Back at CES 2021 we saw (virtually) that the year ahead would be the start of LCD TVs with mini-LED-based display technology. Now, with LG launching its TVs in July, the games begin.

Recap:

• Samsung’s Neo QLED TVs offer mini-LED backlighting, with models including the 8K QN900A selling now for around $5,000 or so, with a range of screen sizes.
• LG announced its QNED technology as its first-ever mini-LED display, but until now, hadn’t put out its range. 
• There’s a nice deep write-up explaining LG QNED vs Samsung Neo QLED next-gen display tech, though the reality is they’re going to be fundamentally similar.
• OLED TVs remain the benchmark for superior contrast ratios, but mini-LED tech goes a long way towards closing the gap, while presenting advantages like a much brighter display, and, in theory, much longer endurance and reliability given that OLED is generally less robust.
• Last thing: Micro LED displays are the next great technology, offering the same per-pixel lighting of OLED, but without organic thin film, meaning smaller LEDs, brighter displays, and faster response times too. It’s a clear winner if the technology can be perfected, and Samsung does sell these TVs for more than $100,000 right now.

LG’s latest:

• Now LG announced it is getting its promised TVs to retail: It now offers an 8K QNED99 and QNED95 series models along with 4K QNED90 series models, in a range of sizes.
• Pricing wasn’t released yet but given it is a new technology, it isn’t exactly cheap. The only reference I’ve seen is a previous report from FlatPanelsHD, listing the 8K QNED99 at $5,000 for the 75-inch model, while the 4K QNED90 was listed at a reported $4,000 for the 86-inch model.
• LG says of its 86-inch 8K TV, “30,000 LED lights arranged to create about 2,500 local dimming zones to deliver 10 times better contrast ratio than conventional LCD TVs.”

By the way, mini ain’t mini:

• So, 30,000 tiny little LEDs offer way more dimming zones and performance than older types of LCD LED TVs. It’s still a lot of LEDs, and a better TV display than anything other than OLEDs.
• But the “mini” term for LED sizes is absolutely nothing like a standard. 
• For example, Apple’s latest 12.9-inch iPad Pro, with mini-LED tech (which Apple calls “Liquid Retina XDR”), packed 10,384 LEDs (techinsights.com) in an area that’s close to 97.5% smaller (displaywars.com).
• That means you can fit about 39 iPads into the same size as LG’s monster 86-inch TV. 
• And if you did that, it’d give you something like 410,000 mini-LEDs! Check my math! (Wolfram Alpha).
• I’d expect Samsung and LG to keep climbing up the mini-LED counts over the next generations….