When does the Edge Lit fetish end?

What's edge lit?

K, what's LED?

Sorry, just that I own the other kind of TV on the market.

You think the picture quality would improve over the years with that crap. That is why I still like my plasma's.

Pretty sure he is messing with you.

what is plasma

I'm afraid consumers and manufacturers have already started down that path.

Aesthetics (super thin) and ack of consumer knowlege that LED =! better.

They make what people will pay for. Just like why cameras keep cramming more megapixels in instead of focusing on focusing on PQ.

good analogy with cameras... something I know alot about. Most consumers have no ideal about flash lighting, line bleed, banding, clouding... etc etc. Another camera analogy would be people on here are pixel peepers and measurebaters.

I have a 3 year old old Samsung LNT5271F. I always thought it was great but just now started to look into what was new on the market to upgrade. From everything I've read, the full array backlit is mindblowingly better than the edge lit but I still haven't gotten to see one yet. I wish I had started looking 6 months earlier because I would have gotten the Samsung 8500.

Every salesperson I've talked to from BB to high end locations like Modia insist that you really can't tell the difference but I highly doubt that from what I've read.

I was going to get the 65inch Samsung 8000 when it comes out but all these posts are making me hold off and hope someone eventually comes out with a good full array backlit in a large size. I read LG is revealing a nano led model this month at 400Hz, but it will likely cost more than a new car lol.

EDIT: And I agree about the stupid 3D craze. It's all being driven by Avatar. 3D is a fad that's come and gone for over half a century. It's unfortunate all the manufacturers are going down this path of "thin is in" and 3d. I'd take a foot thick TV and only 2D if it even had a slightly better PQ.

Find a Samsung A950 or 8500 and you won't have these issues. My a950 is magnificent and better than a Kuro

There appears to be only one place that still has some 8500's and they want $1000 above MSRP. Ever other place listed on the net that claims to have them really dont when you call. The salesman then tries to convince you that no one can tell the difference between edge lit and back lit.

Actually the ccfl from major brands like samsung and sony have better black level than thier led edge lit counterparts.

^^It's probably a combination of a bigger profit margin for edge lit and that the vast majority of the buying public won't really know the difference. The new "shiney object" is 3D and thin.

I don't think there's any collusion. It's just that the huge majority of their customer base don't even know the difference between plasma and LCD, much less edge lit vs. back lit. They just want something that looks cool that you can hang on the wall to watch their soap operas and American Idol.

If a salesman tells 99.9% of customers: "This is a back lit LCD, not edge lit!" , they will just give them a blank stare and drool. If the salesman tells them "It's 3D!" they will squeel and say "OOOOOH! Avatar at the Imax!" (cha ching! Another sale is made)

Well to tell you the truth, I doubt your average TV buyer notices small PQ imperfections as much as you do. Let's face it, most TV buyers go by size and price and opposed to PQ. I am personally glad Sony decided to come out with edge lit LEDs, otherwise I wouldn't be able to purchase a 55inch TV under 31.5 inches in height that fits in my TV cabinet for a reasonable price. There are only two tv's out that are 31.5 inches tall (the limit of my furniture), and the LG lx9500 has horrible banding issues, so I'm glad I went with the hx800. I compared those two sets and to my eyes the Sony was superior, although I'll admit I don't have my TV in a theater setting, but neither does your average user. I've also heard good things about Vizio's offerings.

I think one of the main reasons for manufacturers going for LED is to do with the law that was/is going to be brought in in California, that determines the maximum power usage of all TVs sold there (it's very low).

I have seen similar LED/CCFL backlit models side by side in my own home and in store, and to me, brightness, sharpness and PQ look very similar. The look of the TV obviously plays a part in the buyers decision, but PQ is the overriding factor for many.

OLED will take the reins of true PQ and thinness and lightness and it's hold back is the longevity issues --- OLED life cycle is at less than half of CCFL and LED for now and one of the problematic colors has been blue I believe - they've had difficulty getting longevity close to existing panels.

Thus, one of the reasons they can place them on portable and shorter life span devices like Cell Phones and tablets where someone is unlikely to stay with a cell phone for ten years like they may with a TV - in most cases the small handheld device will be replaced long before it reaches it's half life issues or dies. Once they resolve this then that should be the next wave combined with 4Kx2K SuperHivision displays blowing away what we have today.

The 31" LG OLED at IFA looks pretty amazing but still too small for anywhere but my kitchen counter. I'm certain we'll see more OLED at CES to tease us with perfection.

As to the Sharp XS1, I had a chance a few months ago to get the 65" for about $3500 and passed it up for the Samsung 65" C8000 and now that damn thing is taking forever to get to market and the price is assinine since they raised the MSRP a grand to $5999 and challenging finding it discounted very much at all, typical early adopter price fixing like they tried with C9000 and now you can get them for 40%> discounts.

No matter how many times I compare a Sony EX500 CCFL 60" next to an EX700 LED I find the EX500 Superior and then how do you justify paying the equivalent of two EX500's for an LX900 60" except that you have built-in 3D. Obviously the best PQ value in Sony line and next to no side view washout like the edge lit.

+2 on the cameras. For most point/shoot all you need is about 3MP. Only when you get into the $200+ cameras is anything over 3MP really useful. A $100 10MP camera? You're kidding right?

Yep, and that's a good strategy for those with a limited budget. Buy a LARGE TV instead of a small one with slightly better PQ for the same money. That's why there is a LG60PK550 instead of a 40" LED set for the same $1,200 sitting in my living room. At a 15' viewing distance it was a slam dunk.

Like others, I felt that backlit (locally dimmed or not) was a better way to use LEDs, so I was disappointed when edge-lit suddenly became so common. But last Spring I needed a smaller TV for an upstairs room and got a good deal on an end-of-season B6000, an edge-lit model without LD. And 6 months later I'm quite surprised at how good it has been. The key was to get a good set of calibration settings, which I obtained on the relevant thread on this forum.

Yes, it has black uniformity issues, but only while I'm waiting for the PVR to boot up. Once there is something to watch, it's not a problem.

Edge-lit may not satisfy videophiles, but from what I've seen is perfectly up to the needs of most viewers watching broadcast signals.

It ends when they can do TVs as thin and cheap another way.

They only make TVs that are selling. Joe public doesnt know or care about LED backlighting they care that its big thin bright and cheap. Thats why theres almost no LED backlit or CCFL sets now and its all white LED with IOP not RGB LED.

Focus on edge lit rather than backlit is primarily a function of LED shortage which looks likely to be resolved in 4Q considering even 32" LED TV has inventory issues.

Come next year christmas probably the marketing engine will start to focus on backlit as LED prices collapses with MOCVD machines tripling this year and next.

I liken edge lit displays to reality TV. If people didn't watch it we wouldn't have a landslide of that useless crap on EVERY night. Supply and demand 101.