Understanding TV Backlight Technology

This could easily become the script for an episode of “how does that work” because TVs are really complex technology that, let’s be frank – we all take for granted..

Today I want to try and help you understand backlight technology.

You see, LED TVs are a combination of many things, the coloured pixels we see being seemingly the most important part – however, those pixels are no good unless they have a light shining through them – which is where backlight technology comes in. 

There are several types of backlight technology – direct light, edge light, and a full array backlight.

Traditional direct light systems light the entire TV at once – essentially, the light is either on or off.

The Hisense Series 6 TV’s take of advantage of direct light and using super contrast adds a variable light system – giving you a bright clear picture through all the pixels on the screen

Then there is edge lighting – found on the Hisense Series 7 and 8 U-L-E-D 4K TVs, this is where we start to see ultra local dimming. Using software to control the lights, the screen is separated into 16 zones allowing parts of the screen to be darker when needed or brighter when the picture calls for it.

With prime array backlight, as found in this Hisense Series 9 u-l-e-d 4K TV, it’s able to create a huge number of zones on the screen. On the 65-inch I have here there are 700 individual zones on the screen – so if this area is all dark but this area here (pointing) is bright, the contrast between the blacks and colours will be more defined.

On the larger, 75-inch Hisense Series 9 TV you will find over 1000 zones of dimming.

All of this is controlled by powerful software and processors within the TV to ensure that you get smooth levels of brightness from scene to scene on whatever you’re watching.

Produced in partnership with Hisense Australia