LED backlighting on displays?

contraband

I know now that many manufacturers are ultimately planning on switching to LED-backlit displays for their monitors or laptops. How impressive of a change will this be? As of now, I can't find any comparisons of the two technologies on the internet. Will it just affect energy consumption, or will the display itself be brighter or clearer?

I ask also because I'm planning on moving to uni in the Fall, and I'd like to pick up a MacBook around then, too. But, if LED backlighting is going to be a gargantuan jump, should I hold off on purchasing one until they upgrade, around 2008?

Rook

* High brightness
* Significantly larger color gamut (greater than NTSC and EBU) for more vivid colors
* Tunable backlight white point (maintains full LCD contrast)
* Real-time color management
* High dimming ratio
* Reduced motion artifacts without brightness or lifetime penalty
* Low voltage
* Low EMI

http://www.lumileds.com/solutions/solution.cfm?id=2

But don't believe everything you read on the internet.

darleysam

i guess the best way to see the difference would be to look at two pictures side-by-side. The examples posted there, the one on the right just looks like the saturation's been turned up. Then, obviously, you're not going to actually be able to see the difference in a picture on the internet, because you'll undoubtedly be looking at it on a monitor that doesn't feature that technology.

contraband

darleysam wrote: »

i guess the best way to see the difference would be to look at two pictures side-by-side. The examples posted there, the one on the right just looks like the saturation's been turned up. Then, obviously, you're not going to actually be able to see the difference in a picture on the internet, because you'll undoubtedly be looking at it on a monitor that doesn't feature that technology.

That's exactly what I was thinking!

Marty81

How about Old GBA SPs versus new GBA SPs, or Old fat DSs versus the new Lite DSs? Is that a reasonable comparison?

contraband

Marty81 wrote: »

How about Old GBA SPs versus new GBA SPs, or Old fat DSs versus the new Lite DSs? Is that a reasonable comparison?

I thought that both those cases were LED lit, the difference being front- or back-lighting.

wunderbar

contraband wrote: »

Marty81 wrote: »

How about Old GBA SPs versus new GBA SPs, or Old fat DSs versus the new Lite DSs? Is that a reasonable comparison?

I thought that both those cases were LED lit, the difference being front- or back-lighting.

the DS phat was backlit, but shitty screen + shitty light = bad.

And I don't think that the original SP was a LED, LED wasn't that big yet when the SP was released.

Raere

So, this will theoretically increase laptop battery times, correct?

wunderbar

Raere wrote: »

So, this will theoretically increase laptop battery times, correct?

more then theoretically. LED uses less than half the power of current backlights, and right now backlights are one of the most, if not the most(depending on the laptop), power hungry components of a laptop.

hambone

I remember reading a year ago that LED LCD display technologies were going to hit big this Spring, but since then I haven't heard a damn thing. I'm kind of in the same boat as the OP. I want to buy a new TV, but I'm guessing LED backlights would soften up the market enough to save me a few hundred bucks, so I keep waiting.

The major benefit of using LED's to backlight an LCD (as opposed to flourescents) is that each individual pixel (okay more like each five pixels) gets its own light source, allowing for insanely better contrast ratios and black levels. We're talking about going from ratios of ~1,000:1 to ~1,000,000:1.

AFAIK, manufacturers keep demoing this tech, but I don't know of any sets that have actually come to market.

JWFokker

hambone wrote: »

The major benefit of using LED's to backlight an LCD (as opposed to flourescents) is that each individual pixel (okay more like each five pixels) gets its own light source, allowing for insanely better contrast ratios and black levels. We're talking about going from ratios of ~1,000:1 to ~1,000,000:1.

AFAIK, manufacturers keep demoing this tech, but I don't know of any sets that have actually come to market.

This is the entire point, for those that don't get it.

Also, potentially you could have red, green and blue LEDs and adjust their output to get better color accuracy in addition to greatly increased contrast ratio. I don't know how far along that type of design is in terms of implementation.


LED backlit laptops are already available however.

FirstComradeStalin

Is LED tech more expensive than current backlights, though? Like, how much would it add to the price of a laptop?

JWFokker

I can't really say because I don't keep up with laptop pricing, don't own a laptop and can't be bothered to do a bunch of price comparisons. The only ones I'm aware of at this point are the Sony Vaio TX and SZ lines and at least one Fujitsu Lifebook. HP's LED backlit model(s) aren't out yet, but will be soon and Apple will have them in all their laptops by the end of 2008. The Fujitsu Lifebook starts at $1600, and the Sony Vaio TX start at about $2000. There just aren't enough models out to really say if it adds cost. You'd need models with similar features and whatnot to compare them to.