I want to purchase an LCD HD TV. But I can decide between 2 TVs. One boasts 3.2 billion colors and the other 16.7 million colors. Do I care?
The human visual system is not capable of distinguishing 3.2 billion, or even 16.7 million colors in a single display. (In fact, there aren’t enough pixels on the display to show all the colors at once!). However, that doesn’t mean that the capability to display more colors isn’t helpful in producing better image quality. For example, if you were watching a DVD with a dark scene that had a lot of subtle gradation you might well see some unnatural contouring on a TV capable of only 16.7 million colors. The more expensive TV with finer color resolution might well produce a significantly better image. It is not so much the total number of colors that matters, it is how they are used. You also might be less likely to see the difference in a store since viewing conditions are not optimal. However that difference might show up when you get the TV home. If it were my decision to make, I would spend the money and get the better color resolution.
