I recently visited an electronics store and enquired about the various LCD and LED tv's that were
on display. The salesperson was well versed with all the featrues of the specific models but was NOT
able to answer this question to my satisfaction. It was "What is the difference between LCD and LED TV?"
I was curious to know it because of the sizable price difference between the two. The LED TV was
costing at least 15% more than the LCD TV. I asked the reason behind the price difference but sales man
did not knew the exact reason. He just kept re-iterating the specific features.
Have you ever given a thought to it while buying the TV? Both of them exactly look the same with all
other features almost exactly same. Then why there is a difference in price and name i.e. LCD and
LED?
Well, I explored the two technologies and found the answer. Here is what it is:
The LCD television is a flat-panel television which utilizes a Liquid Crystal Display technology.
LED TV’s are actually very much like LCD TV’s. They also have a flat-screen which utilizes Liquid
Crystal Display technology. The only difference is their source of light, which is at the back of
the screen.
The LCD TV uses fluorescent lamps, and the LED TV uses LED (Light Emitting Diodes).
Different types of backlighting in LED defines the price?
LED further has two types of LED backlighting:
- Edge lighting: In this technology, the series of diodes are arranged along the outside
edges of the screen. When there is power, the light is distributed across the screen.
- Full-Array lighting: Here, there are several rows of diodes behind the entire surface of
the screen. They provide more control over brightness and dimming, because the diodes can be turned
on and off independently.
These types of technologies do make a difference to the price. Full-array being expensive than EDGE.
Conclusion
LED TV’s are LCD TV’s with a new backlight system. They are newly developed for LCD’s, because Light
Emitting Diodes are said to give more balance in color saturation, and use less power than the
fluorescent lamps. LED TV’s are the newest version, and that’s why they are currently more expensive
than the standard LCD TV’s.
If you have a strict budget, i would say there is no harm in buying an LCD TV as they are cheaper
than their LED counterpart. But, if you can afford, go for LED's as they support newer display and
lighting technology and hence help you save on energy bills in the long run.