What does enabling the DCR function on my new Vizio actually do? Does it raise the Backlight level to 100%? I can tell you that it really enhances the detail in the picture but will using it cause premature loss of backlight brightness or other issues? P.S. When enabled it disables the backlight level manual control in the video settings menu. Appreciate any input on the subject,Viewmaster.

My Plasma LG has this thing...just a horrible gimmick, it gives the image a greyish/glary light, the blacks look horrible.

dynamic contrast will give more pop at the cost of picture quality.
whites will be brighter, but washed out
blacks will be darker, but crushed.
colors will be more saturated, but not accurate to original intent.

What does enabling the DCR function on my new Vizio actually do? Does it raise the Backlight level to 100%? I can tell you that it really enhances the detail in the picture but will using it cause premature loss of backlight brightness or other issues? P.S. When enabled it disables the backlight level manual control in the video settings menu. Appreciate any input on the subject,Viewmaster.

Don't use it. It ruins the image. It will look good in some cases such as brighter scenes.

It totally burns the brighter shades and crushes blacks. Watch a darker movie or play a dark game and you lose most of the shadow detail. Dark colors become a big black blotch.

What it will do is insure that any calibration you do is automatically invalid. Dynamic contrast sounds good in theory....but it's really just a marketing department gimmick that allows makers to achieve absurd contrast ratios under favorable, controlled circumstances. In other words...circumstances which will never be repeated once you get the set home.;)

Thanks for the input from all you guys, but I still would like to know what does it physically do by enabling DCR? Does it turn up the backlight all the way or what:confused:. In my opinion, I have a pretty good eye for color and saturation levels after doing years of photographic work as a hobby. I keep my color,contast, brightness and backlight settings at very moderate levels, because I appreciate a picture that looks natural and not like a cartoon. Under these conditions enabling DCR on my new Vizio looked great and did not cause anything that looked like oversaturation or abnormally high color or contrast. I left it on for one full evening of OTA viewing on various channels. HD programs, SD programs, and even old movies all still looked darned good and not unnatural. The only difference I see is a very nice crisp picture just like a good 35mm photograph would look.

Hey, if it works for you then that's all that counts. On my Vizio I really want to like it, I really do because it does make the blacks really really good, No loss of shadow detail etc. but it's just too dim for me over all. Vizio actually does a pretty decent job with Dynamic Contrast Ratio, I've seen some that are horrible like the above have mentioned.

If don't mind the dimness of the picture then Vizio does a nice job.