Sony's fixing the wrong panel problems while showing off its new 'RGB LED' backlight tech with outrageous colours and brightness
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission.
Sony has taken the wraps off a new backlight tech for LCD panels known as RGB LED. In really simple terms, it's similar to existing mini-LED backlight tech, such as that offered by the BenQ MOBIUZ EX321UX, but with coloured RGB lighting zones as opposed to monochrome blue LEDs moderated by a quantum dot layer. Sony claims the results include much wider colour rendering, plus increased brightness.
How much better? Sony says colour space coverage is increased to 90% Rec.2020, while peak brightness jumps up to 4000 nits, all while delivering improved viewing angles.
To put that into context, those kinds of numbers are similar to a professional video grading monitor costing tens of thousands of dollars. So, in at least some respects, this technology looks very impressive indeed. The colours are likely to be outrageous, as is the peak brightness and overall visual pop and punch. However, there is a catch.
According to FlatpanelsHD, the demo screen Sony showed off had 3,840 dimming zones. That's an increase over most existing mini-LED displays. Sony's current high-end 75-inch Bravia 9 TV has 2,800 dimming zones and the BenQ monitor mentioned above has 1,152 zones.
However, it still means that the display tech shares one dimming zone across 2,160 pixels on a 4K panel. In other words, if you want to light up just one pixel, you also have to drive a backlight zone covering another 2,159 pixels.
Of course, few image details are just one pixel. But a point of light like a star might be just tens of pixels, which is still much, much smaller than the 2,000-plus pixels of an RGB LED dimming zone.
Likewise, correctly rendering the edge of a bright object on a dark background requires per-pixel precision. So, this new tech does little to solve the basic lighting precision problem of mini-LED compared to a per-pixel technology like OLED.
The difference here is that instead of uniform white halos around small, bright details, the halo colour will vary according to the colour of the object being rendered. Sony says it has a new advanced backlight control chip to help compensate for the inherent shortcomings of low-resolution local dimming. But the fundamental issues remain.
How much all of this is a problem depends on both personal preference and the image being shown. For a really bright movie or game scene, something sunny and outdoor, this new panel tech will probably be utterly amazing. But for darker scenes, or images with a mix of very bright and very dark objects, it will retain major issues.
Of course, OLED tech has its own issues. The best current OLED monitor tech, such as the Dough Spectrum Black 32 OLED, can only hit a feeble 275 nits for full-screen brightness. And even next-gen OLED panel technology from LG and Samsung is only promising to increase that to around 400 nits, miles short of the thousands of nit mini-LED and indeed Sony's new RGB LED can achieve.
All of which means for the foreseeable future, there will be no single screen tech that excels everywhere. But given how bright and vivid mini-LED tech already is, I can't help feeling Sony is solving the wrong problem here. What backlit LCD panels need more than anything is more lighting precision, not even more outright punch.
Anyway, as for when you might see this new RGB LED tech in a screen you can buy, that's not totally clear. Sony says the technology will go into mass production later this year, so it will probably be in TVs some time in 2026. Whether it comes to PC monitors is another matter. But if it truly does offer clear advantages, you can probably expect something similar to appear in PC monitors before long.
Best CPU for gaming: Top chips from Intel and AMD.Best gaming motherboard: The right boards.Best graphics card: Your perfect pixel-pusher awaits.Best SSD for gaming: Get into the game first.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
The New Nintendo Is Here. It's Missing Something Crucial That the Previous Ones Have All Had.
Of the many reasons Nintendo has flourished during its four-decade run in the video game industry—a Pixar-like dedication to quality, a memorable roster of mascots, an inherent creative brightness that cuts against the grimdark fantasies promulgated by other franchises—the company's prime advantage might be its commitment to affordability. The Nintendo Switch, a massively successful console that first made landfall in 2017, retailed for $299—a bargain compared with the $599 Xbox Series X and $699 PlayStation 5 Pro. Remember the Wii? The motion-controlled triumph that became all the rage in retirement homes during the mid-2000s? It was priced at $249, half as much as the lumbering PlayStation 3 which arrived one week prior. (It also included the eternal Wii Sports, bundled in the box, as a bonus.) It's a strategy that has sent an enduring message to consumers. Nintendo might not flex the same graphical fidelity of its rivals—Sony and Microsoft may consistently boast more impressive technical specs—but families could expect to save money when they purchased the company's hardware. And, frankly, that's what's been on my mind most as I surveyed the launch of Nintendo's latest console last week. The long-awaited Switch 2 is here, and it weighs in at an eye-popping $449. Its marquee launch title? A new Mario Kart game that costs an unprecedented $80. The Switch 2, it should be said, has an impressive design. Nintendo has outfitted the console with a gorgeous LCD screen, robust internal storage, and a motherboard powerful enough to furnish its lineup of games in glistening 4K. If you are one of the millions of people curious about the next installments of The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, or Animal Crossing, it is easy to consider its inflated price tag as a genuinely worthwhile investment in your future. And yet, like every other piece of video game machinery that has debuted this decade, the Switch 2 isn't going to shift any paradigms, because we are rapidly approaching a ceiling of what is possible with a graphics card. In the 1990s, each new console release represented a watershed moment in the industry. The Nintendo 64 arrived in 1996 with a suite of games rendered in 3D, leaps and bounds more impressive than the Super Nintendo, which imprisoned everything on-screen in a 2D plane. The justification for the cost was self-evident—a couple hundred bucks was more than worth it to unlock a whole new dimension. The Switch 2, meanwhile, functions essentially like a prettier, svelter, and more efficient update to the previous generation of hardware. The price is dramatically outpacing the novelty of the technology, and that discrepancy has been noticed by the gaming public. During the rollout of the Switch 2, when Nintendo hosted livestreams showcasing its upcoming 2025 catalog, the chat box on the side of the screen billowed up with the same message repeated ad nauseam: 'DROP THE PRICE.' It is hard to get a straight answer out of Nintendo about why its hardware has suddenly gotten so expensive, but it must be said that the company unveiled the Switch 2 on the afternoon of Donald Trump's so-called 'liberation day'—on which he announced a barrage of ill-conceived tariffs to be levied on the global population. Nintendo, recoiling from the chaos, briefly suspended preorders of its new consoles 'in order to assess the potential impact of tariffs and evolving market conditions.' The announced price tag would eventually go unchanged, because Trump, as the saying goes, chickened out, but the impact may not be over: It wasn't long before Nintendo also warned of 'price adjustments' on accessories. The United States' self-inflicted financial uncertainty may also have already been factored into the Switch 2's retail calculus. That's certainly what industry analysts think. Joost van Dreunen, who studies the business of video games at New York University, told IGN in April that with the higher price, 'Nintendo appears to be building in a buffer against these potential trade barriers,' while Piers Harding-Rolls, who studies the gaming market at Ampere Analysis, speculated that the company 'probably had a range of pricing for the US market in play up until the last minute due to the uncertainty on import tariffs.' Nintendo, naturally, has remained publicly neutral about the issue. 'Our basic policy is that for any country or region, if tariffs are imposed, we recognize them as a part of the cost and incorporate them into the price,' said Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa during a fiscal year report in May. (Given how open-ended Furukawa's statement was, I'm not surprised some experts believe that the Switch 2 might get even more expensive if Trump reintroduces portions of his tariff program, especially his original planned 46 percent tariff on Vietnam and 49 percent tariff on Cambodia, the countries where the company does much of its Switch manufacturing.) To be clear, Nintendo isn't the only heavy hitter jacking up its prices. Video game development is taking longer and growing steadily more expensive, and that has caused all the power brokers in the industry to print out new price tags. Just yesterday, Microsoft showed off The Outer Worlds 2, due out in October, which is a madcap sci-fi RPG that will also be the company's first $80 game. (For context, the average video game cost $60 for much of the 21st century. That number jumped to $70 in 2020, and five years later, norms are shifting again.) Similarly, remember that Xbox Series X I mentioned earlier? The one clocking in at $599? That's actually a recent phenomenon. When the console launched in 2020, it was a hundred bucks cheaper. The tech hasn't changed, but those ominous 'market conditions' certainly have, so Microsoft bumped up the cost earlier this year. This is a pretty radical departure, and it can't be explained away by simple inflation. Not long ago, video game hardware decreased in price over time, once it became sufficiently outpaced by flashier tech. But the titans of this industry have become increasingly responsive to fluctuations in the supply chain, and those old patterns have fallen by the wayside. The only question, it seems, that Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo are asking of their consumers is how much they're willing to pay. If that shift in philosophy turns their consoles into a luxury? Then so be it. Last weekend, I re-created a ritual I've savored every summer since I started playing video games. A few friends came over to fire up the latest Nintendo, down some beers, and enjoy a rousing evening of Mario Kart. The latest entry in the series hasn't altered the formula much; This is still the crowd-pleasing racing game it was in 1998, and 2007, and 2021. Gamers and nongamers alike instinctually internalized the controls, and together we jostled for position on the circuit, creating fleeting rivalries with those homing red shells. It left me a little melancholy. To think such a simple joy has become a premium experience? A new Mario Kart game is like manna from heaven for college dorms and bachelor pads. But today broke twentysomethings will need to scrounge up half a grand for the price of admission. I suppose that's just what life is like in 2025, when everything—rent, groceries, concert tickets, gym memberships—leaves us feeling gouged. No leisure goes unpunished anymore, and given the Trump economy's gloomy forecast, I fear it'll get worse before it gets better.
Digital Trends
2 hours ago
- Digital Trends
Upgrade to this Alienware 4K QD-OLED gaming monitor while it's $300 off
The powerful machine you purchased from gaming PC deals should be paired with a premium display, and the 32-inch Alienware 4K QD-OLED gaming monitor comes with our stamp of approval. It's also on sale from Dell right now, with a $300 discount slashing its price from $1,200 to only $900. That's a steal when you consider the capabilities of this screen, so you're going to have to hurry with your purchase as stocks may run out at any moment. Why you should buy the 32-inch Alienware 4K QD-OLED gaming monitor The 32-inch Alienware 4K QD-OLED gaming monitor, or more formally known as the Alienware AW3225QF, received a very impressive score of 4.5 stars out of 5 in our review. It's the first gaming monitor that combined 4K Ultra HD resolution for lifelike details and accurate colors, QD-OLED technology for perfect black levels and intense brightness, and a 240Hz refresh rate for smooth and lag-free animations. With these specifications, you'll be able to fully enjoy the graphics of the best PC games. Gamers will also appreciate the 0.03ms response time of the 32-inch Alienware 4K QD-OLED gaming monitor, as that enables fast reaction times, and it also supports Nvidia's G-Sync to eliminate screen tearing and stuttering for completely immersive gameplay. The gaming monitor also has a range of USB-A, USB-C, DisplayPort, and HDMI ports, so in addition to your gaming PC, you can connect it to your video game console and work PC and easily switch between them depending on which device is running. Gamers who are on the lookout for monitor deals shouldn't settle for a basic display. To maximize your gaming PC, you'll need something like the 32-inch Alienware 4K QD-OLED gaming monitor, which is a pretty tempting purchase right now because of Dell's $300 discount. You'll only have to pay $900 instead of $1,200 for this premium screen, but there's no time to hesitate. The 32-inch Alienware 4K QD-OLED gaming monitor may return to its regular price as soon as tomorrow, so you should proceed with the transaction as soon as possible.
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
PS5/PS5 Pro Reportedly Getting New Mode That Has Fans Excited
The and are reportedly getting a new developer mode that signals a major development, according to insiders. A known Sony leaker has gotten hold of documents which suggest that the company is rolling out a 'low power mode' for both consoles, enabling which would draw less power and lower energy consumption while running games. The leak comes from none other than YouTuber Moore's Law Is Dead (MLID), who was the first insider to leak the PS5 Pro and internal Sony documents with its specs, prompting an official copyright strike. Now, MLID claims that they have similar documents with information about the said low power developer mode. Without going into too much technical jargon, it seems that this mode will run games with reduced specs. MLID is convinced that this mode is designed for games to run on the rumored new PlayStation handheld. Here's what the low power mode will reportedly do (thanks, ResetEra): Limit CPU to 8 threads Reduces GPU clocks by ~15% Cut GDDR 6 bandwidth in half Reduce 3D Audio Processing performance by 75% Limits PS5 Pro to 36 Compute Units No PSSR (PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution) or VR support The idea here is that targeting this mode mode will ensure that there is a version of each game that runs on the upcoming handheld as well. Another known leaker, Kepler_L2, agrees with MLID's theory. 'This is 100% an emulated performance profile for the handheld since the biggest weakness of that APU is memory bandwidth, and this profile is reducing PS5 bandwidth,' they tweeted. Fingers crossed for a new PlayStation handheld! The post PS5/PS5 Pro Reportedly Getting New Mode That Has Fans Excited appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.
