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I've written articles in the past explaining various TV technologies, including the differences between 720p and 1080p and 120Hz and 240Hz LCD TVs. But with Samsung, LG, Sony, and other manufacturers pushing so-called LED TVs these days, it's high time that I--with an assist from our resident video guru, David Katzmaier--sort through all the marketing mumbo jumbo and provide some insight into just what an LED TV is. Here goes.

1. An LED TV is not a new kind of TV.

I appreciate a good marketing ploy as much as the next guy, but an LED TV is just an LCD TV that's backlit with light-emitting diodes (LEDs) instead of standard cold-cathode fluorescent lights (or CCFLs). And while they've become best-known this year with Samsung's ultrathin models, LED-backlit LCDs have been on mainstream store shelves since 2007, when Samsung's LN-T4681F debuted.

Unlike plasma and OLED, which are emissive technologies where each pixel is its own discrete light source, LCD is a transmissive technology where each pixel has to be illuminated from behind, or backlit.

2.There are two types of LED backlighting.

Initially, LED-based displays like the Samung LN-T4681F were backlit by what's referred to as a "full array" of LEDs behind the LCD across the back of the panel. But to create superthin TVs, engineers needed to eliminate that extra layer of LEDs and move it to the sides of the display. With this form of backlighting, the LEDs are affixed to all four sides of the TV and light is projected inward to the middle of the TV via "lightguides." These types of TVs are commonly referred to as "edge-lit" LED-based LCDs.

Samsung is the main maker of such sets this year with three series of edge-lit sets, although Sony did release one model earlier this year, the KDL-40ZX1M, and has another flagship series, the KDL-XBR10 models, waiting in the wings. Samsung, Sony, Sharp Toshiba, LG, and Vizio all have non-edge-lit, or "full array" models, available today. See our comparison of edge-lit vs. local dimming for more info.

Edge-lit LED-based LCD by Samsung explodes--photos

3. Of the two, local dimming can produce deeper black levels, but also creates "blooming."

Local dimming LED backlights can dim or turn off individually as needed.

The type of backlighting can impact how deep a shade of black a TV can produce. All current LED-based LCDs with rear-placed, "full-array" LED backlighting--except the Sharp LC-LE700UN series--feature a technology called "local dimming." With local dimming, specific areas of the backlight can be dimmed or brightened when different areas of the picture get darker or brighter.

With fluorescent backlighting and edge-lit LED backlighting, by contrast, the entire backlight dims or brightens at once, if at all.

Being able to dim specific quadrants helps reduce the amount of light that leaks through to darkened pixels, and the end result is blacks that appear darker and more realistic. Since black levels are crucial to contrast ratio, the deeper the blacks, the more the picture--and colors--appear to pop. Also, the image as a whole will seem crisper. A great example of local dimming done right is Samsung's UNB8500 series, which is one of the best-performing TVs we've ever tested.

One downside to local dimming is an effect called "blooming," where brighter areas bleed into darker ones and lighten adjacent black levels. ... Read more

Gran Turismo PSP: worth the hype?

(Credit: SCEA)

In case you haven't noticed, the PSP is getting its game on--or trying to, at least. With a solid software push this year and a revamped PSP Go, Sony's solidly performing yet still second-place handheld is trying to reinvigorate its flagging game library as of late. And, sensibly, the focus is remaining on successful PS2 and PS3 ports. Gran Turismo and, more recently, the MotorStorm franchise have been great examples of first-party Sony success. They're A-level titles, and at last both are making their debut in PSP form in just a few weeks, costing $39.99 and being made available in both UMD and downloadable formats. We received download codes for both titles and gave them a thorough go here at the office, but the results may surprise you.

Scott:
I had heard tons of hype for years (since the original PSP launch in 2005, in fact) about Gran Turismo going mobile. This long-expected virtual vaporware became incredibly tangible for us this week, and will be available to everyone else October 1. I was excited, even though I'm not utterly wild about the hard-core tuning that lies at the heart of GT's automotive fetishism. I do like racing games, and the PSP hasn't had a really good one in quite some time.

Gran Turismo (PSP)

As a result, it surprised me to find that Gran Turismo was pretty boring. That's not a knock on the car models or the race tracks or the graphics in general: they're all crisp and smooth and well above average. The problem is that the game itself, in trying for realism, moves at a pace that on a small screen feels like a crawl. Watching your Audi slowly accelerate to 60 mph and take gradual turns with proper braking is the anti-Mario Kart, and not in a good way. It can be soporific, even hypnotic. While the casual nature of the races could amount to a nice mobile break from a busy day, the intensity of Gran Turismo feels like it's moved completely off the map.

That's not to say the game isn't without some great features. ... Read more

The Eizo CG222W in all it's bulk splendor.

(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET)

Late last week I reviewed two very different monitors.

One, the 22-inch Eizo ColorEdge CG222w was the first professional grade monitor I've reviewed. And by professional, I mean, at $1,300, it easily prices itself out of most people's pocketbooks and should only be bought by pro artists that know exactly what they want.

The second was the 24-inch ViewSonic vg2427wm.

The Eizo uses an S-PVA panel that gives it wide viewing angles. It's also one heavy and bulky son of a gun at 24 pounds and definitely feels like $1,300 worth of hardware is encased in it. The ViewSonic, conversely, feels hallow, brittle, and frightens me a bit, actually.

I have this completely irrational fear of the unit falling near me. Forcing me to dive for my life to stay ahead of the million bits of shrapnel the monitor would surely become.

Anyway, check out the reviews of each and always keep an eye here for new monitor reviews.

(Credit: M-Edge Accessories)

Kindle fans, it's time for some nighttime reading.

M-Edge Accessories announced Tuesday its second-generation e-Luminator2 booklight for the Amazon Kindle. This is a sleek-looking, versatile light that's designed to go along with M-Edge's existing line of protective jackets for the e-reader.

The new accessory features a 3-inch-long support arm, a pivoting battery housing, a flexible steel neck, and a housing for the light. The support arm slides behind the Kindle into a specially designed pocket built into the back cover of most M-Edge jackets. The flexible neck can then be positioned at the user's discretion to provide full-screen illumination.

M-Edge e-Luminator2 photos

The PSP Go will have some company on launch day.

(Credit: CNET)

Gran Turismo, launching October 1 with the PSP Go, was the headlining PSP game during Tuesday's E3 Sony press conference. It wasn't the only ammo Sony had. However, it seems like the biggest in terms of holiday 2009 impact. Polyphony Digital announced a "full game" with 800 cars, 35 tracks, 60 track layouts, and four-player play over local ad-hoc along with car trading, almost like Pokemon.

A true sequel to Metal Gear Solid 3

(Credit: Konami)

Other announcements included the first-ever PSP iteration in the Resident Evil series, as well other titles that were shown but not fully detailed: Little Big Planet, Motorstorm: Arctic Edge, Soul Calibur, Pixeljunk Monsters, Fat Princess and a new Jak and Daxter game, to name a few.

Click for full coverage of E3.

Sony's 2009 and 2010 PSP lineup finally looks like the PSP game library we'd been expecting all along.

More to come.

This monitor has no soul...that we know of.

(Credit: CNET)

I'll be completely honest: LCD computer monitors intended for graphics professionals are not my area of expertise. Most of the monitors I've reviewed have been consumer-focused.

Monitors like the Dell SP2309W and Samsung P2370, while great for gaming or just looking nice in your apartment (respectively), would not be caught dead on the desk of a graphics professional. (Of course, if I'd found a monitor could actually die at all, well, I probably would not be writing this, as the prospects of an inanimate object possessing a soul would be far too exciting to continue sitting at my workstation, working.)

Silliness aside, I'll be soon be diving headfirst into a small, shallow pool of Pro Graphics monitors, starting with the Eizo ColorEdge CG222W. The CG222W is intended for graphic pros and can be found from around $1,200 to $1,500. The monitor includes either an S-IPS panel or a Samsung S-PVA panel (the LTM220M3), depending on whether you believe FlatpanelsHD or TFT Central. According to TFT Central, the panel used in the NEC Multisync p221w-bk is the same as the one housed in the Eizo.

If that's true, it's strange that the NEC monitor costs only a third of the Eizo's price. And for this reason, you won't see a review of the Eizo CG222W for a couple of weeks. I'm waiting for NEC to send me the P221W-BK so I can compare them directly and figure out just what makes the Eizo so much more expensive.

Also, I'll also likely be using some new tests that are better-suited for professional monitors, like photo viewing and a black level test.

NEC says it can get me the monitor in a couple weeks, so look for reviews of both a short while after that. In the meantime, check out a few pics I took of the Eizo. Commence stalling.

Eizo ColorEdge CG222W photos

Samsung's sleek UNB6000 cuts a dashing figure, but it costs.

(Credit: Sarah Tew)

We've already checked out one Samsung LED-based LCD TV this year, the UNB7000 series, but that's not gonna stop us from reviewing the less expensive version, logically called the UNB6000 series. The verdict? Still expensive, stylish and solid performing, minus a few issues like a fluctuating backlight and less than stellar uniformity.

In fact, aside from Yahoo Widgets, available on the 7000 but not on the 6000, the two edge-lit LED-based LCD displays (whew!) are basically the same. The 7000 uses a skosh more power and gets the tiniest bit blacker, while the 6000 gives ever-so-slightly better shadow detail and slightly a less-blue tinge in dark areas. But we're really splitting hairs: If you must have the thinnest TV on the block and want widgets, get the 7000. If you're still willing to pay more for thin but don't want widgets, go for the 6000. Simple.

Read the full review of the Samsung UNB6000 series.

Samsung UNB6000 series photos

The high-end Samsung UNB7000 series is a looker.

(Credit: CNET)

As HDTVs become more common--some would say commoditized--TV makers go to ever-greater lengths to justify higher price tags. Nobody is going as far as Samsung this year. The company is the only one thus far to announce a full lineup of edge-lit LED-based LCDs which cost a mint yet offer the most advanced technology and design you can get--at least until OLED comes along.

Each model among the three series of Samsung's "Luxia" lineup measures just 1.2 inches thick, thanks to that LED lighting system, which is also responsible for the TVs' excellent energy efficiency. The UNB7000 series is the middle child in price and features of the three; yet, it includes buckets of add-ons, many of them interactive, along with extensive picture adjustments including a cool new tweak-able dejudder mode. In our performance testing, we encountered some picture quality trade-offs caused by the LED system, namely less-than-perfect uniformity and off-angle viewing, along with the backlights' somewhat distracting fluctuations. These issues keep the UNB7000 series from earning our highest accolades for performance, but in terms of design and features the expensive Luxias set a standard that will be tough to beat.

Read the full review of the Samsung UNB7000 series.

Samsung UNB7000 series photos

Samsung's edge-lit LED-based LCD costs about $700 more than its non-LED counterpart. But it's really thin.

(Credit: Samsung)

Samsung announced its new lineup of "LED TVs" at CES in January, and gave CNET editors a walk-through today to preview the technology. The company also set prices, and as expected, it'll cost you a fortune to take one of these thin models home.

The name "LED TV" sounds simple enough, but it's important to remember that these inch-thin sets are actually otherwise normal LCD (liquid-crystal display) TVs that use LEDs (light-emitting diodes) instead of the standard fluorescent backlights. But it gets even more confusing. We've reviewed LED-based LCD displays before, most recently the Sony KDL-55XBR8 and Samsung LN46A950--the two best-performing LCD TVs we've ever tested. A lot of the credit for those TVs' excellent picture quality can be attributed to their local dimming technology; groups of LEDs behind the screen can be dimmed or turned off to achieve those deep, inky blacks we all love so much.

The 2009 Samsung LED TVs we're previewing here do not utilize local dimming, so we don't expect them to match the picture quality of the local dimming sets. Of course, we'll know more once we can review one. In the meantime, we'll refer to the new displays as "edge-lit LED-based LCDs." More complex, we know, but also quite a bit more accurate.

Edge-lit LED-based LCD by Samsung explodes--photos

The slideshow above goes into the nitty-gritty behind, or along the edge of, the technology. The short story is that the LEDs themselves are arranged along all four edges of the screen, and a special "light guide" sends light toward the middle. The result, according to the company, is similar uniformity characteristics to standard backlit LCD displays.

Edge-lit LED-based displays are also 40 percent more energy-efficient than standard Energy Star-certified LCD sets, and measure just 1.2 inches thick.

1.2 inches thin looks great from the side.

(Credit: Samsung)

The downside is that they're extremely expensive. The cheapest model, the 32-inch UN32A6000 ($1,599), will cost more than twice as much as the company's standard 1080p 32-incher, model LN32B530 ($749) does. ... Read more