Not many people know what an Edge-lit LED TV is, or how it differs from its counterparts. If you happen to be one of these people, continue reading…
While the whole world is involved in the raging debate on whether technological advancement is boon or bane, from a consumer’s point of view you can’t deny the fact that it is something more than a boon. There is absolutely no dearth of options when it comes to consumer electronics – irrespective of what you are on the lookout for today.
One of the best examples of the same is television. If you have been contemplating the idea of buying a new television, you must have come across several options – in terms of brand and the technology used. LCD TVs, Plasma TVs, DLP TVs….. the list is quite lengthy, and chances are that you might have never come across these abbreviations before.
What are LED TVs?
Some people even include LED TVs to this list, even though they are nothing new, but variants of LCD TVs which replaced CRTs. Simply put, what the manufacturers refer to as LED TVs are actually LCD TVs with LED backlighting, instead of CCFL backlighting that is used in normal LCD TVs.
That being said, the correct term for such television sets will be LED-backlit LCD TVs (though informal use of LED TVs in not outlawed as such). LED TVs are further categorized into three different types on the basis of where the light-emitting diodes are placed – Dynamic RGB LEDs, White Edge-LEDs and Full-array LEDs.
What is Edge-lit LED TV?
As their name suggests, edge-lit LEDs are LCD televisions in which light emitting diodes are arranged along the four sides of the screen in form of tiny strips. Although the source of light is arranged along the edges, a specially designed panel directs the light from the edge of the screen to the center, thus producing uniform color range across the screen.
This is in stark contrast of full-array LED TVs wherein the light emitting diodes are arranged behind the display. As the light emitting diodes which act as the light source are arranged along the edges, instead of exactly behind the screen, LED televisions end up being approximately 40 percent thinner than their full-array LED counterparts.
The depth of these television sets – which is somewhere around an inch or even less, makes wall-mounting of these sets a lot easier. While they are already inexpensive as compared to full-array LED TVs, being thinner also reduces the shipping cost on these television sets.
While these are some advantages of LED TVs which give them an edge when it comes to edge-lit LED TV-backlit LED TV debate, there do exist some problems that also need to be taken into consideration when opting for the same. Moving to the problems, the foremost thing to take into consideration is the black levels.
As the light source in these televisions is arranged at the edge of the screen, they can’t pull off the black levels that a full-array LED TV can. When you compare edge-lit LEDs with backlits, you are bound to come across several positive and negative attributes of either of these television types, and hence, the best bet is to decide what your priority is.
Even though there do exist some reviews which state that the picture quality in them is not at par with that of full-array LED TVs – particularly as a result of low black levels, most of the reviews suggest that the picture quality in both is by far the same.
The USP of edge-lit LEDs is the amazing depth that it boasts of, and if that’s what you find appealing you should go ahead with it. It won’t just come cheaper, but will also add to the grace of your living room.