Samsung has been a leader in the development of flat panel HDTV sets; it is one of the leading brands available. Their newest sets feature LED back-lighting technology, which eliminates the cold-cathode fluorescent lighting systems that were used by the first generation of LCD TV sets. The use of this LED technology has made it possible for them to design sets that are slimmer, and weigh less than earlier sets, yet produce substantially higher picture quality. The Samsung UN46D6900W LED 3D HDTV is a perfect example of this technical excellence.
As a result of the fact that an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) does not produce any light, but rather functions as a shutter that varies the visibility of light through the screen, any LCD display requires a back-light in order to be seen in dim lighting conditions. The LCD part of the display simply functions as a “shutter” that either permits light to transmit through the display screen, or prevents it.
It is like a very tiny venetian blind: if the crystals in a display cell are arranged perpendicular to the screen, light is able to pass through, and it will be bright. When the crystals are aligned parallel to the display, the passage of light is prevented, and the cell will appear black.
Therefore, while an LCD display can be viewed in bright light (a digital watch or clock face, for example), in order to be visible in conditions – or to produce a usable TV picture – there has to be a source of light behind the LCD display that supplies the necessary illumination – in other words, a back-lighting system.
The first models of LCD TV sets were back-lit by a series of cold-cathode fluorescent tubes, which produce a white light. Each picture element, or “pixel” that constitutes a TV picture is a position on the display screen with three microscopic filters that produce the primary TV colors: red, green, and blue (RGB).
The Samsung UN46D6900W LED 3D HDTV set employs an “edge lighting” system to supply the back-light for its image. With this system, very intense white-light Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) are arranged around the edge of the screen frame. A diffuser plate then distributes this light through the full surface of the screen. The use of an LED lighting method means that the TV requires much less energy to operate.
Using LED lighting makes it possible for Samsung to have much better control over the brightness of specific areas of the image. They have created a system they refer to as “Micro Dimming”, which enables them to change the intensity of the back-light from one area of the screen to another, which means that the picture has more intense white areas, and that the black regions are much darker and deeper than you what will see with the older LCD sets, which are illuminated with fluorescent lights which extend the full width of the set.
This set is very efficient: based on a usage rate of five hours per day, and an electricity charge of $0.11 per Kwh, it will cost approximately $15/year to operate this set. When the set is on standby, it uses just 0.07 Watts of power. That amounts to 0.6 Kwh/yr, which would cost less than $0.07 based on the same electric cost!
This Samsung UN46D6900W set is packed with what Samsung refers to as “Smart Apps” – applications that make up their “Smart TV” platform. These “Apps” allow you to use the TV to interface with the Internet, and to download Web content from sites like Hulu Plus, Netflix, Pandora, and others.
While some of the “Apps” must be purchased for one or two dollars (similar to iPhone apps), there is a very wide selection of Apps that are free, including games and children’s material. Apps categories cover areas such as Lifestyle, Videos, Sports, Education, Information, and Games.
Having this set will significantly enhance your TV watching experience, and will make it easy to interface with all your other media needs, from your computer to the Internet. There are many other great features to be found in this set – check the website linked in the resource box for lots more information.
Get all the information, and discover more about the many other great features of the Samsung UN46D6900W, including The Eco Sensor, the Wide Color Enhancer Plus, and many others. You will also find the full specifications for the set. You can discover more about many other great LED TV sets here.
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