Sony's Advanced Contrast Enhancer, which is also referred to as Advanced CE or ACE, enhances the contrast between light and dark colors on Sony's LED-illuminated liquid-crystal display high-definition televisions. When Advanced CE is enabled, Sony XBR displays can produce deeper and more realistic shades of black on one part of the display while keeping other portions of the image bright and crisp.
Backlighting
- Sony's Bravia XBR displays utilize liquid crystal displays or LCDs. These displays use liquid crystals to create images, but require a separate source of illumination to make the image visible. Sony XBR displays have a layer of light emitting diodes, or LEDs, arranged in a grid pattern behind the LCD. As video plays, the television analyzes the image, and turns off the LEDs located directly behind portions of the LCD that are displaying the color black. The black in these areas appears darker than the black on a standard LCD television, because it is not being illuminated from behind.
Effectiveness
- Sony's Advanced CE is a form of local dimming, a technology used by other HDTV manufacturers under different names. The television's in Sony's Bravia XBR line can produce dynamic contrast ratios of between 7000:1 and 18000:1, depending on the specific model. A displays dynamic contrast ratio is the difference over a period of time in brightness between the brightest point on the screen and the darkest point. Although ACE and other forms of local dimming provide excellent contrast, they can cause some blurring between dark and light portions of an image. The illuminated LEDs behind a light portion of the image can also illuminate adjoining dark portions of the image, causing the dark sections to glow and appear blurry.
Energy Conservation
- When it is enabled, ACE increases the energy efficiency of Sony XBR televisions. By turning off LEDs behind dark portions of the image, Sony XBR televisions use less power than they would with ACE disabled. When ACE is not enabled, all LEDs are illuminated and consuming power whenever the television is on. The degree of power-saving is largely determined by backlight's brightness setting.
Activating Advanced C.E.
- You can enable or disable ACE through your Sony XBR's options menu. Press "Options" on the remote control and select "Picture." Scroll down to and select "Advanced Settings." Select "Advanced C.E." to enable or disable ACE. You can adjust the total backlight level by selecting "Backlight" from the picture options menu. ACE will have a more dramatic improvement on the image contrast when the backlight is brighter.
