As 2024 draws to a close, while OLED monitors have dominated the year, there is another category of displays making its way into everyday homes—Mini-LED monitors. However, the fact that Mini-LED monitors are now priced under ¥2000 (~$290) is not necessarily a good enough reason for you to buy one.
I. Stunning Results, Especially in HDR Scenarios
To make an LCD panel work, it requires a light source as a backlight. The early CCFL (cold cathode fluorescent lamp) tubes have been replaced by LEDs, and now Mini-LEDs—also called sub-millimeter LEDs—are gaining traction. These LEDs have 100μm (micrometer) LED crystals, which are significantly smaller than traditional LEDs.
Compared to traditional LED displays, Mini-LEDs allow for a higher density of LEDs on the screen. With more densely packed light sources, the content on the display appears more detailed. Additionally, when paired with Mini-LEDs, the monitor can better support local dimming technology, adjusting the brightness in different areas of the screen. This enhances contrast in regions that need to stand out, improving HDR (high dynamic range) content, making it closer to OLED panels, and even exceeding OLED displays in terms of peak brightness.
The following image compares the display effects and light source arrangements of traditional displays without local dimming, edge-local dimming, traditional local dimming, and Mini-LED local dimming from left to right.

II. To Achieve Perfect Results, the Cost Must Increase Significantly
In high-end Mini-LED screens, the number of local dimming zones is significantly higher. For example, in Apple’s Retina displays, the number of dimming zones for their laptops, tablets, and monitors ranges from over 2000 to more than 4000, achieving stunning and accurate display results.
Currently, most consumer-level Mini-LED displays have a maximum of 1152 dimming zones. The more dimming zones there are, the higher the cost, which may not be acceptable to consumers.
III. Do You Tolerate These Display Defects?
The “budget-friendly” Mini-LED monitors offer an HDR display effect with contrast close to OLEDs and brightness far exceeding OLEDs. However, when used in more everyday scenarios, turning on local dimming on Mini-LEDs may lead to certain display defects.
Light Bleed:
The first issue is light bleed, especially along the boundaries between dark and light areas. In severe cases, it can even exceed the light bleed found in traditional IPS panels, which are already known for this problem.

Halo Effects:
The second issue is halo effects. Budget-friendly Mini-LED monitors tend to employ aggressive local dimming calibration for the “wow factor” of high brightness. For instance, when the local dimming granularity is coarse (i.e., fewer backlight zones), it becomes easy to observe light bleeding into adjacent zones, resulting in a noticeable halo effect.

Viewing Angles and Color Accuracy:
The third issue concerns viewing angles and color accuracy. While most Mini-LED monitors are based on IPS panels, once local dimming is enabled, the halo effect, light bleed, and inconsistencies in local lighting make the effective viewing angle lower than that of traditional IPS panels. Moreover, enabling local dimming increases the panel’s heat output. In areas with poor heat dissipation, prolonged usage can cause slight shifts in the orientation of liquid crystals, leading to uniformity issues. This is why many users report seeing color shifts, such as a slight red/yellow/green tint, in certain areas after extended use.

IV. Conclusion: Is a Mini-LED Monitor Right for You?
If your primary use case involves HDR gaming or watching HDR content, a Mini-LED monitor can significantly enhance your viewing experience and is definitely worth the purchase. However, entry-level “budget-friendly” Mini-LED monitors, with aggressive dimming strategies and fewer dimming zones, may lead to issues like halos, as well as a somewhat exaggerated color style, which is best suited for users who prefer that effect. If color accuracy is important to you, be sure to buy a product with as many dimming zones as possible.
For daily use in SDR (standard dynamic range) environments, including web browsing, office work, productivity design, gaming, and movie watching, current entry-level Mini-LED monitors may fall short. Issues with dimming zones, calibration, and heat control result in insufficient defect suppression and user inconvenience. While turning off local dimming can improve some of these issues, it will significantly raise your purchase cost. For most users, opting for a high-end IPS or VA display, or even an OLED display, at a similar price point might be a better choice.
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