Picture quality for LCD

Home > Resolution, pixel quality for LCD TVs

Whilst the resolution of the screen is a good indicator for a higher quality picture, it's not always necessarily the case. The display standard also plays its part, such as VGA, XGA and W-XGA. Even so, the real acid test is to actually view the picture for yourself, or find solid advise from publications like What?. A few retailers such as Comet do provide picture, sound and connectivity grading. What most experts look out for is how a TV handles the three following scenes,

  1. Skin tones
  2. Dark to light scenes
  3. Fast motion

You should then check whether the TV is using either passive or active matrix. An active matrix is more expensive and preferable if your after the optimum screen quality. A passive matrix sends an electrical current across two conductors, whereas an active matrix has access to a transistor at every pixel inter section. What this mean in reality, is that an active matrix has an improved response time, which means less ghosting and blurring effects during fast moving sequences in comparison to an LCD screen using a passive matrix.

The frequency of a screen is also important. Measured in Hz, previously the old CRT TVs either offered a 50Hz, 60Hz or 100Hz frequency. The higher the Hz the faster the screen can refresh it's images. Therefore you should always search for the highest frequency rate for your LCD screen, otherwise a ghosting effect will become apparent when the screen has to quickly change from dark to light scenes.

Finally, it's important to be sat or stood at the correct distance from the screen. Viewing distances do vary screen to screen, but some average figures are provided below. As the numbers show, the larger the screen, the more room you will need to view the picture at an optimum distance.

Screen size 20 - 28 inches - Viewing distance 3 - 5 feet

Screen size 32 - 36 inches - Viewing distance 6 - 9 feet

Screen size 42 - 46 inches - Viewing distance 10 - 12 feet

Screen size 50 - 60 inches - Viewing distance 12 - 16 feet

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