Edge lit is a backlight design used in many LCD televisions, where the LED light sources sit only along the edges of the panel, usually the top, bottom or sides, rather than spread across the whole back of the screen. The light is then guided and diffused across the panel by a light guide plate.
The main practical benefit of edge lighting is a slimmer, lighter television, and it is common on smaller and more affordable models. The trade off is less precise control over brightness in different parts of the picture, since dimming zones, where they exist at all, tend to run in wide bands rather than a fine grid, which can make bright and dark areas of the same scene harder to render accurately together.
For viewers who care most about contrast and handling of mixed bright and dark scenes, a full array backlight with many dimming zones, including Mini-LED designs, usually performs better than edge lighting. See full array local dimming for how that comparison plays out.
