Importantly, this is only a memorandum of understanding — nothing is finalized yet. Deals like this sometimes fall apart after initial agreement, so it’s not a done deal. Things could still change once both sides “open the books.”

Timeline and what to expect

If the joint venture does go through, real changes won’t begin until April 2027. That’s over a year away, and even then, it’ll take time for new decisions to impact products. In the TV business, new models are designed and developed a year or more in advance, so we likely won’t see the true effects of this partnership until 2028 or later — at least for TVs. The impact on home audio is less clear.

What does this mean for Sony and TCL?

Most likely, TCL will help with manufacturing and capital. TCL may already be manufacturing some Sony products, but its role would become more significant. It’s also likely that Sony will keep its name and identity, with Sony TVs remaining distinct. Sony’s engineering, intellectual property (IP), and the things that make a Sony TV a Sony TV aren’t just going to disappear. If anything, TCL’s resources might help make Sony TVs more affordable or expand the lineup.

Sony uses various manufacturing partners for different components, but its “secret sauce” lies in design, engineering, and especially its picture-processing technology. TCL, as a manufacturing and financial partner, could boost Sony at a pivotal time.

Industry context and speculation

Looking back, Japanese brands were hit hard after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, just as South Korean giants Samsung and LG were disrupting the U.S. TV market. Brands like Toshiba, JVC, and even Panasonic eventually exited the U.S. TV market. Sony survived by focusing on the premium segment — a risky move at the time, but one that paid off. Its products have remained excellent, though it’s unclear how solid the business has been behind the scenes.

It’s possible Sony needs a partner now for financial or operational reasons, and TCL is a logical choice. TCL and Hisense have put a lot of pressure on Samsung and LG recently. A TCL-Sony joint venture could be a massive power move in the home entertainment business, especially in the U.S. and in global markets such as Europe and India, where Sony has a strong presence. But TCL is a global company as well. And TCL does a lot more than just television. As I reported from CES, it spans a wide range of technologies, both inside and outside the home.

Potential impacts for consumers and the industry

If the deal goes through, it could mean positive changes for the TV industry. It’s not yet clear if TCL will get access to Sony’s IP, but some cooperation is likely. This could result in TCL TVs getting incremental performance improvements and Sony TVs becoming more accessible and affordable. However, I don’t think Sony will lose its identity — Sony has too much invested to let that happen.

Of course, we’ve seen mergers where a brand’s soul did fade (Sharp, Toshiba, Pioneer), but we’ve also seen brands thrive through ownership changes (like Denon and Marantz under Sound United and Harman, now owned by Samsung). There’s no reason to assume doom and gloom — there’s just as much evidence this could be a good thing.

What do you think? Is this a good move? Who benefits most? Or is this a bad sign for the industry? Leave a comment below and let’s dig into it.

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Dolby Vision 2 availability and long-term rollout

Let’s start with the fact that Dolby Vision 2 is a long play. We are starting to see support for Dolby Vision 2 in some of Hisense’s highest-end TVs. TCL will also make it available on some of its TVs.

So there are TVs you can buy in 2026 that have Dolby Vision 2 built in. That is exciting because even without Dolby Vision 2 content, there are benefits to having Dolby Vision 2 onboard your television that you can enjoy right now.

Hardware requirements and upgrade limitations

This leads me to the next thing I wanted to bring up: yes, there is indeed a hardware component to Dolby Vision 2. Right now, the MediaTek P800 SoC is the magic chip with a dedicated partition for running Dolby’s proprietary IP. That is what makes Dolby Vision 2 sing on a television.

So yes, the TV does need a piece of hardware to run it, which is why we’re not going to be able to get TVs that run Dolby Vision now updated to Dolby Vision 2. It has different hardware requirements, and so you’re not going to get your current TV upgraded to Dolby Vision 2. I know that comes as a bit of a disappointment, but it’s to be expected, since a lot more processing power is needed. Frankly, Dolby Vision 2 is doing a whole lot more.

Should you wait to buy a Dolby Vision 2 TV?

This raises the question: should I wait to buy a Dolby Vision 2 TV until there’s more Dolby Vision 2 content available? Dolby would tell you no, and I tend to agree. If the TV that you want to buy happens to have Dolby Vision 2, that’s great because it means you’re going to be able to enjoy some of what Dolby Vision 2 offers right off the bat.

Unfortunately, if you want to get it from another brand, you might have to wait a little bit longer. Right now, we only know that Hisense and TCL are implementing it in 2026 TVs. We have heard conclusively that LG is not including it. Samsung doesn’t do Dolby Vision at all. Word’s still out from Sony, but I don’t expect it to be doing it, because Sony tends to take a while to adopt new technologies.

Among the big five, Hisense and TCL are the ones moving forward, which is great news because they have some seriously hardcore TVs coming out at CES 2026.

Benefits without Dolby Vision 2 content

The benefits you can get from Dolby Vision 2 without Dolby Vision 2 content include superior tone-mapping capabilities. It’s going to give you a brighter, punchier picture with more detail when you want it, and it’s also going to rein that in when you don’t.

When you have cinematic 24-frames-per-second content, you don’t want oversharpening of the edges, and you don’t want to overdo certain highlights. Otherwise, you take away from the content's cinematic look or filmic feel.

Dolby Vision 2 vs. Dolby Vision 2 Max

There are two levels of Dolby Vision 2. There’s Dolby Vision 2, and then there’s Dolby Vision 2 Max. Max brings enhanced capabilities, most of which rely on an ambient light sensor built into the TV.

Since not every TV has an ambient light sensor, not every TV can feature Dolby Vision 2 Max. But it’s not like it’s more expensive to get to the Max level. We just need to see an ambient light sensor built in to unlock those enhanced features.

Dolby Vision 2 on inexpensive TVs

You will eventually start seeing Dolby Vision 2 in really inexpensive TVs. A lot of you might be thinking that if a TV is barely bright enough to do HDR, then what is Dolby Vision 2 really doing in that TV? It starts to sound like marketing hoopla instead of a real user benefit.

However, based on the demonstration Dolby gave us today, even in the $200 to $300 TV range — especially when the TV doesn’t have enough dynamic contrast on its own to make meaningful HDR — Dolby Vision 2 will optimize the look of HDR content for that TV. It’s going to make HDR look better.

A lot of people say their TVs don’t handle HDR well, and when HDR content can’t be turned off, it ends up looking terrible. Dolby is out to fix that problem. Dolby Vision content will look great on inexpensive TVs all the way up to the most expensive ones.

Dolby Vision IQ going forward

Dolby Vision IQ is kind of going away because many of its benefits — ambient light sensing, white point adjustments, and tone-mapping changes based on room brightness — are baked into Dolby Vision 2.

This is why you need an ambient light sensor to enjoy Dolby Vision 2 Max.

Smarter HDR for sports and cinema

One of the things I’m most excited about is that Dolby Vision 2 recognizes that there’s a difference between how cinematic HDR should look and how sports HDR should look.

Sports use a different white point target. According to NBC and Peacock, that is absolutely true. Sports generally look better with a slightly cooler color temperature. Night games, day games, indoor venues, outdoor venues — all of that changes how sports should look. Dolby Vision 2 adjusts white point and tone mapping so sports look more like you’re actually there.

On the cinematic side, there has been a widespread problem with HDR being too dark, especially in episodic television. Dolby figured out what was going on there. So, it turns out that the people mastering and grading this HDR content in Hollywood and other places are in a perfectly pitch-black room, and I mean a zero-nit room. They’re on a professional grading monitor. The whole scenario is nothing like what you experience at home. And unfortunately — and I’m dumbing this down intentionally — the work they did there and all the absolutes they’re programming into the metadata for Dolby Vision just weren’t translating well for us at home, even when Dolby Vision IQ was trying to compensate for it.

Dolby has created new math that understands how the content was created and what’s happening in your viewing environment, recreating the content as it was meant to be seen. That means no more super-dark HDR, better shadow detail, and no unnecessary over-brightening. Dolby Vision has changed how it handles brightness changes on your TV. I, for one, think it’s pretty fantastic.

Motion handling improvements

Another major improvement is motion. One of my biggest gripes about Dolby Vision is that it turns on Dolby Vision Bright and automatically sets motion smoothing to full, and it just looks awful. It’s not on brand with what Dolby was trying to do. If we’retrying to recreate the creator’s intent in our home, motion smoothing isn’t the way to do it.

At the same time, judder is annoying. Dolby’s solution is to make the judder level variable throughout the content. On the creative side, AI helps determine where motion smoothing should be increased or reduced. On the TV side, it's getting instructions from metadata that says, “Let's turn up the motion smoothing just a little bit because this is a high-judder scene. And then let's turn it back down so we get back to that cinema-grade filmic feel we really want to see in movies.” That way, we can still feel like we're watching a movie, but without all the annoying judder, which is made even harder by the fact that we have these really bright TVs doing bright things in HDR.

The result is smoother motion where it’s needed and a proper cinematic feel where it isn’t.

Metadata, streaming, and Blu-ray possibilities

The TV knows what to do because of metadata — instructions that travel with the content. Most of us will get this through streaming services.

I did ask whether Dolby Vision 2 could be implemented on Blu-ray Disc. Technologically, nothing prevents it. But the question is whether the Blu-ray market will shift to support it. Disc authoring would need to change, and players would require different hardware.

Could Dolby Vision 2 come to Blu-ray? Technically, yes. Is it likely? Probably not. Streaming, even high-end streaming, is becoming more compelling than large physical collections. I love my discs too, but we have to recognize where things are headed.

I hope I’ve answered a lot of your questions about Dolby Vision 2. After hearing directly from Dolby, I’m more convinced than ever that this is a meaningful evolution for HDR in televisions.

That said, we’ve got a long on-ramp. We won’t see much Dolby Vision 2 content in 2026, maybe toward the end of the year. The real conversation starts in earnest in 2027. But I’ve got to tell you, I’m really happy it’s here.

Samsung Audio context at CES

We could not find Samsung’s big flagship soundbar with surround speakers, the Q90H, on the floor right at CES, but that particular model has in the past been compatible with the Music Frame speaker. So, if you wanted to use the Music Frame speaker as part of your Atmos surround system, you could integrate it. You could use a number of different Samsung soundbars and enhance them with the Music Frame speaker.

What I’m talking about now expands on that integration a bit.

The Studio 5 and Studio 7

The Studio 5 and the Studio 7 are new standalone speakers from Samsung. Now, the Studio 7 is the one I’m most geeked out about because it’s got the most drivers. It’s got force cancellation inside, so the bass it produces is prodigious, but it doesn’t shake the cabinet much. Sounds fantastic.

The tuning Samsung did on this is really high quality. I think that’s part of the — well, I’d say that’s a big benefit of owning the Harmon group, and with it, not just Harmon’s sound engineers, but also the JBL brand is involved too.

Q Symphony and surround configuration

You can build an entire surround system using Q Symphony around the Studio. So let’s say you have a Samsung TV with Q Symphony built in. The speakers in the TV will do their thing to enhance the center image, and then you can set up four Studio 7 speakers for a surround audio experience.

And I’m telling you, it is ridiculously powerful. It’s a really, really good-sounding system. I remember when I heard it, I was like, “Good grief, that sounds amazing.” And so, I had to tell you about it.

Studio 5 as a lifestyle speaker

You can use the Studio 5 as a surround speaker using Q Symphony, if I’m not mistaken, but it’s more of a lifestyle speaker. It also sounds very good. There’s a lot hiding inside it, including one very large driver. It really does put out a lot of bass. And the front fascia of the speaker isn’t just for good looks. That’s actually a radiator or a dispersion plate for the tweeter that’s in the middle. It’s a great little speaker.

These are definitely the best stuff that Samsung has produced sonically, in my opinion, outside of its soundbars. Yes, we have seen some speakers come from Samsung at CES, and then they never materialize – we never saw them. But I do think Samsung’s going to break that trend. The Studio 5 and Studio 7, and their potential for integration, have been carefully thought out and have been in production for a while.

Check back for release date news and pricing information as soon as I have it.

Well, apparently that wasn’t enough.

So now Hisense has itself a 163-inch MicroLED TV, but its size isn’t even the most interesting thing about it. I’m making short work of discussing the MicroLED because we have another TV to move on to just after this. But there is one common thread tying these TVs together: a new color.

Moving beyond RGB

You’ve no doubt heard all about RGB. RGB this, RGB that. RGB backlighting is the new hotness at CES 2026, but Hisense has already moved past simple RGB and is now introducing new ways to express color.

There’s some actual, firm science behind this, which I’ll explain.

But first, 163 inches of MicroLED is massive. Let’s just be honest about that. It’s an absolutely massive, pie-in-the-sky dream TV for most people. It is definitely a little bit of a flex for Hisense.

The yellow sub-pixel explained

What makes the 163-inch TV so interesting is that Hisense has added a yellow pixel to its RGB matrix.

If that sounds familiar, and you remember Sharp and its Quattron days of filling in with a yellow sub-pixel, that was a little bit different. Sharp actually split the green pixel in half, so that part of it was green and part was yellow, serving a completely different purpose.

Here, with the 163-inch MicroLED, the yellow sub-pixel is meant to help with a part of the color spectrum that can be difficult to express in smooth gradients.

Why yellow matters: color gradients

Let’s take sunsets, for example. When watching a demo video, we can see gradients from yellow to soft orange, to more intense orange, to deep orange, to burnt umber, and finally to red.

Getting that kind of smooth gradient is actually pretty tricky.

Adding a yellow pixel to the RGB color space makes it easier to create a more expressive color palette. And as a result — because 100% BT.2020 was apparently not enough — we’re now doing 110% of BT.2020.

If you look at the CIE color chart and the big triangle surrounding what these displays can do, you’ll notice a little bump-out where the yellow sub-pixel exists. That’s what’s new for this 163-inch MicroLED TV.

Brightness and real-world use

The net effect, beyond enhanced color expression, is that it appears brighter. Hisense isn’t talking about peak nits here, and honestly, I don’t think it matters. It’s more brightness than you can handle at times.

That means it’s going to be great for all sorts of uses. I can easily imagine very wealthy people — my mind goes to NBA players — having this casually mounted in their house, watching TV on a 163-inch MicroLED.

Absolutely insane.

A more attainable option: the 116-inch UXS

Now let’s move to something that also has a bonus color, but might be a little more attainable.

You may remember that at CES 2025, Hisense was the first to introduce an RGB Mini-LED backlit TV. It basically kicked off the RGB trend we’re now seeing everywhere at CES 2026.

So how does Hisense stay ahead?

It adds another color — but this time, the story is a little different.

Introducing the Sky Blue backlight

What’s new here is the addition of yet another color. We now have red, green, and blue backlighting, plus a new sky blue (cyan) backlight.

So why add a fourth color?

The transition between blue and green is notoriously tricky. You may have heard me talk about color crosstalk—that’s when unwanted colors bleed through the wrong color filters, making colors less pure and a little dirty.

By adding a sky-blue backlight, Hisense smooths the transition between blue and green while reducing some crosstalk.

It’s not a pixel — it’s a backlight — but it helps keep the color filters from accidentally picking up colors they shouldn’t.

Expanded color and health benefits

If you look again at the BT.2020 triangle within the CIE color chart, you’ll notice a slight bulge in the blue-green area. That means it’s actually expanding beyond BT.2020 in that region.

There are other benefits too.

Blue light isn’t great for your health — it messes with your circadian rhythms. That’s why our phones have blue-light reduction modes at night.

This sky blue backlight helps reduce total blue light output without sacrificing brightness, which is meaningful.

Power consumption matters

Believe it or not, even though they’re adding another backlight, they’re also helping to reduce power consumption.

We’re getting into really big screens now — 85 inches, 100 inches, 116 inches. The bigger the screen, the more power it consumes. We’ve got to calm that down, or we’re going to roast ourselves to oblivion.

Our TVs are literally going to kill us, and we can’t have that.

Hisense is doing its part by reducing total power consumption with this extra-backlight approach.

In practical terms, does it make a huge difference? Can I see a difference between the UX and the UXS?

I don’t know yet — but I cannot wait to find out.

Hisense will give me that opportunity later this year. It doesn’t know it yet, but it just found out.

You listening, Hisense?

Final impressions and what’s next

Adding a different backlight color or sub-pixel smells like innovation, doesn’t it? And that’s kind of the point at CES — constantly innovating and outshining the competition.

But if we put that aside and just look at the TV, there’s no doubt it’s absolutely stunning. The UXS is a gorgeous piece of equipment. It’s positioned right at the entrance, and there’s no ignoring it.

I’ve watched people pass the Hisense booth at CES all day. They stop, slack-jawed, linger, forget where they were going, and then move along.

Absolutely spectacular.

Hisense’s upcoming RGB lineup

One last thing — you might be wondering about the rest of Hisense’s TV lineup.

There are some surprises coming later this year. We’ll be hearing about new RGB models across two tiers, down to 55 inches. Hisense is already trying to make RGB backlighting affordable and the new normal.

We’ll have more details in the coming weeks, and we hope to see those TVs shipping very soon.

What’s not yet clear is how this affects the ULED lineup. Will there still be a U9 or a U8? What will that look like?

I can’t wait to tell you later this year.

Yes, this is the TV that I’ve been hinting at several times over the last few weeks in my videos. I’ve had to keep a tight lid on it. This is the one with some very special technology.

I have said that while RGB backlighting is a great evolution of that technology, this is more of a revolution in the TV technology we’ve had for some time now.

‘Super Quantum Dot’ skepticism

I’m going to be honest with you. One way to get something dismissed as pure marketing hype is to add the word super, ultra, or pro. So my concern here is that when you hear the term super quantum dot, you might just be like, “Oh, okay, it’s just super now.”

It really is super.

Here’s the deal. I called my friends — they are the ones responsible for making quantum dots — and asked them what’s so super about the new super quantum dots I’m seeing in TCL’s X11L TV. Because I saw the TV and was gobsmacked by its brightness and color saturation — everything about it looked amazing. So I asked them, “What are you doing?”

Why these quantum dots are different

What they told me was that, to make the quantum dots — specifically the red and green — more accurate and efficient, they had to improve their purity dramatically.

If you’re a super nerd and you’re looking at an SPD, or spectral power distribution chart, you want to see very, very thin, very, very tall peaks of color in the graph. You don’t want a sloping hill or a sloping mountain. You want stiff, tight peaks.

What that means is you’ve got very pure color. That means your color filter doesn’t have to work very hard. That means you get lots of color brightness and overall brightness from the TV, because the color filter doesn’t have to steal a bunch of light.

The insane science behind it

So what’s the deal with these super quantum dots? What they told me was nothing short of fascinating — and the quantum dots are only half of the equation.

In order to make these quantum dots purer — more pure green, more pure red — activated by the blue backlight, they had to make a tweak to an already tiny particle that is tantamount to the adjustment of about one-quarter the size of a hydrogen atom.

Think about that for a second. One-quarter the size of a hydrogen atom to get better color out of a TV. That is some ridiculously insane science.

What’s even crazier is that they had to do this consistently, over and over and over, so they could make an entire vat of these quantum dots that would ultimately get deposited on a sheet that goes into this TV.

When the blue light shines on the red and green quantum dots — super quantum dots — you now get a much purer white color for the color filter to work with.

The other half: a new color filter

But as I said, that’s only half of the equation.

In order to take advantage of these new highly pure quantum dots, they needed to change the color filter in the TV, because the color filter also needed to be more exacting and more precise.

Here’s the problem: you don’t just put a new color filter into a TV. You have to shut down your entire production line, bring in new machines, and manufacture a new color filter layer. Doing that costs millions of dollars. Nobody wants to do that.

Panel manufacturers are busy making money by manufacturing panels and shipping them out to various customers.

Why only TCL is doing this

What TCL said was, “You know what, we’re kind of the only people that can do this — TCL CSOT.” So they shut things down, changed the fabrication, and now have this new color filter that they can pair with the super quantum dots.

That’s why you’re only hearing about super quantum dots from TCL right now. TCL is the only company that chose to do it.

Now, I would fully understand if you wanted to be dismissive and say, “Well, TCL’s just being contrarian because everybody else is coming out with RGB backlighting.”

Not true.

First of all, TCL also has RGB-backlit TVs that we’ll be hearing more about later this year. It chose to do this because it thinks it has unique applications and unique benefits — and I have to agree with TCL.

The TV looks fantastic. Some of the issues inherent to using an RGB backlight structure are not present here. Also, you can use an existing backlight structure when you’re just changing the quantum dots and the color filter.

What this means in real-world viewing

So, all of that science stuff aside, what are we actually getting out of this TV?

We’re getting 100% BT.2020 coverage, which we are hearing a lot about at CES 2026. But I actually think we’re going to see some of that happening outside of just color test patterns. We’re going to see those BT.2020 colors in real content because the crosstalk issue is minimized to a very significant degree.

I know that’s a lot of technical information, but I feel like it’s worth sharing, because that’s what makes this TV so incredibly special.

Honestly, I don’t know that there’s another TV at CES that is more stunning at first glance than this one. And the more you stare at it, the better it seems to get — which is not always the case.

Availability, Sizes, and Pricing

I haven’t even gotten to what might be the best news here.

This TV — the X11L — you can buy it right now. Right now..

Here’s the deal:

• 75-inch: $7,000

• 85-inch: $8,000

• 98-inch: $10,000

Yes, it’s pricey. Brand-new technology tends to cost a lot of money. But think forward a little bit. This is coming out now. By the time we get into late summer, fall, and the holidays of 2026, just imagine how far the prices will have come down.

I wouldn’t wait, though. I’d jump on this right now. If you want to be the cool kid on the block with the hottest new TV, this is the one. Bar none.

A CES surprise and what’s next

Nobody launches a TV at CES — except maybe TCL last year with the 6 Series, which turned out pretty well. Still, I’m surprised to see TCL doing it with a flagship-level TV like the X11L.

I have to calm myself down just a little bit, because I’ve been pretty excited. Let’s take a more practical, editorial look at this.

What is not to love about this TV? The fact is, I don’t know yet. I need to test it.

Here’s the good news: you’re not going to have to wait very long. One of these TVs is on its way to me right now. I’m going to unbox and give first impressions of a 98-inch TCL X11L, then thoroughly review it in just a matter of weeks.

NBC and Dolby’s big announcement

NBC and Dolby have announced a partnership that will bring Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos to NBA, NFL, and MLB coverage, ramping up over the course of 2026. And this is just the beginning. I don’t think we should expect too much from the Olympics just yet — it’s a bit soon — but going forward, we can expect more and more HDR sports, starting with Peacock.

I also suspect that once other broadcasters see what NBC is doing with Peacock and Dolby, they’ll want to follow suit. This partnership and its content could encourage others to do the same.

For now, this will be more of an on-ramp. It will likely start as a trickle and then grow into a steady stream of HDR sports content, which is very exciting on its own.

More than HDR: Dolby AC-4 and next-gen audio

But this isn’t just about Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. This also opens the door to the new Dolby AC-4 codec. From an audio perspective, this not only brings richer Dolby Atmos sound via streaming platforms like Peacock, but it also enables new tools.

For example, if you don’t want to hear the announcers and would rather focus on the roar of the crowd, that will be an option on certain TVs and audio devices. On the other hand, if you want clearer dialogue — not just in sports but across other content as well — Dolby AC-4 provides more precise tools to make dialogue more intelligible and customizable, rather than relying on blunt dialogue enhancement features.

Dolby Vision 2 and the future of sports picture quality

On the visual side, this also enables Dolby Vision 2 to begin rolling out at the streaming level. This won’t happen immediately, but ultimately it will make sports look entirely different on TVs.

Sports are not cinematic, and they shouldn’t be treated the same way. Cinema targets specific white points, frame rates, and visual cadence, while sports have entirely different needs. Dolby Vision 2 is designed to address those differences, targeting different white points and frame rates to suit live sports better.

I’ll be covering more details about Dolby Vision 2 in a separate article, as I’ve learned a lot about it at the Dolby Live Theater in Las Vegas.

What this means for viewers

For now, I just wanted to share this breaking news about HDR sports. It’s going to start very soon, and you’re going to hear a lot more about it. If you’re already a Peacock subscriber, you’ll likely start seeing promotional content for this on the platform.

If you’re not a subscriber yet, NBC would probably like you to become one soon, especially with more Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos sports content coming to Peacock. That includes the NBA, NFL, and MLB.

OLED vs RGB backlighting: why LG is doing this

LG Display released a video highlighting how much better OLED is than RGB-backlit LED TVs. That makes sense, because LG Display is an OLED panel manufacturer. But LG Electronics is in the business of serving the entire public with its goods, and it understands that some folks will need something OLED just can’t do.

Super bright rooms need super bright, super colorful televisions — at least that’s how LG Electronics is positioning this right now. And I have to agree. OLED is not the right solution for every single room. So it makes sense, especially when the rest of the industry is going there, to have an RGB-backlit LED television, and LG does indeed have one. This is the MRGB95.

And yes, we’re talking about Micro RGB. Similar to what Samsung has said about its RGB backlighting, the actual LED modules will be under about 100 microns. LG isn’t saying how small they are, but being under 100 microns puts you in the micro range. Very small — able to be packed into denser clusters if chosen to do so, and broken down into many, many zones for a big, beautiful, gorgeous picture.

CES reality check: what we can and can’t judge

Now look, let’s be clear — this is true of any TV demo at CES. You can’t really determine how many zones the TV has, how well it does with blooming, etc., unless the exhibitions are using content that’s going to expose that. And per the usual, the content playing on demos is almost uniformly extremely bright. So there’s really no opportunity to talk about how many zones it does or doesn’t have. I’d prefer to wait until it’s in my lab to talk about that kind of stuff.

But the demo is very, very impressive. This television is exceptionally bright.

Screen sizes on this TV will range from 75 to 85, up to 100 inches. It’s going to stop there. If you want a 115-inch TV, LG does have a QNED that fits the bill. But for the Micro RGB television, you’re looking at a max of 100 inches. I imagine that’s going to be a pretty pricey TV — but of course, at CES, we don’t talk about prices. We can only imagine them. And I think this being a brand-new tech for LG, and really for the industry in general, it’s probably going to cost a pretty penny. What I can tell you is that there’s definitely nothing inexpensive about this TV.

Zero Connect and the MRGB9M

Now, it does not come with a wireless connect box, but we can sidestep over to another TV that does include that. The proper name for the wireless connect box is the Zero Connect box, which comes with LG’s MRGB9M. The “M” at the end refers to the wireless (Zero Connect) box.

The MRGB9M is a Mini RGB TV. What does that mean? Well, we’re not really sure—LG is not telling us. Here’s what we do know: it’s not a true microized RGB TV. And we know it’s not just a blue LED or a white LED working with quantum dots, or in LG’s particular case, a QNED structure.

At any rate, that’s what we know about this TV, which is really not a lot. And this is typical. What we’ll see LG do is highlight some peak TV stuff. We’ve got the G6, the C6 OLED, and the Wallpaper OLED, which has made a triumphant return. There’s also a little tease in there of the transparent OLED, or OLED T. If you missed that from last year, it’s back.

What this tells us about LG’s direction

This particular TV, as well as the Micro RGB TV, shares the same space here at LG, which tells us it is going in on RGB backlighting for sure with the new Micro RGB TV. We are a little short on specs and a little uncertain about what other premium features it might include—we just know we’re seeing a technology demo. So give me until March, and we’ll find out more.

We also know LG will have another TV technology that’s not QNED but not full-on Micro RGB either: LG mini-LED. You can also get it without the Zero Connect box.

So, a little nebulous? Yes. But you know what? I like that, because it leaves us something to be excited about and discover further down the road. Not everything has to happen in Vegas in January. In fact, it’s probably better that not everything does happen in Vegas in January, if you know what I mean.

What I will (and won’t) cover about the S95H

The S95H is an incredible TV. First of all, let me tell you what I’m not going to be talking about, and that is panel-specific technology — any evolution to the QD-OLED panel that may or may not be in this particular piece of hardware. Samsung will not confirm that stuff. We can make some assumptions, but I also haven’t spoken with Samsung Display yet, so I really want to get a bit more information about what it’s doing with its QD-OLED panels. We’re going to set that aside because, honestly, there’s plenty to talk about here besides that.

I also want to clear something up: there is no such thing as an S99H, despite what I’m seeing in the comment sphere, the blogosphere, Reddit, whatever. You all have invented a whole TV that doesn’t exist. The S99H does exist as a model in Europe, but the crazy new-technology TV people are talking about does not exist. I’m sorry to let anybody down, but it’s not really a letdown because the S95H is, indeed, fire. Is it going to be everyone’s favorite? Well, let’s find out.

The big (controversial?) changes for the S95H

Non-removable bezel design

The big bombshell is the bezel around the S95H. The bezel is non-removable. Samsung has this whole art-display thing going on. It’s not only the theme at the Samsung booth this year — it’s everything, from The Frame TV to new art TVs. OLED now does art, and the OLED can act a lot like The Frame TV used to. It has full access to the art store and looks amazing doing it.

Anti-glare tech

Part of that experience comes from the anti-glare technology on the S95H. Many of you like to characterize it as a matte finish, and let’s be honest — it is. It is not glossy. It also super-flush mounts to the wall. Personally, I think it looks great, but we are seeing The Frame kind of infiltrating the OLED lineup. It’s a lifestyle thing now.

Is it brighter? I’m not entirely certain. It appears to be, but the demo I saw could be a little tricky or even deceiving. I don’t know that Samsung has everything set up exactly the same way. Still, I do expect a small boost in brightness and even better anti-glare performance. That anti-glare tech is going to trickle down to the S98 as well. We’ve seen a shift in how Samsung applies the treatment, allowing some luster to return without losing anti-reflection or anti-glare performance. I’ll die on this mountain — I think this is a better choice for the general population.

I know enthusiasts may disagree, and understandably so. One could argue that this is one of the best OLED TVs you can buy, but you have to accept that it comes with anti-glare treatment. If that’s not your cup of tea, then this TV may not be for you. And it’s important to remember that the new S90H also comes with anti-glare. With Samsung OLEDs, you’re getting some level of it no matter what.

One Connect box is now optional

There’s something else you really need to know: the One Connect box is gone for this TV. It’s been replaced by what is essentially a card, paired with a wireless connect box — but that box is optional. The TV itself comes with four built-in HDMI 2.1 ports. If you add the wireless One Connect box, you get another four HDMI 2.1 inputs on top of that. Basically, you pop the card into the TV, connect it to the wireless box, and now you have eight HDMI inputs — four wireless and four on the TV itself. I think that’s a smart move. Not everybody liked or wanted the One Connect box before, and now you don’t have to use it — but if you do, it’s a serious bonus.

Dolby Vision and expanded audio options

There’s nothing new to talk about in terms of Dolby Vision. However, we are seeing quite a bit of Eclipsa audio. Q-Symphony has also been expanded to include most JBL and Harman Audio products. JBL’s wireless and wide speakers are now becoming part of the Q-Symphony family. That means you may no longer need to stick exclusively to Samsung-branded speakers and can build more flexible, multi-use audio systems. That said, the new Q990H soundbar is, once again, absolute fire.

That’s new. It’s also in a “timeless frame,” a bit like a sleek, modern easel, which is also new. And we have to talk about Micro RGBs in 2026. There’s a lot to know, so let’s just dig right into it.

The big news

Samsung has ramped it up: we’re not just slumming it at 115-inches anymore. We’re going all the way up to 130 inches. As fun and exciting as that may be, that’s not actually the biggest news. Okay. Well, maybe it’s literally the biggest news, but the biggest news for me, something I’ve been sitting on for months now, since I visited Samsung in Seoul, was learning that there are actually two series of Micro RGB TVs now.

I won’t say that Samsung is just ditching QLED. It’s not. But it has created an entirely new segment of television. We now have the R85 and R95 series. R95 will be the super-premium version of the Micro RGB. It goes all the way up to 130 inches, and has the beautiful Timeless Frame if you don’t feel like hanging that on your wall. Although I recommend you do so. But the bigger news than all of that is that it’s going all the way down to 55 inches in size. Clearly, Samsung is trying to democratize Micro RGB backlighting.

Why the R85 series?

Let’s talk about the R85 series. I think there is a lot of concern around what Samsung might be doing to make it more affordable. They have Micro RGB, which is a brand-new technology that is supposed to be top-tier. But now we already have two segmentations of it? What’s the deal?

First of all, let’s be honest, that’s what Samsung does, right? It goes out way in front of everybody. It’s why it is still making 8K TVs, right? But Samsung has launched two series to make it more affordable and get it into more people’s homes, which is why Samsung is still the number one TV seller in the U.S. to this day. And so it is going to use that position to really infiltrate the market and spread its brand around. Kind of smart when you think about it.

But how did Samsung do it?

In terms of brass tacks, though, how did Samsung bring that lower-cost RGB backlighting to us through the R85 series? We don’t know. I asked, and representatives said the R95 will be brighter than the R85 series, but they didn’t explain how. Top-flight processing is available on both TVs. So, we know it’s not a processing issue, which leads me to believe it’s probably related to the density of the backlights.

But even with less density, we’re used to seeing that, right? And you know what? I’m going to pause right here. I want to make it clear. I’m not making excuses for anyone. However, I do want to call attention to the way we’ve stratified TVs in this business for years and years and years. The most expensive TVs have the highest-density backlights and the most zones. And as you go down in something, you get fewer density backlights, fewer zones. I suspect — just a guess, and we’ll find out when I get to actually review these suckers, which may come sooner than any of us think — that we’ll find that there are maybe fewer zones and maybe less density of RGB backlights in the R85 series. However, it is still an RGB backlight. This is going to unlock new color possibilities that simply aren’t available with the existing QLED structure.

We’ll just put that there and leave it. You will want to come back to this channel later to find out more.

G6 Hyper Radiant OLED

First up is the LG G6. Let’s start with a rumor I’ve heard — not a very prevalent one — but a rumor I’ve heard that LG has dropped the white subpixel in the new Hyper-Radiant panel technology. That is not the case. We’re still talking about the same tandem OLED or four-stack OLED that we saw in the LG G5 series. The difference, the reason we’re going to get 20% higher brightness over the G5 of last year, is really due to processing. The new Alpha 11 Gen 3 processor, by the way, that we’re going to see in the C series. Little hint there. We’ll get to that in a moment.

At any rate, it’s really about the processing difference that’s going to drive up the brightness of this particular panel. That’s not the only thing that’s new. It’s not just a brighter G6 OLED for 2026. LG has introduced a new polarizing film for its televisions, giving them some pretty remarkable anti-glare properties. And before you get freaked out that it’s another matte screen that you can hate — it’s not. It is not a matte screen. So, it still has a lot of glossy luster, but without all the reflections that come with it, which, let’s be honest, was one of the big issues for people getting these higher-end OLED TVs into brighter spaces. Bright during the day, dark at night; problem during the day, not a problem at night. Now, it’s not a problem at all. The polarizer does nothing — trust me when I say this — it does absolutely nothing to take away from the luster, wetness, or richness of the OLED TV.

Available panel sizes

The other big news for this year is that the hyper-radiant technology, that ultra-bright four-stack panel, goes up to the 83-inch model. Although it stops short of the 97-inch model. I would argue it’s not really necessary at that particular size. Now, if you look at other reports on this particular TV, you might see a small info banner below the TV that says it goes down to a 48-inch model. It does not, in fact, go down to a 48-inch model in the United States, or at least not in North America. It will, though, in international markets. So, my friends who are watching in India, Australia, the UK, and Europe, you might be able to get a 48-inch G6 this year. That’s not a terrible thing, especially since not everybody has a McMansion as we do here in the U.S.

C6 OLED upgrades – with a catch

Speaking of not having McMansion money, let’s go look at a slightly more affordable OLED option. I’m not going to bury the lead on the LG C6 for you guys. The big news here is that you’re going to get the Hyper Radiant panel, the latest version of the four-stack OLED in the C6 at 77- and 83-inch sizes. I think that’s a pretty big move from LG. So, if you want that brighter, punchier, more refined OLED panel, you can get it down at C6 prices. Although let’s be honest, at the 77- and 83-inch levels, you’re kind of spending a bit, right? And I think that’s why they implemented the more premium panel into those larger sizes.

The 65-, 55-, 48-, and 42-inch models will have the standard panel and be more in line with the C-series brightness levels. It will be just a little bit brighter this year because the Alpha 11 Gen 3 processor will also be available in the C series OLED. You don’t have to buy the Gallery series to get the top-end OLED processor. You get the Alpha 11 Gen 3 in all of the C6 models, not just the ones with tandem.

So, you will get a bit of a brightness boost from the C6 this year. I don’t know how notable it’s going to be. I don’t know how meaningful it’s going to be. That’s something we’ll find out when we test these televisions. But I will say, though, the C6 series is looking like the best blend of premium performance and somewhat approachable price point, if LG keeps to its historical pricing for the C series, that I’ve seen in a long, long, long time.

Outside of that, we’re discussing all the usual features like G-Sync, FreeSync, and other goodies that come with this particular TV. There’s almost nothing it doesn’t have, except for one thing. I don’t want to end on a negative note – and it’s not really negative – but there’s no HDMI 2.2, and there is no Dolby Vision 2. I’m only aware of one TV manufacturer bragging about having Dolby Vision 2 this year. I know everyone wants the latest and greatest, and I get that, but we currently don’t have much Dolby Vision 2 content available, so missing out on it isn’t as significant yet. This year is interesting because some TVs may have Dolby Vision 2, but without content to enjoy, it’s not impactful. I think Dolby Vision 2 will be more relevant at CES 2027 than at CES 2026, but I’d love to be proven wrong. At this point, there’s absolutely no need for HDMI 2.2 since nothing has a panel that can really take advantage of that higher bandwidth – at least not yet. I like the direction things are heading, though.

LG Wallpaper OLED returns!

You may have already heard about this, but the Wallpaper OLED from LG is back. Now, if you remember from a few years back, the original Wallpaper OLED looked a little bit different than the new one. It had an integrated sound bar. It had a more pronounced chin at the bottom. It had a ribbon cable that was a little hard to hide when installing.

The all-new one is a little bit thicker, but that’s because they moved a bunch of stuff into the panel itself. It went from about 5mm to about 9mm. But, you know what? I think we can forgive that because it still looks absolutely amazing. Now, in terms of specs, how does this compare to other OLEDs in LG’s lineup? It’s very similar to the new G series. It has the Hyper Radiant panel and the A11 processor built in. So, it’s going to be driving it to very bright levels, although, of course, LG is not talking about just how many nits it’s going to be able put out. But, I can tell you that they are claiming it’s about 20% brighter than last year’s four-stack OLED.

I mentioned above that part of the reason the TV is a little thicker is that LG built some of its internals into it. Some of those internals, however, are actually the receiver for the new wireless M box. So, the big story here is that the Wallpaper is now completely wireless. We get the full wireless M box. Now, we haven’t been able to test this new, updated box, but they have been very deliberate here at the uh LG display about putting it in a little bit of a cubby to show that it does not need a perfectly clear line of sight to function. If you want to put it in a cabinet – a nearby cabinet to be fair – you’re going to be able to do that. You don’t have to have it out and exposed with a clear line of sight.

The other main update to the Wallpaper OLED is the mounting mechanism. We’re basically talking about two screws with very, very flat little mounting pads that go on the wall, and then you just push the TV up onto them. The original wallpaper OLED worked off a magnetic mat. I think this change is for the better. It’s less dicey and has a bit more rigidity, which I think will protect the panel over its lifetime, especially if you need to move it from one place to another.

Transparent OLED

You remember the transparent OLED? It’s still around, folks, and it still looks amazing. I’m still geeking out about this TV. I don’t know how many of you out there have actually bought one. If you do, though, please hit me up. Let me know. I might have to come to your house and see it in action in your space. But let’s not forget that transparent OLED is a thing. Look, transparent OLEDs have been around for a minute. The implementation, which includes a rolling back screen, is new as of 2024, but you’ve probably started seeing transparent OLED and transparent microLED in many films lately. Finally, that super cool technology is coming into our homes. Anyway, I know it’s a last year’s announcement, but it’s amazing, and we couldn’t not touch on it while we were here at the LG booth.

So that wraps up my overview of LG OLED at CES 2026. I’ll be sharing updates throughout the week as I review these TVs and discover how well they perform.