DS Forums

 
 

Contrast ratio


Reply
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 13-10-2008, 14:38
iain
Guest
 
Join Date: Mar 2000
Posts: 62,990

other than the headline specs, this is one that is worth looking at, to get your absolute blacks instead of shades of black etc

not really in the market to buy one just yet, but was having a look in our shiny new sony centre, and most of the bravia's were 25,000:1 or 33,000:1 with the W series and up 50,000:1.

having thought the panasonic vieras were broadly comparable, i looked at them, and they were typically only 10,000:1.

are there two different figures here, as that seems like a huge difference?

Iain
iain is offline   Reply With Quote
Please sign in or register to remove this advertisement.
Old 13-10-2008, 15:20
bobcar
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 14,718
It's measured differently by each manufacturer so it's really a pretty meaningless specification.

See the sets and decide which one you prefer is always the best advice.
bobcar is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 13-10-2008, 15:31
heckbulb
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Newton Abbot, Devon
Posts: 185
But are they quoting a 'dynamic' or a 'native' ratio? I just had a quick look in my Panasonic brochure and the TH-46PZ85B, for example (picked a page at random) has a native contrast ratio of 30'000:1, but a 'dynamic' contrast ratio of 1'000'000:1!
heckbulb is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 13-10-2008, 15:39
iain
Guest
 
Join Date: Mar 2000
Posts: 62,990
ta. yes - i think sony quote the dynamic ratio.

so by the sounds of it, the dynamic ratio is about 3x the other figure.

which, i guess would put the panasonic figure of 10,000:1 at about the same as the 33,000:1 sony figure, with the 50,000:1 being better still.

whilst obviously looking at sets is the best thing to do, is there a generally accepted point at which true blacks are considered to be pretty much achieved?

Iain
iain is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 13-10-2008, 17:10
Nigel Goodwin
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: North Derbyshire
Posts: 41,794
ta. yes - i think sony quote the dynamic ratio.

so by the sounds of it, the dynamic ratio is about 3x the other figure.

which, i guess would put the panasonic figure of 10,000:1 at about the same as the 33,000:1 sony figure, with the 50,000:1 being better still.

whilst obviously looking at sets is the best thing to do, is there a generally accepted point at which true blacks are considered to be pretty much achieved?
I would completely ignore any figures, there's no standard and comparable method of measurement (even on the same make) - so the figures are meaningless. Go and see for yourself in the shops.

But any decent make modern LCD should have really good black level performance (certainly better than my Hitachi Plasma, which isn't great at all).

I can tell you that recent Sony LCD's actually reduce the brightness of the back lights on dark scenes, presumably to push the black level spec even further.
Nigel Goodwin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 13-10-2008, 17:11
MAW
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 28,589
Hilariously, I have calibrated about 400 sets, and the highest post calibration contrast ratio I have ever seen was on a G8 Kuro Pioneer plasma (by a very short head from a Panasonic pro panel plasma) and that as reorted by the software, was 1220:1. The best LCD I have MEASURED came out at 780:1. How they square this with the gibberish of figures I have no idea at all.

Backlight reduction, yes you get deeper blacks, but of course duller whites. In the real world this doesn't matter as much as all that, as long as a scene is either all dark or all bright. If you have a mix, it's gonna get one of them wrong.
MAW is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 13-10-2008, 21:32
Orbitalzone
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Sussex
Posts: 12,173
I suppose the manufacturers use the same method as has been used to measure maximum power output from cheap hifi's, such as making a Matsui crap 'hi-fi' with a real life 2.5w rms per channel being quoted as 500wmpo or whatever stupid theoretical figure they dream up.

It's very annoying that they can quote almost any figure and get away with it.....
Orbitalzone is offline   Reply With Quote
 
Reply




 
Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 16:39.