The Great Future of LED TV(4): The Trend and challenges of LED TV

---

---

The main issue LED TV faces is still high costs, therefore the manufacturer usually place LED TV at the top class of TV products. Besides, with more than 1000 LEDs being the backlight, how to maintain the equality and reliability remains a big issue.

At the moment the retail price of LED TV is still much higher than the traditional flat TV. For example, according to the research of Witsview on the retail price of TVs in the North America, while comparing the retail price of 40-inch and 46-inch LED TVs with that of Full HD flat TV, the price difference is still 30% or more, though it has narrowed since the debut of LED TV. Now there are few productized LED TVs in the market, so we take Samsung’s LED TV which launched in 2007 as the sample of our research.

Since in 2008 there are new LED TVs to enter the market, the price of Samsung’s 2007 model shall fall rapidly. If we take new 2008 models into calculation, the price difference between LED TV and HD flat TV would widen.

Figure- 1 The comparison of prices of 40-inch flat TV and LED TV in the north America
Source: LEDinside

Figure-2 The comparison of prices of 46-inch flat TV and LED TV in the north America

Source: LEDinside

Take the Direct Edge(top view) LED TV for example, its main appeal is the quality of picture and the high contrast ratio, but it needs a big number of LEDs, therefore while it can lower down its energy consumption relies on its manufacturer’s design ability. If the consumer favors TVs with high contrast ratio, in fact they can choose plasma TV, but not necessarily LED TV. Regarding to the Side Edge LED TV, it may attract consumers who take the shape of TV as a chief consideration, but usually we don’t need to move TV frequently, therefore a cheap price is still prior to the thinness and lightness of it.

As a whole, at the moment LED TV can still only be accepted by the technology fanatic and the top layer of consumers. LEDinside predicts that the shipment of LED TV in 2008 is still less than 1% of the global total shipment of TV. It’s only after 2010, when the technology of LED backlighting matures and the costs falls largely, the penetration rate of LED TV will rise gradually.

Figure-3 The prediction of LED TV’s penetration rate

Source: LEDinside

Previous: The Great Future of LED TV(3)–Thinner、Better Picture Quality and More Energy Saving