Display
With displays, it is easy to get caught in the hype as technology buzzwords are meant to grab your attention rather than describe the actual screen quality. Super AMOLED, HD-IPS, Super LCD, Retina IPS, and whatnot, each claim to offer the best image quality around, but usually find it unnecessary to provide specific numbers, which would make technologies easier to compare.
On the rare occasions that display specs are actually quoted, the numbers are purposely chosen to be misleading and make the real-life performance seem much better than it really is. Which is where our first test comes in.
Perhaps the most important factor when it comes to screen quality is the contrast ratio. Contrast ratio is the measure of the dynamic range of the luminance of the display, essentially describing how much darker the deepest blacks are than the brightest whites. A display with a good contrast ratio is able to show richer, more vibrant still images and videos that come to life.
- Display device, output device for presenting information, including:
- Cathode ray tube, video display that provides a quality picture, but can be very heavy and deep
- Electronic visual display, output device to present information for visual or tactile reception
- Flat panel display, video display that is much lighter and thinner than deeper, usually older types
- Liquid crystal display (LCD), displays that use liquid crystals to form images
- Liquid crystal display television (LCD TV), color TVs that use an LCD to form images
- Light-emitting diode (LED), emitting light when electrically charged, producing electroluminescence
- Stereo display, a display device able to convey image depth to a viewer
- Volumetric display, forms a visual representation of an object in three physical dimensions
- Refreshable braille display, electromechanical device to display braille characters
- Split-flap display, electromechanical alphanumeric device, often used as a public transport timetable in airports or railway stations
- Flip-disc display, electromechanical dot matrix technology used for large outdoor signs
- Video card, also known as "display card", an expansion card that generates images to display device
- Display list, series of graphics commands that define an output image
- Display register or data structure, for locating the stack frames of nested functions in computer programming
- Display resolution, refers to the number of distinct pixels of a digital TV or monitor