The HDTV Specs That Matter

10.06.2011
TV manufacturers love to throw around impressive sounding specs, like contrast ratio and response time. But it's often hard to figure out just what those specs mean -- and sometimes impossible to compare them to the figures from a competitor's TV. So when you're in the market for a TV, think more about getting the right size for your home.

Contrast ratio: An HDTV's contrast-ratio rating is supposed to measure the difference between a TV's darkest blacks and brightest whites--the idea being that we find images with a high visual contrast more realistic. Unfortunately, since manufacturers self-report contrast ratios without any standardized testing guidelines, contrast ratios aren't a reliable indicator of a TV's picture quality in the slightest. Related:

Response time: Response time measures the time it takes for a pixel in an LCD to turn from one color to another--either from black to white to black again, or from one shade of gray to another shade of gray. This spec is useful for making sure you have a monitor without a "smearing" or "blurring" effect around moving objects.

However, unless you look at the fine print, it isn't always clear which measurement the manufacturer reports (the black-white-black transition takes about twice as long as the grey-grey transition), and these days, response times are generally good enough that most people don't need to worry about them. Related: