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LED versus LCD

1K views 17 replies 14 participants last post by  Dr.G. 
#1 ·
Going out to buy a new TV this weekend and I'm faced with the LED versus LCD conundrum. One thing for sure, I don't want plasma.

Thoughts?
 
#2 ·
I can't see the difference, and I went with a great Samsung LCD on super discount at Future Shop, and don't have to pay for it for 18 months. So, it might come down to what you have to spend and how fussy you are re viewing. I know that this is a very low-tech opinion, but you know that I am honest with you. Bonne chance, mon ami.
 
#3 ·
I bought a TV after Christmas and, honestly, I couldn't see much difference between LED and LCD either. If the difference was there, it wasn't worth the extra money.

Like Dr. G, I bought a Samsung. It's a Samsung, a 40C610 to be exact, and it's the best TV I've ever had. The picture is crazy good, especially at high definition.
 
#4 ·
nothing wrong with lcd.

However, I have a 40 samsung lcd, and a 46 samsung led. The difference, is HUGE. Often you can't see it in the store. But here, even my wife, who normally doesn't see differences in monitors, really sees it. Probably a matter of opinion.

I got mine as an open box at futureshop, mint, full warranty for just over half the price.
 
#8 ·
I have a Samsung and an LG. One thing that bugs me about the samsung is there isn't a menu of input sources - you have to cycle through each one, and sometimes you have to wait a few seconds while it looks for signal before it will let you switch to the next one.

On my LG, I press the input source button and a menu appears allowing me to navigate to the correct input source and select it instantly.
 
#7 ·
Most of the TVs advertised as LED are referring to the backlighting (instead of fluorescent). They are still LCD televisions.

Very mis-leading, in my opinion. Most sales people don't even know the difference, either.

Google the price of a OLED television. They will not be too big and they will be very expensive.

LED backlighting is more efficient and does not require the warm-up time of fluorescent.
 
#10 ·
There are 2 different types of LED TVs. Local dimming and edge lit. Edge lit are problematic on large screen tvs as they (just like the name implies) are lit on the edge of the screen and this isn't ideal for dark scenes. Local dimming somewhat solves this problem, but you really have to spring a lot of extra money for one that will do a good job at it. LEDs are brighter and do use less energy so that is a plus, but if you want even picture quality for a decent price i'd go with LCD for (for now).

The truth is Plasma offers the best picture quality, but does have several drawbacks (glare, not as bright, use more energy, image retention) that many people rather not deal with....but hands down it offers the most natural colours and handles motion better than LCDs.
 
#16 ·
There are 2 different types of LED TVs. Local dimming and edge lit.
Actually the two types are edge lit and full array. Basically lighting from the edge versus backlighting. Both offer a form of local dimming to enhance contrast. While full-array offers actual local dimming, some of the edge lit displays have the ability to locally dim their output, but does not have the same affect.



Like others have said the LED vs LCD advertising campaign is very misleading. The difference between the two is their backlighting source. In my opinion, I find that LEDs tend to be brighter and more crisp than fluorescent. However, both would produce acceptable quality image as it more depends on the quality of the LCD panel than the backlighting.

LED is also currently more expensive than Fluorescent. Its really a budget thing. I have been impressed with the televisions from Sharp and LG.

If I were to get a new TV I would likely get a LED backlit LCD TV and try to get a full-array one.
 
#11 ·
I recently got a Toshiba LCD and couldn't be happier with it.

I am sure that the high end LEDs are fantastic. But I preferred getting the sweetest deal in the country on boxing day. Not breaking the bank is certainly something to be considered...
 
#12 ·
mrjimmy, i'm sure you've done the prerequisite research online. The choice between the LCD and LED will be determined by the location of the TV. I have an LED in a very bright family room. The picture is flawless without any glare. Remarkable. An LCD in the same room washed out the black to a dark grey.

As far as price goes, I bought mine when it went on sale from $1200 to $900. That was a mere 5 months ago. The identical TV is now available everywhere for $650.

By the way, it's a Samsung LED. I also run my Macbook on it when I"m editing videos and watching Youtube.

Enjoy the hunt.
 
#15 ·
True. Great quality .......... but a quirky little start-up jingle when you turn it on. Still, quality triumphs over a two-second delay.
 
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