LED Technology In The Video Security Market

The video security industry has seen a progression of video display technologies, from cathode ray tube (CRT) used at the inception of CCTV, to Digital Light Processing (DLP) projection, to Plasma and Liquid Crystal Display (LCD). Today, there is growing interest in an emerging technology for monitors: Light Emitting Diode (LED). This whitepaper explores LED display technology and its potential application in video security.

What is an LED Monitor?

As LED displays are making their way into electronics retailers and more general availability, customers across the video security industry are asking questions about the new technology. “Is there a difference in picture quality between an LED and an LCD monitor?” “Is there a big difference in contrast?” “Can LED monitors be our standard monitor?” etc.

The first thing to know about an LED monitor is that it is nothing more than an LCD monitor with an LED backlight unit behind it. The Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) remains the same, but LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) are used in place of traditional CCFLs (Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamps) to illuminate the display. When electronics manufacturer Samsung introduced an LCD TV using LED to illuminate the LCD panel, Samsung called the new version display simply “LED TV”. Whatever its validity, the decision to drop “LCD” was a marketing move. After all, “LED” is the acronym du jour, a technology that is all the rage as a new, perhaps revolutionary lighting source. It is as emotive a term as “HDTV” and “digital” were in their early days.