This year can be considered the year when Mini LED TVs truly exploded in popularity. The domestic Mini LED TV boom remains strong, with manufacturers like TCL, Hisense, Skyworth, Xiaomi, and Changhong launching multiple Mini LED products. It can be said that in the current LCD TV sector, the Mini LED technology has firmly established itself in the mid-to-high-end market and is developing vigorously.
Now, consumers are faced with a dilemma: with so many brands, manufacturers, and entirely different Mini LED TV specifications, how can they decide which Mini LED TV to buy? Or, what is the standard for judging the quality of a Mini LED TV? Of course, with the help of manufacturers and tech media, most people now understand that the key to purchasing a Mini LED TV is brightness and backlight zones, but apart from brightness and backlight zones, there are many other factors to consider. Let’s dive into those aspects.
Key Indicators: Backlight Zones and Peak Brightness
Regardless of the angle, backlight zones and peak brightness remain the most important indicators when purchasing a Mini LED TV, because these two fundamental factors largely determine the price, positioning, and picture quality of the TV. Of course, the specific picture quality still needs to be fine-tuned by the manufacturer; we can’t claim that higher backlight zones and brightness will always guarantee better picture quality, but at least we can say that higher backlight zones and higher brightness provide a solid foundation for achieving better picture quality.
The number of backlight zones can influence many things, with the most obvious impact being the actual contrast. It is related to many factors. Under the same hardware environment, the more backlight zones there are, the more control areas the TV has, and thus the higher the contrast it can produce. Based on the Mini LED TVs we have tested so far, this theory holds true, which is also closely related to the precision of local dimming. From practical tests, the contrast between hundreds of backlight zones and thousands of backlight zones shows a significant difference, but the improvement in contrast diminishes as the number of zones increases from thousands to tens of thousands. Of course, more backlight zones mean more precise control over backlighting, which helps improve picture quality and reduce the halo effect. Therefore, regardless of the specifics, more backlight zones have a positive impact on picture quality.
As for brightness, we have discussed before that a Mini LED TV needs at least 1000 nits of peak brightness to properly handle current HDR content. Naturally, the higher the peak brightness, the better. A higher peak brightness, under the same conditions, allows for more details in dark and bright areas. Even with HDR mapping, this still holds true. On the other hand, with the improvement of local dimming technology and picture quality engines, higher brightness combined with more backlight zones can significantly enhance contrast, transparency, and other aspects of the user experience.
Looking at the development of the entire film industry, the majority of movies and TV shows are currently mastered at a peak brightness of 1000 nits. However, with 4000 nits monitors becoming more popular in film studios, more movies will be produced with 4000 nits peak brightness. So from this perspective, a Mini LED TV capable of 4000 nits peak brightness has no real concerns for the future. Currently, high-end Mini LED TVs like the TCL X11G with a peak brightness of 5000 nits require no concern about HDR mapping when watching movies or TV shows. There will be no loss of detail due to insufficient brightness unless it’s a demo video.
However, we also acknowledge that higher peak brightness and backlight zones come at a cost. The more backlight zones and higher peak brightness, the higher the cost of the TV. But apart from backlight zones and peak brightness, many other factors determine the picture quality of a Mini LED TV, including software and hardware optimizations, some of which are even more important.
Panel Choice: VA Panels Remain the Best Option for Mini LED
As we’ve discussed before, we strongly advocate for VA panels in LCD TVs. The reason is simple: VA panels provide higher native contrast ratios than IPS or ADS panels. The difference in liquid crystal structure between panel types is a key factor in determining screen contrast. VA panels inherently offer better contrast than IPS panels. This ability allows VA panels to deliver deeper blacks, a characteristic that IPS/ADS panels cannot achieve. This is crucial for detail performance in dark scenes and overall picture clarity.
Mini LED technology is quite suitable for IPS and ADS panels, which inherently have weak contrast, because the use of more backlight zones and local dimming can improve contrast significantly. However, when compared to VA panels, IPS and ADS TVs, even with more backlight zones, still do not achieve a perfect contrast ratio. For example, while Mini LED TVs with ADS panels can achieve decent black levels at low brightness, the enhancement of black levels during brightness adjustments can result in a greyish picture, which lacks clarity. VA panels, due to their physical properties, are better at blocking light, meaning that even when brightness increases, the black levels remain lower, resulting in better overall contrast and deeper dark scene details.
Among the Mini LED TVs in China, most use panels from CSOT, HKC, and BOE. VA panels from CSOT have a native contrast ratio exceeding 5000:1, while IPS/ADS panels from LG and BOE can achieve a contrast ratio of 2000:1, which is good but still far from VA’s performance.
For large-size TVs, the most commonly used VA panels globally come from CSOT, AU Optronics, and HKC, with most major TV brands, including Samsung, Sony, and TCL, sourcing panels from CSOT. From a quality perspective, TCL’s CSOT VA panels are generally superior to HKC’s VA panels, especially the 8Domain high-end VA panel from CSOT, which not only offers better contrast but also improved viewing angles compared to older models.
For high-quality Mini LED TVs, choosing CSOT VA panels is essential.
Halo Control: Minimizing the Halo Effect is Key to Excellent Mini LED TVs
Since Apple introduced Mini LED backlighting in the iPad Pro, the halo effect has been a challenge across all devices—tablets, monitors, and TVs. Whether on a Mini LED TV, IPS panels, or VA panels, the halo effect remains a persistent issue. For manufacturers, minimizing this effect is a critical challenge. Halo (also known as glare) occurs when light from a TV’s backlight extends beyond its intended area, causing a blurry effect on the edges of images. This issue results from imprecise control of backlighting, causing light leakage between neighboring backlight zones.
As seen with various Mini LED TVs, the halo effect is not directly related to the brand’s picture quality optimization capability. Even Sony, a recognized leader in picture quality, experiences visible halos in their Mini LED TVs. Additionally, the type of panel does not significantly impact halo formation, although IPS panels typically show more pronounced halos due to their inherent brightness uniformity issues. Essentially, the halo effect is a product of imprecise local dimming. With the increasing number of backlight zones in Mini LED TVs, the precision of backlight control must match pixel-level accuracy to reduce this effect.
To reduce halo effects, there are typically two solutions for Mini LED TVs. One involves reducing the OD (Optical Distance), which determines the distance between the backlight PCB and the diffusion panel. The shorter this distance, the more focused the light will be, resulting in better halo control. Generally, an OD value of 2-5mm effectively eliminates halos, with 8-10mm showing no halos, while values greater than 20mm make halos difficult to control.
The second solution involves improving the lens in Mini LED light beads, ensuring that the light is properly shaped to match the desired backlight zone. As lens technology improves, halo control becomes more effective, and the overall brightness becomes more uniform.
In terms of halo control, TCL‘s Mini LED TVs are currently the most effective at minimizing halo effects. Their Q10G model showed significant improvements in halo suppression compared to other brands. Similarly, Samsung and Xiaomi have also made strides, while other brands may fall short in this area.
Backlight Control Algorithm: The Core of Mini LED TVs
The most critical aspect of Mini LED TVs lies in the backlight control algorithm. The key difference between Mini LED TVs and traditional LCD TVs is the increased number of backlight zones. The ability to manage these zones effectively is crucial to realizing the true potential of Mini LED technology. This includes several advanced technologies such as brightness calculation, space filtering, and dynamic contrast adjustment. Through local dimming, color depth, and black level enhancement, these algorithms play a significant role in improving the overall picture quality.
The reason why we talk about these technical problems of Mini LED TV is that there are more Mini LED TVS now, coupled with some price differences, so users tend to feel entangled. We certainly think that the number of backlight partitions and peak brightness are the higher the better, but we do not think that backlight partitions and peak brightness can determine everything about Mini LED TVS, as we said, panel selection, halo control and backlight control algorithm are also very important for Mini LED TVS. Sometimes the importance is even stronger than the backlight partition and peak brightness. This is also why some Mini LED TVS look very strong on paper, but they are not as good as models with weaker specifications.
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