LCD HDTVs: More, cheaper LED models on the way

We've generally been impressed with new LCD TVs that use LED backlights instead of conventional cold-cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFL). However, these models have tended to be significantly more expensive than their lamp-lit counterparts, and thus have largely been reserved for pricier step-up series.

But rapidly falling prices will make LED backlights increasingly common in LCD TVs, predicts El Segundo, California-based market research firm iSupply. In a new report, the firm says that by 2013, nearly 40 percent of all LCD TVs will use LED backlights, up from about 3 percent this year. Some manufacturers, such as Samsung, have already shifted a good portion of their LCD models to LED backlighting.

While the first LED-based LCD sets we reviewed, from Samsung and Sony, were "full-array" backlights that span across the entire back panel of the TV, we're now seeing more TVs with "edge" LEDs, which are placed along the perimeter of the set. Full-array backlights are more expensive, but they can be locally dimmed—where some segments of the LED panel can remain dark while others are illuminated—which can improve black levels and contrast. Edge LED backlights can't be locally dimmed—and we haven't seen the same black level and contrast improvements in these sets—but they do allow sets to be thinner and lighter.

Another benefit: Compared to CCFLs, LEDs are "greener," in that they're more energy efficient and don't contain mercury, a carcinogen.

The good news is that if you're considering an LED-lit LCD set, prices are coming down. According to iSupply, the price difference between LED LCD TV and its CCFL-lit counterpart can range from $300 to $700, depending on the size and type of LED used. But that gap will narrow, the company says, as panel suppliers reduce the premium for LED to under $100 for 40- and 42-inch sets, and to about $150 in the 46- and 47-inch screen sizes.—James K. Willcox