Abstract: Objective To evaluate of light emitting diodes (LEDs) for the fluorescent microscopic on the detection acid-fast bacilli (AFB) in sputa. Methods 194 sputa were collected from patients with symptoms suggestive of pulmonary TB who presented to Hunan Provincial Center for Tuberculosis Control and Prevention from January to April 2010, each sputum was detected by LED and Ziehl-Neelsen (Z-N) staining with liquid culture as a gold standard, the sensitivities and specificities of LED and Z-N were also evaluated. Comparative analysis was done with χ² test, and P<0.05 was regarded as significant. Results Of 68 culture-positive specimens, 35 specimens were Z-N positive and 45 specimens were LED positive. The sensitivities of Z-N and LED were 51.5% (35/68) and 66.2% (45/68), respectively. Of 122 culture-negative specimens, 121 specimens were Z-N negative and 119 specimens were LED negative. The specificities of Z-N and LED were 99.2% (121/122) and 97.5% (119/122), respectively. The sensitivity had significant difference between Z-N and LED (χ²=5.78, P<0.05), and the specificity had no significant difference (χ²=0.25, P>0.05). Conclusion LED has higher sensitivity and similar specificity compared with Z-N, is low cost and user -friendliness. LED have more potential to be used widely in low-income and high burden countries.