contrast ratio and brightness in LCD monitor

[bigpoppapumpg]

How important are these things, is a 500:1 contrast ratio with 400 nits brightness better than 800:1 contrast and 250 nits?

 

[mwmorph]

it's really subjective. all manufacturers have different ways to measure all their specs(bright, ms refresh, contrast, etc). for ex, my monitor is supposedly only 250bright and 400contrast, but is is actually much better than my friend's 400bright, 600 contrast. you really need to see the monitor yourself to make a decision.

 

[racefan]

Go look at the monitor and try to play on a computer that is it connected to. Play a game on it to get a better look at the monitor in hard use.

 

[b4u]

I'm re-using this thread to put my questions ...

I'm looking into TFT monitors right now, and I want to be able to understand a bit more about the settings.

So the more important ones are: speed, contrast and nits brightness? Any other important properties to look for?

So speed would be a maximum of 16ms for proper gaming, as I read elsewhere. There are some 12ms models around, and they should be great.

What about contrast? I don't really understand what those numbers mean ... 400:1 vs 600:1 which is better? Why?

What about brightness? That "nits" measure scale ... the more the better, or worse?

Some n00b questions, I know ... probably a nice good google would clear up my mind ... but since I bumped into this thread ... there goes my questions ...

Thanks.

 

[cbehnken]

More than likely 250 nits is going to be more than you can stand anyway. My 2001FP is 250 nits and I have brightness set to 0%

They increase the nits rating in order to make a better contrast ratio on paper. The brighter the backlight the more the contrast ratio can be, but this doesn't mean the effective contrast is going to be any better and it may be worse.

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: b4u
I'm re-using this thread to put my questions ...

It's usually better to start a new thread then to jack a month-old one to ask the same question again... of course, you could also just search.

Some n00b questions, I know ... probably a nice good google would clear up my mind ... but since I bumped into this thread ... there goes my questions ...

Thanks.

I'd check out some of the (excellent, IMO) LCD reviews over at Toms Hardware (www.tomshardware.com). They actually measure contrast ratio, brightness, and response time on the monitors they review, so you actually have some clue how they compare to each other.

Generally, manufacturer specs for brightness/contrast are useless. There's no standard that states how they have to measure, and different monitors using the exact same panel often have wildly different ratings, when in reality they're indistinguishable.

In terms of response time, there are also 8ms monitors out now, and 4ms(!) models due out this summer. Of course, many people don't realize these numbers are minimum response times, and the average response time can be 2-3x the minimum (and the maximum can be far worse).