Screen surface
The type of coating used on the TV screen.
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Matte. Historically, the first type of coating for LCD screens, which is often found today. Screens with such a coating generally have average characteristics of brightness, saturation and colour reproduction quality, in terms of these indicators they are inferior to glossy counterparts. However, the matte coating has one important advantage: it has virtually no glare from ambient light. In some situations, this can be an important advantage — for example, if the TV is installed opposite the window. And for some users it is more pleasant to look at the screen without glare, albeit relatively dim.
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Glossy. A coating designed to improve the brightness and colour quality of the visible image compared to matte screens. The creators have managed to achieve this goal: "glossy" screens really provide rich, vibrant colours and a brighter image. The key disadvantage of such screens is the appearance of glare from ambient light on them — this can ruin the whole viewing experience. Because of this, the classic glossy coating is practically not used today, anti-glare solutions have taken its place (see below).
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Glossy (anti-glare). Modification of the glossy coating, created, as the name implies, in order to eliminate the main drawback of the classic gloss — glare from external lighting. This is not to say th
...at such screens do not glare at all, but there are much less reflections on them than on ordinary glossy ones. As for the image quality, it is at least not much worse, and often even better (especially since such coatings are constantly being improved). Thanks to all this, most modern TVs of all price categories are equipped with anti-glare screens.Brightness
The maximum brightness of the image provided by the TV screen.
The image on the screen should be bright enough so that you do not have to strain your eyes unnecessarily to view it. However, too high brightness is undesirable — it will also lead to fatigue. The optimal brightness level depends on the surrounding conditions: the more intense the ambient light, the brighter the TV screen should be. So, on a sunny day, the screen may have to be “turned up” to the maximum, and in the evening, in dimmed light, a relatively dim image will be more comfortable. In addition note that large screens require higher brightness, since they are designed for a greater distance from the viewer.
Thus, the higher the number in this paragraph, the greater the margin of brightness this model has, the better it will show itself in intense ambient light. The lowest indicator sufficient for more or less comfortable viewing in any conditions is 300 cd/m² for models with a diagonal of up to 32", 400 cd/m² for models in the range of 32 – 55" and 600 cd/m² for large screens of 60" and more. In this case, the brightness margin anyway will not be superfluous. But with lower indicators, you may have to darken the room somewhat for comfortable viewing.
Static contrast
The level of static contrast provided by the TV screen.
Contrast in a general sense is the ratio in brightness between the brightest whites and the darkest blacks that the screen can produce. Other things being equal, the higher the screen contrast, the better the quality of colour reproduction and detail, the lower the likelihood that it will be impossible to see details in too bright or too dark areas of the image. Static contrast, on the other hand, describes the maximum difference in brightness that can be achieved within one frame without changing the brightness of the image — this is its difference from dynamic contrast (see below).
The values of static contrast are much lower than those of dynamic, but this characteristic is the most "honest". It is on it that the properties of the image seen on the screen at a particular moment depend, it is describes the basic properties of the screen, without taking into account the software tricks provided by the manufacturer in the hardware of the TV.
Dynamic contrast
The level of dynamic contrast provided by the TV screen.
Contrast in a general sense is the ratio in brightness between the brightest whites and the darkest blacks that the screen can produce. Other things being equal, the higher the screen contrast, the better the quality of colour reproduction and detail, the lower the likelihood that it will be impossible to see details in too bright or too dark areas of the image. Formally, the main characteristic of screens is static contrast (see above), but even in advanced matrices it is relatively low. Therefore, manufacturers went to the trick, introducing such a characteristic as "dynamic contrast".
Dynamic contrast ratio is the difference between the brightest whites at the highest screen brightness settings and the darkest blacks at the lowest. These contrast ratios can be quite impressive—much higher than static—however, it is impossible to achieve such values within a single frame, and dynamic contrast ratio is stated more for promotional purposes than for describing the actual specifications of the screen. However, it cannot be said that this indicator is completely unrelated to reality. The fact is that many TVs use automatic brightness control, which changes the settings depending on the characteristics of the image. This control is based on the fact that when displaying bright scenes, there is no need to provide a deep black level, and in dark scenes, high brightness of light areas is not needed — th...ese are the features of the human eye. This means that in bright scenes you can increase the overall brightness, and in dark scenes you can reduce it; the maximum brightness difference achievable in this mode of operation is precisely described by dynamic contrast.
Response time
The response time can be described as the maximum time required for each pixel of the screen to change brightness, in other words, the longest time from the receipt of a control signal to the pixel until it switches to the specified mode. The actual switching time may be less — if the brightness changes slightly, it can be calculated in microseconds. However, it is the longest time that matters — it describes the guaranteed response speed of each pixel.
First of all, the frame rate is directly related to the response time (see the relevant paragraph): the lower the response time, the higher the frame rate can be provided on this sensor. However, the actual frame rate may be less than the theoretical maximum, it all depends on the TV. Also note that the overall image quality in dynamic scenes depends primarily on the frame rate. Therefore, we can say that the response time is an auxiliary parameter: the average user rarely needs this data, and in the specifications they are given mainly for advertising purposes.
Frame rate
The highest frame rate supported by the TV.
Note that in this case we are talking specifically about the screen’s own frame rate, without additional image processing (see “Index of dynamic scenes”). This frequency must be no lower than the frame rate in the video being played - otherwise there may be jerks, interference and other unpleasant phenomena that degrade the quality of the picture. In addition, the higher the frame rate, the smoother and smoother the movement in the frame will look, and the better the detail of moving objects will be. However, it is worth noting here that playback speed is often limited by the properties of the content, and not by the characteristics of the screen. For example, films are often recorded at a frequency of only 30 fps, or even 24 - 25 fps, while most modern TVs support frequencies of
50 or
60 Hz. This is enough even for viewing high-quality content in HD resolutions (speeds above 60 fps in such video are extremely rare), but there are also “faster” screens on the market:
100 Hz,
120 Hz and
144 Hz. Such speeds, as a rule, indicate a fairly high class of the screen; they also often imply the use of various technologies designed to improve the quality of dynamic scenes.
Audio decoders
A decoder can be broadly described as a standard in which digital audio (often multi-channel) is recorded. For normal playback of such sound, it is necessary that the corresponding decoder is supported by the device. Dolby Digital and DTS were the first in multi-channel decoding, gradually improving and introducing new features. The final stage for 2020 is Dolby Atmos and DTS X decoders.
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Dolby Atmos. A decoder that uses not a rigid distribution of sound across channels, but the processing of audio objects, due to which it can be used with almost any number of channels on a reproducing system — the sound will be divided between channels so that each audio object is heard as close as possible to its proper place. When using Dolby Atmos, ceiling speakers (or speakers facing the ceiling) are highly desirable. However, in extreme cases, you can do without them.
— DTS X. An analogue of the Dolby Atmos described above, when the sound is distributed not through individual channels, but through audio objects. The digital signal contains information about where (according to the director's intention) the object audible to the user should be and how it should move, and the processor of the reproducing device processes this information and determines exactly how the sound should be distributed over the available channels in order to achieve the required localization. Thanks to this, DTS X is not tied to a specific number of audi
...o channels — there can be as many as you like, the system will automatically divide the sound into them, achieving the desired sound. Also note that this decoder allows you to separately adjust the volume of dialogues.HDMI
The number of HDMI inputs provided in the design of the TV.
HDMI is a comprehensive digital interface that allows high-definition video and multi-channel audio to be transmitted over a single cable. It is widely used in modern HD equipment — in fact, the presence of such an output is mandatory for modern media centers, DVD players, etc. Therefore, LCD TVs in the vast majority of cases are equipped with at least one HDMI port. And the presence of several such ports allows you to simultaneously connect several signal sources and switch between them; in some models, the number of HDMI can reach
4 or even more. At the same time, some manufacturers use technologies that allow you to control devices connected to the TV via HDMI from a single remote control.
HDMI version
About the interface itself, see above, and its different versions differ in maximum resolution and other features. Here are the options found in modern TVs:
— v 1.4. The oldest of the current versions, released in 2009. However, it supports 3D video, capable of working with resolutions up to 4096x2160 at 24 fps, and in Full HD resolution, the frame rate can reach 120 fps. In addition to the original v.1.4, there are also improved modifications — v.1.4a and v.1.4b; they are similar in terms of basic features, in both cases the improvements affected mainly work with 3D content.
– v 2.0. Significant update to HDMI introduced in 2013. In this version, the maximum frame rate in 4K has increased to 60 fps, and the audio bandwidth has increased to 32 channels and 4 separate streams simultaneously. Also from the innovations, we can mention support for the ultra-wide format 21:9. In the v.2.0a update HDR support was added to the interface capabilities, in v.2.0b this feature was improved and expanded.
— v 2.1. Despite the similarity in name to v.2.0, this version, released in 2017, was a very large-scale update. In particular, it added support for 8K and even 10K at speeds up to 120 fps, as well as even more expanded features for working with HDR. Under this version, its own cable was released — HDMI Ultra High Speed, all
HDMI 2.1 features are available only when using cables of this standard, although basic functio
...ns can be used with simpler cords.