Sharp shows off 37" LCD with 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio!

[Nielo TM]

Here you go (http://w.engadgethd.com/2007/01/15/sharps-1-000-000-1-mega-contrast-premium-lcd-vs-regular-lcd/)

http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.engadget.com/media/2007/01/sharp-mega-contrast-1.jpg

http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.engadget.com/media/2007/01/sharp-mega-contrast-2.jpg

http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.engadget.com/media/2007/01/sharp-mega-contrast-3.jpg

http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.engadget.com/media/2007/01/sharp-mega-contrast-4.jpg

http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.engadget.com/media/2007/01/sharp-mega-contrast-5.jpg

http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.engadget.com/media/2007/01/sharp-mega-contrast-6.jpg

http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.engadget.com/media/2007/01/sharp-mega-contrast-7.jpg

[bliss007]

I prefer the pics of the right, I seen them before (think CES) and the new ones should be on the left but they look horrid to me with white glare all around them.

[Tejstar]

The piccies on the left are of the old LCD not the new one!

[raigraphixs]

The piccies on the left are of the old LCD not the new one!


i thought grey was the new black this year. :grin:

[Tejstar]

Lol! :laugh:

Just looking at the pictures again, it seems that whilst the black levels on better, they seem to lack the detail the ones on the left have. Particularly stars etc, maybe it's the way the picture was taken (I certainly hope that's all it is!)

[sandstheman]

It's quite possible the camera they used cannot reproduce the range of contrast of the screen, so the stars get drowned out by the contrast between the bright foreground objects and the darker background. Its similar to what we see when we see pictures taken in space - the bright foreground objects i.e. Moon, or space shuttle affects the exposure which then means you don't see any stars in the background

[DanDT]

Lol! :laugh:

Just looking at the pictures again, it seems that whilst the black levels on better, they seem to lack the detail the ones on the left have. Particularly stars etc, maybe it's the way the picture was taken (I certainly hope that's all it is!)

It's the camera taking the picture picture. It makes some parts of the "normal" LCD a toal white mess (which shows real detail on the Megacontrast one), and it can't pick up some parts of the darker screen (the stars) all at the same time, as the picture is one for both screens and it probably doesn't have high enough dynamic range...

Well, that's my take...

[matt_p]

You can never trust camera pics for these kinds of things. The shutter settings can make black levels look great on a bad screen, and bad on a great screen.

Having said that, the reports I've read on these screens from CES (engadget et al) seem to be saying that they outperformed the SED screens shown last year.

Maybe it is possible to get decent blacks out of an LCD after all! Quite intrigued to know how the tech works...

[Tejstar]

I'm sure it is to do with the camera - I'd love to see one of these side by side with a normal LCD. When are these due to come out?

[Nielo TM]

I think it'll only be for professional use. We on the other hand may have wait until OLED becomes available.

PS: I don't know any motion picture camera (film, analog and digital) that is truly capable of capture such a high contrast ratio. So I guess the video processor has to most of the work.

PPS: In order to exploit the maximum contrast ratio, you have to view a dark scene in a pitch black room for few minutes.

[lgans316]

When black leves are phenomenally increased then it may eat up the whites causing poor shadow detail. I hope that the million figure contrast ratio won't hurt the shadow details.

[sandstheman]

My guess is it's a similar technology to the High Dynamic Range screens a company was demonstrating last year. These use an array of led's for the backlight which can be switched on and off, combined with LCD, pure blacks can be achieved by switching off groups of LED's in black areas or to switch them on and off at high speed to retain any black level details

[Andy3]

Hmmm. Looks to me like the standard LCD (left piccy, I presume) is set too bright to make the 'grey effect' of LCD even worse. Look at the bright bits in the LCD - they are washed out and featureless, whereas the other one is showing detail. Im sure a few minutes spent setting the backlight and contrast levels of the LCD would leave it looking far better.
I know standard LCD's are a bit lacking in the black department, but that's just silly!

[Tejstar]

However, that does look like it is in total darkness. Even my plasma only looks a bit better than the LCD on the left in total darkness.

[hamster]

I saw it at CES. It looked like an LED backlight to me. Impressive none the less.

However if you watch it in a normal room the contrast ratio goes WAY down due to ambient light reflecting off the screen...

..good, but a lot of it was the typical LCD industry "willy waving" along with the "largest LCD" "fastest" etc etc.

[stevedster]

this picture just blows me away...

http://www.oled-info.com/files/images/Samsung_40Inch_AMOLED_Prototype_2.jpg

[raigraphixs]

this picture just blows me away...



Yep, she sure is a cutie :)

[Tejstar]

They should ban these hotties presenting technology, it's so distracting! It makes you make purchases you never planned! :devil:

[leef1234]

They should ban these hotties presenting technology, it's so distracting! It makes you make purchases you never planned! :devil:

Never fall for a woman that laughs like that whilst pointing out how small something is! :grin:

[Tejstar]

Never fall for a woman that laughs like that whilst pointing out how small something is! :grin:
Never experienced that myself! ;)

:laugh:

[Nabs]

Any idea when these will be available and I wonder is loewe going to use the same panels?

[bonnie_barko]

maybe the contrast ratio of the device you're viewing it on isnt capable of displaying the images correctly... my screens definitely lower than 1,000,000:1 contrast :P

[Nabs]

bonnie_barko - what screen are you using - I did not know that were actually some 1,000,000:1 screens out yet.

[bonnie_barko]

:grin:

[GrahamMG]

Its more like <1000:1 in real life but still pretty good for an LCD panel, dare I say "plasma like". I wonder who will be using one coupled to their bespoke electronics and processing skills;) ;) ;)

[Radicalbyte]

Sharp were showing off some very very good looking 1080p sets at Cebit, the contrast on those was absolutely amazing.

From my hazy memory the panels were 10,000 - 1 contract with the "active contract" enabled. The lighting there was similar to a living room sans "mood lighting" (i.e. it wasn't dark).

The overall picture quality was, to my eyes, better than the Panny plasmas on offer.

Though this might be because I find the flickering harder to see on the LCDs than the Plasmas.

Oh, and the video being fed to all sets showed signs of compression artifacts. Guess I was hoping for better from the HD-DVD / Bluray drives.

[Bedsidelee]

When black leves are phenomenally increased then it may eat up the whites causing poor shadow detail. I hope that the million figure contrast ratio won't hurt the shadow details. The sharp aquos is much better than everyone of the tvs you got highlighted there, learn to know your tvs. :thumbsup:

[Purple snakes]

The sharp aquos is much better than everyone of the tvs you got highlighted there, learn to know your tvs. :thumbsup:

If they can only get blacks to look like this by fluctuations in the contrast and shifting contrast all the time like the samsung's dynamic contrast then they can keep it its horrible.

[GrahamMG]

I doubt Samsung would know what a broadcast spec panel was....:rotfl: :rotfl: Seriously the panel I've seen uses some very very cutting edge scary stuff like primary and secondary crystals and some back light stuff I thought was sci-fi.... At £4k for a 37" screen you can imagine what technology is being used.... Seriously high end for those people that must have the best really. If broadcasters take it up (and finally move from those brilliant 19" Sony CRT's) then LCD may have a future after all;)

[welwynnick]

Its more like <1000:1 in real life but still pretty good for an LCD panel, dare I say "plasma like". I wonder who will be using one coupled to their bespoke electronics and processing skills;) ;) ;)
If that 1000:1 ANSI contrast, I think that wold be worth having.

Nick

[Nielo TM]

It has dynamic range of 1,000,000:1 but its static contrast would be much higher then 1000:1.