There are LCD. There are LED. And then there are LCD with LED. What exactly does that mean?

LCD is the technology to deliver the colour. LCD requires a backlight. In LCD TVs with LED, the LEDs provide the backlight.

Don't forget to explain OLED just incase.

A quick google said that all LED are really just LCD with LED. Is that true? If so, isn't that grossly misleading the consumers?

Don't worry about it, just buy plasma.

Yes, yes it is.

There are benefits to LED over original LCD when it come to dark and light levels. They don't match plasma from what I hear, but run cooler and more efficiently than plasma ever will be. OLED uses organic film layers. Essentially LCD uses a back light to display an image through a crystalline substance while LED can individually turn on and off individual pixels to enhance dark levels and increase pixel density. LED is better than LCD depending on the quality of the two items in question.

Yes, LED is just LCD with LED. The difference is that "Light Emitting Diodes" are mounted either along the edges or behind the LCD panel (edge-lit or back-lit, respectively) and allow for better contrast ratios (light to dark variance) than a standard LCD. Back-lit LED TVs (also known as "full array"), with local dimming offer the best picture.

However, OLED TVs are different. Unlike LEDs which rely on edge or back lighting, "Organic Light Emitting Diode" displays emit the light themselves and are prohibitively expensive for the consumer mass market beyond about 11 inches right now.

there are different types of "LED" TVs:

LED edge-lit:
the LEDs sit in the frame of the TV and not directly behind the LCD layer

advantages: good power savings; extremely thin TVs, cheap
disadvantages: no "local dimming" (no better contrasts than normal LCD); relatively slow color response times due to using LCD


LED back-lit:
the LEDs sit behind the LCD layer

advantages: "local dimming" possible, which can enhance contrasts, but the quality of this is dependend on the amount of LEDs and the processing power of the TV; still good power savings
disadvantages: more expensive; good local dimming can introduce additional TV-lag if it's processors aren't fast enough; TVs can't be build as thin; relatively slow color response times due to using LCD


OLED(/AMOLED):
the LEDs themselves produce the picture, there is no LCD layer; LEDs are made from organic substances

advantages: perfect local dimming, so extremely high contrasts are possible; TVs can be extremely thin; fast response times
disadvantages: colors deteriorate over time, especially the blue color; very expensive (as TV); needs very fast processors in the TV


"crystal" LED:
the LEDs themselves produce the picture, there is no LCD layer; LEDs are anorganic

advantages: perfect local dimming; can be extremely thin; colors don't deteriorate; fast response times
disadvantages: new technology and only one prototype has been shown up until now; needs very fast processors;probably extremely expensive (not even available for purchase at this time)

And for the record, as some have mentioned, many videophiles (including myself) prefer the look of plasma TVs because of their gorgeous picture quality, superb refresh rate (without the "video taped" look that a 240hz LCD/LED can cause), and their excellent off-center viewing quality.

The downside to plasmas, like Chark said above, is that they run HOT (we are talking about a gas based technology), and don't perform as well in brightly lit environments as LEDs which emit more light.