LED, LED, LED

By Paul Gagnon – Director, North American TV Research, DisplaySearch

Major TV themes at the 2010 CES include 3D, connectivity and LED. LED is a major area of focus that could account for a large percentage of the TV market in 2010 after a modest 2009 result.

LG has no fewer than six new series of LED-based LCD TVs among their total of 11 series of LCDs, totaling 41 models that are 32″ or larger, which should account for a large portion of their lineup.

Samsung used their press conference to take the wraps off of a number of super-slim edge-lit LED TVs. The thinnest is the 9000 series, which is just 0.3″ thick (the width of a pencil) with a brushed aluminum frame and detachable touchscreen controller that will play video! Samsung also debuted the 8000, 7000 and 6500 series of LED TVs using a new industrial design and ranging from 19″ to 65″ in size.

Sharp rolled out three series of LED-backlit LCD TVs, all edge-lit, with some incorporating their newly announced Quadpixel sub-pixel structure using red, green, blue and now yellow sub-pixels. Sharp also announced that they are targeting 50% of their LCD TV sales volume in 2010 to be from LED models.

Sony launched eight series of LED backlit LCD TVs, seven edge-lit and one direct-lit with dynamic backlight control, highlighting their new Monolithic industrial design and ranging in size from 32″ to 60″, all full HD 1080p.

Toshiba spent its press conference concentrating on re-launching their feature-packed Cell LCD TV, which uses a wide array of advanced technologies: full local-dimming direct LED backlight with an incredible 512 zones for very fine gradation. Again, its product range is heavily LED biased, with seven of its 11 series being LED-backlit.

2010 is going to be a very big year for LED indeed.