Contrast

In visual arenas, contrast means placement of opposite colors. It is used to differentiate the lightest and the darkest areas on the display screen. In other words, contrast is the difference in the visual properties of the ingredients of a picture or its representation that distinguishes it from other objects and the background of a picture. The difference in the color and brightness of the object within the same picture determines the contrast. It is an essential element to identify the various components of a picture which become invisible in absolute luminance. Contrast is the amount of shades between the black and the white.

Contrast is also the difference between the luminosity of the brightest and the darkest color on the TV screen. High contrast ratio is recommended for any color display.

The contrast in the visual areas is determined by its ratio which is the calculation of the difference in colors that appear in a TV picture at the same time.

Contrast ratio can be explained as the difference between the brightest whites and the blackest blacks displayed on a TV or a computer screen. The higher contrast ratio means whiter whites and blacker blacks and also higher degree of the gray areas in between them. On the other hand in lower contrast ratio even the bright image will be washed out. It may be noted that the contrast ratios of at least 1,500: 1 are good, but the ones with 2,000:1 are considered excellent. Other examples of contrast ratio are 800:1, 1000:1, 5,000:1 and so on. It is obvious that higher contrast ratio is certainly better than the lower ones.

The term contrast ratio is generally used with LCD, Plasma and projection televisions and computer monitors. TV or computer screens look better with higher contrast ratio than those with lower contrast ratio.

It must be noted that many televisions have problems in displaying a precise representation of black color particularly in presence of the bright images.
If the contrast ratio is not adequate, you will find the true black is not visible
It becomes slightly difficult to define contrast ratio when you move from the system that displays a static motionless image to a system that displays dynamic changing picture. Static contrast ratio is the luminosity of the brightest and darkest color, while the dynamic contrast ratio is the ratio of the luminosity of the brightest and the darkest color.