"The origin of RGB MiniLED TV"
Chinese TV maker Hisense on the 5th (local time) hung a large advertising banner with this phrase at the entrance of the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC), the main venue of CES 2026, the world's largest IT trade show.
Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics unveiled new "micro RGB TVs" at this year's CES that are more precise than mini RGB but more technically challenging. With leadership of the liquid crystal display (LCD) TV market having shifted to China, their strategy is to leverage technology to achieve results in the premium market. Starting with the opening of CES 2026, a fierce battle over "RGB TV market leadership" between Korea and China is unfolding.
Hisense unveiled a mini RGB LED TV for the first time in the world at CES 2025 early last year. It showcased a 116-inch extra-large line to tout its technology and began actual sales in July last year to get a head start in the market.
RGB uses red, green, and blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs), the three primary colors of light, as the backlight behind the LCD panel instead of conventional white. It also reduces the size of LED chips to deliver a sharp picture. It not only achieves high brightness but also finely controls color, earning it the moniker "the ultimate in current LCD TV technology." Evaluation results indicated that the brightness of Hisense's 116-inch mini RGB LED TV measured around 5,000 nits (1 nit is the brightness of one candle in a 1 m² space).
Although Chinese companies released RGB TVs first, the industry consensus is that Korea is ahead in terms of technology. That is because the LED chip size used to realize RGB TVs is about four to five times smaller than in Chinese products. That is why Chinese TVs carry the name "mini" (chip size 100–500 µm) while Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics products carry "micro" (100 µm or less). The technology to precisely control each LED chip is also ahead. An electronics industry official said, "The quality of an RGB TV is determined by how precisely it controls smaller LED chips to render color," adding, "The actual picture quality customers experience varies depending on how precisely the LED backlight is controlled and how accurately the different wavelengths of RGB are reproduced."
Samsung Electronics highlighted its technology by unveiling a micro RGB TV at this year's CES. The larger a TV gets, the more difficult it is to manufacture. At this event, the company put front and center a 130-inch extra-large micro RGB TV added to its new lineup. The LED chip size was reduced to 100 µm or less. Following the world's first launch of a 115-inch model in Aug. last year, the company is targeting the premium market this year with an even larger size. It also diversified sizes to 55, 65, 75, 85, and 100 inches.
The technology to control each LED chip is also top-notch. Samsung Electronics applied technology to its new micro RGB TV that can maximize the "local dimming effect," which finely adjusts dark and bright areas to enhance contrast. It also equipped it with the latest artificial intelligence (AI) engine, "Micro RGB AI Engine Pro," to improve picture and sound quality. It achieved 100% of the BT.2020 coverage, a color accuracy metric established by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and obtained the "Micro RGB Precision Color 100" certification from VDE, a German testing and certification organization.
LG Electronics also introduced its first micro RGB TV, which won a CES 2026 Innovation Award, through its new TV unveiling event, "The Preview," on the 4th. In unveiling this product, the company emphasized not only the ultra-small LED chips but also the technology to control them. That is because it possesses organic light-emitting diode (OLED) TV technology, which is more demanding in controlling individual light sources than micro LED. LG Electronics has maintained the No. 1 position in global OLED TV for 13 years. The company said, "We applied the technology of OLED TVs, which control self-emissive pixels at the pixel level, to micro RGB TVs," adding, "We independently control micro LED TV light sources to deliver lifelike picture quality."
The product received "Triple 100% Color Coverage" certification from global testing and certification organization Intertek. It fully meets 100% of the broadcast standard (BT.2020), digital cinema standard (DCI-P3), and photo and graphics standard (Adobe RGB).
China's TCL has entered the mini RGB TV segment but is still showing a lack of technological maturity. According to market research firm Omdia, TCL's budget RGB mini LED TV was found to use two blue (B) chips and one green (G) chip without a red (R) chip.
Baek Sun-pil, head of Display CX at LG Electronics' MS Business Division (executive director), met with reporters at The Preview and said, "Mini RGB LED TVs use blue chips, while micro RGB uses three chips, including red, to create better color mixing," adding, "Red, with its longer wavelength, is the most difficult to control." Baek added, "The technological strength lies in whether the three different colored LED chips are driven well, and this point will ultimately make the difference in the market."
The tussle for market leadership between Korea and China seen at this year's CES surfaced not only in RGB TVs but also in exhibition strategy. Samsung Electronics left the LVCC Central Hall, where it had run its booth for more than 20 years, and set up a standalone exhibition at the Wynn hotel this year. Samsung Electronics had operated the largest exhibition space (3,368 m²) at the LVCC. The space Samsung vacated was taken by TCL. Hisense inherited TCL's previous exhibition space. Part of Hisense's space was taken by Changhong. LG Electronics, as in previous years, set up a 2,044 m² booth at the LVCC this year.