Edge-lit LED TVs have been a popular choice for years due to their affordability and slim form factor. However, there are some significant drawbacks with this technology that make them a poor choice for viewers who prioritize image quality. In this comprehensive guide, we‘ll analyze the 7 biggest reasons why you should avoid an edge-lit LED TV if you care about picture performance.
What is an Edge-Lit LED TV?
Before diving into why you should avoid this type of TV, let‘s quickly explain what exactly an edge-lit LED TV is and how it works.
An edge-lit LED TV uses LED lights positioned along the edges of the display panel to provide backlighting. This lighting then gets diffused across the screen by a light guide panel to illuminate the LCD layer that produces the actual image.
Typically an edge-lit LED TV only has lighting zones on 2, 3 or 4 sides of the display. Even in high-end models, the number of zones rarely exceeds 100. This contrasts with superior full-array local dimming (FALD) backlight systems that have hundreds or thousands of mini-LEDs across the entire backside of the panel.
The limited number of LEDs is why edge-lit displays can be very slim and inexpensive to produce. However, as we‘ll now explore, this compromises key areas of picture performance.
Reason #1: Restrictive Viewing Angles
One of the biggest issues with edge-lit LED TVs are their poor viewing angles compared to other display technologies:
- When you move to the side of an edge-lit TV, brightness and color accuracy drop off very quickly
- This restrictive viewing cone is especially apparent in darker room conditions
- With only 2-4 lighting zones, the illumination uniformity suffers at wider angles
- In contrast, OLED and full-array LED TVs maintain consistent quality at wider off-axis viewing positions
- So if you have a large living room and want flexible seating options, edge-lit TVs are a poor choice
To illustrate, below are images showing how an edge-lit TV compares to an equivalent full-array model when viewed from a 45 degree angle (credits: RTINGS.com):
As you can see, the edge-lit display exhibits major brightness falloff and color shifting issues not present on the full-array model. This demonstrates the restrictive viewing angles you have to contend with.
Reason #2: Blooming Effect
Blooming refers to light bleeding from bright areas of the screen into surrounding darker regions. This causes a glowing halo effect around bright objects that looks highly unnatural:
This issue occurs because with only a few backlight zones, edge-lit TVs cannot precisely control light output in localized parts of the screen. When an area needs to appear dark right next to a bright area, the limited dimming capabilities cause the light to spill over.
You see blooming frequently with edge-lit TVs in movies, games and other content where there is a high contrast between adjacent areas of the screen. And once you notice it, it can be extremely distracting.
The only real solution is to have a full-array backlight system with several hundred dimming zones at minimum to achieve superior local dimming control. Edge-lit displays with less than 100 zones simply cannot prevent light bleeding.
Reason #3: Variable Picture Quality
As we‘ve established already, having just 2-4 lighting zones on the edges of the panel leads to subpar dimming capabilities on an edge-lit LED TV. This in turn produces inconsistent picture quality across different types of content.
Scenes that are predominantly bright may look decent. But anything with darker elements, high contrast or localized lighting will expose the limited backlight control:
- Shadow detail easily gets crushed into blackness
- Bright highlights blow out into flat white blobs
- Differences between various shades of dark colors get lost
- Complex scenes with lots of variation in brightness show contouring/banding artifacts
This means even with 4K HDR resolution, you won‘t get a consistently sharp, nuanced image like higher-end TV technologies can achieve. Edge-lit LED TVs only shine their brightest in simplistic, brightly-lit content.
Reason #4: Lack of True Blacks
Accurately reproducing black levels and shadow detail is crucial for a quality image, especially in cinematic movie content. This allows you to see depth, texture and details in dark scenes that would otherwise disappear into blackness.
Unfortunately, edge-lit LED displays struggle greatly in this area due to light bleeding from the limited backlight zones:
- Shadow details get drowned out by gray haze
- "Black" bars in cinematic content appear more like gray
- Dark scene details get crushed into blackness
- Reduced depth perception in dark images
This is simply the nature of edge-lit LED technology. Without sophisticated local dimming covering the entire display, they cannot block light in a nuanced, precise way when needed.
For proper black level performance that reveals details in darkness, you need self-emitting OLED TVs or full-array LED/QLED models with several hundred to a thousand+ dimming zones. Edge-lit TVs lag far behind in reproducing true blacks.
Reason #5: Poor HDR Support
Most edge-lit LED TVs today come with HDR support for expanded brightness and color. However, without full-array local dimming, they fail to do high dynamic range content justice.
HDR is mastered to have tremendous variation between the brightest brights and deepest darks. It demands precise backlight control to achieve this across different parts of the screen simultaneously.
With just 2-4 edge lighting zones, edge-lit TVs lack the sophisticated dimming required. As a result, HDR content loses impact on these displays:
- Bright highlights that should dazzle clip in brightness
- Shadow details that should retain texture get drowned out
- Vibrant colors get diluted
- HDR imagesrevert back to standard dynamic range quality
While edge-lit LED TVs can technically decode HDR signals, they cannot fully realize the format‘s visual potential. For a truly revelatory HDR experience, you need self-emitting OLED or full-array local dimming with several hundred zones or more.
Reason #6: Fragility
The extremely slim design of edge-lit LED TVs comes with the downside of fragility:
- The entire display is thinner than many smartphones, lacking structural rigidity
- Handlng a large, delicate TV poses risks of cracking/shattering during transport and mounting
- This fragility also causes concerns about long-term durability
In contrast, fuller-sized TVs like OLED and full-array LED/QLED models have thicker construction that makes them much more rigid and resilient in handling. Their longevity also tends to be superior according to consumer reports.
If you want a TV that will hold up well for years without issue, edge-lit models pose some reasonably concerns regarding fragile build quality.
Reason #7: Imprecise Local Dimming
We‘ve touched on local dimming performance already, but it deserves emphasis as the core limitation of edge-lit displays.
Local dimming refers to controlling backlight brightness in localized zones across the screen independently. This precision dimming is essential for image quality, especially in HDR content.
The problem is edge-lit TVs only have 2-4 larger dimming zones. This results in hugely imprecise dimming versus full array technology:
- Hundreds of zones on full-array TVs versus fewer than 10 on most edge-lit models
- Edge-lit dimming areas are very large, spanning much of the screen‘s area
- Full-array zones are small and discrete for refined dimming precision
It‘s this night and day difference in local dimming capabilities that causes nearly all the picture quality downsides of edge-lit TVs.simply cannot dim and brighten different parts of the screen independently like full-array displays can.
Until edge-lit panels can match several hundred independent dimming zones too, they will continue to suffer in image quality.
Superior Alternatives to Edge-Lit LED TVs
If you want to avoid the many issues with edge-lit panels outlined above, what are the best alternatives in 2023? Here are the top options:
OLED TV
OLED TVs use self-emitting pixels that can turn on/off individually. This gives them essentially infinite contrast and pitch black levels for amazing picture realism.
They also provide vastly wider viewing angles than edge-lit LEDs along with gorgeous color reproduction. HDR content really comes alive thanks to the pixel-level dimming abilities.
The only downsides are higher cost and some risk of permanent burn-in with abusive static content viewing. But for the ultimate image quality outside of MicroLED, OLED TVs are hard to beat.
Recommendation: LG G2 Series OLED TV
Mini-LED/QNED TV
Mini-LED TVs use thousands of tiny LEDs in their backlight system to achieve precision dimming that rivals OLED. They also get brighter than OLED with outstanding HDR playback.
The newest mini-LED sets combine Quantum Dot and NanoCell color technologies for amazing vibrancy and realism. Black levels can surpass older LED/QLED models but still fall a bit short of OLED.
For a nearly OLED-like experience at lower cost, latest-generation mini-LED TVs make an excellent high-end choice with superior viewing angles and dimming versus edge-lit displays.
Recommendation: Samsung QN90B Neo QLED 4K Mini-LED TV
Full-Array LED/QLED
Full-array LED TVs with local dimming place LEDs across the entire backside of the panel instead of just the edges. This allows for far better backlight control.
Coupled with advanced dimming algorithms and Quantum Dots for wider color, full-array LED and QLED TVs beat edge-lit models in almost every way:
- Hundreds of discrete dimming zones
- Punchier HDR highlights
- Improved black levels and shadow detail
- Reduced blooming effect
- Greater viewing angle tolerance
While the above mini-LED and OLED sets are even better, full-array LED/QLED provides excellent performance for more affordable budgets.
If you want good picture quality at a value price, look at models like:
Recommendation #1: Hisense U7H Quantum Dot QLED TV
Recommendation #2: TCL 6-Series Google TV
Edge-Lit vs. Other Display Technologies Compared
Here is a helpful table summarizing how edge-lit LED TVs stack up against alternative options:
As you can see, edge-lit LED comes out unfavorably in almost every category that impacts picture quality. Mini-LED, OLED and to a large extent full-array LED/QLED are superior choices.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why not just buy the largest, cheapest edge-lit TV?
It’s tempting to seek big screen real estate at low cost. However, unless you primarily watch very brightly-lit, simple content, a cheap edge-lit TV‘s picture flaws will annoy you. It pays to invest in better tech for enhanced enjoyment of movies, shows, games and more.
What about 8K edge-lit models?
8K resolution alone does nothing to solve underlying issues with edge-lit dimming and backlight control. You would get sharper clarity in simplistic content but HDR performance remains lacking. Better to get a 4K OLED or high-end LED TV than overpay for ineffective 8K edge-lit sets.
Do any edge-lit TVs perform nearly as well as OLED?
In rare cases, flagship edge-lit sets like the Sony X90K manage to compete reasonably via better algorithms and zones. But they remain far more expensive than equivalent full-array models with only minor gains. Going OLED or mini-LED is better for any serious cinephile or videophile.
Should I avoid edge-lit for gaming too?
For the reasons above, edge-lit TVs don‘t provide the best gaming experience in terms of contrast, color and viewing angles. However, they can still have great gaming features like 4K 120Hz+ VRR support. So if you play causal games and want to save money, current edge-lit TVs work fine. But for more cinematic, immersive games you want OLED, QNED or high-end full-array LED.
The Bottom Line
Edge-lit LED TVs can certainly save you money compared to superior display technologies. However, the numerous downsides regarding backlight control and overall image quality make them hard to recommend for discerning viewers. Significant pitfalls like poor dimming, restrictive viewing angles, blooming and subpar HDR mean you sacrifice a lot of picture fidelity for the lower cost.
If your standards are more casual or you exclusively watch simple, bright content, edge-lit LED sets remain decent budget options in 2023. But for film buffs, gamers and anyone wanting a premium viewing experience, they cannot compare to OLED, Mini-LED or full-array local dimming Quantum Dot/NanoCell TVs.
The small upfront savings of edge-lit displays simply don‘t justify the long-term enjoyment and immersion deficits. Whenever possible, go with one of the markedly better alternatives covered earlier instead for superior visual performance that does justice to your favorite content.
