LG’s new ‘QNED’ TVs have up to 30,000 small LEDs behind the screen

LG’s new ‘QNED’ TVs have up to 30,000 small LEDs behind the screen

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LG is perhaps the most synonymous company with OLED TVs, but tonight it announces what can be expected from its LCD-based sets in 2021. As other manufacturers, including TCL, have already done (and Samsung is expected to participate soon), LG is adopting Mini LED technology for its premium LCD 8K and 4K TVs coming next year.

LG says Mini LED allows for a big leap forward in LCD TV picture quality. ‘The best LCD TVs of today have’ local ‘eclipses’, where LEDs – in some cases hundreds of them – serve as the backlight. It can be controlled in zones, and each zone can be muted as suitable for dark scenes, which helps to improve the black levels and contrast.

Mini-LEDs change the strategy a bit by using much smaller LEDs (but much more of them) for greater contrast than TVs that can come out in a few hundred blackout zones.

In the case of LG, the company says that its new taillight “consists of nearly 30,000 small LEDs that deliver incredible brightness and a 1,000,000: 1 contrast ratio when paired with up to 2,500 eclipse zones and advanced local eclipse zones. ” The end result is better contrast, more dynamic HDR and improved color accuracy compared to the company’s previous LCD sets. Like all of LG’s 2020 flagships, refresh rates of up to 120Hz are supported.

LG has described these top LCD TVs as ‘QNED’, with the Q referring to quantum dot color and the N presumably standing for LG’s “NanoCell” brand. It’s a bit awkward – especially since TV buyers will encounter a mix of OLED, QLED and QNED TVs when they’re at their local Best Buy.

The best comparison for LG’s QNED TVs is something like TCL’s 8 Series, which contains 25,000 LEDs in about 1,000 control zones. (LG says that the QNED will come in sizes up to 86 inches, this is the one I suspect the earlier numbers come from.) TCL’s 6 series also uses Mini LED, although the total number is much lower than the expensive 8 -series.

By shrinking the LEDs, TV manufacturers can use much more of it for greater contrast and better blacks.
Image: TCL

But as the leading OLED TV brand, LG is careful to emphasize that OLED is still where the absolute best picture can be – even if the progress is on the LCD side. In 2020, Vizio entered the OLED TV field and tried to interrupt LG price, but LG does not want to give up its position at the top easily. (Sony also makes high-quality OLEDs; all three companies use panels from LG Display.)

Lastly, do not make the mistake of mixing Mini LED with MicroLED. Consider Mini LED as another evolution of LCD TVs, while MicroLED is a more far-reaching upgrade that completely removes the backlight of the equation (just like OLED) and combines millions of self-emitting LEDs that only burn when needed. MicroLED TVs are still exorbitantly expensive, and while we may not know the prices for LG’s QNED TVs in a few months, they should be much less noticeable.

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