I posted about the TPG grading standards for Old Judges a few years ago, and sharpness of image was one of the main factors I discussed (the other one being back damage). See that thread here:
http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=203387
My OJ collection has more than doubled in size since I wrote that, and more and more I've focused on cards with sharp images and nice contrast, regardless of other flaws they may have. For most collectors I know, a graded OJ's technical grade from PSA or SGC has very little to do with its desirability. It's not completely irrelevant, but it's much less relevant than image quality. We had some good discussion about this in the thread linked above, and I've also discussed it with Jay Miller. At the 2015 National, I believe it was, Jay said that he had talked to somebody from SGC who agreed that the grading standards for Old Judges are totally screwed up, but nothing has been done about it since then, as far as I know.