Display Specs Are Misleading, But Here's How to Understand Them
Posted 08/21/2012 at 11:37am
| by J.R. Bookwalter
Think you know a lot about displays? Few of us know as much as DisplayMate expert Dr. Raymond Soneira, who has just published a fascinating report to help consumers and pros alike better understand misleading display specs.
DisplayMate has published a new report from president Dr. Raymond Soneira entitled "Understanding Misleading Display Specs," which attempts to demystify commonly used specifications related to screen size, aspect ration, pixels per inch and much, much more.
"Most HDTVs, Tablets, Smartphones, Laptops, and Monitors prominently list their Display Specs as a sales and marketing tool," Dr. Ray writes. "Unfortunately many of these Display Specs are misleading and are misunderstood by both consumers and professionals. This makes it harder to figure out which displays really are better. Below are many of the Display Specs you'll see together with brief explanations that will help you understand what they actually mean."
While terms such as aspect ratio, screen size and pixels per inch have become commonplace when talking about technology, the DisplayMate report digs deeper into terms such as color gamut ("the range of colors that a display can produce"), the difference between 18-bit and 24-bit color, how viewing angles and contrast ratios affect what we watch and how some specs such as response time are overhyped.
And here's one that's always been a pet peeve for us: Did you know that setting the brightness too high on a display causes eye strain and actually wastes power, therefore reducing battery running time? The majority of us set our brightness far too high, so this DisplayMate report helps to set the record straight on that subject.
For the full report, head over to the DisplayMate News page and prepare to have your eyes opened to the mystery of display specs.
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