LED TV backlights to drive escalation in LED production

Analysts forecast a ramp in LED-backlit LCD TV sales, but will LED makers be able to deliver the required capacity? MAURY WRIGHT reports.

There’s a very good chance that LED-backlit LCD TVs in all sizes will significantly boost LED production requirements immediately and over the next few years. Most indications—including analyst projections and product introductions at the recent Consumer Electronics Show— point to a faster uptake of LED backlighting than previously predicted. But can the LED suppliers handle the increased demand, and will consumers actually pay the premium for LED-backlit TVs? We can’t definitively answer these questions, but we can see an unmistakable trend toward LED backlighting.

Bruce Berkoff, chairman of the LCD TV Association, states “LED-backlit TVs are going to take over the industry.” Berkoff won’t predict when LED-backlit sets will take a predominant share of market, but he can tell you why. According to Berkoff, consumers care about three things in buying large-screen TVs—“image quality, WAF (wife acceptance factor), and green.” Berkoff states, “LED-backlit sets win in all three areas.”