Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) & Light Emitting Diode (LED) Screen:LCD & LED screen both is a liquid

crystal display. An LCD display has two layers of glass

that are polarized and joined together, the liquid crystals then pass or block the light to display
the picture. The crystals do not produce any light as the light comes from a series of lamps at
the back of the screen. On an LCD screen, the lamps at the back of the screen are Hot Cathod
Fluorescent Lamps (HCFL), whilst on an LED TV the lights at the back of the screen are
Light Emitting Diodes (LED).
There are two types of LED methods used to provide the back lighting to the screen: edge
lighting (with or without local dimming) and full array lighting (with or without local
dimming). Majority of LED TVs fall in the edge-lit without local dimming category, with the
LEDs placed only along the edge of the LCD panel.
It uses light guides to illuminate the center and other areas of the screen. Since its
introduction a couple of years ago, manufacturers such as Samsung, LG and Sony have come
up with a better version: edge lit with local dimming. This variety results in better picture
quality, with the black levels becoming darker, providing a visual feast even for those very
discerning viewers.
The Best Choice for Picture Quality
If you want the best in picture quality among LED TVs, technically it will have to be one that
has full-array back lighting with local dimming. The individual zones of LEDs can be dimmed
or brightened independently, making it more flexible and suitable to an individuals taste and
preference.
Comparing side by side, LED TVs generally have better black levels and contrasts than their
LCD counterparts. Color accuracy is also slightly better on an LED TV. While LCD TVs are
no slouch on color accuracy, compared to an LED TV, the latter has a slight advantage.
Viewing angle is more or less the same on both as this will depend on the glass panel used by
the manufacturer. A thicker and higher quality glass panel is expected to provide a better
viewing angle.
The Best Choice for Energy Efficiency
If power consumption is a major concern then what you need is an energy efficient television.
LED TVs get the vote here as it is using less light to display its pictures. These are designed to
produce a better quality pictures while also using less power than LCD models.

The Best Choice for Price

If the price tag is of major concern, LCD TVs are the obvious choice as their prices have gone
down ever since LED TVs started becoming more mainstream.
The Best Choice for Size
In terms of size, LED TVs are slimmer compared to LCD TVs but not by much. LED lights
can be installed in smaller places, allowing manufacturers to trim out some unnecessary
weight. If space is an issue, better to keep those measuring tapes handy before buying your
latest TV set.
The Best Choice for Gaming and Home Theatre
Planning to hook up your game console to your monitor? LCD TVs in the long run are
recommended by many as the better choice since heads-up display (HUD) elements in some
video games may create ghostly permanent images on the screen when used for a long time.
This is what you call burn-in, which is less likely to happen with LCD TVs. Those who have
set up a high-end home theater on their PC may also opt for an LCD TV to avoid the same.
Conclusion
Given these pros and cons of both LCD and LED TVs, its really up to the buyer to figure out
which suits their needs best. Obviously, LED TVs have the more advanced technology,
slightly better picture quality (generally speaking), but comes at a higher price point. LCD
TVs remain in production despite the gaining popularity of their LED counterparts and this is
because they offer good value given at a lower price, doing so with above average picture
quality.
Do take note that setting up your new display properly is one of the first things youll need to
do before going on a movie marathon to get the best results. Even the most advanced TV set
cant produce that stunning picture quality youre looking for if its not set up properly.
This article was updated on the 23rd of December 2011. We also have a new guide on the
latest TV technology that will be popular in 2012, OLED TVs, have a look at our OLED TV
Explained guide.
High-definition video
High-definition video or HD video refers to any video system of higher resolution than standarddefinition (SD) video, and most commonly involves display resolutions of 1,280720 pixels
(720p) or 1,9201,080 pixels (1080i/1080p). This article discusses the general concepts of highdefinition video, as opposed to its specific applications in television broadcast (HDTV), video

recording formats (HDCAM, HDCAM-SR, DVCPRO HD, D5 HD, AVC-Intra, XDCAM HD,
HDV, and AVCHD), the Blu-ray Disc, and the D-VHS video tape format.
The number of lines in the vertical display resolution. High-definition television (HDTV)
resolution is 1,080 or 720 lines. In contrast, regular digital television (DTV) is 480 lines (upon
which NTSC is based, 480 visible scanlines out of 525) or 576 lines (upon which PAL/SECAM
are based, 576 visible scanlines out of 625). However, since HD is broadcast digitally, its
introduction sometimes coincides with the introduction of DTV. Additionally, current DVD
quality is not high-definition, although the high-definition disc systems Blu-ray Disc and the
defunct HD DVD are.
The scanning system: progressive scanning (p) or interlaced scanning (i). Progressive scanning
(p) redraws an image frame (all of its lines) when refreshing each image, for example
720p/1080p. Interlaced scanning (i) draws the image field every other line or "odd numbered"
lines during the first image refresh operation, and then draws the remaining "even numbered"
lines during a second refreshing, for example 1080i. Interlaced scanning yields greater image
resolution if subject is not moving, but loses up to half of the resolution and suffers "combing"
artifacts when subject is moving.
The number of frames or fields per second (Hz). In Europe more common (50 Hz) television
broadcasting system and in USA (60 Hz). The 720p60 format is 1,280 720 pixels, progressive
encoding with 60 frames per second (60 Hz). The 1080i50 format is 1920 1080 pixels,
interlaced encoding with 50 fields, (50 Hz) per second. Two interlaced fields formulate a single
frame, because the two fields of one frame are temporally shifted. Frame pull down and
segmented frames are special techniques that allow transmitting full frames by means of
interlaced video stream.
Often, the rate is inferred from the context, usually assumed to be either 50 Hz (Europe) or 60 Hz
(USA), except for 1080p, which denotes 1080p24, 1080p25, and 1080p30, but also 1080p50 and
1080p60.
A frame or field rate can also be specified without a resolution. For example 24p means 24
progressive scan frames per second and 50i means 25 progressive frames per second, consisting
of 50 interlaced fields per second. Most HDTV systems support some standard resolutions and
frame or field rates. The most common are noted below. High-definition signals require a highdefinition television or computer monitor in order to be viewed. High-definition video has an
aspect ratio of 16:9 (1.78:1). The aspect ratio of regular widescreen film shot today is typically
1.85:1 or 2.39:1 (sometimes traditionally quoted at 2.35:1). Standard-definition television
(SDTV) has a 4:3 (1.33:1) aspect ratio, although in recent years many broadcasters have
transmitted programs "squeezed" horizontally in 16:9 anamorphic format, in hopes that the
viewer has a 16:9 set which stretches the image out to normal-looking proportions, or a set which

"squishes" the image vertically to present a "letterbox" view of the image, again with correct
proportions.

Common high-definition video modes

Video
mode

Frame size in pixels

(WH)

Pixels per
image

Scanning
type

Frame rate (Hz)

720p

1,280720

921,600

Progressive

23.976, 24, 25, 29.97, 30, 50,

59.94, 60, 72

1080i

1,9201,080

1,036,800

Interlaced

25 (50 fields/s), 29.97 (59.94

fields/s), 30 (60 fields/s)

1080p

1,9201,080

2,073,600

Progressive

23.976, 24, 25, 29.97, 30, 50,

59.94, 60

Extra high-definition video modes

Video mode

Frame size in pixels (WH)

Pixels per image1 Scanning type Frame rate (Hz)

2K

2,0481,536

3,145,728

Progressive

24

2160p

3,8402,160

8,294,400

Progressive

24, 25, 30, 50, 60

2540p

4,5202,540

11,480,800

Progressive

4K

4,0963,072

12,582,912

Progressive

4320p

7,6804,320

33,177,600

Progressive

50, 60, 120

Bitmap Color Depth

Describes the amount of storage per pixel

Also indicates the number of colors available

Higher color depths require greater compression

See Figure 1, Eight-Bit Color and Figure 2, Twenty-Four-Bit Color (True-Color)

When a bitmap image is constructed, the color of each point or pixel in the image is coded into
a numeric value. This value represents the color of the pixel, its hue and intensity. When the
image is displayed on the screen, these values are transformed into intensities of red, green
and blue for the electron guns inside the monitor, which then create the picture on the
phosphor lining of the picture tube. In fact, the screen itself is mapped out in the computer's
memory, stored as a bitmap from which the computer hardware drives the monitor.
These color values have to be finite numbers, and the range of colors that can be stored is
known as the color depth. The range is described either by the number of colors that can be
distinguished, or more commonly by the number of bits used to store the color value. Thus, a
pure black and white image (i.e. no grays) would be described as a 1-bit or 2-colour image,
since every pixel is either black (0) or white (1). Common color depths include 8-bit (256
colors) and 24-bit (16 million colors). It's not usually necessary to use more than 24-bit color,
since the human eye is not able to distinguish that many colors, though broader color depths
may be used for archiving or other high quality work.
Figure 1. Eight-Bit Colour

Eight-bit colour stores the colour of each pixel in eight binary digits (bits) which gives 256
colours in total.
Figure 2. Twenty-Four-Bit Colour (True-Color)

Twenty-four bits (three bytes) per pixel gives us a possible 16 million (approx.) colours, which
is more than the human eye can accurately distinguish.