Can CCFL Compete With LED? Sanken Says Yes

There’s a Japanese company called Sanken that has created a new type of CCFL they say will act as a better, cheaper alternative to LED.

If you own an LCD set, you’ve probably got one with CCFL backlighting. If it’s not LED it’s cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) lighting. It’s a technology that’s being phased out, especially in higher end televisions, in favor of the new LED backlighting that creates a brighter picture.

Of course, CCFL manufacturers aren’t going to take it lying down. One of them – Sanken – says that their new lamps are just as power efficient as LEDs but cost 60% less to produce. That’s a pretty big claim, especially since efficiency is one of the things LED is known for.

CCFL lighting typically relies on the use of six lamps inside a television, but Sanken says with their lamps, you’ll only need two.

Whether these new lamps will have any effect on picture quality has yet to be seen. What they will do though, is bring down the prices and energy use of non-LED televisions. Sanken will begin mass production of their new lights this summer.