Sony Unveils RGB LED Backlight Tech That Outperforms Traditional Mini LED

Sony has developed a new TV display technology combining individual red, green, and blue LEDs for backlighting, potentially offering a middle ground between existing Mini LED and OLED panels. Dubbed "General RGB LED Backlight Technology," the system enables precise color control without sacrificing brightness, reaching 4000 cd/m2 -- matching Sony's professional reference monitors.

Unlike conventional Mini LED TVs that use arrays of blue LEDs, Sony's RGB implementation delivers significantly improved color accuracy and viewing angles. In side-by-side comparisons with Sony's premium Bravia 9 Mini LED TV, the RGB prototype displayed deeper color gradations and eliminated the characteristic bluish blooming effect around bright objects on dark backgrounds.

The technology isn't entirely novel, the Verge reports -- Sony released a Qualia TV with RGB backlighting in 2004 and demonstrated "Crystal LED" prototypes in 2012. Competitors including Hisense, TCL, and Samsung are developing similar systems. While the RGB LED prototype outshone Sony's QD-OLED A95L in brightness, differences in color reproduction were less pronounced. The technology appears particularly promising for larger displays in bright environments where OLED's limitations become apparent.

Looking into the details of LED Technology...

[zurkeyon]

As it relates to Screens/Monitors, is mind-blowing. This really is some of the most interesting tech we create. The engineering that goes into these screens is borderline magic sometimes.

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[DamnOregonian]

Definitely remarkable what we bring to the table for mind-numbing entertainment ;)

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[Bu11etmagnet]

> The engineering that goes into these screens is borderline magic sometimes.

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. -- Arthur C Clarke

Brightness is overhyped

[PhrostyMcByte]

Give me good black levels. High brightness just tells me that your black levels suck and you need a ridiculous brightness in order to deliver what looks like a good contrast ratio.

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[pruss]

It depends on the user and the use case. High brightness makes the pupils contract, and the smaller eye aperture results in better-focused images given my middle-aged eyes. This is only an issue for close-up screens for me. Likewise, high brightness makes it easier to use the screen with sunlight, and that issue does come up for our living room TV for several hours of the day.

OLED limitations

[alvian]

Are costs and not performance for larger screens. Keep in mind that this is a newer tech that will not be price competitive with OLEDs in smaller screens but could quickly dominate OLEDs in larger screens in 80" plus sizes.

monochrome

[bugs2squash]

I'd like to see a display tech that does well with black and white movies, something that renders them beautifully