Sony's New RGB LEDs Could Give OLED a Run For Its Money
Sony has been demoing a new type of TV it calls General RGB LED Backlight Technology. The name is terrible, but the technology is very cool. It effectively replaces the existing blue LEDs in a mini-LED TV with RGB LEDs. This lets the backlight behind the pixels shine through the right color shade rather than relying on color filters or quantum dots. The end result is richer colors and a brighter overall picture than traditional mini-LEDs, potentially giving OLED a run for its money.
The two main screen technologies available in mid to high-end TVs are mini-LED LCD and OLED. The former packs hundreds or even thousands of miniature LEDs behind an LCD panel, shining through as much light as and where it's needed. This is great for HDR highlights without blooming, though it's not perfect. OLED uses individual organic LEDs behind each pixel. They can be turned off individually, making for better contrast and even more nuanced HDR, but they don't get as bright. Sony's new RGB LED technology wants to find a better middle ground between the two.
The new technology lacks the individual control of OLED, so it won't quite be as great for contrast or responsiveness. Still, RGB LEDs can produce color far better than traditional mini-LEDs, and according to The Verge, they get exceedingly bright, too. One example in a demonstration easily eclipsed the super-bright Sony Bravia 9 and output over 4,000 nits—that's the kind of numbers we normally only see in professional reference monitors.
Sony's RGB LEDs are particularly strong at showcasing red tones, but match OLED in blues and greens. Credit: Sony
Another major boon for this technology is its much better support for wider viewing angles. That's been a consistent weak spot for mini-LED for years now, where many TVs can lose saturation or develop a green tint at extreme angles. That's apparently no longer a problem with these RGB LEDs.
While this is a Sony technology, don't expect it to only show up in Sony TVs. Indeed, Digital Trends looked at a Hisense TV built using this new RGB LED technology and found it equally impressive. It also highlighted how the new technology should scale better than traditional mini-LEDs, potentially leading to affordable TVs over the 77-inch wall where prices often get ridiculous. The site concludes that RGB LEDs may not be an OLED killer yet, but they could be in the long run. The rich colors occasionally challenge even what OLED can manage, all while offering stellar brightness and wide viewing angles.
If RGB LEDs can just get a little faster for gaming, they could be the long-term replacement for OLED—just as OLED once eclipsed plasma.
For more, our colleagues at PCMag have a deep dive on RGB LEDs.
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