RGB backlighting explained: why the next-gen TV tech is a big deal

Hisense and Samsung TV sets with RGB backlights on show at CES 2025

(Image credit: Future)

Jump to:

What is it?
What's the benefit?

RGB backlit TVs are coming, and you're going to hear a lot about them in the next few years. They're the next big development in LCD TVs, and they take the technology used in the best mini-LED TVs to a new level.

The crucial development of RGB backlit TVs is that the backlight behind the pixels can now show a wide range of colors, instead of a single color, which means you'll see a wider color gamut when watching, and it should produce better brightness – or the same brightness with less energy use.

RGB backlit TVs have been unveiled by Samsung, Hisense and TCL, with the first TVs set to arrive in the second half of 2025.

I've seen these first sets in the flesh, and the technology really looks set to rival the best TVs, so here's how it works, and what to expect from it.

What is RGB backlighting?

The Hisense 116UX TV with a split view showing the final image, and a version based on its RGB backlight tech — Hisense's depiction of how an RGB backlight translates into the image you see. (Image credit: Future)

Let's start with how current mini-LED backlit TVs work. There's a grid of tiny LEDs behind the pixels, and these generate the light that will reach your eyes. These LEDs are all blue (another color could be used, but blue is normal), and they pass through a color-filtering layer of pixels, which then convert this blue light to other colors.

Filtering color absorbs some energy, however, meaning that this process reduces the brightness of the light significantly as it changes. This is why quantum dots are used in so many TVs – they can filter colors in a very wide gamut, without absorbing too much energy.

In RGB backlit TVs, the LEDs behind the pixels aren't just blue. Each one has red, green and blue elements, which can combine so that the backlight itself is already creating the colors of what's on-screen even before it reaches the color-filtering pixels.

Because the backlight is already projecting the right colors, the color-filtering layer can be less aggressive, which means less light will be absorbed as it passes though. TCL told me that the set it showed off with the technology doesn't include quantum dots at all.

Here's a video with a depiction of how RGB backlighting looks, and how that translates to the final image.

@techradar
♬ original sound - TechRadar

What are the benefits of RGB backlighting?

The Hisense 116UX on display at CES 2025 — The Hisense 116UX at CES 2025. (Image credit: Future)

With less aggressive color filtering needed in the pixels, less light is absorbed as it passes through, meaning that you get better efficiency from the backlight. There are two ways that this can benefit us: it can mean higher levels of brightness, making TVs more easily able to overcome reflections in bright rooms; or it can allow us to maintain current levels of brightness, but using less power to do it.

The other advantage is the boldness of the colors, and the breadth of colors the TV is able to show. Colors are more vivid, especially in difficult red tones, without becoming overblown or unnatural. A wider color gamut means that when watching HDR video, the TV is able to show even closer to the full color quality of what was captured and mastered in the studio.

What TVs are coming?

Samsung RGB micro-LED on display at CES 2025 — (Image credit: Future)

Right now, we know that Samsung, Hisense and TCL have plans in motion to launch RGB backlit TVs. Hisense and Samsung say that they intend to launch sets in the second half of 2025, while TCL says that its TVs will likely arrive in 2026.

Hisense appeared to be the furthest along in its launch plans at CES 2025, showing off actual units of what it plans to launch on the show floor. The TV will be called the Hisense 116UX, and we were very impressed by what we saw of it. There's no pricing or exact release date yet, but there were multiple models on display. We don't know if it will come in any smaller sizes too, but I'm betting that it won't – this is a first-gen product for showing off, and Hisense has a history of putting its most elite tech into its largest TV only at first. Take the Hisense 110UXN, for example.

TCL showed a set with its RGB backlighting tech, but wasn't able to share any major further information, other than that it will likely launch next year. It was smaller than 110 inches, though, so may well be worth waiting for.

Samsung showed me its own RGB backlit prototype, which is potentially a little different to the others. For a start, the TV I saw was 8K, unlike Hisense's – although Samsung said that it plans to launch a 4K version in 2025. Samsung it calling its technology 'RGB Micro LED', and the LEDs are reportedly much smaller than mini-LEDs (which would enable Samsung to offer amazing brightness and very precise contrast), but I've approached Samsung for more information about where this tech sits between mini-LEDs and true micro-LED TVs, and I'll update if we get more clarity.

Samsung's TV was, notably, 98 inches – but the company says smaller sets may be possible this year. We'll have to wait and see.

@techradar
♬ original sound - TechRadar

How much will it cost?

I was told by Samsung that it doesn't expect the cost of its RGB Micro LED backlight to be much higher than its mini-LED tech (which it calls Neo QLED) even early on, which bodes really well for RGB backlights becoming mainstream very quickly, in the same way that mini-LED tech has already filtered down into extremely affordable TVs just a few years after first appearing.

However, the first TVs will inevitably be expensive, especially because it seems like they'll be very large. This is first-gen tech, so the first versions will be aimed at enthusiasts to avoid too much risk of going straight into mass production.

So it's 2026 and 2027 TVs that you need to keep your eye on, and from what I'm hearing, RGB backlighting could be become normal fairly fast – especially with lots of different companies competing over it.

Final thoughts

RGB backlighting was the break-out TV tech of CES 2025, and though the first sets that use it will be niche and very large, it's very clearly the next big development in TV tech.

The makers of the best OLED TVs are still struggling to bring the price down, and true micro-LED TVs are suffering from a similar problem to OLED in that they have some high fixed costs that don't have an obvious path to being fixed for years.

Mini-LED continues to improve and drop in price, however, and this jump in color depth and efficiency will only keep mini-LED as the best bang-for-your-buck option if it does cost the same as (or close to) current versions.

TOPICS

Matt is TechRadar's Managing Editor for Entertainment, meaning he's in charge of persuading our team of writers and reviewers to watch the latest TV shows and movies on gorgeous TVs and listen to fantastic speakers and headphones. It's a tough task, as you can imagine. Matt has over a decade of experience in tech publishing, and previously ran the TV & audio coverage for our colleagues at T3.com, and before that he edited T3 magazine. During his career, he's also contributed to places as varied as Creative Bloq, PC Gamer, PetsRadar, MacLife, and Edge. TV and movie nerdism is his speciality, and he goes to the cinema three times a week. He's always happy to explain the virtues of Dolby Vision over a drink, but he might need to use props, like he's explaining the offside rule.