The Difference Between Good And Poor Picture Quality
Everybody can see the difference between a good and a poorer picture quality. However, it is very hard to define for an average consumer what is picture quality. Contrast ratio is one very important element of picture quality, followed by color saturation and accuracy. Resolution should also be considered.
The ratio between the darkest and brightest color your HDTV can produce is called contrast ratio. Your HDTV has high performance if the contrast ratio is high. Low color ratio means a dull experience: pictures will be washed out and details can be lost. However, it is unlikely you will buy an HDTV with poor contrast ratio. In recent years technology has improved greatly, which means even cheaper systems have fairly decent contrast ratios. Obviously best contrast ratios are expensive, but this is also getting cheaper.
Black levels are also very important: it can be very annoying to see grayish blacks when the user expects absolute black image. Poor black levels are especially visible in dim light conditions: this is when your eyes are very sensitive to dark images. To achieve absolute black, a lot of people set black levels too low: this is a mistake, because this way black shadow detail will be lost.
High white levels are good because they help images become vivid and lively. White levels also make daytime viewing more pleasant. Again, it is not a good idea to set white levels too high, because bright highlights and details can be lost.
Color temperature, saturation and accuracy are also important elements of picture quality. The natural light temperature is 6500K, and this is the standard for setting the color temperature. Color temperature is below this will be yellowish or reddish, if above, will be bluish. Setting color temperature correctly is important because this can influence every color on your screen.
Color saturation can be adjusted by using color patterns that come with calibrations discs or TV channels. On the other hand, color accuracy depends mostly on the way your system decodes the image data. This is a very wast topic, and you will be OK if you know only that for an accurate reproduction the color encoding used in film production should match the decoders of your TV.
Greyscale and display characteristic also affect the color reproduction of your HDTV, but again this is above the beginners knowledge about image calibration. You can choose to learn about this, or you can hire a specialist to do it for you.
There are 5 times more pixels in the latest HD resolution than in the Standard Definition. The difference is astonishing: with HD, you can notice details you never knew that existed. Today, 1080 capable HDTVs represent the best money can buy.
Percieved sharpness also relates to resolution, and is similar to the edge contrast concept used in photography. Users can artificially sharpen the image by creating a crispier edge along the image border: this gives the impression of better image quality. Oversharpening is a mistake, because this creates halo artifacts around images.
Edward McKellen is an HDTV expert who writes HDTV reviews for HDTVreviewlab.com. To check out the latest Sony HDTV reviews or learn more about Plasma TVs visit HDTVreviewlab.com