If you're currently exploring the world of LED or LCD TVs, particularly those offered by the best TV brands, you may have encountered the term "Full-Array Local Dimming." This feature might have left you pondering: What is Full-Array Local Dimming?
In the ever-evolving landscape of technology, companies constantly strive to introduce new features and advancements to address the limitations of previous technologies or refine existing ones for superior results. One such advancement is Full-Array Local Dimming (FALD).
In this article, we will explain what is Full-Array Local Dimming, so you can make an informed decision when choosing your next TV. While you are here, make sure you check out our Mini LED vs OLED comparison.
What is Full-Array Local Dimming?
Full-Array Local Dimming (FALD) is a backlighting technology used in some LED-LCD televisions and displays to achieve deeper blacks, better contrast, and improved overall picture quality.
With traditional LED-LCD displays, the entire screen is illuminated by a uniform backlight, which can result in less precise control over brightness levels and limited contrast. FALD improves upon this by dividing the backlight into multiple zones, each consisting of a cluster of LEDs.
By independently controlling the brightness of different zones of the backlight, FALD enhances contrast by allowing darker areas to be darker and brighter areas to be brighter, resulting in a more vibrant and visually appealing image.
How many local dimming zones are good?
In general, having a greater number of local dimming zones provides finer control over the backlight, leading to improved contrast and picture quality. Therefore, higher numbers of zones tend to yield better results.
High-end LED-LCD displays feature hundreds of local dimming zones, providing excellent control over backlighting and minimizing blooming or halo effects. So having over 100 local dimming zones is generally considered good.
While displays with fewer local dimming zones, such as around 50-100, can provide noticeable improvements in contrast and black levels, they may not achieve the same level of picture clarity as displays with over 100 dimming zones.
It's also important to consider that the total number of zones is not the only factor that determines the quality of local dimming. The quality of the dimming algorithm, the display's overall performance, and the content being viewed also play significant roles.
Should local dimming be high or low?
The decision to set local dimming to a high or low level mainly depends on the content being watched.
For example, if you're watching a movie with scenes that have a high dynamic range (HDR), such as a dark room with bright objects, setting local dimming to a higher level might help achieve deeper blacks and enhance contrast, thereby improving the overall viewing experience.
On the other hand, if you're watching content with predominantly bright scenes or if you notice artefacts like blooming or haloing around bright objects at higher local dimming settings, it’s best to set local dimming to a lower level.
To determine whether local dimming be high or low, it is recommended to test various options and evaluate the picture quality with different content.
And that concludes our guide on Full-Array Local Dimming. If you are in the market for a TV, make sure you check out the best TV deals.