When you're shopping for an HDTV, there are plenty of factors to consider. Chief among them is the type of display. While boxy, bulky CRTs are long dead and mammoth rear-projection HDTVs are all but extinct, the HDTV market currently offers three distinct choices in display technologies: plasma, traditional CCFL-backlit LCD, and LED-backlit LCD. For years, the question of which technology reigned supreme has remained unanswered.
In the early days of HDTVs, plasma, with its inky blacks and top-notch picture quality, was the prevalent flat-panel technology, especially among videophiles. Gradually, thinner, more energy-efficient LCDs with CCFL backlighting became less expensive and more capable and started gaining ground.
The difference between plasma and LCD wavered for some time, with each offering different economic and visual benefits depending on the model, price, and time in the life cycle of HDTVs. But in the past couple of years, with the advent of increasingly sophisticated LED backlighting, we finally have a true winner. With its unmatched energy efficiency, LED-based LCD is the best flat-panel HDTV technology.
Unfortunately, it's also generally the most expensive, though by less of a margin than there was a few years ago. If it's in your budget, the choice is clear: Pay the premium and get an LED-backlit HDTV.
The Basics: What's the Difference Between LCD, LED, and Plasma?
The three technologies are vastly different, particularly with respect to how each screen is lit. In plasma HDTVs, the phosphors that create the image on the screen light up themselves, and don't require backlighting. For LCD HDTVs, however, the liquid crystal screen does not illuminate, requiring a separate light source. That's where the difference between "regular" LCD screens (also known as CCFL-backlit LCD) and LED-backlit LCD screens (also known as LED-LCD, or just LED screens) come in.
Traditional LCD HDTVs use cold cathode fluorescent lights (CCFLs) to illuminate the screen. CCFLs are similar to the fluorescent lights you might see in some lamps and overhead light fixtures. They use a charged gas to produce light. LED screens, like their name implies, use light emitting diodes (LEDs) to illuminate the display. LED backlighting has become much more common in the last few years, and CCFLs are now generally only seen on budget HDTVs.
Several factors can be influenced by the type of HDTV display you choose. Among them, the most prominent are screen thickness, brightness, darkness, energy efficiency, and price. Ideally, you want an HDTV that's affordable, paper-thin, can get face-of-the-sun-bright and black-hole-dark, and consumes less than a watt. That's currently impossible, but LED-backlit LCD HDTVs can come closer than the other two technologies.
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