Each new telly promises to be brighter than the last, and new panels make this possible. Those that like staring at screens probably know that OLED screens are revered as the best you can buy. But that might be about to change. Samsung has just shown off its new Micro RGB panel tech.
At the moment, Micro RGB is all about ultra-premium TVs – that is, 100-inch-plus monsters that cost more than a small car. The idea? Offer something that ticks a lot of the OLED boxes but with the brightness and lifespan perks of LED. The catch? It’s still a backlit display, not a fully self-emissive MicroLED. But if it works as well as Samsung expects, it could reach your living room screen soon.
The Micro RGB system uses a ridiculously dense layer of sub-100-micrometre (that’s really tiny) red, green and blue LEDs as the backlight. This lets Samsung fine-tune light output with far more precision than current Mini-LED set-ups. It should deliver richer colours, punchier highlights, and contrast that gets closer to OLEDs – without the worry of burn-in. And because these micro LEDs are actually coloured rather than white light filtered through a colour layer, there’s less of that washed-out look you sometimes get on cheaper LED TVs.
Samsung’s also throwing in a dedicated AI engine to sit alongside the new panel. This is basically a fancy processor that analyses each frame in real time, nudges colours where they need a bit more oomph, and generally makes sure everything looks good. Combine that with the Glare Free tech, and you’ve got a screen that sounds pretty special.
Right now, it’s a serious competitor to OLEDs for big screens. OLED’s brilliance has always been slightly hampered by size and brightness limits. The biggest OLEDs you can buy don’t get much over 97in without costing an eye-watering fortune. Samsung’s approach could bridge that gap for massive displays, meaning huge home cinema walls might not require the same compromises.
But, for now, this is still very much an ultra-premium product first. We’re a while off from this turning up in your average 55in living room TV. The tech will need time before it’s more widely accessible. Samsung’s Micro RGB will first land in Korea, then head to the US before rolling out globally in various sizes. Samsung hasn’t revealed pricing yet, but expect it to sit well above the current Neo QLED range.
