LED TV´s explained

Now you may of heard of the newest TV format, LED. As with all new technology there has been a lot of confusion and hype regarding these screens.

So let us try and help you understand this latest in TV buzz words......The LED designation refers to the backlight system used in some newer LCD Televisions, the LEDs do not produce the image you see on the screen.
LCD chips and pixels do not produce their own light. In order for an LCD television to produce a visible image the LCD's pixels have to be "backlit". In fact LED TVs are still LCD TVs, it is just that these new sets use LED backlights rather than the fluorescent-type backlights used in most other LCD TVs. To give them their correct name they should be labelled LCD/LED TVs. In truth the only true LED-only TVs are the ones you see in stadiums, arenas, other large events and "high-res" billboards.

So how does it work?

The are currently two main ways that LED backlighting is applied in LCD flat panel televisions.
One type of LED backlighting is referred to as Edge Lighting. In this method, a series LED backlights are placed along the outside edges of the screen. The light is then dispersed across the screen. The advantage of this method is that the LED/LCD TV can be made very thin. On the other hand, the disadvantage of Edge lighting is that black levels are not as deep and the edge area of the screen has a tendency to be brighter than the centre area of the screen.

The other type of LED backlighting is referred to as Full-Array. In this method, several rows of LEDs are placed behind the entire surface of the screen. The advantage is that these sets can employ "local dimming". Local dimming means that each LED or a specific group of LEDs can be turned on and off independently within certain areas of the screen, thus providing more control of the brightness and darkness for each those areas, depending on the source material being displayed. On the other hand, LCD TVs that employ full array backlighting are thicker than LCD TVs that employ an Edge-lit LED light source.

If you are considering the purchase of an LED/LCD Television, find out which brands and models are currently using the Edge or Full Array method and take of a look at each type when you go shopping to see which type of LED backlighting looks best to you.

So what is the difference?

Since LEDs are designed differently than standard fluorescent backlight systems, this means that the new LED backlit LCD sets offer the following differences with standard LCD sets:

1. Lower power consumption.
2. No Mercury used as in some other LCD backlight systems.
3. More balanced colour saturation.
4. In LED/LCD TVs using the Full Array blacklight method, there is little or no light leakage in dark scenes. This contributes to even better black levels than traditional or LED Edge-lit LCD televisions.
5. LED/LCD TVs that use the Edge backlight method can be made much thinner than both standard LCD and Full Array LED/LCD televisions. 

LED backlight does represent an advance in technology, mostly in bringing LCD TVs up to the performance levels of Plasma Televisions in terms of black level performance, and, at the same time, making even thinner LCD TV designs possible. On the other hand, because LED backlighting is new for LCD TVs, these sets are more expensive that non-LED backlit sets.

The LED/LCD screens I have seen (edge lit) all have a good sharp picture, with colours to match most normal LCD´s and the designs of these screens are bound to be a winner for the design conscious among us. At Future Lifestyle we have begun to see a swing towards these LED/LCD screens with their online capabilities and with ´super slim´ brackets. And it looks as things will only get better for this version of the flat screen.
If you would like to know more about LED/LCD screens please contact a member of the Future Lifestyle team at info@futurelifestyle.net or on +34 902 107 227