, as expressed in candelas per square meter (ced/m²)- more commonly referred to as “nits.” The contrast ratio of a display is determined by measuring the luminance of white and black and then calculating the ratio between the two extremes. If you’re conscious about your eye health, check out our guide on the best monitor settings for eyes.

It’s particularly noticeable in dark scenes in a game or video, where shades of black will be a prominent part of the image, but it makes a huge overall difference in image quality and sense of detail and depth regardless of the image, and it’s a concept a lot of people aren’t aware of. Luckily, Windows, macOS, and most modern displays all offer plenty of calibration options to ensure that you’re getting the best contrast ratio possible for your system, like the quality contrast you can see on an HDR computer monitor.

Contrast ratio is generally expressed in product descriptions of most HDTVs computer displays using the default value of 1000:1- that is, a range of approximately 999 nits between the blackest black and most luminous white a display can generate at default settings. Here, default settings would be defined as brightness= 50, contrast= 50, and gamma (if offered) = 50- both in the native display window, with high contrast mode set to off if using Windows 10.

In terms of CR numbers, the higher, the better, so it’s good to look for numbers of anywhere from a fairly standard 1000:1 to an exceptional 3000:1. There is, however, a caveat here- if a product is described as having a contrast ratio higherthan 3000:1, it’s most likely purely a marketing gimmick, and not really a noticeable or effective ratio.

As ever, though, you should trust your own eyes before anything else. If you happen to be shopping for a new television or display in-store, take the time to check the contrast ratio between products, and test settings while you’re at it. Due diligence in this regard will pay off.

Lastly, a factor many don’t consider when purchasing a new display is ambient light– or the light in a room or space falling directly on the display. This will have a real impact on your perception of contrast and is something you should consider when hunting for a new monitor or HDTV. If you want to learn about more monitor setting guides, check out how to fix input lag on a monitor.

Nothing beats the vertical alignment panels and super vertical alignment panels in contrast ratios regarding the display technology and probably the panel types.

The vertical alignment panels have liquid crystals aligned naturally to the glass, ensuring a more comprehensive contrast ratio range. These panels also have minimum light leakage; meaning prevents the backlights from reaching the deepest blacks. Its whites have better clarity and are uniform.

The display brightness determines the contest ratio integrity in the real action. It counters the surrounding lights" effect on the display. Calibrate the backlight luminance settings to match the display contrast calibration.

To enjoy the best contrast ratio experience, consider a monitor with high brightness levels of up to 5,000 nits. The high luminance counters the effect of ambient lighting.

Glare and reflection of light to the screen affect contrast ratio. When ambient light hits the screen surface, it reflects into your eyes, disrupting your vision. A monitor with an anti-glare coating addresses the glare and reflection issues effectively. Also, ensure your room has minimum ambient and natural light striking the screen directly.

Ambient light from the surroundings directed towards the monitor affects the contrast ratio. This light strikes the screen, scattering in all directions. The reflected light then strikes the eyes of the monitor used. This condition results in unclear image display due to lowered contrast quality.

So, you’re wondering what Monitor Contrast Ratio is? To simply say, the difference between a monitor’s minimum and maximum brightness is implied as the monitor contrast ratio. Theoretically, a higher contrast ratio should result in intenser blacks with more grayscale clarity.

Additionally, a higher contrast ratio makes scenes that should be depressing or black look more realistic and less washed out. You may have a different experience with monitors because the self-lit pixels of OLED (organic light-emitting diode) displays can entirely shut off to present a perfect black.

On the other hand, some are advertised as having an infinite contrast ratio. In-plane switch (IPS) displays typically range from 1,000:1 to somewhat higher, although high-end vertical alignment (VA) displays can reach a range of 3,000:1 to 4,000:1.

The contrast ratio, or ratio between the brightest white and the darkest black on a display, measures the difference between the greatest and minimum brightness. A contrast ratio of 1,000:1, for instance, denotes that the brightest white image is 1,000 times brighter than the darkest black.

A display with a 100,000:1 ratio can produce darker black levels and more saturated colors than one with a 1,000:1 rating, resulting in a more realistic-looking image. Commonly, a higher contrast ratio is considered better.

Higher contrast ratios are effective, but they aren’t the only factor to take into account. You can witness that if you’ll be using the projector in a room with a lot of ambient light, a projector with a lower contrast ratio can offer the best viewing experience.

Among various display types, contrast ratios can also differ greatly. In contrast to many modern TVs, which have contrast ratios exceeding 4,000:1, transmissive digital projectors may only have a 200:1 contrast ratio.

However, even these numbers may not fully convey the situation because contrast ratios depend on the underlying technology and the methodology used to calculate them.

Due to its strong reliance on the underlying technology of the screen, dynamic contrast provides a larger theoretical range of a display’s contrast ratio.

Static contrast also referred to as “native” or “onscreen,” is a ratio that contrasts the brightest and darkest shades that a display system can produce simultaneously.

Industry experts often believe that this ratio provides a more truthful portrayal of a display’s capabilities because it takes into account the outcomes from the time the panel was manufactured.

Most LCDs and monitors use the default figure of 1000:1 for their contrast ratio, which corresponds to a range of about 999 nits between the darkest black and the brightest white that the display can produce under standard conditions.

In this case, default settings would be brightness=50, contrast=50, and gamma=50, all in the resident display window, with high contrast mode turned off.

The ratio should range from a respectable 1000:1 to an excellent 3000:1, with greater being better. There is a catch, though. If a product is said to have a contrast ratio greater than 3000:1, it’s probably just a marketing tactic and not a striking or useful ratio.

Before anything else, you should only believe what you can see. If you’re in the market for a new television or monitor, take some time to compare the contrast ratios of various models and test various settings while you’re doing it. In this case, diligence will pay off.

Lastly, ambient light, or the light from a room or place shining directly on the display—is a component that many people overlook when buying a new display. This will significantly affect how you perceive contrast, so bear that in mind when shopping for a new monitor or HDTV.

This technique compares the brightness of an all-white screen to an all-black screen while reflecting an equal amount of light from the display both forward and backward. Many manufacturers favor this approach because it eliminates the effects of ambient illumination and produces an optimum (and greater) contrast ratio.

Displays that measure with this method tend to register lower contrast ratios as ANSI contrast provides a more realistic measurement of the screen’s capability. For the most accurate reading, the test must be conducted in a perfect environment because it can take into account a room’s lighting conditions in its measurement.

Although, you should have considered that there is no exact way to determine the right contrast ratio for your monitor. But you can use some ways to choose it correctly and to avoid any misleading.

Because OLED pixels don’t rely on a backlight and can display deeper blacks without a “blooming” effect, they provide a better viewing experience than LCD panels if you’re searching for a TV with a high contrast ratio.

Unfortunately, a lot of businesses don’t release these numbers because Full On/Off readings are more important to their marketing than ANSI readings, which are typically significantly lower.

When comparing, stick to the same company. Comparing displays made by the same manufacturer is a great approach to get consistent numbers because every firm determines its contrast ratios using various methods.

For high-quality monitor images, a contrast ratio is essential. Viewers can notice more detail in the projected image when the contrast ratio is higher. Additionally, more color nuance and shading are possible when the contrast ratio is larger.

Do you know what contrast an LCD monitor should have? Then keep in mind that the normal contrast ratio of modern computer LCD monitors ranges from 1000:1 to 3000:1.

The difference in illumination between the brightest white and the darkest black that a specific monitor or television can display is known as the contrast ratio, or “CR.”

More specifically, brightness is a unit of measurement for the amount of light that illuminates a certain surface, expressed in candelas per square meter ced/m2.

By measuring the luminance of white and black and then computing the ratio between the two extremes, one may calculate the contrast ratio of a display.

When referring to a display, the contrast ratio is a figure used to measure the luminance difference between the brightest white and the darkest black. The contrast ratio is listed as y:z where "y" is the brightest white and "z" is the darkest black. An example of a standard contrast ratio for computer monitors and an LCD is 200:1, a higher number (e.g., 600:1) has a brighter display.

A monitor is a display device that interprets the graphical output signal from your computer’s graphics card and displays it on the screen. There are many types of monitors with different features. If you look at various tests and expert and customer opinion, you will conclude that the best choice depends only on your needs and preferences.

OLED is short for “Organic Light Emitting Diode“. This type of monitor is made of organic material (such as plastic, wood, carbon and polymers), that is used to convert electric current into light. It can be thinner or lighter with a higher contrast ratio than LCDs. Tests have shown that these monitors are the best for watching movies.

LED stands for ‘Light Emitting Diode’. This type is the latest innovation on the market. These types of monitors are panel displays that use light-emitting diodes for backlighting on the screen.

LCD is short for ‘Liquid Crystal Display’. This monitor is made of liquid crystals. It is the most used monitor worldwide. It requires less space, consumes less electricity, and in expert opinion produces less heat than an old CRT monitor.

PDP stands for Plasma monitor panel. These monitors are made of Plasma technology. This technology is one of the latest types of computer monitor technology. According to expert opinions and various tests, compared to LCDs this type of display offers  superior performance time, a much wider viewing angle and a good response.

Monitors are very important compliments to computer units, regardless of whether they are used for work, leisure in general or gaming in particular. In either situation, it is important to take into consideration a few important criteria before making a final purchase. In this section, we leave you with one last set of criteria to evaluate in any product you choose.

This particular aspect will determine and highly influence which model you choose. For this reason, it is important to be clear about the use you plan to make of your monitor. Do you want it for a generic or specific use? If, for example, you work in photo or video editing, you should have a screen that most accurately reflects colors.

On the other hand, if you’re looking for a screen to help you immerse in the world of gaming, various tests have shown that there will be other parameters you must consider. For instance, the monitor you choose should have a good dynamic contrast ratio and a high refresh rate. For film and series lovers, a monitor with good resolution will be important.

This may seem trivial, but keep in mind that the monitor you choose will be featured prominently wherever you choose to set it up. For this reason, it would be good for it to have an appealing design that fits in harmoniously in the environment it exists in. Colour and shape will be part of this consideration, however, thickness will likely play a more important role.

The thickness of your screen will be one of the main aspects to determine how much space it takes up. Fortunately, there are increasingly thinner models appearing on the market. Furthermore, you shouldn’t overlook the design of the edges of the screen. Manufacturers today keep making them smaller and smaller. This is a plus if, for example, you want to use several monitors together.

The resolution of a monitor, an aspect we described in one of the previous sections, is not a characteristic that should be overlooked. More important than the numbers of this spec, will be to find a balance between this value and the size of the monitor. The majority of monitors today, come with a resolution of at least 1920 x 1080 – Full HD.

Of course, you’ll be able to find monitors with higher resolutions, especially considering that the use of the 4K, i.e. 3840 x 1440, is becoming more and more popular. In order to enjoy the full benefits of these high resolutions, make sure to get a monitor that is at least 24”. Remember that the resolution you need is related to how you will use the screen.

In addition to the connection between the monitor and the computer, you can also look at other connections on the device. Audio output can be of use if you want to connect speakers to your computer. Some monitors have two HDMI ports, in the event that you want to connect another device to it, such as a Chromecast stick.

There is a wide variety of monitor sizes on the market. This parameter, alongside resolution, is going to be the main factor to influence the cost of the monitor. For this reason, we must first consider where we wish to place the screen. Will it be on a desk or attached to a wall? Monitors can be over 40” in size, so make sure you have space for the product you choose.

As for how stable the monitor will be, this will largely depend on the type of mount and support it has. An interesting feature for some users is that the mounting height can be adjusted. There is also the possibility of tilting it forward or backward. Even though in most cases, the mount is an accessory that is purchased separately, ideally you should choose a monitor that includes it.

Response time is particularly important with fast-moving images. If the monitor has a low response time, it will blur and distort fast-moving images and sudden movements. For gamers, this is a particularly important feature. When watching movies, it will also determine the quality of the experience. The top monitor models can reach a 1 ms response time.

Simply put, the resolution of a monitor is the number of pixels that a screen has the ability to represent. In the product selection of this article, you may have noticed that when we described the monitors and their quality, we wrote down two figures. These two figures, for example, 1920 x 1080, refer to the pixels the monitor is able to represent.

Let’s take these numbers, for example, 1920 would be the number of pixels that the monitor represents vertically. As you may have guessed, 1080 refers to vertical pixels the monitor can represent. Therefore, in the case of the LG monitor, the numbers varied most from the rest. Its resolution is 3840 x 2160 because it has a more panoramic display than the other models.

The aspect ratio of a monitor is the ratio between the height and width of a monitor. This parameter is closely linked to the resolution component we mentioned above. With the wide selection of products available, you’ll find that there are also many different aspect ratios, however, the most common one is 16:9.

To explain a little more, a Full HD screen, i.e. 1920 x 1080 pixels, would have this aspect ratio. At the end of the day, it’s a matter of proportions. In other words, for every 9 vertical pixels, there are 16 horizontal pixels. Another aspect ratio, increasingly used, is 21:9; this is a more panoramic ratio.

It is important to note that the aspect ratio does not affect image quality. For instance, let’s consider a screen with a 1920 x 1080 resolution and another with 7680 x 4320. Both have a 16:9 aspect ratio. However, the second would have a higher image quality. Keep in mind that a 4:3 aspect ratio was popular years ago, but is now in decline.

The contrast ratio of a monitor is the difference between the brightest pixel and the darkest pixel. For example, a 1000:1 monitor contrast ratio means that the whitest pixel is a thousand times brighter than the darkest pixel. A higher proportion of these numbers will result in more contrasting and sharper images. It should be noted that there are two types of contrast ratio: static and dynamic.

In the first one, all the brightness of the screen changes at the same time. It is most ideal for working with still images. With dynamic contrast ratio (DCR) on the other hand, the brightness automatically adjusts as the video plays, to make the dark areas darker and the light spots brighter. This aspect heavily influences image detail and quality.

Making sure to buy a quality product, even at a restricted budget is very important. Why you may ask, keep in mind that through this piece of tech you will visualize all the activities you carry out with our computer. So whether you’re looking for a monitor for leisure or work, make sure to get the monitor that best suits your needs and budget.

When shopping around, you’ll find monitors that have great specifications. However, the larger monitor may not necessarily be the right one for you and your needs. Keep an eye out for when the resolution it offers is not commensurate with its size. As you can see, it will be important to carefully evaluate the product you choose before making the final purchase.

IPS stands for in-plane switching, a type of LED display panel technology. IPS panels are characterized as having the best color and viewing angles among the other main types of display panels. IPS displays incorporate a series of liquid crystals which work to prevent light leaking.

Simply put, an IPS monitor is an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) with a back layer of LED bulbs. IPS-type panels are particularly suitable for images showing rapid movement. This technology prevents distortions, whether in a video game or a movie. However, keep in mind that IPS panels are also the most expensive ones on the market today.

If you’re searching for a new TV or monitor, you’ve probably come across the term “contrast ratio” in marketing materials and reviews online. So what exactly does contrast ratio mean and what does a “good” contrast ratio look like?

Contrast ratio is a term that’s used to measure the difference between the maximum and minimum brightness of a display. It’s the difference between the whitest possible white and the darkest possible black. It’s measured by displaying a black-and-white checkerboard pattern like the one below and comparing the values.

Since it’s a ratio, the contrast ratio of a display is shown as a number like 1000:1. When a display has a contrast ratio of 1000:1, it means that a full-field white image will be 1000 times brighter than a black one. The larger the number, the more capable the display is of producing a natural-looking image.

The contrast ratio of a display is highly dependent on the underlying technology. OLED screens have a highly marketable “infinite” contrast ratio, while the best-in-class LCDs from the likes of Samsung exceed 7000:1. Contrast ratio is perceived as one of the most important aspects of image quality, so aim for a higher number if you can.

The contrast ratio usually says a lot about the black levels of a display. How dark a display can get ultimately depends on what type of display it is.

LED-lit LCD televisions and monitors must shine a bright light through the thin-film-transistor (TFT) layer of a display to produce an image. When displaying black, the display does its best to block out as much of this light as possible. With older LCD technology, this often results in poor black reproduction. Blacks appear as washed-out grays, or they may have areas of the screen where light more easily passes through, resulting in poor uniformity.

Compare this with self-emissive display technologies like OLED, which attain a theoretically “infinite” contrast ratio. Since the pixels can be switched off completely, the display can output pure blacks right next to bright whites. This is what makes OLED displays so desirable, although they’re not without their own drawbacks.

LCD isn’t a complete bust in this department, with newer Mini-LED displays delivering algorithm-controlled backlight dimming. This allows LCD technology to get much closer to the inky blacks of an OLED by varying light levels over the surface of the display. Unfortunately, these displays still suffer from issues like ghosting and black crush.

tossed around for computer displays. If you didn"t know before, contrast ratio is simply the difference between the darkest blacks and the brightest whites a given display can produce.

Typically, computer displays have a contrast ratio of about 1000:1. However with DCR, you"ll see numbers like 4000:1, 10,000:1, and higher. Basically, it"s just a way for Company A to proclaim, "Don"t buy Company B"s monitor because it has a much lower DCR than our monitor." Since more and more vendors have been pushing this, I want to delve further into how they"re getting these numbers. I also covered this topic in less detail (but with a sexy voice thrown in) in podcast.

Before a monitor is released to the public it goes through a bunch of testing in the vendor"s own lab. These tests produce the specs that the vendor will then publish with the release. Specs like maximum brightness, pixel pitch, pixel response time, contrast ratio, and dynamic contrast ratio are all determined in the vendor"s own lab.

When testing normal contrast ratio, vendors use a device that measures light to determine how much light is emanating from a display while it"s showing both a completely black and a completely white screen. They then take each number, do a bit of math, and come up with the contrast ratio.

Now, aside from a relatively low number of LCDs that use newer LED backlighting technology, all LCDs have a lamp built in to their screens. When you turn your brightness setting down, you"re actually just dimming the lamp in the back. When the vendors dim the backlight to get the contrast ratio score, they dim it to a point, but do not turn it off. When they test to get the readings for DCR, however, they turn on the DCR feature and put up a black screen. When the video signal is black or near black, this triggers the backlight to go into standby mode.

Once this is triggered, the darkness of the black level increases by a factor of 10 or more. At this point the vendor takes its reading for the dark screen and compares it with the white screen reading it got before. Since this new dark screen level is so dark, it increases the contrast ratio. The problem is that the screen only gets this dark when the video signal is black or near black--not very useful when you"re watching a movie, or playing a game, or doing pretty much anything. The primary reason for including this feature is that the contrast ratio goes from 1000:1 to 10,000:1, and even 20,000:1 for computer displays and even higher for televisions.

When vendors push DCR as a spec for LCDs that use LED backlighting technology, however, it may be more appropriate. Direct contrast ratio works differently here than with lamp-based LCDs. When a portion of an image in a movie is relatively dark, the LEDs in that local area of the screen are dimmed. This occurs on a frame-by-frame basis and lowers the black level in that dark area only. Unfortunately, this implementation has its weaknesses, as well, as there can be some noticeable visual glitches in the areas that darken.

So, after the testing is done, the vendor publishes its super-high number, and Joe Consumer (not you, of course, loyal reader, but someone else) goes into the local Best Buy, looking to get a new monitor for his 5-year-old Compaq desktop that was handed down to him by his younger, more tech-savvy brother. He looks at the specs and sees that monitor A has a 10,000:1 DCR, while monitor B has a contrast ratio of 1000:1. Well, bigger numbers mean better, right? So, he goes for the display with DCR. And that"s fine if A does everything else you want it to do.

If a display looks good with the type of content you plan to use on it, has the connections you want, is the right size and price, then by all means get it. Don"t get it, however, just because of some spec that means jack when you"re actually using the display (or has not been implemented well enough for the glitches not to distract, as is the case with LED-based DCR).

■LCD monitors are notorious for poor contrast because they have a hard time displaying black (entirely blocking all of the backlight). We went from about a million to 1 contrast ratio on CRTs, to a few hundred to one on LCDs. Nowadays, about 700:1 is typical. Below 500:1 is poor. Above 1000:1 is good. The highest I"ve seen is about 1800:1.

■To confuse you, monitor makers came up with dynamic contrast. This is where in a dark scene, the monitor will lower its backlight brightness to make the scene darker. During a bright scene, the monitor will increase its backlight brightness to make the scene brighter. They report this as a dynamic contrast ratio, though less scrupulous manufacturers just call it contrast ratio to confuse you. It"s typically about a million to 1. It"s not true contrast ratio because you can"t see the brightest white and darkest black at the same time. Any LCD contrast ratio you see advertised as more than 10,000:1 is dynamic contrast ratio, not contrast ratio.

■Technological progress has made dynamic contrast ratio somewhat relevant. Some newer monitors can turn off individual backlights (they"re strips or grids of individual LEDs). So if the image the monitor is displaying is dark in one corner, bright in another corner, the monitor will turn down the backlight in the dark corner, while turning up the backlight in the bright corner. This is limited to a few dozen LED backlights though, so can"t give pixel-level resolution of dark/bright contrast. However, it can be somewhat effective in real-life scenes like movies or games.

■OLED theoretically has infinite contrast ratio. OLED turns individual pixels on or off like CRTs did. There is no backlight which can bleed through. When an OLED display turns a pixel off, it emits no light, so the black is theoretically perfectly black. And unlike a CRT, the pixels which are lit are the only ones lit - there is no spillover to adjacent pixels. CRTs had that problem, making the pixel fuzzy, due to the electron beam spreading a bit as it traveled between the back to the front of the monitor. Since OLED"s blacks are theoretically perfectly black, the contrast ratio is some number divided by zero, which is theoretically infinite.

There was a time when I used to lambast the meaninglessness of dynamic contrast ratio figures quoted in the latest TVs and monitors, but now I just give up...

Samsung has launched the "XL2370", a 23in 16:9 LED backlit monitor which it claims has a 5,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio. Let me say that again: 5,000,000:1. To put this in perspective, the eighth generation Pioneer Kuro - a set which revolutionised the HDTV landscape (as is still only bettered by its successor) - has a 16,000:1 contrast ratio. Sigh.

The monitor is one of the most essential computer components. For gamers the quality of the monitor is, or should be, the highest priority, and for all users the monitor largely contributes to ergonomics, comfort and safety. Interestingly, some gamers spend hundreds and even thousands dollars for video cards and gaming accessories, but sometimes forget that their monitor has a direct influence on the gaming experience and should be chosen as carefully as the rest of gaming components. And whichever custom computer gamers are aiming to build, without a good quality monitor each dollar spent might not worth it in the end. On the other hand, a good monitor will always allow the user to have better gaming experience and comfort, even if his or her computer wasn’t built with high end components.

When choosing the monitor an inexperienced user could be easily entrapped with the variety of different technical details and characteristics that indicate different features of the particular model. So, let us review the most essential ones and help you to identify which features to pay attention before pulling out the wallet…

Usually, the first thing that comes to mind – “the bigger the better!”, but this can be very misleading. Assess your gaming space/environment and available options for monitor allocation/installation. There would be no advantage to buying a monitor with a screen size bigger than 27”, if you plan to sit right in the front of it, say two feet away. It will be just difficult to grasp the whole area of the screen and user would have to turn their head all the time, which will naturally lead to premature tiredness and discomfort. However, sizes smaller than 23” are also not good enough for comfortable gaming experience due to smaller picture and forced eyes stress. So, we recommend screen sizes between 23-27”, but with consideration of your gaming space.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of myths related to this parameter and the general one is that higher brightness will lead to problems with your vision. Don’t buy it! Yes, high settings of brightness may result with discomfort vision conditions, but you always can reduce it up to comfortable level of your eyes. Don’t forget the ambient light too- if your monitor will have enough brightness capacity, you will always be able to adjust it even in very bright ambient light conditions.

The contrast ratio is the difference between the whitest white and the darkest black that the monitor can reproduce, which expressed as 1000:1, for example. And as we mentioned the “brightness rule” here – the more contrast (contrast ratio) monitor has – the better, but, there is a catch here – the recommended contrast ratios usually vary from 1000:1 to 3000:1. If you see a monitor with a contrast ratio more than 3000:1 it is most probably a marketing hook. Anyway, trust your own eye and check the contrast level of the particular monitor in a store before ordering online. Don’t forget about ambient light as well – it has a direct impact on the contrast perception – the more light falling into monitor screen, the less contrast will be visible.

The pixel response time indicates the full time that a pixel needs to change its color measured in milliseconds (ms). The less time pixels needs to change – the better. Why? Because during gameplay a longer time will lead to blurred, unnatural picture, which might be unacceptable in terms of visual perception for such game genres as first person shooters, for example. Shorter response time will make the image more realistic and crisp. Fortunately, most of the modern LCD monitors has a response time between 2-4 milliseconds, which is generally acceptable for majority of gamers. Although, true gaming monitors are capable to bring this parameter down to 1 millisecond, but they cost more.

This characteristic of the monitor requires specific attention and we do not recommend to make an actual purchase before you find out which panel type the monitor you are going to buy has. There are nearly dozens of different panel type technologies and variations developed and used for manufacturing computer monitors and TVs, but describing them all would be a whole new topic, so we just mention three main ones – TN (TN-film), IPS and MVA(PVA). Each of them has their own specific characteristics such as: pixel response time, viewing angles, color rendition, power consumption, connectivity and usability.The simplest one is TN panel. It has the low pixel response time (1-2 ms), low power consumption and low price, but the rest is not good: narrow viewing angles (170/160), poor color rendition, relatively low contrast ratio (usually 300:1 and up to 1000:1 for some models with “dynamic contrast” feature enabled) and limited connectivity options – not exactly the gamers choice, unless the budget is very, very limited and pixel response time is the priority for action games.

IPS type panels have more advantages in comparison with TN-film: natural color rendition, widest viewing angles in comparison with TN and MVA (170/170) and slightly better contrast ratio (up to 1100:1). And although the older IPS panels have quite a long pixel response time – up to 5 milliseconds, the recent generations has reached the TN level of 2-3 milliseconds. All this makes monitors with IPS panels a very good choice for gaming, but the cost may be considerable depending on brand, screen size and other options and for high-end models – very expensive.

MVA(PVA) panels were initially developed as a compromise between TN and IPS technologies and had one biggest disadvantage that was almost unacceptable for gaming – pixel response time of 5-6ms. The latest generations of MVA panels has more advanced technologies in this respect, but still not good enough for very dynamic games. The other parameters are either relatively good or very good:, a contrast ratio of 5000:1 nails the TN and IPS without a doubt, much better color reproduction than TN, wide viewing angles. In general, MVA panels cost more than TN, but still cheaper than IPS. The final price tag would very much depend on brand, screen size, connectivity and usability options. All in all, this type of the monitors is not a primary choice of gamers, although still better than TN if not planned to play dynamic games.

Trust your own eyes – check available options not only by the specs, but by asking the retailer to demonstrate all the features in real-life situations. Because, at the end of the day it is really up to you to weigh up the advantages and disadvantages of the monitors you are comparing and understanding the general performance characteristics of different panels would be a great starting point.

One more thing. The real gaming monitor is an expensive piece of computer component to buy. As well as any other cool gaming accessories. However, if your budget allows you to buy one – you will get the maximum enjoinment out of playing games on it – we can guarantee it. It is like playing the same game with your friend on the different monitors – cheap and simple and expensive and full of advanced features. The result of the game itself will be the same, but perception and enjoyment – different. The choice, as always, is yours.

A common claim on monitor spec sheets is an unfathomably high contrast ratio. Contrast ratio is the measurement of the ratio between the darkest black and the brightest white a display can produce. It sometimes reaches as high as 1,000,000:1, or in the case of the Samsung 200 Series monitors, “Mega Infinity Contrast Ratio” — yes, that’s a real term used by a real company. It’s as absurd as it sounds.

The best monitors we’ve reviewed barely break 1,000:1 when we measure them with a calibration tool. Televisions do better, but until desktop displays receive OLED technology, they’ll continue to lag behind. Monitors with a measured contrast ratio above 1,000:1 are the cream of the crop.

That’s static contrast ratio, as opposed to dynamic contrast ratio, which is what most manufacturers quote. Static indicates the widest distance between dark and light a monitor can project at a given brightness setting.

Dynamic contrast ratio uses a different measurement. Often, it involves measuring the absolute darkest black and the brightest white, even if each is measured at different display settings. The black reading might be taken with the display backlight nearly turned off, for example, while the white is taken with it at absolute maximum. Dynamic contrast ratio is not a standardized measurement so you can’t ever see all that contrast at once.

Manufacturers often only advertise the dynamic ratio. A third of the LCD monitors for sale right now on the popular retail site NewEgg are listed as having a 10,000:1 or higher contrast ratio. That’s almost 10 times higher than the best contrast ratio we’ve ever measured. 166 monitors (about 6 percent) list a contrast ratio of 10,000,000:1 — and all of them are from Acer or Asus.

Take, for example, the Asus ROG Swift PG27AQ. It’s a high-refresh-rate gaming monitor that’s certain to make games look smoother than a standard 60Hz panel. But you might be wondering how much nicer, exactly, so Asus prepared this handy graphic.

Below, for example, we see BenQ apply blur to supposedly simulate a lower refresh rate, and AOC use a simple contrast filter on a static image to simulate a feature that allegedly creates a more vivid image.

It’s not outright lying, but it is a clear exaggeration, and it’s certainly misleading. Especially for users who haven’t spent a lot of time looking at monitors in person, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to tell just how useful these features are.

One of the reasons manufacturers can get away with these hijinks is that the average user doesn’t have access to calibration tools that might reveal the truth. We use a DataColor Spyder4Elite in our testing and calibration process, and that’s a $300 piece of kit, which is about what most users are likely to spend on a monitor every few years. And it’s not a particularly fancy piece of equipment. The best calibration hardware costs thousands of dollars. Most people don’t have it, so they have no way to know if a monitor lives up to its claims.

But that’s no excuse. Misleading claims are bad for buyers and ultimately breed distrust. It’s easy to claim a high contrast ratio to make a product look better, and a normal buyer may not catch on at first. But eventually they’ll realize what’s up, and get fed up – perhaps so much so, that they no longer see the point in trying to buy a great monitor and resort to a budget model.

That would be a shame. A great monitor can make a PC way more fun, especially for those who like to watch movies and play games. As our own reviews have shown, there’s a big difference between the best and worst displays. Don’t get suckered into the hype. Do your research, and buy the display that truly excels.

The image contrast is given by the ratio between the brightness of the "white" and the brightness of the "black" the monitor can reproduce. A higher contrast of the display can give the impression of increased brightness and can increase the capacity of noticing details.

The "static" contrast ratio is the contrast ratio that can be produced at any moment in time, and is determined by calculating the ratio between the brightness of "white" and the brightness of "black" within a single picture on a display situated in a complete dark room.

The "dynamic" contrast ratio compares the brightest whites and the darkest blacks from different scenes of a movie. The display equipped with dynamic contrast ratio (DCR) has the ability to make dark scenes even darker by adjusting the intensity of the backlight. In this way, the ratio between the luminosity of the whitest white among all images and the darkest black from all images increases. As a consequence, the dynamic contrast ratio is always much higher than the static contrast ratio.

The human eye can perceive changes in contrast up to about 1000:1 ratio. Changes are more noticeable when we pass from 10:1 contrast ratio to a 20:1 contrast ratio. As the contrast ratio increases the difference is noticed less. For example, the difference in contrast at ratios higher than 500:1 up to 1000:1 will seem minor. The contrast perceived by the viewer will be always less than the given contrast ratio for the monitor. This difference is due to the fact that the monitors are usually in an office setting where the reflection of the surrounding light will reduce the contrast.

What is acceptable to an individual will also depend on character size, viewing distance and the type of task being done. A properly functioning monitor will typically provide adequate resolution and a static contrast ratio up to 1000:1.

Acer recently announced a 24-inch flat panel monitor with a 50,000:1 contrast ratio. It’s called the G24 and it’s “designed to entice PC gamers.” The monitor’s burnt orange design is meant to dovetail with Acer’s new line of Predator gaming desktops.

Acer introduces the world’s first LCD monitor, the G24, that supports up to 50000:1 in contrast ratio. Designed to entice PC gamers, the G24 is dressed-to-thrill in an extreme contrast of orange-black colors and sleek contours, and supports high-definition (HD) graphics for intense gaming entertainment.

The eye-catching exterior of the G24 with solid angled surfaces makes an immediate impression, while satisfying PC gamers’ needs and imagination. For a complete gaming package, the G24 and the Aspire Predator desktop PC are both painted with uncompromising metallic copper and feature deeply carved line design elements. Blue rays of light emanate from the power button of the LCD and desktop to exude a polished, powerful look.

Staying at the forefront of technology, the G24 includes Acer Adaptive Contrast Management (ACM), and is the world’s first LCD monitor supporting up to 50000:1 for outstanding contrast ratio. Acer ACM produces dramatic improvement in gradation and detail, especially for dimmer and brighter scenes, resulting in stunning picture quality. Acer ACM also enables the G24 to use less power and save energy.

The 24" 1920 x 1200 resolution widescreen G24 is designed for graphics-intensive, win-or-lose moments of today’s fastest HD games and multimedia applications. Featuring the Acer OD (overdrive) technology that significantly improves gray-to-gray levels by reducing deviation in transition time, the rapid response time (up to 2 ms) permits immersive 3D graphics and video display. Users simply connect the G24 to Blue-ray Disc™ consoles or DVD players for an awesome cinematic experience!

Supporting the latest technology standards, the G24 is optimized for Windows Vista® operating system and supports HDMI™[1] for instant connectivity to DVD players, set-top boxes and HD game consoles. Further, Acer Empowering Technology permits full access to display settings at a single button; Acer eColor Management enables color parameter adjustments with great simplicity; while Acer eDisplay Management allows powerful color enhancement and features smart display rotation software.

The Acer G24 complies with the stricter standard of Energy Star EPA Tier 2 criteria for power-efficient design. All Acer LCD monitors comply with the WEEE Directive for environmental product recycling for a greener environment.

Contrast ratio is the most important aspect of a TV"s performance. More than any other single metric, a set"s contrast ratio will be the most noticeable difference between two TVs.

In its simplest form, contrast ratio is the difference between the brightest image a TV can create and the darkest. In another way: white/black=contrast ratio. If a TV can output 45 foot-lamberts with a white screen and 0.010 ft-L with a black screen, it"s said to have a contrast ratio of 4,500:1.

There is no standard as to how to measure contrast ratio. In other words, a TV manufacturer could measure the maximum light output of 1 pixel driven at some normally unobtainable maximum, then measure that same pixel with no signal going to it at all. This hardly represents what you"d see at home, but without a standard, such trivialities don"t matter to TV manufacturers.

Worse, contrast ratio numbers have gotten so extreme, there is literally no way to measure some of them. What happens more often than not is the marketing department will come up with the number it needs to sell the product. The engineers will shuffle their feet, and stare at the wall, and magically the TV has that contrast ratio.

Because you"re reading this article on a device that has its own contrast ratio, I can"t give you real examples of what good and bad contrast ratios look like, so I"ll have to fake it. If you can, make sure your computer monitor is set decently; you can use

There are two more aspects of contrast ratio. Most often these are referred to as "native" and "dynamic." Native contrast ratio is what the display technology itself can do. With an LCD, this is what the liquid crystal panel itself is capable of. With DLP, it"s what the DMD chip/chips can do.

Imagine putting the image above on your TV"s screen. Native contrast ratio is how dark the darkest parts of the image are, compared with the brightest parts of the same image. I like to call this "intra-scene contrast ratio" though I"m certainly open to something better if anyone has an idea.

When an adjustable backlight, or a projector"s iris, is used in conjunction with circuitry to monitor the video signal, it is able to adjust the overall light output in real time depending on what"s onscreen. This dynamic contrast ratio looks like this:

A bright image is bright, a dark image is dark. Done well, this does increase the apparent contrast ratio of a display, but not nearly as much as the numbers would suggest. A TV with 5,000,000:1 contrast ratio would be unbelievable to look it. Too bad one doesn"t exist. A TV with a high dynamic contrast ratio may look better than a TV that has no such circuitry, but it won"t look as good as a display with a high native contrast ratio.

Yes, the LED"s of an LED LCD can turn off, creating a true black, but it will never do this when there is any amount of video on the screen. Picture the end credits of a movie. A display with a high native contrast will show this as a dark black background, and punchy white text. A display with a high dynamic contrast ratio may have a similarly dark background, but the text won"t be bright.

As you can see, a display with a high native contrast is the way to go, if that"s what you"re going for. The night sky is black, but the streetlights pop out. The day sky is bright, but the dark jacket is dark. This is more like CRT, more like film, more like life.

The technology with the highest native contrast ratio is... LCOS. At the moment, JVC front projectors using their version of the technology (D-ILA) have the highest native contrast ratios I"ve measured. Sony"s version (SXRD) comes in a rather distant second. Third is plasma, though some DLP projectors are close.

LCD has come a long way in the past decade, but still lags behind the other technologies. Thankfully, the better LCD manufactures know this and have come up with a few ways to mimic the high native contrast ratio of the other technologies.

The best way to get a high intra-scene contrast ratio with LCDs is with local dimming. This is when the backlight of the LCD is an array of LEDs, all of which can dim depending on what"s on screen. It"s not done on a per-pixel level, but LED zones are generally small enough that the overall effect is quite good. It"s far better than what the LCD panel can do itself. The downside is an artifact known as "halos" where the LEDs are lit behind small bright areas of the screen, but these areas are visible because the other parts of the screen are dark. This is very noticeable on specific types of content (like movie credits or star fields) but generally local dimming works really well. I was going to Photoshop some halos onto a screenshot of the one movie where I actually had a screen credit, but it came across more douchey

Unfortunately, most manufactures have move