Samsung LED TVs have taken the world by storm. To keep up with their sales, Samsung is now aggressively increasing its procurement of LED backlit panels. According to survey, Samsung’s LED panels currently account for around 60% of the global output of such panels. Its efforts in LED TV field has significantly attributed to the promotion of LED back-lit TVs to be tomorrow’s market mainstream and also pushing the LED industry forward. To look into the future developing trend of LED TV, LEDinside recently interviewed Aaron Chen, Senior Manager of Samsung Taiwan’s Electronics Digital Media Team about his insights.

Advantages of LED backlight — compact, energy-saving, durable and highly efficient

The LED backlight of Samsung’s LCD TVs consists of 6 LED modules which are composed of 500 to 600 0.2~0.25W LEDs. Compared to traditional CCFL backlight, LEDs reduce energy consumption of LCD TVs by 40%. According to comparison test results, a 52-inch LCD TV with CCFL backlight consumes 270W, while Samsung’s 52-inch LCD TV with LED backlight consumes only 150W, almost equal to that of a 32inch LCD TV with CCFL backlight. In addition, adoption of LED backlight also makes the TV thinner, reducing the thickness of Samsung’s LED LCD TV to merely 2.99cm.

An average CCFL backlight has a life span of around 30 thousand hours, with the top CCFL module lasting for 60 thousand hours. In contrast, the lifespan of white LED backlight has already reached 50 thousand hours. The current industry standard for lifespan of LED backlight is 5 years. And Samsung provides a 2 year warranty for its LED LCD TVs.

As to color rendering, CCFL backlights generally feature poor color gradation due to issues such as color purity, causing LCD panels not as good as CRT in gradation and color rendering. Samsung’s LCD TVs, on the other hand, incorporates the Engine/WCE Pro technology, improving the CRI of the whole range of LED TVs up to 90％~130% from 70%~90% for ordinary models.

The Edge Type technology saves consumption of LEDs, cutting cost

Samsung LED TVs adopt the Edge Type backlight technology which sets the LED light source at four sides of the LCD panel and uses a light-guide sheet to distribute the light evenly on the panel. Compared to Direct Type backlight, this method can reduce the number of LEDs used, sequently cutting the production cost. However, the challenge is that if adopted in large sized panels, the Edge Type backlight could cause the center of screen darker than the brim areas. To solve this problem, Samsung LED TVs incorporate the company’s exclusive technology, substantially improved the brightness conformity and image quality of the screen via adjusting the current of LED relevant circuits. As a result, though without local dimming, Samsung’s LED TVs have achieved excellent color rendering effects and high contrast ratio.

Ultra slim, wall mounted TVs lead the trend

Another attraction of Samsung’s LED TV is the 2.99cm, ultra-thin profile, which is made possible with the company’s unique Ultra Slim LED technology. In addition to slimming down the panels, the backlight inverter is also crucial to the whole design of the TV set. As Samsung’s LED TVs incorporate 100-240V transformer and use thin profile inverter, heat dissipation seems difficult. After carefully observing the rear housing design of Samsung’s LED TV, the analyst from LEDinside found that Samsung has insisted the consistent aesthetic style in design of the back of its TV set rather than increasing the number of thermal vents or expanding the heat dissipating space by adding thickness of specific areas. Samsung’s heat dissipation solution should be indicative in the market.

The concept of wall mounting was given birth long ago. However, conventional wall mounting brackets were not generally accepted in the market, probably because of the large size and dumb look. In contrast, Samsung LED TV adopts the new wall mount design which absorbs the concept of wall picture, simplifying the structure as well as downsizing the bracket. In addition, only one drilling is needed on the wall, simplifying the installation process. And the gap between the TV and the wall is reduced to 1.5cm, 80% less compared to conventional wall mounting types, also another important reason why Samsung LED TVs are favored in the market.

Chen points out that Samsung LED TV when mounted on the wall is less than 5cm thick as a whole, increasing the viewing distance. And the unique craft and design has led a trend of wall mount TVs in the market. According to survey, the penetration rate of wall mount TVs in Taiwan’s households has increased to around 20%. And half of Samsung LED TV consumers bought wall mount models.

Green energy, ultra thin profile will be the mainstream

According to LEDinside, Samsung has won over 50% market share in global LCD TV market, the biggest winner in the industry. And the hot sale of LED TVs this year has enhanced its leading position in the LCD TV market. Chen also pointed out that the future developing trend of LCD TV will encompass ultra slim profile and “green” energy, thus the TV featuring both these features will be the mainstream of the next generation TV market. He added that as material cost drops and production capability expanded, Samsung is expected to enrich its product range in the future by introducing some intermediate LED TV series.

Insights from LEDinside

The transition from CRT to LCD has been a milestone in the development of television panel. And the replacement of CCFL backlight with LEDs also marks a new era of TV industry. According to survey by LEDinside, if all LCD TVs in the market use LED backlight, the consumption of LEDs in this segment will be about 8 times that of the annual 1 billion handset market.

However, the current price of LED TV is still 60% higher than that of conventional LCD TVs. Additionally, a part of LED backlight components are supplied by only a few manufacturers. Therefore, LEDinside holds that significant growth in LED TV market should not be expected in the short term, and estimates a 2.5~3% penetration rate of LED TV in 2009.

Till now, sales of Samsung LED TVs globally have exceeded 700 thousand units. Other TV suppliers such as LG, Sharp, Sony are also joining into the competition in the market. As the cost between LED and CCFL backlight narrows, and the price of LED TV reduces, the penetration rate of LED TV in TV market is expected to reach 20% in 2011, according to LEDinside. By then, the LED consumption in TV field is likely to surpass that of the handset applications, and LED TV will become one of the most important applications in LED industry. 

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