It’s no secret that LED backlights for the LCDs in small-and-light notebook PCs are being rapidly commercialized, with some analysts predicting a 10 percent penetration in the segment this year.

Ken Werner
Senior Analyst and Editor

What may be a bit more surprising is that we will see LED backlights in some high-end monitors, perhaps by the middle of this year. Yesterday, Samsung Electronics announced it will start producing a 24-inch LCD panel with an LED backlight before the end of this quarter.

Samsung is tailoring the monitor for high-end Windows Vista users, for whom Samsung feels 24 inches (wide format) is optimal, since the panel will display two A4 sheets of paper full size, along with the Vista sidebar and margins, and since WUXGA (1920×1200) resolution is available in this size.

The panel features Samsung’s Super Patterned-ITO Vertical Alignment (S-PVA) cell technology, which the company uses in its large-screen TV sets, rather than the twisted-nematic (TN) that is almost universal in desktop monitors, as well as less expensive. S-PVA is known for its very dark black state and wide viewing angle. The color gamut of the monitor is 111% of the 1953 NTSC standard, compared with the typical 72%, and the contrast ratio is 1000:1.

Samsung isn’t alone. The Chinese-language Economic Daily News (EDN) reported today that executives at Chi Mei Optoelectronics (CMO) said recently that the company has started to ship 19-inch LCD monitor panels with LED backlights to Acer, and has also sent samples of 22-inch LED-backlit panels to ViewSonic.

CMO is currently shipping 12.1-, 13.3- and 14.1-inch notebook panels with LED backlights, EDN quoted company executives as saying.

LED backlights provide better color gamut than traditional CCFL backlights and better luminous efficiency, but they are still considerably more expensive that CCFLs. That’s why it made sense to start off with small, edgelit notebook panels, where the cost penalty is relatively modest.

But Samsung and Acer obviously feel there is an audience for a premium product and that this audience is willing to pay for the extra cost of the LEDs. Samsung probably has the right idea. By making a monitor that’s loaded with premium features, anyway, the extra cost of the LEDs probably gets lost in the noise. But cost aside, the gamut and luminous efficiency of LED backlights will certainly enhance the user’s experience.