LED vs. LCD which is better and why?
Don't be fooled into thinking there is such a thing as an LED TV, they are just LCD TVs with LED back lights. So, what I have to say about ?
LEDs don't really make the image quality all that much better. If you go for a set with LEDs, confirm what kind you are buying. There are two types, one is called 'edge lit' the other is 'local dimming'. Sometimes the TV maker doesn't make it very clear, so look around. If you are in the store you can tell by the thickness. The edge lit are super thin, the local dimming are more like a regular CCFL backlit LCD TV.
Edge lighting loses the main advantage of using LEDs in the first place, so don't go for it. The only reason TV makers use edge lit configurations is to make the TV crazy thin. I don't know about you but picture quality ranks above being thin.
Local dimming actually uses hundreds, sometimes even thousands of LEDs to light up the screen, and they can dim for dark parts of the screen and glow brighter for lighter parts at the same time, edge lit cannot do this. So if you go LCD with LEDs, go with a local dimming set.
If picture quality is really your main concern, then it's all about plasma. The majority of hard core home theater and the videophile crowd are plasma owners not LCD. This isn't some fanboy thing, the tests and reviews put plasma ahead of LCD TVs, period. The new 2010 plasmas from LG, Panasonic and Samsung are tops.