What Are LED TVs?
An LED TV is an LCD TV that uses an LED backlight.
The backlight of an LED display either consists of a full-array backlight or edge lighting.
Light-Emitting Diode (LED): Tiny lights that make up an LED TV's backlight.
Full-Array Backlight: Evenly placed array of lights with local dimming. These have improved picture and contrast quality.
Edge Lighting: Lights coming from one or more edges of the screen. These don't have dimming zones, which results in lower picture and contrast quality.
LED displays use an LED backlight to emit light, similar to current QLED TVs
.
QLED TVs are considered LED TVs but LED TVs aren't always QLED.
LED displays have more control over the backlights compared to a traditional LCD display, which used a Cold-Cathode Fluorescent Lamp (CCFL) backlight.
Since QLED TVs are considered a different type of display, we will focus on non-QLED TVs throughout this article.
TV Resolutions
| Resolution | |
|---|---|
| 8K UHD (Ultra HD) | 7680 x 4320 |
| 4K UHD (Ultra HD) | 3840 x 2160 |
| 1440p / QHD (Quad HD) | 2560 x 1440 |
| 1080p / FHD (Full HD) | 1920 x 1080 |
| 720p / HD (High Definition) | 1280 x 720 |
Types of TVs
Price: $$
For Those Who Want: The best colors and don't want to worry about screen burn-in.
Description: QLEDs (quantum dot light-emitting diode) use LEDs that light up LCD panels. Between the two layers is a quantum dot layer that filters the light to produce more saturated and pure colors. TVs made with quantum dots are termed QLED by Samsung, TLC, Vizio, and Hisense.
Price: $$$
For Those Who Want: Watching in large groups, benefiting from the wide viewing angle. Not made for those who'll watch static scenes like a PC monitor due to screen burn-in.
Description: OLED (organic light-emitting diode) TVs have pixels that can individually adjust the brightness, allowing for darker black levels. OLED TVs have excellent picture quality and wide viewing angles.
Price: $
For Those Who Want: The best value with the best range in sizes.
Description: LED (light-emitting diode) is a widely used technology for lighting up an LCD panel. Most LED TVs have a reasonable contrast ratio, high brightness, and narrow viewing angles.
Neo QLED
Price: $$$$
For Those Who Want: The great colors of QLED but with better contrast, larger screen size, and higher resolution options (8K).
Description: A mix of QLED and Mini LED, allowing a better contrast ratio. These TVs use the Mini LED backlight array to more precisely show bright scenes with dark objects without washing out the darker parts (halo effect).
MicroLED
Price: $$$$$
For Those Who Want: The benefits of OLED without the chance of screen burn-in.
Description: Similar to OLED, with self-emitting light, but doesn't suffer from burn-in. The smallest version of LED lights.
NanoCell
Price: $$
For Those Who Want: A less costly alternative to QLED and OLED and better than LED/LCD.
Description: Increased image quality compared to LED. Lower contrast than QLED or OLED. Wide viewing angles.
Mini LED
Price: $$$$
For Those Who Want: Good contrast ratio.
Description: Mini LED refers to the backlight array that more precisely shows bright scenes with dark objects without washing out the darker parts (blooming/halo effect). Mini LED displays use around 30,000 mini LEDs for lighting the screen and have around 2,500 dimming zones.
QNED
Price: $$$$
For Those Who Want: A compromise between QLED and OLED.
Description: QNED (Quantum NanoCell Emitting Diodes) is a combination of NanoCell LCD and Mini LED. This limits blooming and improves contrast ratio and peak brightness. Not as dark blacks as OLED, but better than QLED.
LED Displays Compared to QLED, OLED, Mini-LED, and MicroLED
|
LED
|
QLED
|
OLED
| Mini-LED | MicroLED | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Viewing Angle |
Good
|
Good
|
Excellent
| Very Good | Very Good |
| Black Levels |
Okay
|
Okay
|
Excellent
| Very Good | Excellent |
| Color Accuracy |
Good
|
Excellent
|
Very Good
| Excellent | Excellent |
| Burn-in |
No
|
No
|
Yes
| No | No |
| Brightness |
Good
|
Excellent
|
Good
| Very Good | Excellent |
| Lifespan |
Good
|
Excellent
|
Very Good
| Excellent | Excellent |
| Native Contrast |
Okay
|
Very Good
|
Excellent
| Very Good | Excellent |
| Motion |
Good
|
Good
|
Excellent
| Very Good | Excellent |
| Light Bleed |
Yes
|
Yes
|
No
| Some | No |
| Price | $ | $$ | $$$ | $$$$ | $$$$$ |
What Are the Pros and Cons of LED?
For this pros/
| Pros of LED | Cons of LED |
|---|---|
| Great color accuracy | Reduced viewing angles |
| Good peak brightness | Shorter lifespan |
| Good response time | Some light bleed |
| Good contrast ratio | No true blacks |
To learn more about each Pro and Con of LED displays, click the items above.
For a complete list of every question answered in this article, scroll to the top of this page.
Our TV Recommendations
We don't currently recommend any LED TVs because of the superior technology of QLED and OLED TVs outperforming LED TVs. Check out our current recommendation for OLED and QLED TVs below.
LG C2 Evo OLED (Best)
- The LG C2 evo OLED TV has self-lit OLED pixels with superior image quality, extreme contrast, perfect blacks, and over a billion colors.
- This is an exceptional TV for any use, whether for movies, games, sports, or as a PC monitor.
- This TV has Nvidia G-Sync, FreeSync Premium, and variable refresh rates which are great for games.
- These new OLED models can now work well in brightly-lit rooms with their brightness booster and a9 processor.
- Check the latest price of the LG C2 evo OLED TV on Amazon
Sony Bravia XR A80K OLED TV
- This TV has superb picture quality with an extreme contrast ratio, perfect for your home theater room.
- The Sony A80K OLED has excellent color out of the box, so there's no need for color calibration.
- A negative to this TV is that it might not be bright enough for very bright/
sunny rooms. This is common among most OLED TVs. - This TV has Google TV built-in, allowing you to watch from most of your streaming services quickly and smoothly.
- The Sony A80K OLED has very low input lag and quick response time, both of which are excellent for sports and gaming.
- Check the latest price of the Sony Bravia XR A80K OLED TV on Amazon
Samsung QN90B Neo QLED
- This is an exceptional TV for any use, whether for movies, games, sports or as a PC monitor.
- It's the "Neo" QLED variant, which has an excellent contrast ratio and deep blacks.
- This will also work great in a bright room.
- The Samsung QN90B Neo QLED also supports low input lag, variable refresh rate, and fast response time, all of which are needed for gaming.
- Check the latest price of the Samsung QN90B Neo QLED on Amazon
Samsung QN85B QLED
- This is an excellent Neo QLED TV variant for use in bright rooms while having fantastic response time, low input lag, and vivid natural colors.
- The Samsung QN85B QLED has wide viewing angles and high brightness to overcome screen glare.
- It's superb for HDR content due to its high brightness and wide color gamut.
- A negative to this TV is that it has lower contrast compared to the QN90B.
- Check the latest price of the Samsung QN85B QLED on Amazon
How Bright Are LED Displays?
Most LED TVs produce 300 to 600 nits of brightness. To compare, QLED TVs produce 1,000 to 2,000+ nits, and OLED TVs produce 700 to 1,000 on average.
If you don't know what a Nit is, it's a measurement of the amount of light a TV produces within an area. The higher the Nit, the brighter your TV will be able to emit.
|
LED
|
Good
|
|---|---|
|
QLED
|
Excellent
|
|
OLED
|
Good
|
| Mini-LED | Very Good |
| MicroLED | Excellent |
Are LED Displays Good in Bright Rooms?
LED displays aren't usually best in bright rooms and excel in darker environments due to their lower brightness emitted.
It's best to have around 1,500 nits of brightness for displays in direct sunlight indoors, and LED can reach around 600 nits on average.
Do LED Displays Have a Backlight?
LED displays use an LED backlight to emit light, similar to current QLED TVs.
LED display backlights either consists of a full-array backlight or edge lighting.
Full-Array Backlight: Evenly placed array of lights with local dimming. These have improved picture and contrast quality.
Edge Lighting: Lights coming from one or more edges of the screen. These don't have dimming zones, which results in lower picture and contrast quality.
LED displays have more control over the backlighting compared to traditional LCD display, which used a Cold-Cathode Fluorescent Lamp (CCFL) backlight. LED backlights are superior to CCFLs.
Do LED Displays Get Backlight Bleed?
LED displays suffer from backlight bleeding caused by the LED backlight emitting the light.
Backlight bleeding in LEDs has decreased with technology improving over time, but it's still noticeable in darker scenes. Blacklight bleeding results in blacks turning into more of a darker gray instead.
Blacklight bleed is also known as blooming or halo effect. The white text needs bright light to be visible, while the dark scenes don't need any light. The bright light spills over in the dark areas, which is why you'll get the haloing effect and ghosting with motion.
Backlight bleeding is more noticeable with white text on top of black scenes or similar.
|
LED
|
Yes
|
|---|---|
|
QLED
|
Yes
|
|
OLED
|
No
|
| Mini-LED | Some |
| MicroLED | No |
Learn more in Do LED TVs Have Backlight Bleed?
Do LED Displays Have a High Refresh Rate?
The refresh rate of most LED displays is usually 60 hz, but can reach up to around 120 hz in newer models. TVs can sometimes be marketed as having 120 hz, but is only a boosted version of that, with a native refresh rate of 60 hz.
A refresh rate of 60 hz can be considered low if you want a TV for viewing a lot of action content, like sports or gaming. If you want a higher refresh rate, consider getting a QLED TV or OLED TV, both of which have 120+ hz refresh rates.
Refresh rate is the number of times the display can redraw the screen. Refresh rate is measured in hertz (Hz), which is defined as one cycle per second. For example, 60 Hz would refresh the screen 60 times a second. A reasonable refresh rate is anywhere from 144 Hz to 240 Hz and above.
Do LED Displays Have a Low Response Time?
Most LED TVs have a response time of around 5-8 ms for 80% of color transition and 12-19 ms for the remaining color. It's best to have 6 ms or less response time for displays.
Response time is the time it takes a display to change from one color to another. The timing of this is usually determined by going back and forth between white and black. The timing is measured in milliseconds, with lower being better.
The higher response time a display has, the more blurring you'll notice in fast-motion video like sports and video games.
|
LED
|
Good
|
|---|---|
|
QLED
|
Good
|
|
OLED
|
Excellent
|
| Mini-LED | Very Good |
| MicroLED | Excellent |
Are LED Displays Good for Video Games?
LED displays have a decent response time and refresh rate for video games, but not the best you can buy. Some people won't notice the difference, but you will be able to spot blurring or ghosting in rapid-action scenes like in FPS games.
Displays with low response time and high refresh rate (120+ Hz) are recommended to have the best experience. LEDs have a higher response time and lower refresh rate, making them not as good for gaming.
If you want higher refresh rates and lower response times, consider getting a QLED TV or OLED TV, both of which have 120+ hz refresh rates and lower response times.
Most TVs will have a "Game Mode" option or equivalent, making your display use its highest response time, input latency, and refresh rate.
Do LED Displays Get Screen Burn-In?
LED displays are resistant to screen burn-in. You can use your LED display worry-free from that risk.
| Burn-in | |
|---|---|
|
LED
|
No
|
|
QLED
|
No
|
|
OLED
|
Yes
|
| Mini-LED | No |
| MicroLED | No |
Do LED Displays Have Good Viewing Angles?
LED displays are known to have narrow viewing angles when compared to other displays like OLED TVs. Viewing angles of LED displays can vary, based on the model.
LED TVs have an average viewing angle of around 20-40 degrees from the center, with the center meaning that you're directly in front of the screen. You'll notice more washed-out blacks and colors along with brightness loss starting at lesser angles (10-20 degrees) then increase as you get farther away from the center.
The narrow viewing angle is due to the use of a backlight projecting through the LCD. Like viewing a bedroom light from outside of a house, the light is most visible from certain angles.
If you want more flexibility in your viewing position, you'll probably want to go for something like an OLED TV, which doesn't use a backlight.
|
LED
|
Good
|
|---|---|
|
QLED
|
Good
|
|
OLED
|
Excellent
|
| Mini-LED | Very Good |
| MicroLED | Very Good |
Do LED Displays Have True Black?
LED displays do not have true black levels. Poor black levels result in a lack of true black in outer space scenes, dark indoor shots, and end credits. Instead, the blacks appear as more of a gray color.
The lack of true blacks is due to the use of LED backlighting in the display.
|
LED
|
Okay
|
|---|---|
|
QLED
|
Okay
|
|
OLED
|
Excellent
|
| Mini-LED | Very Good |
| MicroLED | Excellent |
Do LED Displays Have Good Color Accuracy?
LED displays have a 40-60% color volume and 55-65% color gamut, which is low compared to QLED TVs or OLED TVs
- Color Volume: How many colors a TV can display at different luminosity (brightness) levels.
- Color Gamut: How many colors the display is capable of showing.
|
LED
|
Good
|
|---|---|
|
QLED
|
Excellent
|
|
OLED
|
Very Good
|
| Mini-LED | Excellent |
| MicroLED | Excellent |
Do LED Displays Have HDR?
LED displays support HDR (high dynamic range) but aren't recommended for the best experience. LED displays do not have the best color volume, good contrast ratio, or brightness for HDR. For the best experience, we recommend getting a QLED TV or OLED TV.
Having HDR will result in a picture with brighter brights, darker darks, more accurate/
|
LED
|
Okay
|
|---|---|
|
QLED
|
Very Good
|
|
OLED
|
Excellent
|
| Mini-LED | Very Good |
| MicroLED | Excellent |
How Long Do LED TVs Last?
LED TVs are expected to last, at peak quality, an average of 5 to 7 years with heavy use or between 40,000 and 70,000 hours of use. Most people don't use their TV all day, every day, so you can expect it to last even longer.
LED TVs will likely last up to 7 years or more for most people.
The main risk of a TV's lifespan, in general, is the other components within the display. Capacitors, power supply boards, or other parts have the chance of failure before the LED panel does, but for most people, their TVs will last up to the expected life expectancy.
To compare, QLED TVs typically last up to around 8 to 10 years of heavy use.
| Lifespan | |
|---|---|
|
LED
|
Good
|
|
QLED
|
Excellent
|
|
OLED
|
Very Good
|
| Mini-LED | Excellent |
| MicroLED | Excellent |
Learn About OLED TVs
Want to learn more about OLED TVs? Check out the articles in my OLED TV series:
- Ultimate Guide to OLED TVs.
- Are OLED TVs Good for Gaming?
- Do OLED TVs Have Good Viewing Angles?
- What Is the Response Time of an OLED TV?
- Do OLED TVs Have True Black Levels?
- How Bright Are OLED TVs Compared to Other TVs?
- What Is the Refresh Rate of an OLED TV?
Learn More About TVs
Want to learn more about TVs? Check out the articles in my TV series:
- Best TV Display Types
- TV Resolution Explained - 8K UHD vs. 4K vs. QHD vs. FHD
- Choosing the Best TV for Your Room
- Best TV for Playing PlayStation 5 Games
- What Type of TV Is Best for Gaming?
- Ultimate Guide to Samsung QLED TVs
- Best Type of TV for Bright Rooms
- What Type of TV Has the Best Refresh Rate & Response Time?
- What Type of TV Has the Best Viewing Angle?
- Do LED TVs Have Backlight Bleed?
- How to choose the best soundbar for your TV