All so-called LED TVs are really just LCD TVs that use LEDs for their backlight. This backlight creates the light that allows the LCD to create an image. However, there are multiple ways these LED backlights can be arranged, and that arrangement can have a dramatic effect on picture quality.
So here's your guide to all the different versions, with some funky illustrations, too.… Read more
Though plasma is still a firm favorite with reviewers and videophiles, it's overwhelmingly LCD televisions that most people actually buy. And if you want to know what the best LCD TV released in 2012 will be, then we may already have an answer for you: the Sony HX850.
Until the arrival of the excellent HX850, Sony looked to be in dire straits with a massive debt and an anemic TV lineup compared to companies like Samsung and LG. Sony's second-best new-for 2012 TV, the HX750, did nothing to quell our concerns, with picture quality far below what we … Read more
Update March 2, 2012: Company reps have told me only that the status, and indeed the model name and prospective features (eg local dimming) of this model, are now uncertain. For that reason I have removed it from the company lineup chart until I hear more.
LAS VEGAS--We love the picture quality improvements wrought by full-array local-dimming backlights, so color us excited that Sharp is migrating the technology down from its awesome Elite TVs to these new models.
The 945 series will offer that sweet backlight configuration in two screen sizes that will be familiar to fans of the Elite: … Read more
LAS VEGAS--Last year LG released only one TV with our favorite kind of LED backlight, but for 2012 it has announced three sizes, from 47 through 60 inches.
All three of the LG LM9600 series offer that rare full-array local dimming LED backlight, but only two--the 47- and 55-inchers--utilize the "Nano" structure found on the 2011 55LW9800, which allows for a thinner cabinet design. The non-Nano 60-incher will have a thicker cabinet, although all three will boast the company's new thin Cinema Screen bezel, measuring "less than 5mm" according to a company rep we spoke … Read more
Now that we've reviewed all of the flagship LED TVs this year, it's time to round up the winners to date.
With one very notable exception, these TVs aren't as good in our book as the very best plasmas, but each delivers excellent or very good performance overall. So without further ado, here they are in descending order of picture quality--beginning with the best TV we've seen in years.… Read more
As we describe in detail in our explanation of the confusing world of LED backlight configurations, our favorite variety is known as (deep breath) "full-array with local dimming." It's also exceedingly expensive to implement, at least to judge from the sticker prices of the only currently shipping 2011 HDTVs to offer this feature: Sony's XBR-HX929, Sharp's Elites, and the LG 55LW9800 reviewed here. The LG is unique among the three as the only one with passive 3D TV capability--combining local dimming with the brightness, crosstalk, and practicality advantages of polarized 3D glasses. If you want … Read more
There's a lot to like about the KDL-NX720 series. Sony's least expensive TV with that lovely Monolithic styling, it still costs a mint but will reward investors with some of the best 2D images we've seen on any LCD with an edge-lit LED backlight. And despite lacking an app store and Vudu, Sony's Internet selection is chock-a-block with video from sources both mainstream and otherwise. As long as you don't care about its picture quality in 3D, the Sony KDL-NX720 series competes well against the best edge-lit LED TVs on the market.
Read the full review of the Sony KDL-NX720 series.… Read more
Today at the CEDIA trade show in Indianapolis, LG announced the availability of the 55LW9800, its best 2011 LED-based LCD TV and the first on the market to combine a full-array LED local dimming backlight and passive 3D.
The 55LW9800 is the successor to the well-reviewed LX9500 from 2010, a full-array model with active 3D. LG had announced high-end local dimmers for the U.S. market at CES in January under the LW7700 and LW9500 series names, but subsequently said it would scuttle those sets--which used active 3D technology--in favor of a TV with passive 3D.
The 55-inch 55LW9800, shipping … Read more
Today at the IFA trade show in Berlin, LG announced the European availability of the LW980S, its highest-end 2011 LCD TV.
We expect a similar announcement of a U.S. version soon, perhaps at the CEDIA trade show in Indianapolis next week.
The LW980S' standout feature is the same kind of LED local dimming backlight scheme we liked so much in the 2010 LX9500 and LE8500 models.
While those sets were superb, we complained about the unusual uniformity issues we saw, which manifested as bands of uneven lighting that were visible in some material. LG told us that the 2011 … Read more
If you thought all LED TVs were created equal, you're underestimating the power of confusion as a marketing tool. In their continuing efforts to compete against the picture quality advantages of plasma-based flat-panel TVs, makers of LCDs TVs have introduced numerous new technologies. The most successful in our opinion is full-array LED backlighting with local dimming. When you see the words "LED TV" in an ad, it definitely refers to an LCD TV with an LED backlight, but what type of LED backlight and how it's configured make all the difference.
In the article linked below … Read more
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