Televisions have been around since for over 80 years since it was first invented in 1927 by a 21-year-old boy named Philo Taylor Farnsworth. Televisions have been improving ever since such that it may be very difficult to catch up with all the Jargon being thrown around by experts.
In this article we will be tackling a technology that has been in use in televisions for the past 48 years or so. This is the LED TV. We will also tackle other words which are being thrown around with the LED term such as QLED, OLED and more.
What are LED TVs and how do they work
LED stands for Light Emitting Diodes and this is the basis of the LED TVs. Before we get to the LED TV it is important know what an LED is and how it works.
Basically, an LED is a semiconductor which produces light when an electric current passes through it. In comparison with fluorescent tubes which were previously used to back light Televisions, LEDs are way more power efficient and they produce less heat as compared to their counterpart hence more energy is converted to light.
Today, there are different types of LED TVs which basically run on the principle we just described above. In this article we are just going to discuss about three main types of LED which are being marketed by different companies in different names yet their functionalities do not differ by much.
1. QLED TVs
This marketing term is mainly used by Samsung to refer to their top end Televisions.As we are all familiar, Samsung is a very prominent and powerful company especially in the tech space with industry leading innovations. QLED simply refers to Quantum Light Emitting Diode. This Qled TV is basically an LCD Tv with Tiny nanoparticles known as Quantum dots.
This quantum dot layer in the Television produces its own light but of a different color. The light that it emits is produced by an LED backlight hence the term QLED. After the quantum dots emits their differently colored light, that light travels through other different layers within the television until it is outputted through the LCD panel.
Pros of a QLED TV
- Relatively affordable prices for the picture quality offered.
- They are very bright.
- They picture quality is Amazing coming close to OLED level.
- It uses less power.
Cons
- The TV can suffer from light bleed which results in a hazy effect around bright objects.
- The contrast ratio though good still isn’t as perfect as OLED’s.
2. OLED TVs
First of all, OLED stands for Organic Light Emitting Diodes. It consists of pixels which are self-illuminating meaning that they produce their own light.
This happens when the individual pixels are excited by passing an electric current through it. In contrast with LED TVs which normally has a back light hence bulky OLED TVs tend to be thinner and less bulkier since they do not require a backlight.
Advantages of OLED TVs
- The viewing angle is amazing.
- The blacks are really dark and rich.
- It has a good contrast ratio.
- They are extremely thin such that when mounted on a wall it almost blends in like a picture frame with very minimal and negligible space left between the wall and the TV.
Cons
- Not as bright as backlit TVs.
- Can suffer from TV burn in where a static image can adhere vaguely on your TV screen which can be very annoying.
- Though it will last more than the consumer will ever need it to, they are not long lasting as compared to LED TVs.
- Can be very pricy.
3.LCD TVs
LCD stands for Liquid crystal diode. They use a unique state of matter known as liquid crystals. The molecules basically retain their fluid state but in a particular crystal structure.
When an electric current is passed these liquid crystals rotate to a certain degree in order to let a certain amount of light to pass through depending on the voltage or potential difference applied.
Pros of an LCD TV
- They are cheap.
- They are readily available.
- They have a long lifetime.
- They can get very bright.
- They consume very low power.
Cons
- They do not have a good level of black as the QLED or even the OLED TVs.
- They don’t have a high dynamic range as their OLED and QLED counterpart
Which TV is right for you
I get this question a lot from different people and there are always two factors to consider.
The first factor is your budget and the second is the lighting on your room. There obviously other factors to consider but these two are worth checking out. If money is not your limiting factor, then OLED would be an easy peak but avoid placing the TV in a brightly lit environment as OLEDs are known to perform best in dark or lowly lit environments.
If money is somehow a limiting factor, then the second option would be QLED.. QLEDs are not affected by room lighting hence performs best in both highly lit areas and also dark ones. It is also important to note that OLEDS offer a rich, bright and high picture quality. If you are on a really tight budget then a high-end LCD TV will be a good pick for you. They are generally bright and certainly not affected by lighting conditions as much as OLED but do consider that some haziness may be noted in darkly lit rooms
