Sony introduces LED-backlit televisions
For the first time, high-brightness LEDs have made inroads into the key consumer electronics market of televisions.
Sony has launched what it believes is the world s first LED-backlit liquid crystal display (LCD) television. Dubbed "Trilumonics", the LED backlighting improves the color rendering of the displayed image.
Cold cathode fluorescent lamps, the conventional backlights used in flat-screen televisions, typically do not have a particularly strong emission in the red part of the visible spectrum, meaning that red colors tend not to reproduce well on screen. With LED backlighting, the red colors are displayed much more strongly.
Sony is reported to have launched two televisions in its high-end "Qualia" models that feature the technology: a 40-inch (102 cm) and a 46-inch version. A further six televisions in the company s "Wega" range, from 50-inch to 26-inch, are also to be introduced.
According to a Reuters report, Sony believes that there will be an unprecedented peak in demand for flat-screen televisions at the end of this year.
Available in Japan initially, the models are expected to be released to overseas markets by the beginning of 2005.
Earlier this year, NEC-Mitsubishi unveiled prototype LED-backlit televisions that incorporated technology developed by the US-based LED manufacturer Lumileds Lighting.
The lighting systems used in the NEC-Mitsubishi backlights incorporate Lumileds Luxeon high-brightness sources.