Japan’s Sanken Electric has developed a new type of cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) backlight for LCD TVs that’s as power-efficient as LED backlights but is supposedly up to 60% cheaper to mass-produce.

Approximately 90% of all LCD TVs currently on the market have CCFL backlights. A 32-inch LCD TV usually requires six CCFL tubes, but Sanken says their new lamps are so efficient that only two of them are enough (one at the top and another one at the bottom of the device).

The company also works on LED solutions for TVs but still expects sufficient demand for CCFL tubes for lower-end TVs in the future. Sanken plans to start volume production in one of their plants in Japan as early as this summer.

Via The Nikkei [registration required, paid subscription]