LED VS LCD TV’s – What’s The Difference?

LCD TV Buying Advice

If you haven't heard of LED TV's, we'd be prone to asking you which rock you've been hiding under.

This fairly recent technology has slowly been becoming more and more popular over the past few years, with an increase every month of new LCD buyers adopting the technology.

So, if you're not yet aware of exactly what LED TV's are, here's a brief explanation:

A standard LCD TV uses CCFL (Cold Cathode Florescent Light) to light up the picture. Without any backlight, your LCD TV would appear black. This CCFL light, which usually is situated internally on each side of a LCD TV lights up the screen. The LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) does all the work in making up the picture, and the backlight lightens up the picture.

Think of it this way - remember the old slides and projectors you may have been shown by your parents or grandparents? Well, the LCD Panel would be the slide, and the backlight would be the projector lamp ... Now, with LED Technology, the 'backlight' (projector) light source has been changed to a LED (Light Emitting Diode).

So what does this mean? Well, LED's produce a cleaner, more colour balanced light. They also consume less power, lowering the operating cost of your TV. Another design bonus is that LED backlights take up less space then CCFL Tubes, so many manufacturers like Samsung are creating very Slim LED TV's. But best of all, LED's can be turned off individually, and manufacturers are using many small blocks of LED's to light up the LCD Panel. So, you get a better, blacker, and sharper picture.

We won't blame you if you're confused, as technically a LED TV still has a LCD panel inside of it. To make the clear distinction on the sales floor, the LCD TV's with LED backlights are now being called LED TV's.

So, the question now that begs to be answered... which one should you buy?

As we venture into 2011, more and more people will be buying new LED TV's, and we believe that eventually, the older style, CCFL backlight LCD TV's will become a thing of the past. Right now, LCD TV prices are dropping, and LED TV's are quite expensive. Of course that will change. The decision on which one to buy comes down to how many money you have to spend, and what kind of picture quality you are seeking.

You will still get great value from LCD TV's, especially as new LED TV offerings drive down prices. There are many great LCD TV's available now for prices that are half what they were two years ago.

However if you have the extra cash, and really want the best picture quality available today, we recommend you look at buying a LED TV.