The television market has exploded in recent years, with scores of different choices available to them. Among these choices are choices in the technology used. One of the technologies you're likely to encounter when you start researching the options is that of the edge-lit LED TV. To understand what the edge-lit LED television is, we first need to start with understanding LED itself.
So What's an LED TV?
When we speak of a TV being an LED television, we're referring to its backlight system. LED televisions are LCD televisions which have a newer kind of technology that lights up the image on the screen. This is because LCD chips and the pixels on them don't produce light on their own. You would not be able to accurately see an image on the LCD screen if it were not lit by a separate light source. The image on the LCD TV is produced by a backlight. This is in contrast to the fluorescent light that was used to give light to the image in older LCD televisions.
Edge Lighting
There are a couple of different LED backlighting methods available. One of the better ones is known as edge lighting. With edge lighting, there are a number of LED backlights placed along the screen's outer edge. This light is dispersed onto the screen itself. The chief benefit of using the edge lighting method is that it allows the LED / LCD television to have a thin frame.
Full Array Lighting
The other type of backlighting for LED televisions is that of full-array lighting. With this lighting option, there is a full panel of lights that illuminate the screen's panels. Most full-array screens feature local dimming, which means that the lights can be dimmed in various places on the panel, all at the same time. This gives improved picture uniformity, but it's not as affordable as the Edge-Lit screen. Further, most people who have the edge-lit screen rarely notice theirs is not as clear as a full array.
The Depth Advantage
Besides affordability, edge lighting has one other big advantage over full array lighting. The advantage is depth. An edge-lit LED television can be thinner than most other options. They are typically thinner than those with fluorescent backlights. They're also thinner than televisions with full array lighting. For that reason, if you want a super-slim television, you'll almost certainly have to buy an edge-lit one.
So which television should you buy? Certainly in the 21st century, there's little reason to buy a TV with fluorescent lighting. That is 20th century technology that has no real advantage over the more recent technologies. That leaves us with the choice between edge lighting and full array. Certainly, if you're watching a lot of high-definition content where you must have the maximum sharpness, then there's a case to be made for full array lighting. However, most people will prefer edge lighting, because it's more affordable, and because of the ability to buy them in super-slim packages that look nice in the modern living room.
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