A Quick Overview on LED TV’s – Features, Applications & Future

LED television is modern entertainment technology devices that often utilizes a series of light emitting diodes for representing a clear back light display of television. A true LED TV is one of those giant screens you usually see at outdoor stadiums, at grand prix events and rock venues. LED televisions are vigorous sets for high-definition picture delivery, they are large screens made up of thousands of extremely bright LED lights. The size of LED’s is mostly too big and full of chunks to use in TVs, but they are ideally suited as a light source for back lighting LCD crystals.


overview on led tvs

How does Light Emitting Diode (LED) Televisions Works?

In general, all latest televisions work through back-lit projection from a light source and onto the display screen. Older televisions use standard cathode ray tubes that are set in the back of the television and project light onto the screen, while LED televisions replace the tube with small light emitting diodes to present light.

Due to the small size and low power consumption of LEDs, LED-backlit TVs are far thinner than regular LCD sets and are also more energy efficient. They can also provide a wider color gamut, producing more vivid pictures.

flat led tv

LED televisions are much smaller than cathode ray tubes, allowing for lighter and thinner televisions to be constructed. LEDs are more practical light sources that permit better projection of darker colors than cathode ray tube television sets. LEDs shine light from behind the screen, illuminating the pixels to create an image instead of fluorescent tubes.

Types of LED Lighting Technology:

LED Lighting Technology
LED Lighting Technology

There are two primary forms of LED lighting technology that LED TVs can utilize: RGB LED lighting technology and edge-lit LED backlighting.

  • Edge LED lighting

This type of LED backlighting is referred to as edge lighting. In this method, edge-lit technology employs LEDs only around the edges of LED TV screens. Edge LED lighting televisions combine a series of LED backlights placed along the outside edges of the screen with a light-diffusing panel that spreads light from the outer edge of the set to the middle 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 center area of the screen.

Edge LED televisions do not allow the same robust contrast of RGB LED televisions, but they are built in very thin sets which are exceptionally lightweight and inexpensive.

  • RGB LED lighting

These types of televisions offer a greater contrast between black and white color projections. RGB LED televisions utilize light-emitting diodes set behind the television screen, allowing for regional dimming while delivering more vibrant color.

The disadvantage of these types of televisions is that they are more expensive than edge LED televisions and due to the LEDs covering the entire back of the projection screen, RGB models are also heavier.

How are LED TVs Different from LCD TVs?

1. TV Size:

LED TVs now dominate the marketplace segment.The first LED TVs were large-screen models for home theatre enthusiast who wanted better contrast ratios.  LED backlighting has enthused to smaller and smaller televisions over the last few years. There are still some very large LCD TVs on the market but they don’t deliver this kind of features like LED televisions.

If you’re presented with a choice between an LCD and LED TV in a large size, both models in your price range, take the LED TV. The prototype “4K” and “8K” resolution screens are still using LED backlighting. LED backlights are still the only ones used on high-end televisions.

2. Acquire Price and Cost of Possession:

LED backlights televisions are cheaper for manufacturers to produce. They produce a better quality picture when compared to other television. Television manufacturers have moved to LED production lines.

There are still plenty of LCD televisions available but very few new ones are being sold. Expect those LCD TVs to eventually be put on deep discounts and get sold off, though it has not happened just yet. As a final cost-related item, LED displays are more energy efficient than the compact fluorescent backlights, and they are less likely to wear out over the service life of the TV.

3. Energy Consumption:

As with any TV, an LED TV needs energy in order for its components to function. Specifically, an LED TV needs electric current for stimulating the liquid crystals in its LCD panel and for activating its LED backlighting. In comparison to standard LCD TVs, LED TVs consume less energy, qualifying many of them for the EPA’s Energy Star energy-efficiency standard.

As the online TV resource LED TV notes, an LED TV will typically consume between 20 and 30 percent less energy than an LCD TV with the same screen size.

LED TV Vs LCD TV
LED TV Vs LCD TV

4. Image Quality and Screen Size:

LED HDTVs have better picture contrast compared to LCD TV screens.  LED displays have one LED behind each picture element that may have as many as 256 brightness settings that can be tuned individually, by pixel. Compact fluorescent backlights provide light at all times, even when the picture on the screen is supposed to be mostly dark.

3d led tv

Some of the more advanced models even have four or nine very small LEDs in built to adjust the brightness at a sub-pixel scale. While LCD screens used to have “ghosting” problems, where watching fast moving images would get blurred as the screen’s response time wasn’t fast enough at the pixel level, this problem has been solved in 2010.

Features of Light Emitting Diode (LED) Televisions:

  • LED television achieves deeper blacks as well as emitting brighter images, thereby producing better contrast ratios compared to CRT or any other televisions.
  • LED television doesn’t make use of mercury like in some other backlighting methods.
  • LED TV’s distribute better viewing angles than other CRT or LCD TV’s.
  • They are slimmer (especially edge-LED lighting systems).
  • LEDs are long-lasting products.
  • LEDs are more energy efficient than their CCFL counterparts, and better than plasma TVs and much better than CRTs.
  • LED TVs consumevery low power
  • Color saturation is more balanced in LED televisions.

Future of LED Television:

In the future, the most incredible technologies of LEDs can be enhanced from organic light emitting diodes-OLEDs. The organic substances and materials are used to create these devices to be more flexible, and also able to create bendable lights and displays.  OLEDs will cover the way for the next generation of TVs and smart phones.

I hope I have been successful in giving sufficient knowledge about the latest emerging technology in TV sets, i.e. LED TVs.  In the last paragraph, I have mentioned about the future of LED TVs and even given a hint.  So all you have to do is write in the comment section below, as to how OLEDs can be used in Television and how can that prove to be advantageous.

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