why can't LCD's achieve the contrast ratio of print?

[dpopiz]

when the crystals bend, do they not bend completely? or do only some of them bend, leaving microscoping gaps that let light through? or what? those are just two ideas I had to explain it

what's the real reason?

 

[Matthias99]

Mostly the backlighting, along with imperfections in the crystals and limitations as to how closely they can be spaced. Unless you turn the backlight off (which makes the screen nearly impossible to see), some light will leak through the pixels that are "off". It's like pulling the shades down over your window on a sunny day; *some* amount of light will still get around the edges.

 

[gcogger]

Actually, most printed images have a much poorer contrast range than a monitor (LCD or CRT). If you use a package like Photoshop for image editing you can 'soft proof' your image to the printer profile, and it is surprising how poor printers are.