Samsung LED now sold as BACKLIT LED TV

[snadge]

I was in CURRYS, COMET and PC WORLD yesterday and seen that the Samsung LED TV's are being sold as 'backlit' LED TV's... I asked the salesperson in comet if it had backlit LED's and he said "YES!" and I asked "does it have local dimming?" and he said "yes, the LED's turn on and off"...

TOTALLY MIS-LEADING....

and it was the same in CURRYS and PC WORLD....

these TV's are edge-lit....not back-lit, I explained this to him and he eventually admitted it but said the picture/colour quality was still better than backlight LED with Local Dimming... to prove it he showed me the LED side-by-side with a SHARP with LED backlighting (which DIDNT have local dimming by the way) and the colours were more vibrant and brighter on the LED Samsung but the sharp had much deeper blacks...and that was without any local dimming.

I explained to him that I wasnt bothered about having super thin TV's and that I was more interested in picture quality... however, the Samsung LED TV was very impressive alongside all the 50Hz cheaper models... but then again it should be for £1500... but there wasnt an TV with LED Backlit Local Dimming with 100Hz to compare against it... which is what I wanted to do...

whats others thoughts about these sales pitches? I mean for all three of these stores to sell them as 'backlit LED TV's' means Samsung are passing on the same info... meaning its Samsung thats doing the mis-leading

 

[jimsan]

In their defence, the Samsungs backlight is LED.

However, you were right to point out the difference between a side lit LED backlight and a genuine rear array LED backlight.

On a general note, doing actual comparisons between TV's in these showrooms is nearly impossible - for so many reasons.

Jimmy

 

[RottenFox]

@snadge, the reason they descibe the tv's as "backlit LED" now, is due to the ASA ruling that the term "LED TV" was misleading, so they made them describe them as "Backlit LED TV's", which is more in line with what they are.
the only place they can call them LED TV's is on their own website.
they are backlit(the LED's are behind the panel), with their position on the edges/sides.

Backlit LED TV's instores, tv, and magazines, LED TV on their sites, so whilst not fully misleading, its still a bit off the mark.

bit-tech.net | ASA bans Samsung LED TV ads

Samsung LED TV ads called 'misleading' by U.K. authority | Crave - CNET

from the ASA:

www.asa.org.uk/asa/adjudications/Public/TF_ADJ_46783.htm

The ASA determined that the term "LED TV" can be used in the U.K., provided there is additional description to clarify that the TVs in question are using LED backlighting technology.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA understood that the Samsung TV had an LCD display with a LED edge-lighting and that it did not have a full LED display. Furthermore, we understood that full LED screens were currently only available in certain mediums, such as large outdoor screen displays; whilst full LED TVs for household use were in development, they were not yet available in the UK market. We noted Samsungs assertion that the phrase "LED TV" had evolved and that TVs that used this technology in either back-lighting or edge-lighting had adopted the phrase to generically describe the technology. However, we noted that there were LCD TVs for sale that used LED technology in their backlighting or edge-lighting, but that they were still described as "LED LCD TVs" or similar, and that the phrase "LED TV" was not adopted consistently throughout the industry. We considered that the ad implied the TV displays were comprised totally of LEDs similar to some outdoor displays when that was not the case. We considered that because the ads were ambiguous and did not make clear how the TVs utilised the LED technology, the ads were likely to mislead.

The TV ad breached CAP (Broadcast) Code rules 5.1.1 and 5.1.3 (Misleading advertising).
The magazine ads breached CAP Code clause 7.1 (Truthfulness).

Action -
The ads must not appear again in their current form. We told Samsung to ensure that future marketing communications described the technology their products used accurately.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Broadcast)
Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)

 

[S Bibby]

Hi,
They've already had demo videos in the stores for months showing the LEDs (backlight/edge-mount, I have no idea) compared to CCFL. It's just grist to the mill, some people don't like Samsung but look at the stuff other companies come out with. I'm still not sure whether they are worth the money but you have to admit they are leading the ideas market with design and technology like OLED.

 

[YellowSphere]

Hi,
They've already had demo videos in the stores for months showing the LEDs (backlight/edge-mount, I have no idea) compared to CCFL. It's just grist to the mill, some people don't like Samsung but look at the stuff other companies come out with. I'm still not sure whether they are worth the money but you have to admit they are leading the ideas market with design and technology like OLED.

I wouldn't say they're leading the ideas market in any stretch, they just tend to be the first company to get stuff like this in shops at a price tag most people can manage. Don't forget that Sony were first to market with edge-LED and OLED.

 

[davebutton]

I work in a sound and vision dept in a debenhams, the amount of customers that ask for a led tvs is alot, I always tell them it still lcd tv, i printed that asa document a couple of days ago to show customers, they get the right ump when they are told its still a lcd tv,

 

[S Bibby]

YS,

I wouldn't say they're leading the ideas market in any stretch, they just tend to be the first company to get stuff like this in shops at a price tag most people can manage. Don't forget that Sony were first to market with edge-LED and OLED.

Fair points, but I think they are moving on nowadays and have already consolidated their position in terms of sales and production. I think we're more likely to see new technologies from Samsung in the future. They have been one of the first to use LEDs (still have backlit sets in the US) and their general picture qualities, processing and scaling are certainly at the top.

I've just looked at a few Samsung sets today alongside the latest Philips, Sony, Panasonic sets and their SD/HD picture balance was arguably one of the best. The issues I have are mainly to do with their panels (clouding/banding) and the over the top settings. For general owners I can imagine the poor/mediocre sound and screen reflections will be important.