Howdy and thanks for checking out our 46 LED TV site. What we have in mind here is to feature news, views, facts, opinion and whatever other information we can find regarding 46″ LED TVs. But before we get started, we probably should define exactly what an LED TV is – or more accurately, what it isn’t.

What’s popularly being referred to as an ‘LED TV’ really isn’t that at all. These televisions are actually LCD sets. Why is that so? Because they use an LCD (liquid crystal display) screen. A true LED TV would use LEDs for the screen. Such tv sets haven’t been built yet, with the exception of Sony’s OLED (organic light emitting diode) version, which at eleven inches diagonally and $2500 probably isn’t an option for most of us.

So then if they use LCD screens, why are these sets called LED TVs? Well, every LCD TV needs a source of light for the screen. In conventional LCD sets, that light’s provided by CCFLs (cold cathode fluorescent lamps). Replacing the CCFLs with LEDs has a number of advantages, and that’s why the ‘LED TVs’ have been so widely anticipated, even if their name is somewhat misleading.

So misleading, in fact, that an advertising standards body in the UK has ruled that Samsung should not be advertising their LED LCD TVs as LED TVs. Samsung has stated that they’ll add additional verbiage to their ads in order to explain the actual technology more accurately.

But back to the advantages of the LEDs. Some of them have the LEDs placed around the perimeter of the screen, which is called ‘edge-lit’. Edge-lit screens can be made extremely thin – there are examples which are barely over an inch deep. Extremely impressive when hung on a wall!

But some of the LED TVs, rather than going the edge-lit route, use a different configuration, where the LED bulbs are spread out over the entire back of the screen. This is, as you’d expect, called ‘backlit’, and while it can’t be made as razor-thin as the edge-lit models, it enables something referred to as local dimming, meaning the bulbs in any particular area of the screen can be made brighter, dimmer, or turned off. This helps with color rendition, and especially with displaying blacks. LCDs have always suffered in comparison to plasma sets when it comes to showing true black. Most can do no better than a dark grey. However, with the best local dimming LED TVs, the quality of the black levels approaches that of plasma displays.

LED bulbs also have some environmental advantages. You’ve probably seen them starting to be used in Christmas bulbs, flashlights, and some consumer home lighting fixtures. If so, you’ll have noted that they’re claimed to be very energy efficient, and this certainly holds true for LED TVs with some using over 40% less electricity than a comparably sized conventional LCD television.

Also good for the environment is the lighter weight of the LED sets, which require less fossil fuel to transport, therefore creating less pollution. Additionally, LEDs contain no mercury. The CCFLs in conventional LCDs do contain small amounts of that toxic substance, which unfortunately is showing up in our environment in more and more places lately.

The 46 LED TV is of a size that’s large enough to impress the most picky viewer while still being able to fit into most people’s living rooms. Take a look at the information on this site to see if there’s one to fit your needs and budget!