On the Horizon - August 2009 Issue #6

What you need to know about the new "THIN" TVs and LED TVs.

The newspapers are full of ads for the thinnest flat screen TVs ever. The actual thinnest TV sold so far is the OLED (Organic LED) 11" diagonal model from Sony with screen barely deeper than a credit card. An incredible achievement and available today but larger models are still too cost prohibitive.

The TV manufacturers making LCD TVs, today's most popular models are pushing for thinner and thinner. Samsung has ad for a "razor-thin" silhouette at only 1.2" deep.

How do they do this? The LCD panel itself is not necessarily the reason. The backlight which lights the screen is the difference. Typical backlights have been fluorescent tubes, similar to the lights in your home with a different shape. They provide a white light behind the LCD panel and these sets have historically produced a great picture. Manufacturers may use different florescent tubes for certain models to improve performance or save energy.

The main difference between sets until now has been the electronic circuits that provide the image on the LCD panel. Advanced video circuitry such as the Sony Bravia engine makes the difference between a basic TV and the top end models. If you read reviews in the AV magazines, you'll see that the lowest price TVs produce an image that suffers compared to the top end models, especially on non-HD programming. Advanced video circuitry provides faster "refresh" to eliminate motion blur inherent in LCD screens. You probably have heard about 120 Hertz refresh changing to 240 Hz refresh on top models, all to improve your picture.

But what about LED? Manufacturers have found that they can eliminate the thicker florescent tube behind the screen and substitute LEDs instead. Sometimes these sets are referred to as "LED" TVs. They are really not. LED sets use light emitting diodes to illuminate the LCD screen rather than the trusty florescent.

Some LED sets are "edge lit" meaning a very thin TV can be produced. Since the video processor can vary the brightness of the LEDs separately, even higher picture contrast is possible.

But some manufacturers put the arrays of LEDs behind the screen instead of at the edge. A single led can be individually raised or lowered in intensity. What does this do? It makes the TV somewhat thicker but further improves the image. Models with multiple color LEDs such as Sony's XBR with TRILUMINOS� RGB LED backlight are among the best available.

In summary, if you see "LED" in a TV ad, it can mean many things but, thick or thin, the main difference is in the final image. A budget manufacturer may offer a very low cost "LED" model. But will the picture be better? Price is not the only issue. How does it really look? How does it look when you are not sitting directly in front of the screen rather than straight on?

Look for further improvements as the manufacturers race to produce the best TV for you.

As always, please call us for expert advice. We are competitive and will offer you only what you really need.

Sony's Model KDL-55XBR8 featuring: Full HD 1080p resolution, Motionflow™ 120Hz PRO refresh rate, 10-bit panel, BRAVIA Engine™ 2 PRO, TRILUMINOS� RGB LED backlight. This one has the multi color LED technology for the best possible image.