One of the biggest advances in TV design that came to light during CES 2021 is the mini-LED, the extra tiny light-emitting diodes used in the backlights of some of the latest and greatest smart TVs. 2021 is gearing up to be the year of LED mini TV, with Samsung and LG joining TCL in using mini LED LED backlight technology to make TVs better than ever.
Here is our quick overview of which TVs will feature mini-LEDs in 2021, because mini-LED is an improvement over traditional LCD devices and because this mundane sound technology is one of the most exciting developments for TV buyers in recent years. years.
Basics of Mini-LED
Mini-LED may seem like a relatively small change, but the technology offers real improvements for LCD-based TVs. Lighting and brightness are key factors in creating a great TV image. Along with color and contrast, brightness makes a big difference in how a TV can display an image. You can get a more detailed explanation of mini-LED technology in our guide Micro-LED vs. Mini-LED: What’s the difference?, but these are the general features.
As TVs have evolved over the decades, the technology used to put images in motion in our homes has changed dramatically. Although older cathode ray tube and plasma technologies and current OLED TVs are self-emitting (producing their own light), since switching to LCD panels, most TVs on the market have required a separate backlight as part of the screen the TV. This used to mean fluorescent lighting, but modern TVs use smaller, more efficient LED backlights.
Behind the LCD panel is one of several backlight options, producing the light that makes the TV screen shine. On basic TVs, this backlight can take the form of edge lighting, which surrounds the screen with LEDs, or full-set backlight, which uses an array of LED lights to provide consistent backlight across the screen. , and more premium TVs feature a full matrix with local dimming, which divides this lighting matrix into separate addressable zones. These zones can be lighted or darkened independently, with the brightness mapped to match the light or shaded parts of the screen for a more dynamic image.
This local dimming is one of the factors driving the introduction of HDR formats, with the LED’s brightness capable of reaching higher levels than previous fluorescent panels, with more controlled backlight. The result is a combination of lighting technology and media formatting that creates deeper shadows, brighter highlights and more vivid colors.
The Mini LED promises a significant improvement over this development, allowing for a much larger number of discrete dimming zones. Measuring about one-fifth the size of a standard LED light, mini-LEDs are very small. LEDs in the mini range are only 0.008 inches (200 microns) in diameter. The smaller LEDs illuminate a smaller part of the screen and can be grouped closer together, allowing for zones that are limited to a mere handful of pixels, rather than sections of the screen that can measure several square inches.
But that is not the only thing that the mini-LED offers. The smaller physical dimensions of these individual LEDs will also allow LCD TVs to be thinner than ever.
So, with mini-LEDs promising thinner TVs that look better and brighter than ever, you would expect a big jump in price and see this new technology on the most expensive models, right? Well, this is where the mini-LED offers its best feature – accessibility.
You’ll pay a little more for mini-LED-equipped TVs in the coming months, but probably not much. TCL’s impressive Roku Series 6 TVs offer mini-LED backlighting at an extremely reasonable price – less than $ 1,000 for everyone except the largest 75-inch model – and the improvements in image quality are clear. We can only hope that this same philosophy of concern for price will be applied to the newest models from Samsung and LG, but we will have to wait and see.
Manufacturers bet heavily on mini LED TVs
TCL presented its first mini-LED TV in 2019, but in 2020 TCL 6-Series Roku TV (R635) refined the technology and brought it to an affordable TV. The result was one of the best TV values we’ve ever seen, and Samsung and LG were clearly paying attention, as they both have new mini-LED TVs on the way this year.
And now that major manufacturers have turned their attention to mini-LEDs, new innovations built on these small diodes are already emerging.
Samsung plans to bring new technology to its premium 4K and 8K TVs this year with Samsung Neo QLED line. Samsung’s mini-LED technology includes tiny diffusers integrated into each mini-LED, eliminating the need for a separate diffuser panel between the backlight and the LCD.
Samsung is combining these mini-LEDs with its QLED LCD panels with enhanced quantum dots and calling the new models Neo QLED, and is taking center stage on all Samsung’s 4K and 8K premium TVs. We have loved Samsung QLED TVs in the past, so we look forward to seeing how new models are enhanced with new technology.
LG is also entering the wave of mini-LEDs, adding tiny backlights to several of its mid-range LCD TVs, which it is calling LG QNED.
LG is taking a different tack, adding mini-LED backlighting to its mid-range Nanocell TVs and updating these panels with hybrid technology that combines Nanocell filtering and quantum dot color enhancement. This trio of improvements could make LG’s new QNED TV line the best LCD-based TV on the market, but we will have to test it to be sure.
Finally, TCL is the only company offering LED mini-TVs that already has mini-LED sets on the market. After introducing the mini-LED to the Series 8 TVs in 2019 and the award-winning Roku TV Series 6 in 2020, TCL is presenting TCL OD-Zero, a new mini-LED implementation that eliminates the gaps between the mini-LED’s backlight and the LCD panel. The result should not only be thinner TV designs, but also an even better implementation of mini-LED.
TCL’s existing mini-LED designs will continue to sell throughout the new year, with the 2020 6-Series 4K sets continuing to be the flagship 4K offering in the new year. The TCL 6 Series model line will expand with new 8K models in 2021, but mini-LEDs will continue to be one of the defining characteristics of value-focused smart TVs.
Should you wait for a mini LED TV?
With new mini-LED TVs on the horizon, but at least a few months from now, the reasonable question for TV buyers is whether mini-LED is worth waiting for. Should you wait for a mini LED TV?
The answer is yes, but you don’t have to. Our Review of TCL 6-Series Roku TV (R635) considered the affordable smart TV an editor’s choice, in part because its mini-LED backlight provided superior dimming and brightness control, and is still at the top of our list of best TVs as the best value TV on the market.
If you want to wait for a similar mini-LED array from Samsung or LG, you’ll need to wait until the launch of these TVs this spring. We expect to get more details on models and prices in February, and we estimate that the new TVs will be launched in March or April.
From now on, unless you have the tightest budget, we will definitely recommend that customers opt for the mini-LED when it is available. The improvement in image quality is significant, and the increase in the price of TV is negligible, making it a must-have item for TV buyers next year.