Why Choose LED Displays?

Equip your fleet with green, lean, power-saving machines

Most of us interact with screens regu­larly during any given day, whether we're texting on a smartphone, tap­ping a tablet, using apps on a smart TV, or checking email on a laptop. And, for the in-office worker, it's safe to say that the roughly eight hours spent working in front of a desktop monitor accounts for the majority of daily screen time.

As a business owner, you may already be counting the number of older CCFL (cold cathode fluorescent lamp)-backlit LCD (liquid-crystal dis­play) monitors occupying desk space. While these displays do the job, they may not be doing it efficiently or helping workers stay productive. Before you schedule that inventory meeting with your IT department, read on to get the skinny on quality solution: the LED (light-emitting diode)-backlit display. We'll discuss what you should know about LED-backlit monitors and outline some of the other compelling reasons LED-backlit technology isn't a fad about to blow over.

DoubleSight Displays’ DS-220WA-C 21.5-inch Dual Wide LCD Monitor, with a single Dual Monitor Flex Desktop Stand, offers twice the large-screen real estate as standard LED-backlight displays.

See the difference

To briefly lay a foundation for un­derstanding monitor technologies, it's important to know that the basic difference between flat-screen dis­plays is their light source. Ramseen Evazians, product marketing man­ager for commercial displays at Samsung Electronics America (www. samsung.com), explains it, "The key difference is the light source for the backlighting. In traditional CCFL- backlit monitors, the light source is the fluorescent lamp technology that has been around for many decades. In LED-backlit monitors, light-emit­ting diodes are used."

CCFL monitors are considered less power-efficient than LED- backlit monitors. And while both types of monitors are backlit in their own way, CCFLs backlight an entire display and can't be easily dimmed. LED backlighting, rather than projecting light from a single bulb through LCD pixels, illumi­nates LCD panels using edge-lit technology (with LEDs lining the edges of a display) or local dim­ming technology (with LEDs orga­nized in a grid pattern).

In terms of how flat-panel dis­plays actually render images, LED- backlit displays can produce greater color contrast and depth than their CCFL counterparts. CCFL-backlit displays, however, often require less calibration and tinkering to most closely approximate the correct range of colors. LEDs win, however, when it comes to the green factor, as they offer a smaller ecological foot­print and therefore provide a lower cost of operation.

Dario DellaMaggiore, director of sales and marketing at DoubleSight Displays (www.doublesight.com), of­fers insights about the cost efficiency of LED-backlit monitors. "Now that LED backlit monitors are being mass produced," he says, "the cost is coming down below that of a CCFL style monitor. [In addition,] LED technology uses less energy, so LED-backlit monitors are also less costly to operate. A reduced cost of acquisi­tion combined with lower operating costs will be attractive to the budget conscious."

Go green with LEDs

Applying the "green" label to a com­puting product is like saying a product is “helpful” because there are several ways to interpret this description. In the case of LED-backlit monitors, business owners have at least two green advan­tages to keep in mind when making purchasing decisions: power savings and eco-friendly disposal.

The Acer S23HHL bii 23-inch LCD Monitor (us.acer.com) uses mercury-free LED backlighting, which makes this an eco-friendly and power-conservative model.

Considering an LED monitor's thin and lightweight form factor, Evazians says that a small and lighter packaging "leads to more efficient shipment and hanging, and less material to dispose of." Additionally, "a lighter monitor also enables more mounting options, while a thin form factor leaves you with more room at your workstation."

Evazians adds that savings from LED-backlit monitors can truly add up when displays are deployed in large quantities with an organization. "Less heat generated means less cooling for the office environment," he says.

A chemical comparison between LED and CCFL components reveals that CFFLs typically use mercury whereas LEDs use none. This means CCFL monitors require safe handling and the removal of fluorescent lamps that contain mercury for recycling or disposal. In contrast, many local waste agencies and retailers can easily collect and recycle LED monitors.

Making the switch

As our intergenerational workforce continues to consume media-rich ap­plications and rely on creative visuals to maintain productivity, the need for monitors with appropriate brightness and accurate color reproduction is apparent. Eye strain and fatigue can be minimized with the adoption of LED-backlit monitors because they can produce dynamic contrast, run the gamut of colors, and reveal more natural image rendering when cali­brated properly.

Evazians says the benefits of LED- backlit image quality and accurate color representation are twofold. "Zero flicker on the backlight means less eye strain, while accurate color means, when creating content, what is seen on the screen is more true to what is ulti­mately produced. This is particularly important for those in the creative arts."

When it comes down to making the purchasing decision, DellaMaggiore suggests that you draw up a list of the features that are important to you and shop accordingly. "When selecting a new monitor, compare the main fea­tures [that] will affect how you view content: resolution, viewing angles, contrast ratio, and brightness."

DellaMaggiore believes that monitor size will ac­tually be the top consider­ation in 2013. He suggests that corporate buyers con­sider an upgrade in size or to two smaller monitors per desktop instead of the large monitor, primarily for cost-effectiveness. "For example, he says, "two 22-inch moni­tors may cost about the same as one 27-inch monitor, yet yield much more viewable area and greater function­ality when they extend their desktop over multiple monitors." So it's also good to be prepared to think outside the single-monitor box.

Desktop monitor size since 2010

According to research from NPD DisplaySearch (www.displaysearch.com), the average diagonal size of FPDs (front panel displays) has increased by 9% in the last three years. Consumers are purchasing increasingly larger monitors at 5% increase, which reflects the growing trend of flat panel adoption.