LED backlighting to brighten up IT display industry

Dubai: Just as LCD revolutionised the cathode ray tube (CRT) industry, the application of LED [light emitting diode] backlighting is expected to set new benchmarks in IT displays and will become a dominant force by 2011, a top official at BenQ has said.

"With the transition to LEDs already taking place in the notebook PC segment, LED penetration will reach 85 per cent in 2011 from the current 50 per cent," said Manish Bakshi, BenQ's general manager for Middle East and Africa.

"As a result of the LCD TV supply chain's efforts to promote LED backlit TVs, LED penetration is forecast to reach 25 per cent in 2011 in the TV segment. Traditional cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFL) backlights are forecast to fall in the years to come," Bakshi said.

"There were no LED backlit LCD TVs shipped in 2008. In 2009, a total of 178,000 units will be shipped [3.5 million CCFL based] and in 2010, 516,000 LED backlit and 4 million CCFL out of a total projected LCD TV shipment of 4.6 million," said Riddhi Patel, principal analyst, television systems, iSuppli Corp.

Significant advantage

Bakshi said LEDs have significant advantages over CCFL backlights, such as lower power consumption, slim form factor, enhanced performance and market differentiation.
It is also 14-16 per cent slimmer than traditional panels and the shipping cost will be around 56 per cent less as more units fit in one container. LED backlights will continue to gather momentum in the LCD industry.

"As LED backlights gain share in LCD segment, pressure will be added on emerging display technologies such as plasma and organic light-emitting diode [OLED]," Bakshi said.

Due to these reasons, he said 2010 is going to be the best year for TV vendors as residents in the Middle East, Africa, Asia-Pacific and China are going to be struck by the football fever.

The growth is expected to be more than 100 per cent for all the major TV vendors as these regions are the biggest watchers of the Fifa World Cup, which will be held in South Africa in June and July.

"The panel prices are expected to drop by 3-4 per cent in November and December. So 22-inch and 24-inch LCD TV might replace 19-inch and 20-inch CRT models especially in counties like Egypt, Iran, India and Pakistan where CRTs are still dominant and where, at the same time, CRTs prices are not falling," he said.

Riddhi expects 13 per cent decline in LCD TV prices on an annual basis.

"Next year there would be increased focus on LED backlights fuelled by Fifa World Cup and also on connectivity of the TV set with internet-enabled TVs. The LCD TV sales are expected to rise 25.43 per cent to 4.6 million in 2010 compared to 3.7 million this year while CRT sales are expected to fall by 28 per cent to 2.6 million compared to 3.6 million this year," Riddhi said.

Have you switched over to an LED TV? Or are you waiting for prices to reduce further? Do you have any memories of the first television set that came into your household?