CES: Hisense Debuts 116-Inch TV Using New Kind Of MiniLED; And 136-Inch “MicroLED” TV

January 6, 2025 by Dave Haynes

The display highlight from Chinese manufacturer Hisense at CES today was arguably news of a 116-inch TV that uses independent red, green, and blue light chips in packages that have optical lenses, really amping what’s called local dimming on the screen.

Hisense is pitching that the RGB Local Dimming Technology featured on its new 116-inch TriChroma LED TV offers up “unparalleled colour precision, vibrancy, and efficiency.”  

Hisense’s RGB Local Dimming Technology, says PR, is a transformative innovation at the foundation of LED displays. Unlike traditional systems that rely on white or blue backlights filtered through a quantum dot filter to create colour, RGB Local Dimming Technology introduces independent red, green, and blue LEDs that generate pure colours directly at the source. This approach achieves richer reds, deeper greens, and more vibrant blues, delivering an industry-leading 97% of the BT.2020 colour space —the widest colour gamut ever achieved in a MiniLED display.

This precision is made possible by tens of thousands of RGB Local Dimming optical lenses, each containing individual red, blue and green LEDs. These lenses operate as independently controlled clusters, allowing for multi-level dimming at both the RGB chip level and the cluster level. This structure ensures stunning accuracy in brightness and colour reproduction, eliminating the inefficiencies of traditional colour filtering. The result is picture quality that sets a new standard for lifelike visuals, with breathtaking gradients, vibrant contrasts, and unparalleled realism in every scene. 

The benefits of RGB Local Dimming Display Technology go beyond colour. By generating colours directly at the light source, this innovation avoids the brightness loss of typical systems for better brightness. Additionally, colour dimming technology adjusts brightness and colour independently, virtually eliminating blooming while maintaining precise control over every pixel. 

RGB Local Dimming Display Technology also enhances energy efficiency and viewer comfort. By only illuminating the LEDs necessary for the displayed content, it reduces power consumption. Moreover, a 38% reduction in blue light emissions ensures a safer, more comfortable viewing experience for prolonged use—all without compromising on brightness or clarity. 

Like other premium displays coming on the market, this one leverages AI – with a chipset doing real-time optimization for enhancements like AI Peak Brightness, AI RGB Local Dimming, and AI Banding Smoother.

Hisense has also announced an even bigger TV – a 136-inch it says is its first consumer-ready MicroLED display.

This launch marks a pivotal milestone in making cutting-edge display technology more accessible to households, catering to the growing demand for larger, more immersive screens without compromising durability or long-term performance. By eliminating traditional backlight limitations, 136MX delivers precise contrast, lifelike colors, and a viewing experience that sets a new standard for the industry. By combining MicroLED display technology with its R&D expertise, Hisense is once again redefining the possibilities of home entertainment.

The 136MX builds on Hisense’s legacy of display innovation, leveraging a high-density array of over 24.88 million microscopic LEDs to deliver unparalleled brightness, resolution, and precision. Each pixel is its own light source, composed of independent red, green, and blue LEDs, eliminating the need for a traditional backlight. This self-emissive design achieves a near-infinite dynamic contrast ratio, delivering deep blacks, dazzling brightness, and remarkable clarity.

Unlike OLED, which can degrade or suffer burn-in with static content, MicroLED offers consistent, high-quality visuals for years, making it ideal for bright living spaces and dedicated home theater rooms alike.

There are no specs on the microLED, so I can’t say if this true microLED or miniLED, with the manufacturer adopting its own definition of what is microLED.  The LED light chips need to be sub 100 micrometers to meet the technical definition of microLED, and the VAST majority of product now marketed as microLED doesn’t meet the definition. Some manufacturers base their definition on pixel pitch, which is just marketing nonsense.

Whatever the case, both of these displays are trade show eye candy and not products you can head down to Costco and buy anytime soon. Neither of the announcements from Hisense came with MSRPs, but if you could buy one, I suspect the miniLED would be far less costly because of the most obvious thing (it’s smaller) but also because it is leveraging more established technology. MicroLED is still, in many respects, in a late-stage R&D phase.