• This topic has 22 replies, 17 voices, and was last updated 11 years ago by hora.
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  • New TV – LCD or LED?
  • phil.w
    Free Member

    So not knowing where to start with this I thought I’d start with STW. 🙂

    Looking for a new TV. Regular size, about 32inches or is that classed as small now? The real issue is do I go for LED or LCD and what are the benefits and drawbacks of each.

    Any help in narrowing down the seemingly hundreds to choose from with recommendations/avoids is much appreciated.

    Cheers.

    andyl
    Free Member

    LED just refers to the backlighting of the LCD does it not? Compared to CCFL tubes that LCDs used to use.

    LED definitely in that case.

    phil.w
    Free Member

    Ahh, OK. So LED will give a better quality (brighter) picture then?

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    andyl
    Free Member

    Not really looked into for a while (did some research for small LCDs a few years ago) but it should give you better contrast (dynamic), brightness and colours. But that depends on how they do the backlighting and how good they make it and the panel etc etc.

    ie don’t expect a TV to be amazing because it has LEDs. Read reviews and check them out for yourself in person.

    Some people love LGs and/or Samsungs – I find they can be a bit hit and miss. Panasonic generally always very good but you pay for that, especially for the latest technology but slightly older models on clearance can be bargains. Sony seem have good runs and then not so good. But then there are others…

    Have you got a Richer Sounds near you? And don’t forget John Lewis as they price match stores and normally give a nice long warranty. Best way to decide is go look at them in the flesh.

    sharkbait
    Free Member

    So LED will give a better quality more gashish and un-natural (brighter) picture then

    FTFY 😉
    Yes – they are especially nice if you like your living room to look like a Currys TV display. If you watch faster moving stuff then the LED/LCD still suffer from motion lag I believe.
    I would have suggested plasma but i think they only start at about 40″

    phil.w
    Free Member

    Cheers Andy and Sharkbait (all ready crossed out plasma, as you say they only start BIG).

    And yes Richer Sounds is just down the road and likely to be getting the business. 🙂

    I will go in for a chat with them just like to have a bit of understanding first.

    superlurch
    Free Member

    I had to replace my old CRT a few months ago and it’s turned into a flaming minefield… the last time I did it your choices were a small telly or a big telly.

    In the end it turns out LED ones are still LCD panels, it’s just the back light that is LED. Supposedly, the brightness of the LED’s is brighter but dims on the blacks so the they increase the dynamic range…

    Then there was the refresh rate which turns out to be mostly marketing bullshit anyway and I haven’t seen any motion lag on a good quality TV for years.

    I spent what can only be described as far too much time looking at them and I couldn’t really see much difference, even with the TV’s side by side.

    I had an LG LED one in the end as it had a five year warranty (from John Lewis) and the picture quality is fantastic. You can even nerd around with the most minute colour settings if you’re a bit colour obsessed like me!

    sL

    scu98rkr
    Free Member

    is nt the main advantage of LED is the TV can be even flater and the power consumption is lower ?

    I have a LED TV but I think it is edge lit. So the lightening is nt totally even through out. When you have a total black image some areas appear lighter than others.

    I think there are more important things to look at.

    I think some internet access is massively important. My TV is a bit poor on this front although iplayer is implemented well.

    Im gald I have my xbox for 4od 5od etc etc

    andytherocketeer
    Full Member

    In the end it turns out LED ones are still LCD panels, it’s just the back light that is LED. Supposedly, the brightness of the LED’s is brighter but dims on the blacks so the they increase the dynamic range…

    Part of the idea there was to have an array of LEDs lighting from behind, rather than CCFL? from the sides. This allows localised dimming, so darker areas are blacker, brighter areas are brighter. I think Philips were one that did do this on some models. Then they decided to make the panels thinner and thinner, so most of the LED tellys (at least those I looked at) are side lit anyway, thereby taking away one of the main selling points of LED, and making the audio thinner and flatter in the process.

    andyl
    Free Member

    yeah basically they tested the idea by taking and LCD panel and shining a projector through it with the same image. The projector image therefore had light where light was needed and in the same colour.

    Obviously that is not practical for a tv in a house so the next step was an array of RGB leds which basically have the same image but very pixelated – a bit like one of those giant LED screens at concerts. The backlighting therefore reinforces the image on the LCD and gives you the high dynamic contrast which can be many times greater than the lcd panels contrast ratio.

    Edge lit LED technology basically replaces the edge lit CCFL lighting with LED ones. You need to use edge lit to disperse light evenly as you can’t just dump a couple of bright leds behind the lcd. There is a special light guide layer of acrylic with different sized dimples which spread out the light almost evenly across the surface. Then they use some diffuser and polarising layers between the light guide and the lcd.

    All these layers and light pipe reduce the light considerably, but the lcd itself is the biggest intensity loss. Direct backlighting needs much more initial technology and expense but can be much more efficient as you are not wasting light and gives better contrast and can give a brighter image for the same overall average power consumption.

    (I spent a lot of time working on daylight viewable LCD screens for in car use before LEDs hit mainstream TVs).

    toby1
    Full Member

    My LED Edge lit Panasonic isn’t garish at all, but is works well in a bright room, or at night.

    I’d go for a PanasonicET5B in 32 if that is the sort of thing you are looking for.

    You didn’t mention budget either.

    I was all set to go for a Philips, about to buy it, had read a comment about a couple of people having sets that switch off intermittently, then the demo set in John Lewis did it – it was only 9.30/10am so can’t have been on for long either.

    I opted for Panasonic then after my CRT ran and ran for 10 years trouble free.

    pjbarton
    Free Member

    i’d avoid the latest LED edge lit (very thin) tvs – unless you’re spending shedloads.
    If you like dark movies (alien), they’re really bad – you can see grey patches all the way around the edge.
    Except when the led’s turn off to try and stop you noticing the patches! – in-between scenes etc.

    We went for a sony, older tech (regular lcd, about 100mm thick) – nowhere near as flashy in the shop as the LED ones but really enjoyable watching films at home. A bit like how these OLED smartphones look great for 5 mins, then you realise they’re a bit garish.

    Also, the high htz / motion flow stuff is shocking – google soap opera effect!

    brassneck
    Full Member

    I bought an LG edge lit LED one – 42″ from Amazon around 400 notes for full HD.

    I think some internet access is massively important. My TV is a bit poor on this front although iplayer is implemented well.

    I steered away from this, so I could pick and choose how to get media to it, expecting it to be Apple TV – ended up with a Roku LT and Plex which covers all my needs for £50 for the Roku and a few pennies for the Plex app on iPad and iPhone as well. Can now pause a film on the big telly, go to bed and watch the last ten minutes on the iPad, it just picks up from where you left it. The Roku has a native iPlayer channel thats really nice too (was using the Plex plugin, off a Macbook Pro attached to the TV before I got the Roku.

    FunkyDunc
    Free Member

    We recently ish got a 42″ Panasonic LED/LCD thing.

    It replaced a Sony LCD from about 6 years ago, not that its broken or any thing, thats just gone in to the bedroom and the new cheaper Panny as gone in the lounge.

    The main if only difference I can tell is that whites are whiter and brighter. It does appear to cope better with black and whites on the screen at the same time too, but really you have no way of telling whether thats the LED’s or just because its a different TV

    BrickMan
    Full Member

    non LED lit TV’s give off more heat than the average electric raditor!

    coffeeking
    Free Member

    non LED lit TV’s give off more heat than the average electric raditor!

    No they dont. Our 40 inch non LED has a power rating of 200W IIRC, peak. An electric rad has a rating between 1 and 3kW. Even our old 32″ CRT only used 250W.

    Check all TVs for their picture quality, it’s so variable across types that it’s not worth making rule of thumb suggestions about them.

    LordSummerisle
    Free Member

    you want a 32″ telly… get on freecycle or ebay and get a CRT.

    LCD panels dont come close. Emperors new clothes n all that.
    🙂

    plus you can get excellent CRT for less than a tenner

    takisawa2
    Full Member

    Went through same dillema back at xmas when changing our old CRT. Frightened of buying something that would go out of date quickly. Got fed up in the end & just bought a Samsung LED SmartTV. Very happy with it. To me it looks spot on, especially in HD.

    mikewsmith
    Free Member

    and remember not all of the TV’s in the shop will have the same quality of signal – worth checking what the feed is for a good comparison

    sharkbait
    Free Member

    I think they also run them at odd settings that makes them look very bright and garish – you’d probably want to change the settings when you get home.
    The Avforums is a great source of info for TVs

    BrickMan
    Full Member

    No they dont. Our 40 inch non LED has a power rating of 200W IIRC, peak. An electric rad has a rating between 1 and 3kW. Even our old 32″ CRT only used 250W.

    Check all TVs for their picture quality, it’s so variable across types that it’s not worth making rule of thumb suggestions about them.

    wasn’t talking about their consumption, but the perceived energy they give out. Our 37″ LG from a few years ago gives off a cosy 45C from the top of it, in a room thats generally kept at 18C
    It gets to that temp after at least 30mins use, doesn’t use its own speakers either.

    DezB
    Free Member

    I just got one of these Toshibas

    Under £200 for full 1080p HD. (Haven’t tried it yet)

    hora
    Free Member

    Just remember that LCD panels are very delicate.

    Caused by this…….

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