Contrast ratio of LCD monitors

Don Stauffer in Minnesota writes:

The figures I had seen said 2% for the blackest black on fully exposed
printing paper. This corresponds well to about the same value for 3M
Black Velvet paint. I believe inks from printing press are a bit more
reflective.

I worked on a project developing blacks for sunshades on satellite
optical instruments. It was hard to find ANYTHING blacker than 1%.
The best blacks we had were between 1 and 2%.

In the case of the printing paper, I don't believe that the contrast
figures include specularly reflected light. After all, the paper
gelatin surface will reflect something like 4% of the incoming light.
But glossy paper, properly dried on a polished metal plate, gives a nice
specular reflection and you naturally hold the print *to direct that
reflection away from your eyes*. So the black you see is determined by
the *diffuse* reflectance of the paper with the specular reflection
removed.

On the other hand, a paint rated as 2% reflectance is likely talking
about total reflected light, including any specular component.

Exercise: if you want a small area of really black stuff, get a package
(or 10) of old-fashioned double-edge razor blades. Assemble all of the
blades into a single stack and clamp them together. Now look at the
two "faces" of the resulting structure that are a whole bunch of cutting
edges viewed edge-on - these faces will be very black. Even though the
cutting edges are actually shiny steel, they form a series of deep
V-grooves with such shallow angles that any light which reaches the face
gets bounced back and forth many times and eventually absorbed.

Dave

HEMI-Powered wrote:
Victek added these comments in the current discussion du jour
...

snip

I'd make one observation here having purchased a 26" Samsung back
in May. It seems that the popular trend in all LCD displays is to
vastly over-saturate and over-brighten the display. As best I've
been able to learn this is because the public thinks this makes
the image jump off the screen better giving the illusion of
greater dyamic range and greater sharpness. Well, maybe, but
Seconded!
Comparing LCD screen in the shop with their canned images I fell exactly
into that trap, only to find out the Samsung widescreen I bought
couldn't hold a candle to my old Philips in terms of smooth grayscale
rendering, no matter how I tweaked it. Swapped the Samsung for a cheaper
Philips widescreen which was tweakable...
snip

Another tip: be sure to buy only from a store that will give you
a 100% refund with no restocking fee. You see, the features and
yes!
And also: do not put much value in reviews from PC journals, they cater
to people with different needs, like gaming.

-- Hans