The term “LED” stands for Light Emitting Diode which is the latest screen technology that has begun to replace LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) screens and Plasma screen televisions. LED screens are still LCD’s. The key difference is the LED television screens do not use fluorescent lights in their backlighting but instead use light emitting diodes as their backlights. By using this technology, the LED televisions provide more light to the screen without increasing the overall width. The two types of the LED style of backlighting are the “Edge” lighting and the “Full Array” lighting. The Full Array lighting is typically judged superior because the viewer has better control over the brightness or darkness of the screen. The Edge lit screens are thinner than the Full Array so if screen thickness is important to you, look for models with Edge lighting instead.

The main advantages of having an LED television instead of an LCD or Plasma screen is that the LED screens use less power. The colors also can have better balance and the the picture quality is up to a higher standard. Also for the environmentally conscious the LED televisions do not use any mercury in their manufacturing as some LCD models do. LED television screens also have a longer lifetime, are smaller in size, and are more durable than Plasma screens or traditional LCD televisions. Plasma televisions eventually wear out of their color and have trouble with “burned in” images if the graphics or display is not changed for a long length of time. LED’s can suffer from the “burned in” effect also, but the problem is usually not as permanent like Plasma screens.

Currently Sony has had the edge in the LED television screen world by offering up better innovations than their competitors and keeping their price point lower than most. Samsung is probably the leader in the Australian market with the B6000, B7000 and many other models. Samsung has continued to come out with newer, bigger models and has LED television screens available at a number of Australian retailers. Samsung LED television screens are available in both 3D or 2D versions. The major downside of LED technology currently is that most models are typically more expensive than the equivalent sized Plasma or LCD TV’s. This fact alone will choose a lot of shoppers to buy LCD or plasma options until the prices become closer.