I believe that most people have not noticed how the images are produced by the TVs, monitors and other devices that we usually watch. In fact, this is inseparable from the backlighting of LCD TVs. The three common types of backlighting are Edge-lit, Direct-lit and Full array. You may feel unfamiliar when you look at these terms, but it’s okay, let’s understand step by step.
A Brief History of TV Backlighting
If you were born in the 90s, I’m sure you remember the early square TVs. These TVs didn’t rely on backlighting, but rather cathode ray tube (CRT) technology to display images. However, due to its portability, high production cost and lack of support for high-definition picture quality, it was replaced by the LCD TVs that came along later.
Backlight WorksEarly LCD TVs, used cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFL), a technology similar to neon lights. This type of light not only generates high heat, but also has a low conversion efficiency and may cause pollution to the environment, and is now basically no longer in use. To this end, some TV manufacturers thought of the characteristics of the LED.
LED uses organic materials, not only environmental protection, high energy conversion efficiency, and the cost is also lower. So far, LED backlighting officially replace other light sources, has become the current mainstream backlighting.
On the basis of LED backlighting has developed 3 different types of lighting: Edge-lit, Direct-lit and Full array.
Edge-Lit vs. Direct-Lit
Edge Lit and Direct Lit displays are not able to produce uniform blacks like full array displays, but the light from Edge Lit can make the image more detailed, which is not possible with Direct-Lit. Inline LED backlit pure white and pure black display has obvious limitations, this phenomenon is called “black level rise”.
It will lead to some 4:3 movie in 16:9 screen playback, the two sides of the original black bars should be some weak white light (also called light leakage phenomenon). The edge LED display is just the color has not reached the deep black, and will not be like the direct-lit LED white light.
Edge-Lit vs. Full Array
Edge LED has been the main way to light up the backlight of a TV or monitor when full array LED technology has not been applied on a large scale. Because its principle is slightly similar to that of full array LEDs, except that edge LEDs can control a smaller area and are less flexible than full array LEDs.
Edge Lit And Full ArrayFull-array LEDs use full-array pinpoint dimming technology, so localized dimming effects are better targeted to produce deeper, darker images, and do not have the light leakage phenomenon of direct-lit LEDs. This is why, although, the full-array LED appeared later, but still with the momentum of the rapid occupation of a large part of the TV market.
The only thing that may be unfortunate is that full array LED displays are usually more expensive than edge-lit LED displays. Therefore, if you have a limited budget, choosing a more cost-effective edge-lit LED TV is also a good choice.
Edge-Lit vs Direct-Lit vs Full Array: which is better?
As of now, Full Array > Edge-Lit > Direct-Lit, so there is no doubt that Full Array Lighting TVs are the best, except that Full Array Lighting TVs are also the most expensive. If you want to lower your budget a bit and also get good results, then choose Edge-lit Lighting TV, which is also a good choice.
Here, I don’t recommend choosing direct lighting TVs, direct lighting LEDs are not as effective as edge lighting, but the price is not much different from edge lighting. If you are choosing from the two, then obviously edge lighting is much better than direct lighting.
Perhaps there are more options?
Yes, there are OLED TVs and LED video walls, and OLED TVs not only have better picture quality, but they are also made of thinner and lighter materials, so they can achieve both beautiful and thin displays, with the only drawback being that they can’t be made into a large size. If you want a beautiful atmosphere, free to expand the size of the big TV, then the LED video wall is a better choice. LED video wall allows the free choice of different viewing distance LED module to splicing, but also free to customize the size and dimensions, so it is the best choice for the realization of large-screen TV.
