Contents:
- Why LED?
- How does it work and what does it give?
- Which subspecies of LED backlighting exist?
Consultant in the store so touted the LED TV you liked, that you are thinking, but is it worth it to believe? To understand whether it is worth overpaying for this revolutionary technology, and whether it is even revolutionary, you will be helped by an analysis of the principle of operation and advantages of such TVs.
Why LED?
LED is an abbreviation used to shorten the phrase Light Emitting Diode, or a good old LED in Russian. To translate the name given to such TV sets by the companies that started the first to produce LED models, they did not: apparently, the "LED TV" sounds not intriguing enough. But how are the LEDs used in the new generation TVs?
LED TV. .. It sounds like something very complicated and high-tech! But in order to understand what it is, it is enough to look around. What kind of lamps are in your pocket flashlight? And what are the lights in the kitchen? Remember how blind the car with the LED headlamps and how brightly the New Year's lights burn. The era of incandescent lamps was replaced by the era of fluorescent lamps, but it is already behind: everywhere, where it comes to lighting, the parade is led by LEDs.
That's on TV they decided to use instead of fluorescent lamps with cold cathode, which were used in LCD TVs of the previous generation. Exclusively for highlighting. And you thought, from the LEDs will be the image itself? Oh, these are the technologies of the future, and OLED screens, although they exist, are still imperfect and cost insane money.
How does it work and what does it give?
Now that you are in the know about LED technology and know what it means, it's time to figure out what it gives compared to plasma or LCD TVs. Load a lot of technical information will not, because it's the same LCD TV in which the lighting changed. But the main characteristics of the LEDs still note. After all, they are called to bring the image quality to a new level!
- You probably noticed that the LEDs are much brighter than conventional lamps. This property is one of the key, since the powerful backlight provides a high brightness of the screen, which means that the colors will be visible in all their glory even in a room with bright light, which can not be said about a plasma or LCD.
- The failure of the massive CCFL backlighting made the body of the TV amazingly thin: the diodes are also good because they do not take up much space. Thus, the thickness of the LED TV cabinet can be less than a centimeter depending on the subset of the technologies used. This technique looks, of course, super-modern.
- When was the last time you changed the LED?Most likely, if it ever happened in your life, it was quite a long time ago when they were not so perfect and widely used. Now their lifetime is measured in decades, and the likelihood that it will burn or overheat tends to zero.
- It does not make much difference, but LED TV consumes less power than LCD or plasma, since LEDs themselves need fewer times the power supply. If the TV in the house is switched on permanently, it may be possible to slightly reduce the amount in the receipt for payment of electricity.
- It does not have any influence on the picture quality, but it's nice to know that using diodes you can contribute to the preservation of the environment. They do not use aerosols and mercury, they do not require special disposal. A truly modern technology must be ecological!
Sounds good: improved image quality, energy saving, low probability of breakage. That's just which of the LED TVs to choose?
By the way
If the plasma, though not devoid of flaws, was considered more perfect than conventional LCD TVs, LED LCD panels wiped her nose: the image quality is almost the same, and they consume much less energy, and most importantly, are cheaper.
Which subspecies of LED backlighting exist?
As before, the LEDs illuminate the matrix behind the liquid crystal display, but you can illuminate it in various ways. LED TVs can be conditionally divided into models with white and colored lights and on a model with full illumination or backlighting around the edges.
- It would seem that a model with fewer LEDs located around the perimeter, and sometimes only along one edge, should cost less, but it's not. Edge LED TVs use a complex system of light reflectors, which allows to illuminate the screen completely, so this model will cost more. But it will be thinner: unlike Full LED or Direct LED, where behind the matrix is a cloth of LEDs, the Edge TV can be found less than a centimeter wide.
By the way
Of the shortcomings of LED, you can note only small light on the edges on Edge Led models and too strong brightness of black due to the technology of local dimming, which can become a drawback if in the darkened part the image details are lost.
- True, in thin Edge panels only white backlight is used. But do not be discouraged: with multicolored RGB backlighting, the case will be 100% thicker, the technology will consume more energy, it will cost a lot of money, and from bonuses you will essentially receive only a fuller transmission of halftones, which, incidentally, are not always accurately transmitted. Yet white light at the moment is more popular than multi-colored lighting.
- Edge LED TV has the right characteristics, but is it expensive? Then choose the Full model with the same white light. Such TVs are not inferior in quality to images of Edge models, and contrasts are even more impressive. Their price is lower because of a simpler technology that does not require expensive reflectors and diffusers. Yes, it will be a little thicker, but this parameter is not determinative.
It turns out that while OLED technology has not become available, LED models are really the most affordable high-tech option for buying at a reasonable price. Maybe their device is not revolutionary - do not rush to throw a working plasma or LCD TV - but if the question of buying new equipment has already risen, then LED TVs are definitely worth your attention.
