Author: Adam Simmons

Last updated: 7th January 2015

LED (Light Emitting Diode) backlights are interesting for the

consumer as they help make a thinner, lighter and more efficient
display. It is also a winner from a marketing perspective, with
manufacturers keen to draw an artificial distinction between their
LED (backlit) monitors and their LCD monitors. This blindly lead
people to believe that the technology was completely distinct from
LCD and not just a change in backlight type from CCFL (Cold
Cathode Fluorescent Lamp) to LED. The rapid brightness
adjustments also allow manufacturers to make better use of the
dynamic contrast feature that we often criticise in our reviews.
Whilst the practicalities of adjusting the entire backlight to suit the
overall scene darkness are questionable it certainly allows the
insanely big and misleading numbers game to be played with
contrast ratios.
To many consumers the situation seemed win-win with the end
product being thinner, lighter, free from mercury and arsenic and
more energy efficient consuming less power and generating less
heat. Looking deeper into the monitors using the technology, as
they became more prevalent, it soon became clear that there was
still room for CCFL backlighting. The drive to make things thinner
may please some users aesthetically, but it also has its downsides.
Although considerable variability can be seen on models with both
CCFL and LED backlights, many LED models tend to be particularly
thin and susceptible to being flexed both during and after
manufacture. This can exacerbate luminance uniformity problems
and in particular cause issues with backlight bleed and clouding.
But the main drawback of most current LED backlight technologies
is the narrower spectral range of the light they emit when compared
to WCG (Wide Colour Gamut) CCFL backlights. This was a key reason
for some manufacturers being slow to drop CCFL backlighting on
some of their professional models almost exclusively to create
wider colour gamuts necessary for image processing and viewing
extended colours gamuts such as Adobe RGB. Despite these
potential drawbacks the technology was adopted as standard by
many manufacturers, primarily for ecological reasons and to suit the
majority of the market.
A fairly narrow selection of LED-backlit monitors actually overcame
the colour gamut limitation (and then some) by employing triads of
LEDs (red, green and blue) to create broad-spectrum white light.
This rare alternative to WLED (White Light Emitting Diode, the
common implementation explored below) was known as RGB-LED
backlighting. Some notable models include the XL20, XL24 and
XL30 from Samsung, a manufacturer who were amongst the first to
broadly introduce LED backlight technologies to both monitors and
TVs. Although RGB-LED designs flaunted colour gamuts that even
WCG-CCFL backlights couldnt generally reach the technology never
really took off. There were simply too many drawbacks; cost, size,
weight, differential degradation of the LEDs (leading to colour
imbalances across the screen over time) and relatively poor energy
efficiency.
Unlike these RGB triad designs, most modern LED backlight
solutions involve placing a border (or in some case clusters) of
white LEDs behind or at the side of the LCD matrix, often near the
edges and using a diffuser to spread the light across the screen.
Despite being called white LEDs they actually emit a blue light
which passes through a yellow phosphor to give a more neutral
white and provide the red and green components of the image. Early
iterations of the technology (those circa 2009-10) tended to suffer
from an obvious and uncorrectable blue bias. As manufacturers
became more familiar with the technology and were able to tweak
the backlights, phosphor coatings and the LCD panels this tint
became more workable. Despite these advances many WLED
backlights used in modern monitors still suffer from certain
imbalances when it comes to the spectrum of light they produce.
The graphic below represents the relative intensity of light at
various wavelengths for a typical modern WLED backlight.

You can see a distinct peak of spectral energy in the blue region,
specifically at 450nm (light considered pure blue). This comes
from the blue diode of the backlight which is typically composed of
InGaN (indium gallium nitride). A much weaker spectral response of
less than a third the intensity can be observed between 500nm and
700nm, corresponding to the yellow light of the typical scintillator
phosphor coating; YAG (yttrium aluminium garnet). In combination
the InGaN and YAG components of the backlight produce white
light with a native colour temperature (white point) determined by
the ratio of InGaN to YAG.
This light is filtered through the red, green and blue subpixels of
the monitor to produce a wide range of colours and allow further
refinement of the white point. After filtering a considerable amount
of the initial spectral energy of the backlight is lost; the filter is far
from perfect and the initial spectral imbalance of the backlight is
still an underlying issue. Provided the filters are working as intended
(i.e. the monitor is properly calibrated) your typical WLED-backlit
monitor will be able to make good use of the strong pure blue
spectral component to produce strong pure blue colours. The red
and green components (originating from the yellow light of the YAG
phosphor coating) are relatively weak. These gaps in spectral energy
and relative lack of intensity for wavelengths other than 450nm
restrict the colour gamut of a typical LED-backlit monitor to roughly
the sRGB colour space.

Looking at the colour reproduction in greater detail you will also

find that the pure blue component can become overpowering.
When you mix this with the relatively diminutive yellow component
(greens and reds) there will be some weaknesses evident. This is
particularly true for shades that are mostly blue but contain a slight
mixture of the other colours; it may seem counter-intuitive but
most WLED-backlit monitors are not very good at displaying certain
shades of blue!
It is a similar story for many standard-gamut CCFL-backlit monitors
when producing green shades. There is typically a spectral peak at
green and secondary peaks at blue and red. In this example the
peaks at red and blue are 40% the intensity of the green maximum.
A crucial point to note, though, is that the relative intensity of these
peaks and the distribution of energy for surrounding wavelengths
varies considerably depending on the phosphors used.

For CCFL backlights a wide variety of phosphors can be used

including ones that produce a wide colour gamut (WCG-CCFL).
Although the spectrum above is fairly typical for a standard-gamut
CCFL backlight there has classically been more variation here than
for WLED backlights. But things are moving forward; there are a
growing number of exceptions when it comes to the light emitted by
WLED backlights and it seems that some recent developments in
LED backlighting technology have started to redefine our
expectations of the technology.
Samsung, one of the key modern panel manufacturers, has really
embraced WLED backlighting and was the first panel manufacturer
to adopt it universally for all new models. They launched a number
of Premium models in their Series 7, Series 8 and Series 9 screens
which broke some of the traditional technological boundaries. These
models include the (T/S)(23/27)(A750/950), (S24/27)A850 and
the S27B970D. They make use of improved phosphors with enhanced
spectral qualities to increase energy in the yellow region. This is
particularly true for the high-end PLS models which show significant
improvement in this area. These enhanced phosphors improve the
coverage in the red and green sections of the gamut but also
expand the range of blue shades that can be produced. Many
models from other manufacturers, including the Dell U2713HM and
Apple LED Cinema Display also use enhanced phosphors to enhance
the gamut. Many more recent models include these enhanced
phosphors, too.

Although it can be nice from some perspectives to reach a bit

beyond sRGB, as it allows slightly greater vibrancy, you would really
want to reach the next standard of gamut for colour-critical work
and to really unlock vibrancy potential. This is exactly what panel
manufacturers are now aiming to do, with LG Display starting to
integrate a modified type of WLED backlight called GB-LED (also
known as GB-R LED or GB-r LED). Rather than using a blue diode
coated in yellow phosphor, the backlights combine blue and green
diodes with a red phosphor. As illustrated below, this creates strong
and distinct spectral peaks for blue, green and red rather than
giving a blue peak and broad yellow region. This technology is
currently being implemented in LG AH-IPS (Advanced High-
performance In-Plane Switching) panels such as the 24
LM240WU9, 27 LM270WQ3 and 30 LM270WQ6 and also several
Samsung PLS (Plane to Line Switching) panels. These are designed to
provide 99% Adobe RGB coverage and 104% NTSC coverage which
actually exceeds the 98% Adobe RGB and 102% NTSC typical of
WCG-CCFLs.

There are a number of monitors now available that use GB-LED

backlights, including the LG 27EA83, Dell U2413 and U2713H and
several other models (including some with a UHD or 4K resolution).
Panel manufacturer AU Optronics (AUO) have an alternative method
of achieving a wide colour gamut, which they are integrating into
some of their AHVA (IPS-type) panels. These use a mixture of red
and blue diodes with a green scintillating phosphor (a so-called RB-
LED or RB-G LED design). The backlight design of both solutions is
somewhat more complex than a standard WLED and demands a bit
of a price premium in comparison. This premium is falling all the
time, however. There is also an ongoing development from a US-
based company called Nanosys which could offer an even lower cost
alternative. The technology is called Quantum Dot Enhacement
Film (QDEF) and it changes the LED backlight as we know it. Blue
diodes are still used, but the phosphor coating and diffuser are
replaced with a special film of nanoscopic phosphors called
Quantum Dots as illustrated below.

The Quantum Dots are found in their trillions on the film. They can
be tuned physically (by alternating their size) to control the
wavelengths of light emitted once they are excited by a light source.
The blue component is provided in abundance in the light emitted
from the diode itself whilst the red and green components can be
provided by the specially tuned Quantum Dots. This provides the
three distinct spectral peaks at blue, green and red that are
required for coverage of extended colour spaces. The sort of
spectrum produced by this system is quite comparable to the Adobe
RGB WLED design. The spectrum yielded is illustrated by the
following graph, taken from Jeff Yureks (Product Marketing
Manager of Nanosys) blog dot color.

To find out more about where the technology stands from a PC

monitor perspective we spoke to Jeff Yurek directly. He told us that
the initial goal was to integrate QDEF films into portable displays
such as tablet PCs but that he hopes to see good interest gather
from manufacturers of larger displays, too.
An important attraction of QDEF is its easy integration into existing
LCD designs the film is thinner than a typical sheet of paper and
simply replaces existing components. It is also cost-neutral, in
contrast to the expensive multi-diode and enhanced phosphor
designs currently being employed by LG Display. The naked blue
diode does not need a separate phosphor treatment and instead
passes light through the film which is of comparable cost to the
phosphor and diffuser arrangement. Furthermore the film itself has
demonstrated suitable lifetime for use in TVs and monitors with an
equivalent operating lifetime of well over 30,000 hours (which is
comparable to some of the better LED backlights out there today).
The primary purpose of QDEF technology is to bring extended
colour spaces to the user without compromising the form, cost or
function of existing LCD designs. The film is currently designed to
provide complete Adobe RGB coverage with the potential to extend
beyond the NTSC colour space with even the UHD standard Rec.
2020 in its sights. As with GB-LED or RB-LED, this gives displays the
potential to more closely mimic the sorts of colours we can see in
the real world and create scenes which are more vivid and realistic.

Another company, based in Manchester in England, has developed a

similar solution. CFQD (Cadmium Free Quantum Dots) are a key
development of Nanoco and like the QDEF film are designed to be
seamlessly integrated into existing LCD designs. The backlight
excites the Quantum Dots and together they are able to emit light
with very strong blue, green and red energy. As the name suggests,
this film is free from the heavy metal cadmium which is used in
QDEF a potential environmental benefit which Nanosys might
(rightfully or not) downplay. The Quantum Dots (CFQD) used in the
Nanoco films are initially being manufactured by The Dow Chemical
Company in South Korea under the brand name TREVISTA. According
to South Korean news sources such as The Korea Times Samsung are
fully on-board with this technology and set to embrace the
technology for their displays in the very near future.
Last but not least there is Massachusetts based firm QD Vision, who
we mentioned in our OLED article for their work on QLED. In the
nearer term, they have produced their own Quantum Dot film called
Color IQ. Two closely allied monitor manufacturers, AOC and
Philips, have announced that they will be incorporating the Color IQ
technology into some of their monitors. A key advantage being
touted here is the decreased cost of achieving effectove Adobe RGB
coverage compared to GB-LED and RB-LED.

In order to accurately output this vivid and colourful content,

though, the content itself must be specifically written with extended
colour spaces such as Adobe RGB in mind. Currently the only sorts
of users who can properly take advantage of this are colour
professionals, photographers and designers who can create and
process broad gamut content. As extended colour gamut
capabilities become more common the sRGB boundary becomes
something that is emulated rather than a native technological
restriction. It is only natural that once devices become more
universally capable of properly supporting extended colour gamuts
we would see a shift away from the confines of the sRGB colour
space. Designers, film makers and others in the industry that we
have spoken to are keen to see this as it allows them to better
express their creative efforts and bring the consumer the kind of
engrossing entertainment experience they crave. Jeff Yurek
reiterated this and pointed out that Pixar Animation Studios, for
example, use a massive colour palette for their creations but a lot of
the shade detail is missed once its scaled down and outputted in
sRGB.
Adopting a broader colour space isnt something that will happen
overnight and there is certainly the need for the hardware to
properly support the sRGB colour space as well. This can be done
with some degree of success through emulation modes which are
common on wide colour gamut monitors. But there may be some
confusion if developers start pumping out content designed to be
viewed using broad gamut monitors whilst others are still using a
standard gamut we cant rely on this being clearly labelled as
such. Jeff pointed out that there is software out there that can
intelligently map sRGB content onto extended colour spaces. This is
designed to improve the vividness of the image without massive and
unrealistic oversaturation whilst maintaining appropriate shade
variety. Similar technology could also be implemented on the
hardware level which could intelligently detect whether the source
material is designed for sRGB viewing and in need of correction or
already designed for extended spaces and hence left untouched.

When LED backlighting first took off manufacturers were all too
keen to promote what were essentially misleading or even fabricated
performance benefits. As the technology became adopted quite
broadly it became all too clear that the situation wasnt a win-win
in favour of the sender white LED (WLED) backlight. In some areas,
particularly colour gamut coverage, CCFLs could offer significant
and clearly visible advantages. LCD panel manufactures have now
begun raising the bar in this respect by experimenting with
improved phosphors and alternative diode arrangements to enhance
colour gamut.
Some interesting developments are also running in parallel with
this. Big panel manufacturers including LG Display, Samsung and AU
Optronics (AUO) are keenly developing alternative technologies to
LCDs such as OLED and QLED. These promise enhanced colour
gamuts, amazing contrast and excellent responsiveness. But for use
in desktop monitors there are still some significant technical and
economic challenges to overcome. Such monitors are some way off
being commercially viable in the consumer sector.

Another interesting technology which is already starting to spread in

the consumer space is the use of light-emitting Quantum Dots in
existing LCD designs; Quantum Dot Enhacement Film (QDEF),
Cadmium Free Quantum Dots (CFQD) and QD Visions Color IQ
technology. These solutions provide superior colour performance to
current basic LED backlights. Unlike advanced diode and phosphor
arrangements these films work in place of the phosphor coatings on
simple blue diodes and can be implemented by manufacturers
without additional material cost. As with enhanced diode and
phosphor arrangements (GB-LED and RB-LED) and alternative
technologies such as OLED and QLED, this is designed to push the
colour gamut far beyond the restrictive sRGB standard.
We will see more and more monitors comfortably edge past the
cramped sRGB colour space and properly display alternative
standards such as Adobe RGB and ultimately Rec. 2020 (or
something approximating it) without resorting to overly bulky or
power-hungry technologies. This will give content creators the
opportunity to really give scenes the look they intend with truly
vivid, spectacular and true-to-life colours. Thats a very exciting
prospect for game developers, film producers, artists and designers
and of course the consumer at the other end.