LG Announces New NanoLED HDTVs, Sound Bar

LG has started the race for bigger, badder, better LED-backlit HDTVs with a bang today, announcing two new lines of HDTVs that use their brand-new "NANO Lighting Technology", as well as a new sound bar with six speaker drivers and a separate wireless subwoofer.

"NANO Lighting Technology" refers to LG's new method of using LEDs in HDTVs. Earlier LED LCD TVs either placed the LEDs on the edges of the display and relied on a dispersion matrix to spread the light across, yielding a very thin TV that sometimes looked kind of unevenly lit, or placed a full LED array behind the TV, which made for excellent picture quality but cost a bit more and couldn't get as thin as edge-lit LED LCDs.

LG's "Nano LED" TVs, however, embed the LEDs behind the LCD panel in a thin film which then disperses the light across the set. While it's too early to tell how these sets will compare to current LED models, it seems like LG's Nano LED sets are aiming to combine the advantages of both edge-lit and back-lit LED displays while eliminating the disadvantages.

Also included in the Nano LED lineup feature set is an improved local dimming feature LG calls "Micro Pixel Control", which allows the TV to dim and brighten individual LEDs, producing blacker blacks and brighter whites. Local dimming features are important for an LED LCD set because, if implemented well, they allow the set to selectively dim backlighting in certain regions of the display, so darker scenes will look very dark.

Classic CCFL-backlit LCD TVs had a problem with this because they couldn't completely block out the backlighting, making scenes that were supposed to look black instead just look kind of dark grey, but earlier implementations of local dimming in LED LCDs had their own problems--read Plasma vs. LCD: The State of the HDTV for more details.

The two new TV lines are called the LW9500 and LW7700 Nano Full LED TV series, the former boasting a 480hz refresh rate while the latter has a 240hz refresh rate. Both models use an "Anti-Reflection Panel"--probably a matte cover of some sort--which reduces glare and reflection from external light sources. This is notable because some of the last generation of LED LCD TVs suffered from glare issues, like the Sharp LC52LE820UN. Also, both lines will support 3D TV content via active shutter glasses. The smallest in these lines will start at 47 inches, while the largest will be 60 inches. They're both undergoing the THX certification process, so they'll probably have THX-certified preset modes.

The LG HD Sound Bar (LSB316), meanwhile, is a 280-watt sound bar with six built-in speaker drivers in a bar that is designed to complement LG's 42-inch TV lineup, plus a wireless subwoofer unit, for 2.1 virtual surround sound. The LSB316 can be wall-mounted or placed under the TV, and includes support for streaming music Bluetooth devices, so it'll work with smartphones or portable media players with Bluetooth, or stream to your Bluetooth headphones if you need to keep things quiet.

Stay tuned for more coverage and a full review.