Overall Findings
How different are LCD and LED TVs? These types of TV are too similar to fully compare. The main difference between these two comes down to the backlighting. All TVs have lighting behind the screen to illuminate the picture and make it visible. The light is key. LCD stands for Liquid Crystal Display, and it refers to how the picture is produced on the TV. In TVs with the LCD designation, the lighting behind the screen is usually some form of a fluorescent bulb. The backlighting on a TV can literally burn out, in some cases. LED TVs are LCD TVs, but are branded differently. That’s because, instead of a more traditional lighting element, LED TVs are backlit by LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes). Compared to regular light bulbs, LEDs tend to be brighter, more compact, and longer-lasting. In addition to that, LEDs are more energy-efficient. LED TVs have a liquid crystal display but are lit by an all-around better system, using LEDs.
LCD TVs Pros and Cons
LCD TVs are named after the liquid crystal display. A liquid crystal display is made of two sheets of glass or glass-like transparent material. Between these is a layer with individual liquid crystals. When an electric current passes through the crystals, the crystals allow and block different colors of light. This can be used to create pictures which change rapidly as the electric current changes. The crystals don’t emit light, so a light source needs to be placed behind the crystals to pass light through. In the case of the original generation of LCD TVs, that light source was usually fluorescent bulbs. While LCD TVs were thinner than the tube-based ancestors, these TVs are limited by the size of the lighting element. The fluorescent bulbs are also less efficient than LEDs and produce a lower quality light with less dynamic options.
LED TVs (aka LED/LCD TVs) Pros and Cons
LED TVs are essentially the same as LCD ones. Instead of fluorescent lighting being used to illuminate the crystals, LED TVs use LEDs (light-emitting diodes). LEDs are smaller than fluorescent lighting, allowing LED TVs to be thinner and lighter than LCD ones. LED TVs also use significantly less energy and produce less heat. LED TVs make better candidates for hanging on a wall, and the different lighting solution has allowed these to explode to massive sizes, thanks to lower energy consumption and the ability to spread LED lighting without dramatically increasing the thickness of the TV. LEDs also last longer than previous lighting solutions. LEDs are known for an exceptionally long lifespan in other applications, like home lighting, and TVs are no exception.
Two Types of LED Lighting
There are two ways that LED backlighting is applied in LCD TVs: Edge Lighting and Direct Lighting.
LED Edge Lighting
Edge Lighting consists of a series of LEDs that are placed along the inside edges of the LCD panel. The light is then dispersed across the screen using light diffusers or light guides.
The advantage of this method is that the LED/LCD TV can be made very thin.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.Sometimes you may see what is referred to as spotlighting in the corners of the screen or white blotches scattered across the screen. When viewing daylight or lit interior scenes, these effects are not usually noticeable. However, these can be noticeable when viewing night or dark scenes in a TV program or movie.
LED Direct Lighting
Direct or Full-Array (also referred to as Full LED) consists of several rows of LEDs placed behind the entire surface of the screen.
The advantage of the full-array backlight is that it provides an even, uniform, and black level across the entire screen surface without white blotches or corner spotlighting.Another advantage is that these sets may employ local dimming (if implemented by the manufacturer). Full-Array Backlighting combined with Local Dimming is also referred to as FALD.
Below is an example of a TV that features Full-Array Backlighting with Local Dimming. When local dimming is implemented, groups of LEDs can be brightened or dimmed independently within certain areas of the screen (sometimes referred to as zones). This provides more control of the brightness and darkness for each area, depending on the source material that displays. Another variation on full array backlighting with local dimming is Mini-LED. Mini LEDs work like standard LEDs but are smaller. This means instead of a dozen or a few hundred LEDs, Mini-LEDs number in the thousands and can be grouped within hundreds of zones. This allows precise brightness and contrast control for both bright and dark object elements, such as eliminating white bleeding from bright objects on black backgrounds. TCL’s Quantum Contrast labeled TVs are examples that use mini-LED technology.
Local Dimming In LED Edge-Lit LCD TVs
Some edge-lit LED/LCD TVs also claim to feature local dimming.
Samsung uses the term micro-dimming. Sony uses the term Dynamic LED (on TVs that don’t have Backlit Master Drive).Sharp refers to their version as Aquos Dimming.
Depending on the manufacturer, the terminology used may vary. However, the technology employed consists of varying light output using light diffusers and light guides, instead of a large number of LEDs behind the screen. This method is less precise than FALD.
More Tricks Up LED’s Sleeve
Because of the LED technology, a much wider range of options are open to the TVs that employ it as a backlighting system. LEDs are more flexible than the traditional fluorescent lighting elements. As a result, LEDs have opened the door to many of the top innovations in TVs over the last several years, including more than a few that have drastically improved picture quality. These are some of the innovations and features to consider in purchasing an LED TV.
LEDs and Quantum Dots
Another technology that is being incorporated into LED/LCD TVs is Quantum Dots. Samsung refers to its Quantum Dot-equipped LED/LCD TVs as QLED TVs, which many confuse with OLED TVs. However, the two technologies are different. Quantum Dots are human-made nanoparticles that are placed between an Edge-Lit or Direct/Full-Array LED Backlight and the LCD panel. Quantum Dots are designed to enhance color performance beyond what a LED/LCD TV can produce without these nanoparticles.
Digital Signage and Micro-LED
The only true LED-only video displays are the ones found in stadiums, arenas, other large event venues, high-res billboards, a small number of cinema screens, and video walls that employ technologies such as MicroLED in which the LEDs display image content by generating the light, the color, and image content.
LED Use in DLP Video Projectors
LED lighting is also used in DLP and, to a lesser extent, in LCD video projectors. An LED light bulb supplies the light source instead of a traditional lamp. In a DLP video projector, the image is produced in a grayscale form on the surface of the DLP chip, in which each pixel is also a mirror. The light source (in this case, an LED light source made up of red, green, and blue elements) reflects light off of the DLP chip’s micromirrors and is projected onto the screen. Using an LED light source in DLP video projectors eliminates the use of a color wheel. This eliminates the DLP rainbow effect (small color rainbows that are visible in a viewers’ eyes during head movement). Since LED light sources for projectors can be made extremely small, a new breed of compact video projectors, referred to as Pico projectors, have become popular.
LED Use In TVs, Present and Future
Since the demise of Plasma TVs, LED/LCD TVs are the dominant type of TVs available to consumers. OLED TVs that use different technology are also available, but have limited distribution (as of 2020, LG and Sony are the only TV makers that market OLED TVs in the U.S. market), and are more expensive than the LED/LCD TV counterparts. With the refinement of local dimming and Quantum Dots, the future of LED/LCD TVs is bright.
Final Verdict
There’s no reason to buy a traditional LCD TV, even if you can find one. LED is universally better. It is the next iteration following fluorescent-lit LCD TVs, and in a rare twist for the tech industry, it moved forward with no real drawbacks. Nearly every TV you see on the market today is an LED TV. Don’t worry too much about the difference now. Instead, consider some of the additional features that LED technology made possible.
