LED TVs from Samsung - A new breed

LED? For TV display? That was my reaction when I first heard about the Samsung LED TVs. Reading about the technology behind it cleared stuff quite a bit.

In regular LCD TVs a CCFL lamp is used behind the screen to provide light and brightness to the screen. CCFL lamps use lead and mercury (environmental issues) and consume more energy (almost 40% more energy). Moreover, the contrast of a CCFL backlit screen is lesser. Since the lamp is continuously on, even behind the dark surfaces, the dark surfaces actually have a glow that makes them appear brighter than they actually should be. The LED TVs, on the other hand, use LED backlight instead. LED lighting solves this problem by allowing an array of LEDs to provide the light source. With the LED array, backlight at each portion of the screen can be controlled. So if the image processor detects a dark area on the screen, it can switch off the backlight of that area to show the dark area as real dark! Nifty, isn't it?

Samsung LED DLP systems are mentioned in this Wikipedia article on DLP and it seems to be the leader in LED technology. Samsung has brought the following models in its Series 6 and 7 LED TVs:

7 series
- 46” – UA46B7000
- 40” - UA40B7000

6 Series
- 46” – UA46B6000
- 40” - UA40B6000

The WS1 sound bar system produces dynamic, full-bodied sound that far surpasses the quality of the tiny speakers in regular flat TVs. The 100Hz motion plus technology produces sharp motion pictures further enhanced by the high contrast LED backlight. The crystal design naturally blended into a piano black frame and the ultra slim profile and adds to the classy look.

It is also claimed to be one of the greenest, owing to the less power consumption, even in the stand-by mode. Being thinner (just 2.99 cm), more units can be packed together during transport, thereby saving transport cost and energy. How thoughtful!

So next time you bump into an LED TV in some electronics shop, do give it a good look!