Steve: Hi. I'm Steve, and I'm here in the Crutchfield studio to talk about two different kinds of backlighting used in LCD HDTVs.

Most LCD TVs use fluorescent backlighting, and it's not the same kind of fluorescent lights you might find in an office or a department store. These bulbs are specially designed for TVs to display a bright, accurate picture.

Some higher end LCD TVs use LED backlighting. LEDs are even more energy efficient than fluorescent bulbs and they also have the ability to offer truer, more lifelike colors since they can produce pure white light. LED backlit TVs may be edge- lit — that means the LED lights are arranged around the screen's edge. And this makes it possible for these panels to be remarkably thin.

Other models place the LEDs in a grid right behind the screen, and many of these TVs offer a cool feature called local dimming. The TV can dim or even fully shut off clusters of LEDs in very dark areas of the screen, resulting in dramatically improved contrast and even more vivid colors. Local dimming is really effective, because it allows the TV to accurately display both bright whites and deep blacks at the same time. You can learn about other HDTV terms and technologies at crutchfield.com/chooseTV or you can always call one of our experts at 1-800-555-9408.