Dynamic Contrast - What It Is & Why It's So Important

What's Dynamic Contrast, and why does it matter so much when you're buying a TV? In this short but informative article I shall get straight to the point and tell you what really matters. To begin with, we will look at what we actually mean when we talk about contrast, and then we will get into discussing what "dynamic contrast" is.

Basically, contrast is all about the difference between the light and dark areas of your TV display. For example, if you were watching a TV that didn't have good contrast, you wouldn't be able to make out much detail in the image, especially in the extreme shades. This is due to the black and white actually being shades of grey. So, having a TV with high contrast will give you really black blacks and really white whites.

These days, TV's come with specific contrast ratios. The thing to remember though, static contrast is different to dynamic contrast. Static contrast refers to how extreme the blacks and whites can be while on the screen at the same time.

However, the dynamic ratio is a much bigger number, and it means the total range of contrast at any time, rather than at the same time. Let's say for example that the scene you're watching is generally quite dark. This would mean you would get more contrast detail in that dark image than if there were brighter sections present.

Without a doubt, Plasma TV’s tend to offer much higher dynamic contrast ratios than LCD TV’s. For example, an LCD screen these days might have a ratio of 120,000:1, compared to 3,000,000:1 on a Plasma. What a difference, hey? Plasma rules when it comes to contrast!.

If you’re looking for a TV with high contrast, here's what we recommend: For a Plasma TV with high contrast, take a look at the 42 Inch Plasma. For a high contrast LCD TV, visit the Samsung 46 LCD HDTV