While buying a new age TV, the biggest dilemma faced by consumer is to select LCD Vs LED TV. I also faced this dilemma and did lot of research on this topic…I cud not find much from layman perspective besides loads of Technical Jargons to differentiate 2 technologies…

I thought of presenting the findings in simplified manner so that Layman can understand the same…To start with I was looking for 42 inch Full HD TV, I would like to add that if u r planning to buy Full HD TV below 40 or 42 Inch then there is no point of purchasing LED TV as difference cannot be identified by Human Eye…

In 42 Inch segment the rate differential between LCD and LED TV is between 12-15k.  After completing my research on internet and visiting 6-7 big chains, I could find only 2 differences between these 2 technologies

1. Power consumption in LED is much less compared to LCD…In LCD power consumption is 180W and in LED its 110 W
2. LED TV are slightly slim compared to LCD TV

I checked all the available LED & LCD models of Sony, LG & Samsung (3 brands shortlisted by me) and can conclude that there is difference of just 5-10% in Picture quality between LED & LCD of same brand but it all depends on manufacturer..Just to share my findings on same

1. LG use IPS panel which is much superior compared to PVA panels used by Samsung & Sony.
2. PVA panel category also has many sub variants which differ in picture quality
3. Samsung has something called Panel Lottery system wherein only after purchasing the TV, customer know which panel he got i.e. it can be Good or Bad one so it’s a lottery whereas in LG u will get IPS panel for sure.
4. Samsung mention mega contrast ratio for Dynamic Contrast Ratio, which is not clearly specified in real terms..On some blogs its mentioned that this ratio is 60,000:1 or 70,000:1 whereas in LG, Dynamic Contrast ratio is 1,00,000:1 therefore LG has superior Dynamic Contrast ratio based on blogs.
5. Another advantage of IPS panel over PVA panel is once u press the IPS panel slowly, it will not distort picture & panel is rock hard whereas PVA panels are soft panels, on pressing, it distort picture and panels are bit elastic
6. IPS panels have wide viewing angle of 179 degree compared to other panels
7. Also pls ensure there are atleast 3 HDMI ports in TV, u r buying else u will not be able to connect multiple devices simultaneously e.g. DTH, Home Theatre etc.

I compared mid-range LCD and LED of Sony, LG and Samsung..My conclusion is

1. Sony is bit expansive compared to features provide so ruled out in 1^st round
2. Difference between LED and LCD cannot be find out from Human Eye so there is no point in going for LED by spending 12-15k additional
3. One of the leading store guy also told me that not much difference between LCD and LED technology…Companies are pushing and projecting LED technology as superior over LCD becoz margins are high in LED compared to LCD therefore u will find less models of LCD compared to LED
4. Buy LED only if u r planning to play Games on TV which need very high response time but for normal TV watching, not much difference between FULL HD LCD and FULL HD LED TV
5. Now LED is ruled out the choice was restricted to Samsung or LG LCD TV.
6. On 2 accounts i.e. Better Dynamic Contrast Ratio and Superior IPS panel of LG, I decided to buy LG over Samsung LCD TV.
7. Another advantage of LG is that its LCD TV’s are 42 inch whereas Samsung and Sony are 40 Inch so you will get 2 inch Xtra viewing space
8. I must say LG is Value for Money in terms of overall package i.e. have superior panel, picture quality and features.

Its been quite some time I am using this model and trust me its value for money & picture quality is as good as LED…Human Eye cannot find difference between LCD and LED TV..

Last but not least when u r spending huge amount while buying, pls ensure u don’t get display or used piece…Some tips on same from my end

1. Always buy from Authorized & Trustworthy Stores like LG Shoppe, Sony Centre or Chroma
2. Insist multiple times to salesperson that u need only fresh piece and u will return it back if u get display piece
3. Just check with Salesperson on location of LG warehouse and take assurance from him that it will come from LG warehouse only…U can ascertain this at delivery becoz Tax invoice will be issued from LG warehouse address (Pls note it will not be LG invoice but of some local dealer who is handling distributorship of LG for that area as LG cannot directly sell to customers)..Just check on LG warehouse address online and just see the address is matching on Tax invoice
4. On receiving the shipment, just check the packing and cross check tape marks i.e. whether the tap is removed & sealed again…In demo piece u will find multiple tape marks which can be easily identified on either top or bottom. In my case i checked minutely and found out its tapped only once through very thick tape which is used by LG (it should not necessarily have LG watermark) else u find card board layer removed if its tapped, removed and then again tapped
5. TV unit which i received..Its manufacturing date is just 8 days back of Date of invoice e.g. if i purchased on 19 Dec then in my case manufacturing date of TV unit is 11 Dec. Pls check manufacturing date, ideally manufacturing should be between 3-4 weeks from date of invoice
6. Lastly LG installation engineer showed me through MENU that usage hours is ZERO and i sigh relief…

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