How important is Contrast Ratio?

I am looking to buy a budget HDTV and am after some advice regarding what features a good HDTV needs.

I have been told that Contrast Ratio is the most important, the bigger the better.

Is this true? What other factors should I take into account?

Answer:
contrast ration is very important, in lay-mans-terms it gives you depth of picture as well as quailty.

i don't know if you are going for lcd or plasmsa.

lcd in the 32" range in general are 1200:1, the worst being 800:1 the highest 6000:1 ( that been samsung, but they have tested it diffenterly to everyone else to get it that high, it's normally 1200:1 on any picture )

plasma have anything from 3000:1 too 10000:1.

also look at the brightness ration, the connections ( 2 hdmi is better then 1 ) is it digitial ( freeview inside ) sound output and what type of sound ie dolby, nicam stero

Hope this helps wg
When I was looking for a LCD TV it was the ones with the higher contrast ratio that looked the best to my eyes. I compared the LG, Samsung, Oleivia, Magnavox and a few others. In the end I ended up with a Sharp Aquos with a contrast ratio of 6000:1.
Contrast ratio is very important. On my Sony LCD HDTV Wega, I use the Vivid setting for best over all contrast ratio and sharpness. So, I would say that this feature is rather important in your consideration of what to buy. The higher the ratio, the better. For instance, on my PC monitor, it's 2000 : 1 , way ahead of what came with it.
actually, there's very little detectable difference in 1000:1 and 6000:1. Human eye response is not that accurate.

The answers post by the user, for information only, CeQnA.com does not guarantee the right.

  • What happened?
  • What is 1920x1080 60hz? is it 1080p?
  • Ive just got sky+ and was wondering if you can Sky+ anything off sky box office??
  • I need a Sony TV KV-28FX60U user guide, preferably free. Please suggest sources. Thank you.?
  • Why won't my television pick up a signal?
  • Where can I buy a portable Tv?
  • Will my LCD TV develop more dead pixels over time?
  • Does anyone know where I can get a good quality but affordable 32" flat screen tv online?
  • Can i put my laptop on my hdtv ?
  • Why cant you use computer monitors as tv's?
  • How do i create a tv station at home for my tv's?