On the Los Angeles Conference Heart, two 85-inch TVs sit aspect by aspect inside a Nanosys convention room at Show Week — an annual convention between corporations centered on the know-how that goes into shows of all sorts. One TV was a tiny LED panel with tremendous quantum dots, and the opposite was an RGB LED — the most well liked TV development of the yr. Each TVs have been exhibiting the identical content material on the identical time to focus on the variations between the 2 applied sciences — or extra particularly, to point out the potential failings of RGB LED backlighting when in comparison with tremendous quantum dot (SQD), which makes use of blue LEDs for backlighting.
Possibly I ought to point out that Nanosys is the corporate that made the quantum dots within the first TV.
The TV on the appropriate, which accommodates Nanosys tremendous quantum dots, is labeled as TCL X11L – The striped decrease grille confirms this – and the opposite was almost certainly the TCL RM9L. Nanosys hasn’t confirmed this, however I’ve personally seen RGB LED TVs from Hisense, Samsung, LG, and Sony, and that is not the case. Jeff Yurek, Nanosys’ vice chairman of selling, instructed me that each TVs have been in Filmmaker mode and the colours have been set to native mode to permit each to achieve the widest doable gamut.
As a fast refresher, RGB LED TVs use purple, inexperienced, and blue LEDs grouped into zones to create a coloured backlight primarily based on the picture displayed on the display screen. In idea, this provides the TV extra vibrant and saturated colours than small LED TVs just like the blue-backlit X11L, with out having to rely solely on quantum dots. the Fundamental potential situation It’s that the coloured gentle offered by the backlight will leak into neighboring pixels or areas that differ in coloration, leading to what is known as coloration crosstalk. In follow, this could trigger a shiny purple shirt or hat to show the wearer’s pores and skin purple. And that is precisely what this demo confirmed.
Throughout the complete demo, the identical video feed was despatched to each TVs. One slide confirmed three rows: two rows of bins in major and secondary colours—blue, inexperienced, purple, cyan, magenta, and yellow—and a 3rd with a skinny white cross on a black background under every coloration field. The highest row of bins will then swap between a stable field and one with a white cross inside. On an RGB LED TV, when the white cross appeared within the high row, it was simple to see the colour of the realm across the cross grow to be barely lighter and fewer saturated. The colour overlap didn’t simply happen throughout the high row of squares; The field coloration from the center row additionally bleeds clearly into the underside row of crosses. That is proven on tv Coloration Gradient BT.2020 Measurements too, with the introduction of the white cross, decreasing the general protection of BT.2020, extra dramatically with the blue and inexperienced coloration dots.
However until you are a measurement freak like me, you will not be watching stable blocks of coloration in your TV for enjoyable. The impact can be current in pores and skin color, which is straightforward to note as people. Simply as the colour of the blocks bleeds into the white cross, so the coloured background bleeds into the pores and skin tone; Nonetheless pictures of a lady’s face with a coloured background triggered her pores and skin tone to shift towards the background coloration. To verify my eyes weren’t the reason for the colour bleeding, not like the TV, I used binoculars to focus solely a part of the girl’s face, blocking the remainder from my view. I may nonetheless inform which background coloration was displayed by the change in her pores and skin tone.
The SQD TV didn’t present any coloration fringing. It additionally has higher distinction, which is as a result of variety of dimming zones. The X11L is marketed as having as much as 20,000 eating areas In keeping with Scoresthe 85-inch mannequin has 14,400 — a nonetheless spectacular quantity. I am instructed the RGB LED TV used on this comparability has about 8,000 dimming zones. One motive the quantity is so low is that every dimming zone on an RGB TV, at a minimal, wants three LEDs – purple, inexperienced and blue – and these take up area. However when the backlight consists of solely blue LEDs, a single LED generally is a dimming zone, offering higher management.
All of this may be realized within the precise content material. Throughout a fast-moving, fast-cutting motion scene, I may nonetheless inform the variations as the intense colours affected these round them, particularly with pores and skin tones. In evening scenes, the distinction distinction was noticeable. If the RGB LED TV was within the room by itself, with out an SQD TV to check, I do not assume the colour interference would look as stark. Our eyes can rapidly adapt to visible issues, and we cease noticing them. However eliminating the comparability doesn’t get rid of the issue.
This isn’t solely new info. Trade consultants have been involved in regards to the potential for coloration fringing in RGB LED TVs because the know-how debuted at CES 2025. These issues have elevated as extra RGB LED TVs hit the market this yr. LG Show, significantly an OLED panel maker that competes instantly with RGB LED, Produced movies A couple of weeks earlier than this yr’s CES, the issues are highlighted.
In fact, each Nanosys and LG Show have vested pursuits in downplaying RGB TV know-how. And the efficiency of a single RGB LED TV would not inform the story everybody RGB LED TVs. I did not discover any crosstalk points after I checked Hisense UR9though the extra I noticed different RGB LED TVs, the extra I assumed Hisense would possibly bypass the issue and return to a white backlight, not RGB, the extra colours there can be on the display screen. And the processing capabilities of Sony’s upcoming RGB LED TVs may make coloration fringing a non-issue on these units. And we’re nonetheless originally of the RGB LED TV story. As know-how continues to evolve and enhance, these points must be mitigated. However for 2026, it appears like SQD a minimum of may have the higher hand.
