Dynamic Contrast

What is it and why is it used?

Dynamic contrast, or adaptive contrast, is a feature invented to adjust the screen's backlight according to the content being shown. This means that if you show a black screen and then restore a bright window, the screen will darken so the white is easier on the eyes and so more image details are visible. The contrast is effectively increased in this manner, which is why we see ratings of up to 2000:1 using this method. The monitor's total range of possible colors is increased greatly since it can modulate its backlight.

It's not always the best thing. For example, when scrolling on a website, you may see the static left side flicker while the monitor adjusts to suit the right side (dynamic scrolling content). It's best to leave it off in this scenario. Most every monitor that has this feature also has an option to disable it. The dynamic contrast effect is a gradual one, and sometimes "bands" of color (much like moire) can appear as the process progresses (generally it occurs over the course of a second).

For photo editing, using dynamic contrast is strongly discouraged. Remember, when other people need to view your photos, they won't necessarily have the exact same dynamic contrast features. You should be aiming for the Adobe or sRGB color spaces, and dynamic contrast is only counterproductive when you need to do color matching.

However, for games, it's quite the awesome effect as your enemies suddenly become visible in the dark. It's not as good as professionally calibrating your monitor, which is difficult to do. For the home user, it's a very useful feature. On NEC's monitors, they coin it Advanced DVM, and LG calls it DFC (Digital Fine Contrast). Samsung's name for this feature is MagicContrast. We will see more and more LCDs implementing this feature, and hopefully they will still give you the option to disable it, or a way to manage it with profiles.