What is the difference between LED TV and LCD TV?

The name LED TV might suggest that this type of television uses LED technology to generate the TV pictures. However, this is not the case. Also LED TVs use the same LCD technology as LCD televisions to display the actual picture. The difference lies in the way the necessary backlight is generated. As LCD TV screens are not self-illuminating, backlight is required to make the picture visible at an acceptable level of brightness. In conventional LCD TVs this backlight is usually provided by Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamps (CCFL), which illuminate the back of the LCD screen with evenly distributed white light.

In contrast, LED TVs use Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) to provide the backlight of LCD screens.

LED TVs come in two main types - Edge LED and LED backlight.

Screens with Edge LED

In Edge LED screens, rows of white LEDs are placed around the edge behind the screen and the emitted light is spread evenly via light guidance plates across the back of the screen. This technology makes it possible to build super slim screens, but there is not much difference in picture quality compared to conventional LCD TV screens.

LED Backlight

In comparison, LED backlight provides very real differences in the quality of picture reproduction. Another advantage of LED backlight is its lower power consumption.

In this technology, the backlight is provided by a large number of small Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) that may be white (e.g. Toshiba) or arranged in arrays of red, green and blue diodes (RGB Dynamic LED)that are evenly distributed behind the screen. Users of RGB arrays claim to produce a purer white and wider color gamut. On the other hand, white LEDs are cheaper, easier to control and may introduce less errors than RGB arrays. Manufacturer seem to have their own preferences.

The light emitted by the LEDs can be locally controlled in synchronization with the changing TV picture. This makes it possible to provide deeper colors and a higher dynamic contrast ratios between larger light and dark areas (e.g. in a black area of a picture the LEDs can be dimmed right down to provide deep black shades and vice versa). However, the contrast of small light detail on dark background may be reduced as the LED backlight cannot be controlled to such fine detail.

Selection of popular LED televisions

Hover over picture to get the description for particular LED TV, click arrows to move LED TVs around or click product for more information.