Worlds largest LED HD TV enters record books!

Something a bit light heartened....the worlds largest LED HD TV...

The giant four-sided screen has a surface area of 1058 sq m (11,400 sq ft) and hangs above the Dallas Cowboys' football stadium in the US.

Its manufacturer, Mitsubishi Electric, says the video board is the size of 3,268 52 inch TV sets, and contains over 10m Light Emitting Didoes (LEDs).
It consists of four panels, which together weigh 600 tonnes (600,000kg).

"This is probably the most exciting project we've ever been involved with," said Mark Foster of Mitsubishi Electric.

Samsung predicts LED TV sales to hit 10 million in 2010.

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd aims to sell at least 2 million liquid crystal display (LCD) televisions that use light-emitting diodes (LED) in 2009 and at least 10 million units in 2010, an executive said.The LED sales forecast comes on top of an initial sales target of 22 million for all LCD sets. The initial target was below DisplaySearch's forecast of a 15% growth in the global LCD TV market, and Samsung had said it would strive to post higher growth.

TVs featuring LED backlights are about a third thinner than those lit by traditional cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFLs) and have a longer lifespan. They offer more vivid images, with greater contrast and color range, proponents say.Yoon Boo-keun, president of Samsung's visual display division said Samsung plans to outperform the rest of the industry in the LCD TV segment, while "vastly" outperforming the LED TV market next year.

However, unlike in 2009, when Samsung was virtually alone in the LED category in the first half of the year, Yoon said he expects "heated" competition in 2010.Yoon was speaking at a press conference ahead of the IFA trade show in Germany. His remarks were embargoed until Friday.Television panel makers plan to ship 4.3 million LCD units with LED backlights in 2009, research firm DisplaySearch said in a report released in June.

DisplaySearch said Samsung was expected to have a 59.8% global market share in the LED television market in 2009, with Japanese rival Sharp following at 27.9%.As LED televisions consume less power than traditional LCDs, they are both economical and environmentally correct, Yoon said, adding that Samsung expects its LED TV segment to grow to the same size as its traditional LCD category by 2012.On the market for televisions using active-matrix organic light-emitting diodes (AM-OLEDs), touted for their extreme thinness, superior picture quality and energy efficiency, Yoon said much more time was needed for commercialized models to become profitable."Right now, LEDs are the leading force," he said.

Samsung will still develop the OLED segment as part of its future TV strategy, Yoon said. Samsung is the main proponent of AM-OLED screens in small displays used in mobile phones and media players.Japan's Sony Corp. launched the world's first AM-OLED TV in late 2007, but has not followed with new models.LG Electronics, Samsung's home rival in televisions, unveiled a 15-inch television set using AM-OLED technology, the largest commercial model so far, and even promised a 40-inch model "in the not too distant future."

LED Vs LCD TV - Comparison

Even though LED TVs are essentially a form of LCD, there is still some important factors to look into when comparing the two and the benefits each technology possesses.

Contrast and Black Levels:
Standard LCD TVs have a backlight which is constantly on during use. Dark areas are created by "turning" the light away from the LCD panel, resulting in a low contrast level and poor clarity in dark scenes. With LED TVs the light emitting diodes are dimmed to create a deeper black, and can allow for better detail in dark scenes. In this case, LED is a clear winner between the two.

Colour:
LED TVs using white LED for the backlight do not vary hugely from standard LCD TVs. However, if purchasing a LED TV using RGB-LED, the improvement in colour is significant. LED TVs using RGB pips LCD here, but the two are fairly even for white LEDs.

Viewing Angle:
Traditional LCDs have always suffered from contrast degradation when viewed from angles of more than approximately 30 degrees from off centre. Although there have been vast improvments over the last few years, LCD still falls short of Plasma TVs when it comes to viewing angle. The use of LEDs has gone some way into correcting this issue and are almost on a level par with Plasma. In this case, LED TVs are a massive improvment over standard LCD.

Size and cost:
LED TVs with Edge-LEDs are typically thinner than LCD. LEDs positioned behind the panel do not offer such great rewards in terms of space saving. The screen size range however is smaller than what is currently available in LCD. LED offer around 46"-70", while LCD offers everything from around 15" to 65". The main problem with LED is currently the cost, which is currently around twice the price of LCD due to the associated manufacturing costs, which ultimately gets passed onto the customer.

Other Factors
A few other factors are longevity and power consumption. Although there is little history to support LED TVs, LEDs should degrade less over time than standard LCD, with most manufacturers claiming around 100,00 hours for the lifespan. In terms of power consumption there have been mixed reports, with some claiming up to a 40% power saving, whilst others report power consumption on a par with plasma. Without further evidence on these matters, I would have to class LED and LCD even.

Overall it is clear to see LED has its advantages over LCD, but these unfortunately come at a premium, which only you will know whether you can justify!

What is LED TV?

The first thing to know about LED (Light Emitting Diode) TVs is that they are simply LCD TVs with a different kind of backlighting. The screen remains the same but LEDs are used in place of Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamps that are found in most LCD TVs. The LEDs can come in two forms, white or RGB which are positioned behind the panel, or white Edge-LEDs positioned around the rim of the screen which use a special diffusion panel to spread the light evenly behind the screen.

Currently LEDs are not small enough to be used for individual pixels in domestic televisions, and so the use of true LED TVs is restricted to much larger screens in places such as sport stadia.
Don't let this put you off however, as there are some great benefits to choosing an LED TV over a standard LCD TV.

• Improved brightness and contrast levels, with deeper blacks.
  
• The use of Edge-LED lighting allows the TV to be thinner than standard LCD TVs.
  
• LED TVs can consume up to 40% less power than a LCD TV of similar size
  
• They can offer a wider colour gamut, especially when RGB-LED backlighting is used.
  LED TVs are also more environmentally friendly due to there being no mercury used during manufacture.

Overall there are many benefits to buying a LED TV rather than a standard LCD TV. A comparison between LED and LCD can be found here on the LED vs LCD page.
Some of the biggest electrical companies such as Samsung, Sony and Sharp all offer a range of fantastic LED TVs.

Read more at www.ledtele.co.uk where you can also find some great offers on a range of LED, LCD and Plasma TV.