What are static and dynamic contrast ratio in monitors? Difference between the brighter white screen and darker black screen

You might have heard that a higher contrast ratio is better. Yes, that’s true. A higher contrast ratio of your display device will offer you a better visual experience. blacks and whites. So, with a good contrast ratio, the colors will appear more natural. So, in this article, we are going to know about the Dynamic Contrast Ratio and Static Contrast ratio. In layman’s terms, contrast ratio defines the ratio of two values. In CR, the brighter shade is always in white, while the darker one is black.


The contrast ratio (cr) is an aesthetic property of a monitor, defined as the percentage of the maximum brightness of a white screen, to the darker black screen. A high contrast ratio, then, is desirable from a monitor.

Static contrast ratio is a concept related to LCD panel technology that has been around for many years. It relates to how dark black looks on an LCD screen in comparison to white.

dynamic contrast ratio

The higher (more impressive) your static contrast ratio, as displayed on your TV’s packaging or in marketing materials, typically means that you will see deeper blacks and brighter whites when viewing content on your television.

The lower (less impressive) your static contrast ratio, as displayed on your TV’s packaging or in marketing materials, typically means that you will not see as deep of blacks and you may notice that it is difficult to differentiate colors like gray because there is no differentiation in luminosity values at all.

When using a computer monitor, the dynamic contrast ratio will affect your viewing experience more than you may realize. If you are using a laptop, it is especially important that you understand how this works in order to maximize the benefits of your monitor.

Note that when using a projector to display text on a screen, your display will not display true black unless the light in the ambient light setting is equal to or greater than the display brightness. This can often make it difficult to read what is on a computer display and causes some people to have eye strain when trying to view certain text.

In this article, we will know various other things about the dynamic contrast ratio. So, make sure to keep reading until the end.

What is the contrast ratio and why does it matter a lot?

The reason that most people suffer from eye strain is that the display has too much light or too much white. If you have a display with too much white and not enough black, your eyes will strain to see the text on the screen because it has to strain to make the contrast between the light and dark regions equal.

This can also cause the image to have incorrect color. But, there is a big misconception in the market. People think that a higher contrast ratio will damage their eyes but that is not true.

In fact, a lower contrast ratio will put a strain on your eyes. Combined with other factors like blue light and brightness, you can experience long-term eye strain as well.

Your manufacturer will tell you what is dynamic contrast ratio and your LCD display should provide you with a native contrast ratio as well. You can calculate your native contrast ratio by dividing the brightest white measurement of your monitor by the total amount of colors.

This will give you the ratio that represents the ratio of white to the total amount of colors used in your display. Using this calculation will help you to know how many shades of white you need in order to display the most accurate colors like gamut on your screen.

To calculate your dynamic contrast ratio, you will need to multiply the measured brightness measurement of your monitor by the average amount of shades between the brightest white and the color or colors used.

What is the dynamic contrast ratio?

Dynamic contrast ratio, as you may have guessed from its name, compares a display’s dynamic brightness with its static brightness. Dynamic is referring to a variable that changes over time—in other words, your image’s average brightness.

As an example, if your TV measures 100 cd/m2 at a 10% white window (displaying only 10% of all possible pixels) and 1000 cd/m2 at 100% white (all possible pixels displayed). The Dynamic Contrast ratio will work on an as-if basis.

So, whenever required, your display will try to adjust its contrast ratio on its own. You don’t have to do anything in order to adjust or change it at all.

A good dynamic contrast ratio, however, allows the brightest things on a page to be displayed at the brightest settings possible while the Darksiders remain darker. For instance, if a document is displayed with a 25 point font, but the background is set to be the same brightness as the text, the contrast ratio will show the text as having the same amount of dark detail as the background.

If the background is then set to be half the brightness of the font, the text would still appear as nearly black. This allows for the distinction between the bright highlights of a document and the darker darks. It also allows for the reader to be able to make the distinction between the highlights and the shadows.

What is the static contrast ratio?

On any monitor or television with the static contrast ratio, no real-time calculations of brightness and luminosity happen. Instead of that, your monitor will stay committed to a single number of contrast ratios. You will find the static contrast ratio is utilized in various old monitors, Televisions, and projectors as well.

Just opposite to the dynamic contrast ratio, no changes will happen to the contrast in these static contrast ratio monitors.

While the contrast ratio between a static display and one using a dynamic contrast ratio is best for comparing typical LCD screens, it is important to note that there can be benefits from a static display as well, especially with certain types of displays, such as some outdoor exhibits and landscapes.

Here, the difference between a static display and one that uses a dynamic contrast ratio comes from the differences between the refresh rate and the response time on the two types of screens.

A static display will have a much faster refresh rate, meaning that it will display more colors and shades at once than a CRT-based monitor will. This type of screen will also respond more quickly, meaning that it will offer a faster user interface.

DCR Vs NCR? Which one is better?

People often ask if a high static contrast ratio TV is better than a high dynamic contrast ratio TV. The short answer: no. And that’s because Dynamic and Static are two different types of contrast ratios that measure two different things. Dynamic contrast ratio measures how well a display changes from scene to scene by controlling how bright each scene will be displayed.

In other words, you could have a 50 million to 1 DCR and still have one static image on your screen at all times which would put you at 50,000:1 static CR, not 50 million:1 DCR. So, making a perfect decision between the both is not easy if you don’t know your requirements.

For example, if you are going to use your display device outside, you would definitely like to stick to the static-dynamic ratio only. However, for a better and customized user experience, it is always better to go with the dynamic contrast ratio.

This will help you have a better experience when it comes to media consumption. Even if you do general tasks on your computers such as browsing, For other tasks such as gaming, most of the users may want to use the static contrast ratio only. With that said, let’s get to the topic related to gaming right away.

Are DCR Nits good for gaming pixels?

Mostly, you will find the dynamic contrast ratio good for any kind of gaming. But, in some cases, it may interfere with your overall gaming experience. Some people may see issues like ghosting. Or, you may see a decrease in the FPS just because of your monitor.

This thing has nothing to do with your graphics card and its features but you may feel like having some problems with it. So, having good overall specs along with your DCR monitor is crucial for optimal performance.

It will include having a perfect setup for gaming including a Graphics card, RAM, CPU, etc. If your monitor is doing its best to adjust the contrast ratio but the incoming signals are not properly, you will not see the desired results at all.

A good dynamic contrast ratio is a perfect option for those who want to have great results in terms of contrast but you should never forget about the things that may result in a good visual experience. These things include a good brightness, sharpness, and display resolution as well.

So, in simple terms, the Dynamic contrast ratio is a good thing for those who want to have a good experience in terms of display contrast. The contrast ratio can be a very helpful element in increasing your overall display appearance.

For gamers and content creators, it is definitely a great thing to choose. So, you should definitely try to understand its features and then make use of the best contrast ratio possible.

Is the screen with a DCR display too costly?

You will mostly find this feature in top-end monitors. But, the difference between a monitor with a static contrast ratio and a dynamic contrast ratio is always going to be minimal. If you go online or visit any nearby electronic store, you will find that these monitors are easily available at easy prices.

Also, you may get some other features if you are ready to spend some more money on your product. The DCR monitors will definitely have some higher price tags just because you get a special feature that is not available with other monitors.

If you simply go to Amazon or do a Google search for the best DCR monitor, you will see that you are always having various options to choose from.

The DCR monitors are perfect to enhance your experience whether it is your gaming or other simple tasks. For people who keep working in lights and then dark areas, this feature can be a good option for those. Also, having variable brightness and sharpness levels may also impact the way you perceive your displays.

Now, if you want, you can definitely go with some great brands such HP, Acer, Dell, etc. Various popular brands are providing you with these products so you can easily pick the best one for you.

What are the benefits of the Dynamic Contrast ratio?

If you are working with graphics that are having high speed, you should definitely go with a good monitor that has the Dynamic Contrast ratio to offer to you. The primary benefit is that your monitor is going to produce the darkest blacks and lightest whites possible.

In some monitors, you may see this feature written as contrast enhancement or various other things like that.  Some of the main benefits of the Dynamic contrast ratio are as follows.

  1. Better color reproduction
  2. Best results with HDR
  3. Great adjustments of brightness and sharpness

With these benefits, you can easily rely on your DCR monitors and it will definitely help you achieve the best results in terms of display quality. If your monitor is capable of providing you with great black and white colors, it is definitely a good thing for you.

You just have to pay attention to other features of your monitor and this would offer you a good display device that has the ability to offer you the best results possible.

The benefits of DCR monitors are unmatched. You will get to see amazing results in terms of color reproduction and overall sharpness as well.


Final Verdict

We hope this article would have provided you with enough information about the dynamic contrast ratio. You might also be having a good idea of how the static contrast ratio is different from the dynamic contrast ratio.

Now, if you have any other ideas about this content or you want to see any improvement in this article, just let us know in the comment section, We will definitely provide you with all the help you need. Or, we will definitely make adjustments.

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