DOES CONTRAST RATIO REALLY MATTER?

[brunell8]

Concerning LCD monitors, I've heard conflicting stories concerning contrast ratio. Considering upgrading and can get a Sys 18" LCD at e-cost for $599 with a contrast ratio of 250:1. My gaming usually consists of High Heat Baseball, a little Madden and stuff like Rollercoaster Tycoon, etc. Is this monitor more than sufficient considering the price?

 

[hoihtah]

do you give a crap about your display?
if you want quality color accuracy..;
then i'd say yeah. contrast ratio is probably the second most important thing.

but if you don't... and you just want to look cool with that lcd...
then 250:1 is fine.

i'd personally never touch that thing though.

 

[brunell8]

Well, that really doesn't give me much information. According to a recent article at PC Magazine (I think), they said to take the contrast ratio with a grain of salt because the numbers can easily be fudged. Can someone provide some technical information to clear things up?