LED TVs explained

There are many benefits from owning an HD TV today. Many consumers have made the digital switch to HD TVs over the last decade since the digital platform was first introduced. There are many types of HD TVs available today that include LCD TVs, LED TVs, rear projection HDTV and plasma HD TVs as well as rear projector HD display projector TV. In terms of environmental friendliness and energy efficiency, LED HD TVs are the more environmentally friendly than other HDTV types.

Although introduced commercially in 2009 by Samsung, LED TVs have a history date back to 2007. There are many things that make LED TV more energy efficient including its backlighting technology. LED TVs use the same display as LCD TVs but utilizing a different backlight technology. There are two types of LED backlights, full-lighting and edge-lit. Each LED lighting configuration may offer local dimming or automatic LED dimming that dims individual LED light panels as needed.

Local dimming as it is referred to controls individual LED panels of the HD TV by its sensors that detect which portion of the image being displayed is darker or brighter. The technology then brightens or dims the specific portion to create a consistent picture image.

The local dimming technology allows for more balanced images that make blacks darker and more realistic while brighten the lighter colors being displayed on the LED HD TV. Also because black color levels are essential to the overall HD TV contrast ratio, the more detailed the blacks are, the clearer and more detailed the image and color display on LED TVs.

There is one major disadvantage to local dimming, which is an image display effect called blooming. Blooming causes brighter colors to “bleed” or spread to darker colors and adjust black levels. Though it is not often visible to most consumers, blooming can cause images to look washed out and gray. There have been some improvements made with selected HD TV manufacturers and the blooming effect is not noticed on most current LED TVs.

LED HD TVs thus create a brighter, sometimes more detailed image display than that of LCD based HD TVs. LED TVs are available in different screen sizes ranging from 32 inch to 72 inch models. For the consumer who wants the best image quality while purchasing an HDTV that is future proof and environmentally friendly, the LED TV may be a worthwhile option.