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Hdtv Buying Guide: Making Sense Of The Specifications

#1 PCWorld

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Posted 24 November 2009 - 07:57 PM

Post your comments for HDTV Buying Guide: Making Sense of the Specifications here

#2 davidrayrob

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Posted 29 November 2009 - 02:15 AM

I looked at the refresh rates (60HZ,120HX and 240Hz) and honestly I can't see much of a difference. The HDTV's offering faster refresh rates are way more expensive and (I think) frankly not worth all the extra cash. I do think however that 1080P is a wise chioce over 720P when viewing eye-candy movies, especially animated ones like Pixar. The detail and resolution in a 1080 set is obviously superior.

#3 lpollack

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Posted 25 May 2010 - 08:06 PM

Why does this article claim, "Contrast is probably the most important factor in determining image quality after resolution" whereas your article, "Geek 101: LCD and Plasma Basics," has a whole section on why "contrast ratios are meaningless." (http://www.pcworld.c...sma_basics.html)

#4 AlfredPoor

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Posted 30 July 2010 - 07:02 AM

lpollack, on 25 May 2010 - 08:06 PM, said:

The difference is important. The actual contrast of a display is probably the most important factor for image quality. Unfortunately, the contrast ratio SPECIFICATIONS cited by the manufacturers are nearly useless at predicting the observed contrast ratio when actually watching video on the set.

Alfred Poor
HDTV Almanac

#5 DTNick

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Posted 01 March 2011 - 10:12 PM

Late to this comment thread (by 6 or so months--whatever)--but I echo what Alfred said. *Contrast* is important, but the *contrast ratio* metric that TV vendors push is largely a meaningless spec number.

--Nick
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#6 waldojim

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Posted 01 March 2011 - 10:19 PM

davidrayrob, on 29 November 2009 - 02:15 AM, said:

The big difference you will see is in 24FPS source material. It will appear considerably smoother on 120hz displays than 60hz displays. Beyond the 120 (the 240's and up) is pure marketing gimmick.

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#7 waldojim

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Posted 01 March 2011 - 10:21 PM

DTNick, on 01 March 2011 - 10:12 PM, said:

This is partly because they don't actually cite the real contrast ratio. Just some "Dynamic" Full on/Full off number... There needs to be industry standardization to these tests.