New LED-backlit LCD displays of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world’s largest provider of thin-film transistor, liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panels, are now available in large premium-model, full-HD TVs at major U.S retailers for the holiday season. The new panels enable a huge jump in the dynamic contrast ratio from between 5,000:1 and 25,000:1, to 100,000:1 and even 500,000:1, for the clearest images on the market today.
Available in 40-inch, 46-inch, 52-inch and 57-inch diagonal screen sizes, Samsung’s new “local dimming,” LED (light-emitting diode) technology provides a brightness level of 450nits, and reduces power consumption by as much as 30 percent.
“Increasingly, consumers are craving the theatre movie experience at home and local dimming LED backlighting is a highly innovative and energy-efficient way to achieve theatre-like TV picture clarity,” said Scott Birnbaum, vice president, Samsung LCD Business.
Depending upon the number of LEDs used in a screen panel design, the dynamic contrast ratio can improve the contrast in colors by as much as a thousand percent over the CCFL (cold cathode fluorescent lamp) LCD TVs typically used today.
Another significant advantage to Samsung’s “local dimming” technology is that the LED scanning process shuts off the diodes in precise sequences, thereby essentially eliminating any remnants of ‘image ghosting’ that had previously been a drawback in some LCD TVs.
With local-dimming LEDs, hundreds of wafer-thin diodes about the width of the eye’s pupil are electronically turned off and on in exacting sequences that respond to movement on the screen — areas only a fraction of what was previously possible with the most prevalent form of TV backlighting — long, thin fluorescent lamps. In black areas of the picture, the diodes can be completely shut off in order to generate total blackness.
Samsung said that its new extreme-contrast LCD panels is now available in Samsung TVs in the U.S., and also will be featured in HDTV’s produced by other manufacturers.
The local dimming LED display does not contain mercury.
About Samsung Electronics America, Inc.
Headquartered in Ridgefield Park, NJ, Samsung Electronics America, Inc. (SEA) markets a broad range of award-winning consumer electronics, information systems, and home appliance products; and oversees Samsung’s North American operations, including Samsung Telecommunications America, LP, Samsung Semiconductor Inc., Samsung Electronics Canada, Inc. and Samsung Electronics Mexico, Inc
About Samsung Electronics
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies with 2006 parent company sales of US$63.4 billion and net income of US$8.5 billion. Employing approximately 138,000 people in 124 offices in 56 countries, the company consists of five main business units: Digital Media Business, LCD Business, Semiconductor Business, Telecommunication Network Business, and Digital Appliance Business. Recognized as one of the fastest growing global brands, Samsung Electronics is a leading producer of digital TVs, memory chips, mobile phones and TFT-LCDs. It ranks #5 in the 2006 Consumer Electronics segment of the Fortune Magazine “America’s Most Admired Companies,” and ranks # 20 in the BusinessWeek “The Best Global Brand 100 2006.” Samsung Electronics Co, Ltd. is a top patent holder, ranking second overall in the U.S. in 2006. For more information, please visit http://www.samsung.com.
Terms:
Dynamic contrast ratio: When there is a need to display a dark image, the LCD display will dim the backlight, and proportionately amplify the transmission through the LCD panel. This provides the benefit of realizing the full potential static contrast ratio of the LCD panel in dark scenes, when the image is watched in a dark room. With local dimming technology, the dynamic contrast concept is expanded even to extremely small “localized” areas of the screen where the image is black, which, in effect, represents a “2-dimensional” modulation of the backlight.
Nit: Abbreviation for the measure of brightness, officially called candela per meter square (cd/m(2)).
