Ask any TV engineer what’s changed in the last decade and they’ll tell you the headline was always the same: colour and brightness, not just resolution. 2026 looks set to be the year that promise is delivered to living rooms at scale — thanks to a family of panels variously called Micro RGB, RGB Mini‑LED, True RGB and other marketing names.
A quiet revolution in backlights
Call it Micro RGB, RGB Mini‑LED or TriChroma: the basic idea is simple and persuasive. Instead of firing white or blue light through filters and quantum dots, these new LCD TVs use tiny red, green and blue LEDs in the backlight itself. The result is a purer, higher‑volume light source that can produce richer colours without relying on filters to “fake” them.
That matters because it changes the way colour is generated inside the panel. Early demos and a handful of store‑size flagships have already shown eye‑catching colour volume and sustained brightness — traits where OLED has traditionally struggled. LG calls its implementation Micro RGB evo, Samsung uses Micro RGB, Hisense went to market with RGB Mini‑LED (formerly TriChroma), and Sony is rolling out True RGB prototypes. Different names, broadly similar engineering goals.
How Micro RGB actually works (without the jargon)
Think of the new backlight as an army of tiny, true RGB light sources instead of single‑colour tiles. They’re still not individual RGB emitters for every pixel (that would be Micro LED), but they’re far smaller and more numerous than previous Mini‑LEDs, and grouped into optical units with local dimming control. That gives TVs the best bits of LCD — high peak brightness and long life — with vastly improved colour fidelity.
There are tradeoffs. Because the system still relies on a backlight and local dimming, poorly tuned dimming can produce blooming or haloing around bright objects on dark backgrounds. But manufacturers are betting that advanced processing — and new AI chips — will blunt those weaknesses.
Why 2026, and why CES matters
We’ve seen a few gargantuan, wallet‑wincing debuts already: Hisense’s 116UX and Samsung’s 115‑inch MRE115MR95F proved the concept but not the price point. What changes in 2026 is the roadmap: every major player (Samsung, LG, Hisense, Sony, TCL) has declared mass‑market RGB mini‑LED lines for the year, and CES will be the spotlight where many of those sets debut in more sensible sizes.
Manufacturers tell us they can now scale the tiny LEDs more affordably and pack them into 55–100‑inch ranges — the sizes most buyers actually consider. That shift is what could make the tech mainstream: the same picture perks as those showcase models, but at consumer prices.
Picture claims vs reality
Marketing loves big numbers: 100% coverage of BT.2020, stunning HDR headroom, “OLED‑like” control. Some of those claims will hold up — RGB backlights do improve colour purity and brightness — but others deserve healthy scepticism. Standards and content haven't fully caught up; little consumer content is graded to take advantage of an almost infinite colour gamut. And when backlight zones aren't fine‑grained enough, you still see the old LCD foibles.
On HDR, the industry is evolving rapidly (and in multiple directions). New format developments and processing tricks will matter almost as much as the raw panel tech: expect more vendor squabbles over HDR implementations as the tech proliferates. (For background on HDR competition and standards, see how Samsung has pushed HDR10+ with new ambitions at /news/samsung-hdr10-plus-advanced.)
Where RGB Mini‑LED sits relative to OLED and Micro LED
- OLED remains king of true blacks and infinite contrast because each pixel emits its own light. But it can be limited by peak brightness and long‑term burn‑in concerns on static UI elements.
- Micro LED promises pixel‑level RGB emitters but is currently astronomically expensive and hard to manufacture at scale.
- RGB Mini‑LED (Micro RGB) is a pragmatic middle path: much better colour and brighter images than traditional LED/LCD TVs, far cheaper than Micro LED, and with fewer burn‑in worries than OLED.
That’s why companies are arguing over positioning. LG still leans on OLED as its premium badge, even while launching RGB‑backlit flagships. Sony looks like it may position RGB Mini‑LED as its flagship option for 2026, relying on years of image processing pedigree to extract cinematic results.
The software and AI angle
All of this hardware needs smart brains. Vendors are pairing these panels with bigger AI processors (LG’s Alpha 11 Gen 3 was name‑checked in pre‑CES briefings) to control per‑zone behaviour, reduce blooming, and upscale legacy content. The rush of new on‑device AI models — not just for pictures but for content‑aware processing — will be a key differentiator. For a sense of how dedicated image models are arriving alongside device silicon, look at recent work on generative and image models such as MAI‑Image‑1 (/news/microsoft-mai-image-1).
The good, the odd and what to watch at CES
The good: wider colour gamuts, brighter HDR, and better viewing angles than many conventional LCDs. Manufacturers are promising RGB panels in everyday sizes and more attainable price tiers.
The odd: first hardware sometimes overreaches in demos — pushing colour volume until images look ‘too vivid’ for their source. Also, content mastering lags; creators haven’t yet widely adopted these wider gamuts.
At CES 2026 expect multiple announcements and real hands‑on time. Watch how brands balance raw panel claims with practical features like AI upscaling, calibrations for film content, and integrations with sound systems. LG, for example, is pairing display pushes with new audio ideas and modular ecosystems as it broadens its product strategy beyond TVs.
What this means for buyers
If you want vivid HDR daytime viewing and fewer compromises on brightness, RGB Mini‑LED is worth waiting for in 2026 — especially if you’re buying a large living‑room set. If perfect blacks for cinematic dark‑room viewing matter most, OLED remains a compelling choice. Early adopters will pay a premium; mainstream buyers should see more accessible models by the end of the year.
The era of ‘resolution wars’ has given way to a subtler battle: how screens make colour feel real. 2026 won’t be a single‑tech coup; it’s shaping up as a richer market where OLED, RGB Mini‑LED and advances in processing all compete — and that’s good news for people who actually watch TV.