AT&T, Comcast and Verizon explain that they don’t sell your browser history

Now that Congress has passed a rule rolling back FCC regulations that would explicitly prevent internet service providers from selling data like your browsing history, three of the biggest ones are trying to reassure customers. AT&T, Verizon (which owns AOL, the parent company of Engadget) and Comcast all published posts today about the event, with varying levels of explanation about what their privacy policies are.

Comcast:

We do not sell our broadband customers’ individual web browsing history. We did not do it before the FCC’s rules were adopted, and we have no plans to do so.

Verizon:

Let’s set the record straight. Verizon does not sell the personal web browsing history of our customers. We don’t do it and that’s the bottom line.

Those statements are true, however, if you read past the “commitment to privacy” headlines, you’ll notice that both companies have other plans in place for selling customer data. Comcast uses “non-personally identifiable information” from internet and cable TV packages, while Verizon makes similar claims about its advertising policies.

What those posts leave out, is how that information, once shared, can become a part of what those companies’ partners know about you. as a 60 Minutes report detailed in 2014, data brokers can specialize in taking that “non-PII” data and tying it back to a person based on what they know about their location and demographics. Now that you, the consumer, are frequently ingesting media on multiple platforms at a time, that information is becoming even more valuable. It’s the kind of thing Vizio was trying to accomplish with its Inscape advertising program — until the FTC punished it for automatically opting customers in without informing them well enough about what it was doing.

As AT&T’s post describes, the ISP argument is that since “other internet companies, including operating system providers, web browsers, search engines, and social media platforms” collect (for example) location data and aren’t regulated by the FCC, restricting an ISP from doing it is just confusing customers anyway.

The ISPs and their lobbyists have argued that the FTC should be in charge of all of this, however, AdAge explains, it’s unlikely that agency will impose such strict policies. While these companies can tell you what they’re not doing with your browsing history right now, it’s impossible to know if that will change based on regulations that may or may not come in the future. While we wait to see what ultimately happens to protect your data, I can point you to information about advertising opt-outs for AT&T, Comcast (TV & internet), and AOL/Verizon.

Source: AT&T, Comcast Voices, Verizon

YouTuber turns Nintendo Switch Joy-Con into remote for drawing with Surface Pro

Why it matters to you

The Nintendo Switch Joy-Cons are turning out to be surprisingly versatile, and anyone who uses illustration programs on a PC might want to try this out.

What are the Nintendo Switch Joy-Con motion controllers currently good for, besides playing Zelda and embarrassing yourself in 1-2-Switch? If you ask YouTuber Brad Colbow, the answer is “making art on a Microsoft Surface Pro.”

Colbow used Bluetooth to connect his Joy-Cons to the Surface tablet, plus a key-mapper to tell the buttons what to do, and was able to use the left Joy-Con controller to change brushes, undo actions and more in various illustrating programs.

Connecting the Joy-Cons (or even the Switch Pro Controller) to a PC or Mac is easy — follow our guide if you want exact steps, but the gist is you hit the sync button on the controller then simply find it in your computer’s Bluetooth menu. Once he had the left Joy-Con connected, Colbow used programs like JoyToKey (on Windows) and Joystick Mapper (on MacOS) to map the motion controller’s buttons to specific keys and functions. With a stylus in his right hand and the Joy-Con in his left he said he’s able to save time and feel more comfortable as he draws.

More: How to use Nintendo Switch Joy-Con and Pro Controllers on PC

Granted this would work with any Bluetooth controller, as Colbow pointed out, including the Xbox One controller and Sony’s DualShock 4. But the main perk of the Joy-Con is that it fits easily in one hand, Colbow said.

“I like buttons, the kind you can touch and feel with your fingers,” he said. “What I like about [the Joy-Con] is how comfortable it is to just hold in your hand and use.”

Eventually the Switch homebrew community will likely come up with ways to use the Joy-Cons as motion controllers with a PC and enable even more robust drawing programs. Tilt Brush on HTC Vive is fantastic, after all, but it would be even better to get a version that uses the Joy-Cons to draw in 3D space instead of an expensive VR headset.

YouTuber turns Nintendo Switch Joy-Con into remote for drawing with Surface Pro

Why it matters to you

The Nintendo Switch Joy-Cons are turning out to be surprisingly versatile, and anyone who uses illustration programs on a PC might want to try this out.

What are the Nintendo Switch Joy-Con motion controllers currently good for, besides playing Zelda and embarrassing yourself in 1-2-Switch? If you ask YouTuber Brad Colbow, the answer is “making art on a Microsoft Surface Pro.”

Colbow used Bluetooth to connect his Joy-Cons to the Surface tablet, plus a key-mapper to tell the buttons what to do, and was able to use the left Joy-Con controller to change brushes, undo actions and more in various illustrating programs.

Connecting the Joy-Cons (or even the Switch Pro Controller) to a PC or Mac is easy — follow our guide if you want exact steps, but the gist is you hit the sync button on the controller then simply find it in your computer’s Bluetooth menu. Once he had the left Joy-Con connected, Colbow used programs like JoyToKey (on Windows) and Joystick Mapper (on MacOS) to map the motion controller’s buttons to specific keys and functions. With a stylus in his right hand and the Joy-Con in his left he said he’s able to save time and feel more comfortable as he draws.

More: How to use Nintendo Switch Joy-Con and Pro Controllers on PC

Granted this would work with any Bluetooth controller, as Colbow pointed out, including the Xbox One controller and Sony’s DualShock 4. But the main perk of the Joy-Con is that it fits easily in one hand, Colbow said.

“I like buttons, the kind you can touch and feel with your fingers,” he said. “What I like about [the Joy-Con] is how comfortable it is to just hold in your hand and use.”

Eventually the Switch homebrew community will likely come up with ways to use the Joy-Cons as motion controllers with a PC and enable even more robust drawing programs. Tilt Brush on HTC Vive is fantastic, after all, but it would be even better to get a version that uses the Joy-Cons to draw in 3D space instead of an expensive VR headset.

How do you make a portable, waterproof drone? Give it inflatable arms

Why it matters to you

An inflatable drone? The concept may seem strange, but the Diadon has a number of unique features, including waterproofing and a light profile.

As DJI and GoPro create portable drones with folding arms, French start-up Airvada has a different approach: inflatable arms. The Airvada Diadon is (most likely) the worlds first inflatable drone that deflates down and folds into less than eight inches of space.

But besides deflating like a beach ball at the end of a shoot, the inflatable build of the Diadon also lends a number of other characteristics. Water isn’t an issue and the company says the drone can fly in the rain as well as surviving water landings unscathed. Airvada says the drone is ready to deploy in just 60 seconds, and post-flight, deflating, and folding the drone takes just as long.

More: Look, up in the sky! It’s a kite! It’s a camera! It’s the Fotokite Phi drone!

Still laughing at the idea of a beach ball drone? The Diadon could have a serious edge in weight class, since the lightest option weighs just 0.44 pounds, which slides in under the FAA’s 0.55-pound requirement for registering a drone and for obtaining a license to fly commercially, though it’s unclear if that weight includes the HD camera the company suggests flies with the lightest drone. Despite the light weight, the drone’s battery lasts a rather average 20 minutes of flight time.

The company also offers two larger versions, the 0.88-pound MP40 and the 3.3-pound HP150, designed to carry heavier equipment such as a thermal camera or a camera with a gimbal, with the flight time increasing to 30 and 35 minutes from the larger size.

The lightweight drone includes a control tablet, a compact pump to inflate the drone and a carrying case. The pump reportedly uses CO2 cartridges for that quick inflate time. Pricing has not yet been released.

While the Diodon is probably the first of its kind, the company isn’t the first to adapt beach ball qualities to make drones more lightweight. Last year, Panasonic introduced the prototype Ballooncam, a regular drone stuffed inside an inflatable, making it safe to fly over crowds even in the event of a crash.

Getting a Galaxy S8? Discounted peripherals turn your new phone into a PC

The Samsung Galaxy S8 is set to launch soon, and a unique new feature of the phone that has generated a lot of buzz is its ability to convert into a desktop computer via the DeX dock. While certainly not a full desktop replacement, the DeX could be a huge boon to remote workers and others who want to take their work with them without having to lug around a laptop computer.
If you’re planning to get a Samsung Galaxy S8 and the DeX dock looks like something you mightpick up, we’ve collected some current deals on monitors, keyboards, and mice to help you save some cash. These peripherals, when used with the DeX, make it easy to create a simple desktop setup as an alternate workstation – all while keeping all of your important files and programs right on your Galaxy S8 smartphone.

Acer H226HQLbid 21.5-inch monitor

The DeX dock can hook up to virtually any display with an HDMI input, and the Galaxy S8 itself is capable of Full HD output, so anything with more than a 1080p resolution might be overkill. If a basic monitor is all you need, the Acer H226HQLbid is an inexpensive option. The 21.5-inch screen features power-efficient LED backlighting and IPS technology for accurate colors even at wide viewing angles, while the sleek zero frame design offers a near-borderless picture without chunky and distracting bezels. Use the checkout code EMCRDDR44 for a combined discount of $40, which brings this 1080p monitor down to $90 on Newegg until Wednesday, April 5.

$90 on Newegg with code EMCRDDR44

Samsung C24FG70 24-inch curved monitor

If the Acer monitor leaves you wanting something more for your DeX dock setup, or if you simply want one of those fancier curved displays, Newegg has the 24-inch Samsung C24FG70 on sale for $280. This curved 1080p monitor features FreeSync for minimized screen tearing and stuttering, a refresh rate of 144Hz, and a 3,000:1 static contrast ratio for crisp light and deep, dark colors. A snappy 1ms response time practically eliminates input lag, and a dual-hinged arm support provides a wide range of motion for adjusting the display. The checkout code EMCRDDR45 combines with a $50 discount for a total savings of $70, bringing the Samsung C24FG70 down to $280 though April 5.

$280 on Newegg with code EMCRDDR45

Tomoko 87-key mechanical keyboard

Two USB ports on the DeX dock serve as connection points for standard desktop PC peripherals, which is handy if you prefer mechanical keyboards that are typically wired. If you spend long hours typing and enjoy the satisfying tactile feedback of mechanical switches, the 87-key Tomoko keyboard is both highly rated and extremely affordable. The Tomoko’s blue switches promote great typing accuracy while providing the audible clicking sound that mechanical keyboards are known for. N-key rollover increases accuracy even further by correctly registering every keystroke when multiple keys are pressed at once, a nice feature typically not found on cheaper rubber dome keyboards. A $26 discount brings the top-selling Tomoko mechanical keyboard down to just $34 on Amazon.

$34 on Amazon

Logitech K400 wireless keyboard with touchpad

If mechanical keys aren’t a requirement for you and you prefer something wireless, there’s the Logitech K400 keyboard with a built-in touchpad, which can purchased for $26 from Amazon after a 35 percent discount. The K400 provides wireless capability via the Android-friendly USB Unifying receiver with a signal range of up to 10 meters. Silent keys work together with a large 3.5-inch touchpad for an all-in one peripheral if desk space is limited or you just don’t want to get a separate mouse. Two included AA batteries give the K400 wireless keyboard an estimated battery life of 18 months.

$26 on Amazon

Logitech M535 Bluetooth mouse

The compact Logitech M535 is an excellent choice for a wireless mouse that doesn’t require a USB receiver thanks to its Bluetooth capability,. It frees up a USB port on the DeX dock for other accessories. The M535 works with any Bluetooth-capable Android device, meaning it can sync directly with your Galaxy S8, and the included AA battery provides up to 10 months of power with regular use. Normally $40, a $10 discount brings the black Logitech M535 Bluetooth mouse down to $30 on Amazon. If black isn’t your style, the blue model can be had for just $26.

$30 on Amazon

Microsoft Comfort Desktop 5050 curved keyboard and mouse

For a full-sized work setup that is more suitable for long hours of use, consider the ergonomically-designed Microsoft Comfort Desktop 5050 curved keyboard and mouse. The keyboard’s curved palm rest encourages a more natural wrist alignment when typing for extended periods of time, while the larger mouse fills your hand and is a good option if you find touchpads and compact mice to be awkward and uncomfortable. The keyboard offers a full set of 125 keys and includes programmable shortcut buttons for your most-used programs and functions. The no-nonsense Microsoft Comfort Desktop 5050 package usually goes for $70 but is currently available from Best Buy for $49.

$49 on Best Buy

Grace Digital GDI-BTSP201 Bluetooth speakers

Topping off our peripheral roundup are the Grace Digital GDI-BTSP201 Bluetooth speakers. While not a requirement for a complete DeX dock desktop, a good pair of Bluetooth speakers will greatly enhance your enjoyment of music and other entertainment. The GDI-BTSP201 speakers can also be used completely separate from the DeX setup since they connect right to your Galaxy S8 smartphone via Bluetooth. AptX technology delivers crisp, quality sound optimized for streaming, and built-in playback buttons let you control your audio without having to fiddle with your phone or remove it from the dock. The Grace Digital Bluetooth speakers got a great rating from our review team back when they were still $200, but they are now available from Amazon for just $100.

$100 on Amazon

Getting a Galaxy S8? Discounted peripherals turn your new phone into a PC

The Samsung Galaxy S8 is set to launch soon, and a unique new feature of the phone that has generated a lot of buzz is its ability to convert into a desktop computer via the DeX dock. While certainly not a full desktop replacement, the DeX could be a huge boon to remote workers and others who want to take their work with them without having to lug around a laptop computer.
If you’re planning to get a Samsung Galaxy S8 and the DeX dock looks like something you mightpick up, we’ve collected some current deals on monitors, keyboards, and mice to help you save some cash. These peripherals, when used with the DeX, make it easy to create a simple desktop setup as an alternate workstation – all while keeping all of your important files and programs right on your Galaxy S8 smartphone.

Acer H226HQLbid 21.5-inch monitor

The DeX dock can hook up to virtually any display with an HDMI input, and the Galaxy S8 itself is capable of Full HD output, so anything with more than a 1080p resolution might be overkill. If a basic monitor is all you need, the Acer H226HQLbid is an inexpensive option. The 21.5-inch screen features power-efficient LED backlighting and IPS technology for accurate colors even at wide viewing angles, while the sleek zero frame design offers a near-borderless picture without chunky and distracting bezels. Use the checkout code EMCRDDR44 for a combined discount of $40, which brings this 1080p monitor down to $90 on Newegg until Wednesday, April 5.

$90 on Newegg with code EMCRDDR44

Samsung C24FG70 24-inch curved monitor

If the Acer monitor leaves you wanting something more for your DeX dock setup, or if you simply want one of those fancier curved displays, Newegg has the 24-inch Samsung C24FG70 on sale for $280. This curved 1080p monitor features FreeSync for minimized screen tearing and stuttering, a refresh rate of 144Hz, and a 3,000:1 static contrast ratio for crisp light and deep, dark colors. A snappy 1ms response time practically eliminates input lag, and a dual-hinged arm support provides a wide range of motion for adjusting the display. The checkout code EMCRDDR45 combines with a $50 discount for a total savings of $70, bringing the Samsung C24FG70 down to $280 though April 5.

$280 on Newegg with code EMCRDDR45

Tomoko 87-key mechanical keyboard

Two USB ports on the DeX dock serve as connection points for standard desktop PC peripherals, which is handy if you prefer mechanical keyboards that are typically wired. If you spend long hours typing and enjoy the satisfying tactile feedback of mechanical switches, the 87-key Tomoko keyboard is both highly rated and extremely affordable. The Tomoko’s blue switches promote great typing accuracy while providing the audible clicking sound that mechanical keyboards are known for. N-key rollover increases accuracy even further by correctly registering every keystroke when multiple keys are pressed at once, a nice feature typically not found on cheaper rubber dome keyboards. A $26 discount brings the top-selling Tomoko mechanical keyboard down to just $34 on Amazon.

$34 on Amazon

Logitech K400 wireless keyboard with touchpad

If mechanical keys aren’t a requirement for you and you prefer something wireless, there’s the Logitech K400 keyboard with a built-in touchpad, which can purchased for $26 from Amazon after a 35 percent discount. The K400 provides wireless capability via the Android-friendly USB Unifying receiver with a signal range of up to 10 meters. Silent keys work together with a large 3.5-inch touchpad for an all-in one peripheral if desk space is limited or you just don’t want to get a separate mouse. Two included AA batteries give the K400 wireless keyboard an estimated battery life of 18 months.

$26 on Amazon

Logitech M535 Bluetooth mouse

The compact Logitech M535 is an excellent choice for a wireless mouse that doesn’t require a USB receiver thanks to its Bluetooth capability,. It frees up a USB port on the DeX dock for other accessories. The M535 works with any Bluetooth-capable Android device, meaning it can sync directly with your Galaxy S8, and the included AA battery provides up to 10 months of power with regular use. Normally $40, a $10 discount brings the black Logitech M535 Bluetooth mouse down to $30 on Amazon. If black isn’t your style, the blue model can be had for just $26.

$30 on Amazon

Microsoft Comfort Desktop 5050 curved keyboard and mouse

For a full-sized work setup that is more suitable for long hours of use, consider the ergonomically-designed Microsoft Comfort Desktop 5050 curved keyboard and mouse. The keyboard’s curved palm rest encourages a more natural wrist alignment when typing for extended periods of time, while the larger mouse fills your hand and is a good option if you find touchpads and compact mice to be awkward and uncomfortable. The keyboard offers a full set of 125 keys and includes programmable shortcut buttons for your most-used programs and functions. The no-nonsense Microsoft Comfort Desktop 5050 package usually goes for $70 but is currently available from Best Buy for $49.

$49 on Best Buy

Grace Digital GDI-BTSP201 Bluetooth speakers

Topping off our peripheral roundup are the Grace Digital GDI-BTSP201 Bluetooth speakers. While not a requirement for a complete DeX dock desktop, a good pair of Bluetooth speakers will greatly enhance your enjoyment of music and other entertainment. The GDI-BTSP201 speakers can also be used completely separate from the DeX setup since they connect right to your Galaxy S8 smartphone via Bluetooth. AptX technology delivers crisp, quality sound optimized for streaming, and built-in playback buttons let you control your audio without having to fiddle with your phone or remove it from the dock. The Grace Digital Bluetooth speakers got a great rating from our review team back when they were still $200, but they are now available from Amazon for just $100.

$100 on Amazon

NASA’s new icy robots may help search for life on alien worlds

Why it matters to you

Liquid water is the starting place in our search for extraterrestrial life. These robots may help us find it.

Engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory are developing an array of robotic ice tools that may help uncover the frozen secrets of alien worlds. As part of the Ocean Worlds Mobility and Sensing study, each of these tools has been designed to collect samples from above or below the surface of icy moons such as Jupiter’s Europa.

“In the future, we want to answer the question of whether there is life on the moons of the outer planets — on Europa, Enceladus and Titan,” Tom Cwik, who leads JPL’s Space Technology Program, said in a news release. “We’re working with NASA headquarters to identify the specific systems we need to build now, so that in 10 or 15 years, they could be ready for a spacecraft.”

Liquid water offers one of our best bets for discovering extraterrestrial life. But, on an icy world, we’ll have to dig deep to access it.

More: This image search database is out of this world with 140,000-plus NASA photos

Among the new tools are wheels that enable rovers to navigate icy terrain, a folding arm that can stretch 33 feet to grab samples at a distance, and a projectile launcher than can shoot a sampling probe up to 164 feet.

Engineers have also adapted methods used on Earth, such as “melt probes,” which melt through snow and ice to help scientists study the regions below. But, since melt probes tend to be inefficient, they would freeze up long before they dug all the way through Europa’s crust, which is somewhere between 6.2 and 12.4 miles deep. JPL engineering fellow Brian Wilcox devised a new tool that uses a vacuum-insulated capsule to retain its energy with a big chunk of heat-source plutonium. A rotating saw blade attached to the bottom is used to grind through the ice.

“We think there are glacier-like ice flows deep within Europa’s frozen crust,” Wilcox said. “Those flows churn up material from the ocean down below. As this probe tunnels into the crust, it could be sampling waters that may contain biosignatures, if any exist.”

The prototypes are now under review by NASA.

Scientists at Northwestern have built a robot with its own menstrual cycle

Why it matters to you

A female reproductive system in a box, complete with its own menstrual cycle, will allow researchers to test drug impacts on the female body.

A robot with a menstrual cycle sounds like something out of Donna Haraway’s cyborg feminist manifesto.

In fact, it’s a new research project coming out of Northwestern University, where scientists recreated a female reproductive system in a box. Called Evatar, it goes one step further than the previous “organ on a chip” concepts used to test specific organ responses to certain drugs by creating an entire bodily system. That includes living tissues from a mouse ovary, as well as those from a human uterus, cervix, vagina, fallopian tubes, and liver — all of which communicate with one another using a state-of-the-art microfluidic platform.

“This system runs for a period of 28 days, which is the length of a woman’s menstrual cycle,” Julie Kim, Susy Y. Hung Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Northwestern, told Digital Trends. “The ovary provides human menstrual cycle level hormones — 14 days of estrogen, ovulation and 14 days of progesterone — that then stimulates the fallopian tube, uterus, cervix and liver. This is the world’s first multi-organ system in a dish that remains functional for a full menstrual cycle.”

More: Harvard’s 3D-printed heart on a chip hopes to make drug testing safer

Compared with the male-centric drug testing of previous decades, Evatar is designed to give scientists a better understanding of the way in which various medicines and/or toxins affect women. This means testing aspects of drugs which may not affect men, such as whether they will affect ovarian function.

As Kim noted, “There are well-established sex differences of drug responses that are usually not known until women take the drug and experience adverse effects.”

Right now, the project has reached the end of its first phase. Next up, the team wants to work on incorporating models of diseases that affect the female reproductive tract, such as uterine fibroids, endometriosis, and cancer.

“As I was responsible for the uterus portion of Evatar, I would like to add other important components of the lining of the uterus such as blood vessels and immune cells that work in concert with the cell types currently in our system,” Kim said. “This would allow us to potentially study complex processes such as menstruation and test compounds for disorders including heavy uterine bleeding that affect women. Also, we are interested in generating specific cells of the reproductive tract from stem cells in order to provide a system that is more personalized.”

And men shouldn’t get too worried, either, as a male version of Evatar — called Adatar — is also on the way. consisting of cells from the male reproductive tract.

“So lots more to do,” Kim said.

Twitch improves its streaming options, now supports 1080P and 60fps

Why it matters to you

As long as you have at least a six-megabit upload speed, then you can now stream on Twitch at Full HD and 60fps.

If you’re a Twitch game streamer, then you will want to go check your internet connection and see how fast your upload speeds can get. The streaming service upped its game significantly, offering 1080P and 60fps streaming support, and so it’s not just your download speed that you will want to pay attention to.

Obviously, there are significant quality advantages to streaming at Full HD resolutions at the sweet spot of 60fps. But the Twitch blog took a few minutes to outline just what the change means and some things that you will want to consider before you go the high-resolution route.

More: Get excited, gamers — Twitch is about to release a desktop app beta

In support of the new high-quality spec, Twitch is removing the 3.5-megabit “ingest” limitation, which for streamers means their upload speeds. While it recommends three to six megabits in general, they push their recommendation to the upper end of that range for the highest-quality broadcasters. If your internet service provider isn’t providing you with a consistent six-megabit upload speed, then you will want to reconsider streaming at the highest rate.

Twitch has you covered there as well, as it is now supporting numbered quality options, or transcodes, providing more options for when your source is of lower quality or you’re not hitting those bandwidth requirements. You can check out recent transcode updates that the company implemented for further assurances that you can achieve a quality broadcast.

Finally, Twitch provided a way for you to check on whether or not your channel has been enabled with the quality options. Go to the Twitch Inspector and look at your latest stream data. If it includes a “Transcode V2” indicator, then you are all set. The company is rolling things out and so if you’re not ready yet, keep checking back.

You can go to stream.twitch.tv to research some options on how to set up your stream. In the meantime, you can start planning your next streaming sessions with an eye toward providing your audience with Full HD at a robust 60fps.

LED vs. LCD TVs Explained: Which TV type is better, and why?

Creating or upgrading a home theater setup often comes down to one major question: what kind of TV should I get? While there are several types of TV, two terms come up pretty often: LED TVs and LCD TVs.

But what’s the difference? It’s a question we hear a lot from budding home theater shoppers, but shouldn’t. Blame the acronyms. Here’s the quick answer: An LED TV is an LCD TV, but how the two came to be confused with each other might come as a surprise.

Once you’ve got a better grasp on LED and LCD TVs, check out our list for the best TVs you can buy for suggestions of our favorite picks of what’s currently available.

An LED TV is an LCD TV

Despite having a different acronym, an LED TV is just a different type of LCD TV. The proper name would actually be “LED-backlit LCD TV,” but that’s too much of a mouthful for everyday conversation, so people generally just refer to them as LED TVs.

Both types of TV make use of a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel to control where light is displayed on your screen. These panels are typically composed of two sheets of polarizing material with a liquid crystal solution between them, so when an electric current passes through the liquid, it causes the crystals to align so that light can (or can’t) pass through. Think of each crystal as a shutter, either allowing light to pass through or blocking it out.

Now, since both LED and LCD TVs use LCD technology, you’re probably wondering what the difference is. Actually, it’s about what the difference was. The LCD TVs you think of now no longer exist. Here’s why: Backlighting. Older LCD TVs used cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFLs) to provide backlighting, whereas LED TV’s used an array of smaller, more efficient light emitting diodes (LEDs) to illuminate the screen, which gave them a few advantages. Now, all LCD TVs use LED lights, and are colloquially considered LED TVs. Here’s how that works.

Backlighting

There are three different forms of illumination used in LCD TVs: CCFL backlighting, full array LED backlighting, and LED edgelighting. Each of these illumination technologies are different from one another in important ways, and each have pros and cons. Let’s dig into each.

CCFL Backlighting

CCFL backlighting is an older form of technology that has mostly been abandoned, though some manufacturers do use CCFLs in lower tier LCDs since they’re cheaper to make. A series of CCFLs sit across the inside of the TV behind the LCD display. The lights illuminate the crystals fairly evenly, which means all regions of the picture will have similar brightness levels. This affects some aspects of picture quality, which we discuss on the next page. Since CCFLs are larger than LED arrays, CCFL LCDs tend to be thicker than their LCD counterparts. As this is an outdated technology, you won’t find many models using this style of illumination. A few tend to crop up here and there, but they’re almost always on the cheaper end of the spectrum.

Full array backlighting

Full array backlighting swaps the outdated CCFLs for LEDs. An array of LEDs spans the back of the LCD screen, with zones of LEDs can be lit or dimmed in a process called local dimming (we go deeper into how local dimming works on the next page). TVs using full array LED backlighting make up a chunk the high-end LCD TV market, and with good reason — with more precise and even illumination, they can create better pictures than CCFLs LCD TV were ever able to achieve. Plus, they’re less of a power drain than CCFL LCDs were. Given these benefits, the shift to LEDs as industry standard made a lot of sense.

Edge lighting

Another form of LCD screen illumination is LED edgelighting. As the name implies, edgelit TVs have LEDs along edges of a screen. Within this lighting type there are a few different configurations, including: LEDs along just the bottom; the top and bottom; left and right; and along all four edges. These different configurations result in differences in picture quality, but the overall brightness capabilities still exceed what CCFL LEDs could achieve. While there are some drawbacks to edgelighting when compared to full array or direct backlight, the upshot is edgelighting allows for manufacturers to make thinner TVs and costs less to manufacture.