LED TV Technology Pros and Cons

by Robert Wiley

PROS

The viewing angle on LCD Televisions with LED back lighting has improved dramatically to plasma-like levels of 75 degrees with no contrast level degradation on some of the best ones.
The black levels on the best new LED TVs has improved to plasma like black levels while contrast levels still lag the best plasmas buy hundreds of post calibration points
Brightness on LED based LCDs is better than the traditional flourescent bulbs
LED TVs will have better consistency of color information over time than traditional LCDs
LED backlit Televisions should in theory have a better lifespan than traditional LCD TVs or plasmas.

LED TVs with local dimming use more energy than traditional LCDs. It's not much, about 100W for a particular size range.
LED Televisions with discreet backlighting can have lots of dimensional depth to the cabinet. We recently reviewed one with a 6" depth to the cabinet – making it less wall mount friendly.
LED TVs are quite a bit more expensive than traditional LCD TVs. See our article titled "LED TV – Is it worth it?" or our "LED vs LCD" coverage.