Why TV Giants Are Betting On RGB-Mini LED？

From volume partitioning to volume scale, in the new year, in the Mini LED backlight track, the leading TV brands have shown their new tricks this year - launching RGB-Mini LED mass-produced models one after another. Why are the global TO4 TV brands pushing RGB-Mini LED solutions? What signals are released behind it? Based on this, Experts Say Display will discuss the following three major issues:

1) What is the progress of the TOP 4 TV brands?

2) What is the difference between the RGB-Mini LED solution and the ordinary Mini LED?

3) Why choose to launch at this time point?

 

                                    1) . The world's top 4 TV brands push RGB-Mini LED technology to the market

At the two major consumer electronics exhibitions at the beginning of this year, Hisense, TCL, Samsung, and Sony successively exhibited RGB-Mini LED solution products.

Hisense launched the 116-inch TriChroma LED TV equipped with RGB-Mini LED technology for the first time at CES, and then officially exhibited the RGB-Mini LED TV 100UX in China in February; at the end of March, Hisense released the world's first RGB-Mini LED TV, of which the 116-inch UX RGB-Mini LED TV is priced at 99,999 yuan, and reservations are now open on JD.com. The low-end versions of 85 and 100 inches are priced at 27,999 yuan and 49,999 yuan respectively, but they have not yet been put on the shelves.

 

 

At this year's CES, TCL exhibited a prototype of RGB-Mini LED TV. According to supply chain information, TCL has conducted research on RGB-Mini LED earlier; TCL's flagship X series products, which are about to be mass-produced, will continue to use the universal partition technology and introduce RGB-Mini LED technology.

 

 

Samsung also exhibited its RGB Micro LED TV (backlight) prototype at CES 2025, which uses the micro RGB three-color LED backlight technology route. It is worth mentioning that Samsung has incorporated this technology route into its 2025 TV product line and plans to launch 75/85/98-inch (8K) RGB Micro LED TVs this year.

 

Sony officially announced its RGB-Mini LED TV technology at its Tokyo headquarters in mid-March and demonstrated a 75-inch prototype. It then used the AWE exhibition to release RGB-Mini LED technology in China. Unfortunately, Sony did not include the technology in its 2025 product line, but said that the TV with this technology would not be available until the following year.

 

                                                                 

                                                               02. Lay out the underlying logic of RGB-Mini LED

 

A. Start from the RGB-Mini LED technology itself.

The traditional Mini LED backlight is composed of multiple lamp beads, and each lamp bead emits a single color. The RGB-Mini LED solution integrates three-color LED chips in the same lamp bead, that is, it generates the target color by directly mixing the three primary colors of light, replacing the traditional white light LED color rendering mode that relies on KSF phosphor/quantum dot conversion - this technology is regarded by the industry as the "ultimate evolution of liquid crystal display" and even challenges the picture quality ceiling of QD-OLED.

 

In addition, based on public information from Hisense, TCL, Samsung, Sony and others, the core advantage of the RGB-Mini LED solution lies in the breakthrough improvement in picture quality such as color accuracy and color gamut coverage. At the same time, the solution avoids the problem of quantum dot light decay by independently driving the RGB three-color light sources, thereby increasing the product's service life.

 

 

Although the core of this technology is to upgrade the monochrome LED backlight to RGB-Mini LED, there are obvious differences from the traditional Mini LED backlight in terms of technology and effect. The most critical part mainly comes from the light-emitting chip (RGB-LED backlight chip) and the traditional light control chip.

 

Take Hisense as an example, it has overcome these two challenges.

 

First, Hisense's RGB-Mini LED chip is self-developed by its subsidiary Qianzhao Optoelectronics, which solves the key bottlenecks such as efficiency, life, color deviation, and color purity in the application of RGB three-color chips, and has now been mass-produced.

Second, Hisense's RGB light and color control picture quality chip solves the dual technical challenges of light control and three-primary color coordinated regulation faced by display devices after upgrading to RGB-Mini LED backlight system. In addition, Hisense adopts the architecture of dual light control of RGB backlight and LCD panel, redefining the full-chain coordinated system with picture quality chip as the core, and realizing the extreme synchronization of backlight and image.

 

 

At the same time, according to industry sources, TCL uses FPGA chip solutions in the light and color control part of the Mini LED product line. The core is to break through the computing power limitations of traditional ASIC chips through the self-developed "global halo control technology".

 

This is why, as mentioned above, domestic TV brands are ahead this time.

 

A very intuitive example: Hisense UX series RGB Mini LED TVs are independently controlling light through three-color chips, with a peak brightness of 4000 nits under a 10% window, which is 60% higher than ordinary Mini LEDs of the same level (about 2500 nits). It is also worth mentioning that the TV was launched at the end of March.

 

B. From the perspective of industrial technology competition.

Currently, Mini LED TV penetration is accelerating in 2024, driven by multiple favorable factors such as home appliance subsidies, large-scale sports events, game marketing, and shopping festivals. According to research data from Experts, the overall shipment volume of Mini LED backlit TVs in 2024 will be 8.2 million units, doubling that of 2023.

 

At the beginning of this year, 13 provinces continued the "home appliance subsidy" policy. In the short term, Mini LED TV sales will continue to grow, but it will no longer be a high-speed growth; in the long term, Mini LED backlight technology has entered a "steady climbing recovery period" and is showing a trend towards standardization.

 

However, the Mini LED products of mainstream brands are in a fierce "arms race" in terms of the number of partitions and peak brightness, and the differentiation space is narrowing, which urgently needs technological upgrades and breakthroughs. At the same time, the cost reduction and display effect advantages of OLED technology have enabled it to still occupy a certain position in the high-end market. The emergence of RGB-Mini LED is expected to become a new way for TV brands to increase their premium. In addition, RGB-Mini LED has greater potential in brightness, lifespan and cost, and can effectively cope with the competitive pressure of OLED.

 

                                                                                                03 Research Summary

In summary, the RGB three-primary color backlight system has achieved a leapfrog upgrade to the traditional Mini LED; this technology simplifies the Mini LED TV structure, further highlights the advantages of Mini LED in contrast, low power consumption and large size, and optimizes the thickness, which is expected to promote the benign iteration of the industry.

 

At present, the world's top 4 TV brands have all entered the market, which will become an important signal of technological innovation in the Mini LED industry. In particular, after years of development, liquid crystal display technology may enter a new cycle this year due to external influences. The industry needs new technological breakthroughs to promote industrial upgrading. RGB-MiniLED, as an innovative direction of liquid crystal display technology, provides new ideas and growth points for the development of the industry. In this context, the expert said that Research boldly speculates:

 

A. 2025 is the first year of RGB Mini LED TV application: 2025 will be an important turning point in the development of RGB Mini LED TVs - this is the first year for the key application of technology from the laboratory to the market. Although there is still a distance from full popularization, mainstream brands have begun to actively deploy: Sony, Samsung and other leading manufacturers have taken the lead in launching mass-produced models, and terminal applications have officially landed. However, to achieve large-scale commercialization, the optimization of the "dual-core" architecture, the solution to the signal crosstalk problem, and the improvement of the collaborative efficiency of the industrial chain are still technical thresholds that the industry must cross. The current high cost structure also indicates that the maturity of this technology still needs to go through a market cultivation period.

 

B. More manufacturers will join the camp in the future: Hisense and other manufacturers have taken the lead in deploying RGB Mini LED TVs. In view of the new development opportunities brought by this technology to Mini LED TVs, more manufacturers are expected to follow up.

 

C. Domestic supply chains are expected to seize the opportunity: On the road to promoting the mass production and maturity of Mini LED technology, in addition to the terminal brands' commitment to the deep cultivation and continuous education of the high-end market, the synergy between each link of the supply chain also needs to be strengthened. This technological upgrade is not only a competition of display solutions, but also a battle of coordination of the entire industry chain. With its strong manufacturing capabilities, flexible market response speed and deep understanding of local needs, the domestic supply chain is expected to be the first to grasp the opportunities brought by emerging technologies and market trends, thereby seizing market opportunities and gaining competitive advantages.