LCD or LED

I've own and currently own 4 Vizios, 2 RCA's, Kodak, Toshiba, and a Sony.

The newest one is a Vizio M321i-A2 and the picture on it is as good as the more expensive Sony of the same size that was purchased about 6 months before it.

All of the Vizios are still up and running. I gave one away and it has been through some abuse inside a cabin that is not heated all the time (temps can get -40 and -50 where it is at). That one is 3 years old and has been in that cabin for 2 winters. Cabin is a recreational cabin and in the winter is only visited every couple weeks. If that isn't a testament to the durability, I don't know what is. One of the RCA's went out on me, which wasn't a heartbreaker as the quality of the picture was pretty bad when compared to the others.

The Kodak is very old, one of the original LCD TV screens (4:3) and aside from the fact that every time you turn it on you have to re-choose your input, it works fine.

My son uses one of the Sony's and when we bought it we sat it next to a Vizio that was about 8 months older and the two looked pretty much the same displaying a DVD, but you could tell a difference in quality when playing a BluRay. The sony was better. Now, without getting all the model numbers together for this off the cuff review, it is pretty much useless info.

The reason I listed the part number for the first Vizio is because I'm very impressed with the picture on that screen and the sound is pretty darn good even though it is located in a spa room.

My brother has a Samsung and besides being really excellent quality, it is also one of the thinnest screens I've ever seen.

Hi Cube,

Sorry to hear yours was made on a Friday?

What causes you problems with yours?

Cube58 wrote:

pianotuna wrote:
Hi SWD,

Vizio smart TV and led.

I have one & it's a piece of crap!

Liked my first Vizio so much I bought another for the bedroom. Could not be happier!

pianotuna wrote:
Hi SWD,

Vizio smart TV and led.

I have one & it's a piece of crap!

Bill said it, I have both LCD and LED TV's here, the screen is the same, (LCD) only the back-light is different,, I like the LED unit better..

I think (but may be wrong) the LED ones have the "glass" screen which is difficult to watch when there is a lot of outside light.

Interesting observation 1775. I have a 42" Vizio LCD in my den, about 6 years old, that I have no problem watching at pretty extreme angles. When I am at the computer I am to the left of the tv and can see very clearly. It is also mounted with the bottom of the screen 45" from the floor and I typically watch sitting and or laying on the couch with no problem. I would be curious what the difference might be as I have been really pleased with the Vizio and we will be buying another tv for the living room soon.

viewing angle has little to do with the backlighting method.

LED backlighting uses about 20% less power than CFL.

The advantage of LED backlighting is that it can be turned on and off by pixels or blocks, which increases the black level...or better said, decreases the light level coming through.

Most of your mid to low end LED TV's use zone blackouts. Meaning the screen is divided up into blocks and when that part of the picture is black or mostly black, it turns off that section. Typically these sets the LED backlighting is almost always on because rarely do you have wide coverage of black. The cheapest sets that use LED backlighting usually just have always on LEDs with diffusers in front to spread it out.

The highest quality (and typically most expensive) will have variable LED backlighting per 3 pixels. 3 pixels = RGB. Furthermore, the LED backlight is not just on or off, but will also vary in intensity.

The thickness of the TV really doesn't have much to do with the backlighting or LCD technology. Making the plates thinner and getting rid of or spreading out the electronics behind the screen is what makes that possible.

Recommendation? What fits your budget and the spot you want to put it.

There is a vast difference in the viewing angle between what are labeled LED and LCD TVs. Buy LED. The LCD set that I have (Vizio) cannot be seen unless one is sitting directly in front of the screen and at the correct height. Otherwise the picture is washed out and nearly unviewable. Dark scenes are just black. The LED Vizio that came in my RV is much better and the Samsung LED that I have at home can be seen clearly at any viewing angle.

All the TV's are LCD TV's, it's only the backlight that makes them different. Yes, some of the non-LED/LCD TV's are still out there.