There is no doubt that 2023 is a year for Mini LED TVs to mature, and from a certain point of view, this is also the year for Mini LED TVs to start involution. Although from the point of view of product form,Sony、LG、Philips and other manufacturers seem to be reluctant to participate in the war,In the fierce competition between TCL and Hisense,Mini LED TV has indeed moved towards higher specifications、**Cheaper era,And at the end of the year, Xiaomi launched S Pro,Push the mini LED TV involution to a climax。 Except for Samsung, which can rely on overseas markets to stand alone, other brands that do not participate in this game are actually not very competitive in Mini LED TVs.
This year,The rapid development of mini LED TV is really a bit unexpected,TCL and Hisense's arms competition,Directly push the backlight partition of mini LED TV to the height of tens of thousands,Even in the brightness part, it has exceeded 10000nits,Plus the two major manufacturers and Xiaomi have continuously reduced**,This makes it difficult for other domestic manufacturers to have too outstanding performance in the field of mini LED TV in the future。 Judging from the current situation,Basically, the entire mini LED TV in the domestic and even global markets,It will be monopolized by TCL、Hisense and Samsung,There may be Xiaomi in China who rely on low prices to eat some share。
However, this will also raise a question,How should mini LED TVs evolve to make more people accept?In fact, since last yearTCL Q10G became popular and really opened the road to the popularization of mini LED TV,It has only been more than a year now,From the market point of view,Mini LED TV actually has a lot of room for growth,This naturally includes further cost reduction,At the same time, there is still a lot of room for optimization in technology,Then2023At the end of the year,We can talk about the possible progress of mini LED TV in the future。
In fact,Whether it is us or some overseas audio-visual**,We are surprised by the ultra-fast development of this year's mini LED TV in terms of specifications,Although TCL has had X11 such a flagship product in the past,But I didn't expect that in a year,Mini LED TV's flagship products can be developed to100Inch or more,More than 20,000 backlight partitions,Peak brightness reached10000nitsSpecifications or more。 Even on non-flagship products, manufacturers and users seem to value these specifications as the key to promotion and purchase.
But this is also what worries us,At presentMini LEDTV,Too many manufacturers emphasize too much on hardware specifications,Including backlight partition、Peak brightness, etc.,And use this as a selling point,But some brands are piling up specifications,Lack of good optimization means,What's worse is that many consumers directly equate high specifications and high picture quality,This is somewhat biased。 Like the Xiaomi S Pro TV we tested, the specifications and parameters are unmatched at the same price, but in terms of picture quality, it is difficult to say, and it is even inferior to some brands of LCD TVs.
We don't doubt that Mini LED TVs will appear next year with higher brightness and more backlight partitions, but whether this is necessary for consumers is a question mark. From the perspective of the entire TV industry this year,Shipments are less than 200 million units,It's lower than last year,If you want to continue to stretch the specifications and increase the cost,In fact, it doesn't necessarily have much effect on the growth of the market,Even if next year's expected TV shipments are higher than this year。 So from our point of view,Mini LED TV further practice"Optimize internal strength"And reduce costs and prices on the basis of existing hardware,On the contrary, it is more conducive to the promotion of Mini LED TV。
In fact, no matter how many backlight partitions are raised, the physical qualities of the LCD are destined to be impossible to surpass OLED;And even if the brightness is more than 10000nits, it is useless most of the time, after all, the HDR** of 4000nits is still relatively small. At present, we believe that manufacturers should make a fuss about some technical details, including the improvement of hardware parts, the optimization of image quality algorithms, etc., blindly stretching paper parameters such as peak brightness, in our opinion, it is not of much significance to users.
Although Hisense and some manufacturers continue to use BOE's ADS Pro panel, BOE is also improving its own panel in some places. But it's different from the display industry,In the TV partVApanel is recognized as the best choice,And this year's Hisense's best mini LEDTVU8KL uses a certain size is also HKCVApanel,This is actually very telling。 At present, CSOT's HVA panel may be the best choice for global TV manufacturers, especially in the mini LED TV part, VA with multi-backlight partition module, only then can it achieve the strongest picture quality.
Huaxing Optoelectronics'HVA panel basically solves the problem of viewing angle in large size (of course, it can't be completely done),If the VA panel still has some shortcomings,Then the color gamut may be a relatively obvious problem。 Although it is equipped with quantum dot technology, at present, Mini LEDTV can achieve 97% DCI-P3Color gamut, but in BT2020Color gamut, it has always been relatively weak. And next year's Mini LED TV may be further improved in the panel section.
CSOT has previously announced the WWHVA panel, and we don't have more information about this panel, but what we can learn is that the display device with this panel has the BT2020 color gamut reached more than 90%. This will be the highest color gamut ever achieved by an LCD TV panel. Considering the UX 110-inch TV that Hisense showed before,It can also reach this level in the color gamut part,Next year, at least the mini LED flagship TV part, we think the color gamut should have a lot of progress。
For TV panels, LCD products, including Mini LED, without involving brightness, we hope for high contrast, high viewing angles, high refresh rate, and high color gamut. IPS panels are inherently impaired in contrast, and even with a Mini LED backlight, there are still obvious deficiencies in the darkThe viewing angle part of the VA panel has now done a good job in 8domain's high-end products, and under the premise that the native contrast ratio exceeds 5000:1, it can also be solved by using a wide viewing angle coating, or see if there is any other way to further optimize it;The color gamut part depends on whether products like whva can be popularized quickly. However, the overall trend has not changed, and in 2024, high-quality mini LED TVs will still be dominated by VA panels.
We've talked a lot about backlight modules before,Although we don't think it's a good thing to stretch the brightness all the time,Even start blowing 10000nits peak brightness,But the number of backlight modules and partitions,This is really something that can really improve the visual experience of LCD TV。 But we said a long time ago that the number of backlight partitions for LCD TVs, there is always an end, and it needs to be balanced in cost and scale, because you can't be self-illuminating pixels like OLED, which is equivalent to more than 8 million backlight partitions. Now at this stage, if on the premise of ensuring the image quality, the specifications can be kept from pulling the crotch and the perception without declining without increasing the cost too much, which may be what the manufacturer should consider.
This year, we are relatively biased towards TCL's Mini LED TVs, partly because the VA panel does bring better picture quality in some scenes;Another part of the reason is also to praise some changes made by TCL under the backlight module. This year, TCL's flagship TVX11G not only brings double 5000 specifications improvement, but also in the backlight module part, let us see a design that can balance specifications and cost.
Generally, there is no conclusion on how many lights are needed for a small LED equipment backlight module, but we have also said that the first thing is to consider the number of backlight partitions, and on this basis, one area with multiple lights will be more advantageous. To put it simply, with the same number of backlight zones, one zone has more lamp beads, which will have advantages in brightness and brightness uniformity. But in this way, the more partitions and the greater the number of lamp beads, then the cost will be higher;If it is one zone and one lamp, then the cost is down, and the number of backlight zones can go up, but the small number of lamp beads will affect the improvement of peak brightness and backlight uniformity. So in this part, manufacturers have always needed to balance.
In fact, TCL has used micro-lens mini LED lamps on some non-flagship products, which has better light source focusing ability and halo improvement ability;The X11G uses a six-crystal square chip and a wide-angle homogeneous lens bead, which shows extremely high peak brightness and uniformity under the design of one lamp and one area. This design does not actually need to reduce the volume of the lamp beads, which reduces the difficulty of manufacturing, and also helps to increase the number of backlight zones.
In fact, in addition to TCL, other manufacturers are also improving the design of their own backlight modules, but there are few products like TCL that use technology improvement as a propaganda point. This year, TCL has adopted new lamp beads and chips on the X11G, C12 and C11G Pro, but products such as the Q10G Pro and Q10H still use relatively traditional technology, with only slight improvements. Therefore, in next year's Mini LED TV, TCL, as the manufacturer with the highest sales volume of Mini LED TVs in China, is likely to further popularize the six-crystal square core and wide-angle uniform lens on all models. This allows mini LED TVs to maintain relatively close to the people when they have a large number of backlight partitions, giving TVs room to continue to improve at the same price.
In fact, we have tested so many mini LED TVs this year, and the progress is great compared to 2022, but there is still a lot of room for optimization. For example, in the TV part, the backlight delay actually exists, and many flagship products with high paper specifications have room for optimization in this part;In the halo part, TCL has performed quite well, but many products, including Sony, still have a noticeable halo part;For example, the thickness of the fuselage, at present, in addition to Samsung, other brands still have room for improvement.
The reason why TCL can have good halo suppression on Mini LED displays and TVs is not only the improvement of lamp beads, but also related to the design. As we have introduced before, there are usually two solutions to the halo of mini LED TVs. One is to reduce the OD value, and the other is to improve the lens. OD represents the distance from the backlight panel to the diffusion panel, which determines the size of the light emitting surface base formed by the light sourceThe smaller the OD value, the more focused the emitting surface will be, and the more it matches the desired light surface of the partition, the better the highlight control. If the OD value is 2-5mm, then there is basically no highlight problem, 8-10mm will basically not see any halo, and 15-20mm, there will be less halo.
This part is actually a more difficult thing,Reducing the ODD value can not only control the halo,At the same time, it can also make the TV thinner,So this part is actually a test of the design ability of TV manufacturers,At present, several manufacturers such as TCL、Samsung and other manufacturers are performing very well in this part。 As for the lens part, whether it is a micro lens or a wide-angle homogeneous lens, they actually show very good quality, coupled with the stability of the number of backlight partitions, we believe that more products in the halo part will perform well in 2024.
In addition, in terms of light control and algorithm optimization, major manufacturers have made great progress this year compared with last year, some manufacturers do not expand the scale of backlight this year, and the backlight partition is not so much, and some are not even as high as the specifications in the past, in fact, it is also because of the improvement of the light control algorithm, manufacturers believe that under the premise that the image quality does not decline, it can save costs. In the mini LED TVs we tested this year, all major manufacturers were able to press the black level very well, of course, some products because of the panel, they could not increase the brightness at the same time, and they could maintain a very low black level, but in general, this part is progressive.
There are many things involved in the light control algorithm, including brightness calculation, spatial filtering, time filtering, light shape adaptation, two-way 16bit computing and other technologies. At least the picture can show a normal level without error,And this part of the ability is insufficient,Just like the Xiaomi S Pro we tested before,There will be a problem of light control error,This part is a relative test of the manufacturer's technical ability,Traditional TV manufacturers will be more confident。
However, for us,Mini LED TV we are actually looking forward to more in these places,One is that the halo is further suppressed,The other is to further reduce the backlight delay。 As for other image quality optimizations, it depends on the manufacturer's own capabilities, after all, different manufacturers have different algorithms and understandings, and there will always be differences and advantages and disadvantages. At present, the performance of several first-line manufacturers,Including TCL、Samsung、Hisense The overall picture quality on Mini LED TVs is not bad,Look forward to their continuous improvement。
Finally, when it comes to the functional part,In fact, this year's mini LEDTV tends to be complete in the functional part,For example, to have a full specificationHDR,TCL has done it,At the same time, the complete CEC function can also be basically realized。 For mini led, which tends to be a high-end product, it may be more enhanced in the functional part, such as in the audio part, next yearmini ledTV should be able to bring us more choices.
After the release of Dolby Flex wireless panoramic sound technology, TCL is the first manufacturer to support, and the previous news shows that TCL next year's Mini LED models should support this technology, which means that traditional sound bar manufacturers will usher in the biggest crisis and reshuffle, and users in the future when building audio systems, they no longer need to buy a single brand of sound bar products, but can be freely matched like buying ** amplifiers and speakers.
What we understand is,TCL will support 2-6 wireless physical speakers next year,To support DolbyFlexWireless Atmos technology,If it's two,Then it can be used as left and right surround sound,Or rear surround,Give the left and right channels、Center and bass to the TV,If it's two physical wireless speakers,There are many matching schemes,Directly form a physical 5.1.2 channels are not a problem. It's just that I don't know if TCL will be used on the overseas version of the model first next year, or on the domestic model first. In addition to TCL, it is expected that other manufacturers will follow, but the specific plan is still unclear.
This means that in the future, as long as there are manufacturers that launch their own Dolbyflex supportWiFi speakers,Then they can be matched with different brands but support Dolbyflex technology TV(power amplifier),The cost and effect of the sound effect scheme are completely controlled by the user himself,A single sound bar is no longer the only choice for users。 This will promote more manufacturers to enter the ranks of wireless speakers, and it will also have a big impact on traditional sound bar manufacturers such as Samsung, Sony, LG, and Philips, prompting them to launch similar products. So when you buy a Mini LED TV next year, maybe supporting Dolby Flex will become a very important reference standard.
In fact, we have now learned about some models of some manufacturers in 2024, such as TCL will have Q10K Pro, S11H, P11H and other models, of course, the specific performance may need to be known when we get the machine. However, we do not think or disagree, manufacturers will continue to compete brainlessly on paper parameters in the next year, and for buyers, they need more suitable products, including performance, image quality, **, etc.
Our ** new mini LED machine next year, the same grade and this year's models will not change much in the ** part, but the specifications will be strengthened to a certain extent, including more backlight partitions. If TCL's one-light-one-zone solution becomes more widespread, we think this is likely to happen. As for the peak brightness, it may be able to increase to 4000nits to 5000nits on high-end models, which is almost the peak, because no matter how high it is, we don't think it makes so much sense at the moment;The mainstream model should be generally increased to about 2000nits. In terms of functionality, it may be important to be able to support Dolby Flex.
Mini LED TV has entered 2024, it should belong to a mature cooling-off period, and the market pattern has basically been finalized. TCL's position in China is unbreakable, coupled with the advantage of panels, it is not a big problem to continue to lead the market. Therefore, at this time, manufacturers should perhaps calm down and further shift the specification battle to user experience. Xiaomi S Pro sales at the end of the year are good,**And paper specifications are selling points,We dare not say that this is bad money to drive out good money,But the existing system of mini LED TV,In fact, it can support TCL、Hisense and other manufacturers,Improve technology and picture quality while reducing costs。 So in the next year, there may be fewer muscular products that will shock us, but maybe we can buy a better mini LED TV.