All LCD TVs are backlit because LCDs are a transmissive type of display technology, which means they don't produce their own light. So for an LCD television to produce an image on the flat panel display, its pixels have to be backlit by a separate lighting source. Currently, most LCD TVs used CCFL technology (cold cathode fluorescent lamps) as their backlight source. They deliver good colors and brightness, and decent contrast, but not great blacks - the domain of the plasma TV. But TVs utilizing brighter LED backlighting can achieve much better blacks, as well as brighter colors and even greater contrast ratios (Toshiba Regza 55X1 is boasting 5,000,000:1). NB: Contrast is measured from the darkest lit area of the screen to the brightest area to give a ratio.
But just in case you thought your selection choice was now made easy, there are a couple of LED options - full matrix LED and edge lit LED TVs. Let's go through the differences and look at what some of the manufacturers are using as their preferred backlighting choice.