LCD vs LED
LED is the newest technology in HDTV joining in with LCD and Plasma. The latter two have been racing to the top of consumer choice for TVs but LED is slowly catching up. We have already covered a comparison of plasma and LCD in our Plasma vs LCD article. We will now compare the LCD TV to the LED TV. Deciding between the two can be difficult because the two are almost identical to consumer eyes except for the price. We will differentiate the two in hopes of helping consumers decide in this LCD vs LED clash.
Introduction
LED is short for light emitting diode. It is the simplest semiconductor device having only two junctions. A transistor is another semiconductor device but with three junctions. Heat is released when a current passes through an ordinary diode. The heat is released when an electron jumps from one energy gap to another. For a LED, that heat is converted to light. A LED bulb can be of several colors depending on the material used.
The name LED TV is actually a misnomer. The LED in a LED TV is only the light that illuminates the display. A LED TV is really an LCD TV with a LED for its backlight. The “common” LCD TV uses fluorescent light for its backlight. Since they differ only in backlighting, both use the same technology in forming an image. You can read more about how an LCD forms an image on our LCD vs Plasma page.
LED TVs in the market employs two back lighting forms: local dimming and edge lighting. A LED TV with local dimming backlights contains groups of LED bulbs behind the LCD panel. These bulbs are the ones adjusted once the user varies either the screen brightness or contrast. Edge lighting backlighting employs LED bulbs around the edges of the panel. In addition to this, the LED backlight can also be categorized as either white or colored. LED TVs using edge lighting are usually thinner than those that use local dimming.
Picture Quality
We will determine which has a better picture quality between LCDs and LEDs based on three criteria: contrast levels, color accuracy and viewing angles. As mentioned in our Plasma vs LCD, an LCD TV creates black by light modulation. That is, power is needed for the LCD panel to block light and in turn create dark tones. Inconsistencies in power will affect the black level of the LCD.
In LED TVs, specifically those that employs local dimming, black is emitted by simple dimming the back light. Recall that this is similar to the method used by plasma TV which provides a very high contrast level ratio. This is not the same for edge lit LED TVs however they can produce brighter whites than LCD TVs.
LED TVs that uses white light as backlight can emit good colors. But one can hardly find the difference in color accuracy when it is compared to LCD TVs. However, a LED TV with colored backlight can produce colors better than the above mentioned two.
Knowing which has the best viewing angle between LCD and LED TVs depends on the glass panel used. The best viewing angle is offered by the thicker and higher quality glass panel. Unfortunately, a good viewing angle is matched with glare. Improvements on anti -glare technology will mean less viewing angles. LCD and LED TVs are even in this area.
LED TVs offer a higher contrast ration and color accuracy while it is at par with LCD when it comes to viewing angle and glare. This one goes to the LED TV.
EDGE: LED TV
Price
For our price comparison we will again be using products from Samsung. These 
products are released within the same year and of the same size. The 40-inch Samsung 630 series LCD is priced at $800. The Samsung 5500 series LED can be bought at $900. Both has identical specs in terms of resolution (1920 x 1080) and features (Allshare, ConnectShare, AnyNet+, etc). The contrast ratio for the LED model is 3,500,000:1 while for LCD model is 250:000:1.
In terms of power consumption, the LED model consumes 0.18 W at standby while the LCD model consumes 0.1 W. This differs when the TV is in normal operation with LCD consuming more power than LED. Using the same computation we used on our Plasma vs LCD article, Samsung reports that using the LED model for one year will cost $9 while for the LCD model, one would pay an average of $20.
EDGE: LED TV
LCD TV
Too Low to Display $59.99 $99.99 $229.54 $299.99 $399.00 $849.00Merchant Product Price Buy Now 
Sony BRAVIA KDL46BX420 46-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV, Black
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RCA 7" / Portable LCD HDTV
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Philips 9" Class / Portable LCD TV
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Haier L32D1120 32-Inch 720p LCD HDTV, Black
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LG 32LK330 32-Inch 720p 60 Hz LCD HDTV
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Panasonic VIERA TC-L32C3 32-Inch 720p LCD HDTV
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Samsung LN40D630 40-Inch 1080p 120 Hz LCD HDTV (Black)
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LED TV
Verdict – LCD vs. LED
The LED TV was supposed to be an improvement for the LCD and based on our LCD vs LED, it is certainly better in all aspects. It has astounding contrast levels due to the improved method of light dimming. The color accuracy has also improved although the distinction between it and that of LCDs is not that great. The price difference between the two is not that great but the LED beats the LCD in terms of power consumption.
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Just the info I was looking for, for my study. Great. Thanks!