The premium end of the flat panel TV market has a brand new LED product range for flat panel TV lovers to aspire to following the launch of a brand new display category by Samsung.

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The new LED range (Series 8, Series 7, and Series 6) use White LED edge-lighting behind an LCD panel, which claims to provide good picture quality and contrast levels.

According to Samsung, the LEDs generate pure white light out of the miniscule semi-conductors at the edges of the television, reflecting off of millions of tiny mirrors through the panel.  The light is converted to billions of colours by the LCD panel, resulting to high contrast ratio levels and crisp picture quality.

Samsung Electronic Australia’s Head of Marketing for Consumer Electronics, Mark Leathan said, “These new Samsung LED televisions redefine the standards for image quality and aesthetics in home entertainment. Samsung is committed to developing technology and products that go beyond current expectations of innovation and quality. We are excited to be at the forefront and believe consumers are the real winners of this TV revolution.”

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And because the lights are placed at the edge as opposed to back lights, Samsung was also able to create a slimmer and lighter Full HD TV. The reduced weight (due to the absence of bulky components such as CCFL lighting) has led to Samsung creating a unique wall mounting system, allowing consumers to hang the television on the wall literally as easily as they would hang a picture frame. 

LED lights are also significantly more energy efficient than traditional back-lighting technology, allowing TVs to run at up to 40% less power consumption for a typical LCD TV of a similar size.  Some members of the new Samsung LED TV range have tested at government standard energy ratings of 6 stars (a typical Plasma TV may run at 2 stars and LCD at 4 stars). That means lower electricity bills and less power consumption.

The new Samsung LED TVs (Series 7 & 8) also build on new interactive TV functions, first introduced in Samsung’s premium LCD range in late 2008.  With Samsung’s Medi@2.0 interactive TV features, consumers will be able to access YouTube, NineMSN and other “widget” TV features from the internet, stream content wirelessly from your PC via DLNA, enjoy stored contents on the TV itself or from any USB-enabled device, such as memory sticks, MP3 players or external hard drives.

Samsung’s new LED range claims to have a contrast ratio of 3,000,000:1, 200Hz MotionPlus technology, slim design (only over 2.5cm thick), crystal design, Media@2.0 (for Series 8 and 7), Internet@TV (easy to access to YouTube and widgets), DLNA Wireless, built-in Flash content, and USB 2.0 ports.