What Does Dynamic Contrast Ratio Mean?

The Importance of Contrast

Basically, contrast is all about the difference between the light and dark areas of your TV display. Let's say for example that you were watching TV on a screen with low contrast, this would give poor detail in the light and dark areas. This is due to the black and white actually being shades of grey. If your TV has high contrast, then black really will look black, and white really will look white.

Explaining Dynamic Contrast

TV manufacturers sell their TV's 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.

Which Has Better Contrast Ratio: Plasma or LCD?

Plasma TV's definately have much better contrast than LCD TV's. For instance, an LCD screen these days might have a ratio of 120,000:1, but a Plasma might have a ratio of 3,000,000:1. So if you’re looking for truly black blacks then Plasma is definitely the one for you.