An LED TV uses less power, provides a brighter display with better contrast, a thinner panel, and lesser heat dissipation than a conventional LCD TV. This is because an LED TV uses light-emitting diodes for backlighting as opposed to the CCFLs of conventional LCD TVs. The display of an LED TV is not an LED display, so a more technically correct name for it would be "LED-backlit LCD television."
Comparison chart
 | LCD TV | LED TV |
|---|---|---|
| Thickness | Minimum 1 inch | LED edge backlit LCD TVs are thinner than CCFL LCD TVs. Often less than 1 inch. |
| Power consumption | Requires less power to operate when compared to plasma, but more than OLED TVs | LED-lit LCD TVs consume less power around 70% compared to plasma TVs. |
| Screen size | 13 - 57 inches | Up to 90 inches |
| Burn-in | Not an issue | Burn-in is very rare |
| Cost | Much cheaper | $100 (small size and very low end) - $25,000 |
| Life span | 50,000 - 100, 000 hours | Around 100,000 hours |
| Viewing angle | Up to 165°, Picture suffers from the side | The brightness and color on LCD TVs shift noticeably over the screen and depending on viewing angle |
| Mechanism | Backlight covered by a layer of liquid crystals | Light emitting diodes |
| Backlight | Yes | Yes |
Picture Quality
Even though some say the picture quality of an LED TV is better, there is no straight answer for which has better picture quality since both TVs use the same kind of screen. For instance, a higher-end LCD TV can have a better quality than a low-end LED TV, but if you look at high-end models of either TV, the picture quality will be comparable.
Color
An LED TV offers more colors, especially ones that use RGB-LED backlighting.
Dynamic contrast
RGB Dynamic LEDs show truer blacks and whites and thus get higher dynamic contrast ratio (which is desirable in a TV), at the cost of less detail in small bright objects on a dark background (such as star fields)
Slim frame
Edge-LED backlighting technique allows an LCD TV to be extremely thin. LED televisions that are only 1 inch thick are also available.
Power Consumption
LED TVs use energy-efficient light emitting diodes (LED) for backlighting. These consume less power than cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFL) used in traditional LCD televisions. Power savings are typically 20-30%.
Price
On average, LED TVs are priced higher than traditional LCD TVs that use CCFLs for backlighting.
The Amazon's Best Sellers' list for LCD TVs has a wide range of TVs ranging starting from $100 all the way up to a few thousand.
LED TVs are the most popular and also come in a wide range of prices from $120 and up, as seen on the Amazon's Best Sellers' list for LED TVs.
Types
Types of LED TVs
There are 3 types of LED TVs based on their backlighting methods:
- Edge-LEDs (the most common) are positioned around the rim of the screen and use a special diffusion panel to spread the light evenly behind the screen.
- Dynamic RGB LEDs: This backlighting technique allows specific areas on the screen to be dimmed.
- Full-array LEDs where LEDs are arranged behind the screen as a set, but are incapable of dimming or brightening individually.
Types of LCD TVs
There are 3 kinds of LCD TVs:
- Flat Screen LCDs, about an inch or two thick are more expensive, but also more popular because of their sleek look and the flexible options of standing on a surface or mounting on a wall.
- Front projection LCDs or projectors, which project an image onto the front of the screen. The TV itself is just a box installed anywhere in a room, which projects the image onto a flat screen hung on the wall as large as 300 inches.
- Rear projection LCDs, where the image is sent from the rear of the TV to the screen in front. Rear projection LCDs are wide, heavy and only available in large sizes (60" and up).
References
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