[ksec]

>downsides of poor contrast ratio

In terms of TV. LCD have higher peak brightness. The Sony Bravia 10 will be out soon, hopefully it will showcase the world what LCD could be.

Not to mention cheaper at larger size panel.

[kec]

peak brightness is not contrast. If anything higher peaks mean worse contrast, even for systems with local dimming zones due to bleed between zones / gradients in display content which do not align with backlight zones.