LG Electronics will unveil its first LCD TV powered by microLED backlighting. The company announced that the TV will be shown at CES 2026 (as it has won a CES Innovation Award).
It is not clear yet whether LG's TV will be powered by RGB microLEDs, or LEDs, but the company did say it was "micro RGB" technology.
Samsung Electronics officially launched its first microLED RGB TV. The 115" TV is an LCD TV that is backlit by red, green and blue microLEDs. Samsung says that this TV "establishes a new benchmark for color accuracy, contrast and immersive viewing in the ultra-premium TV segment". The TV supports a wide 100% BT.2020 color gamut.
The TV is now available in Korea, and it will also launch in the US - and globally - soon. The price in Korea is 45 million Won, or around $32,000 USD. This is a premium product indeed - although the price is much lower than a comparable true microLED Samsung TV.
During CES 2025, Samsung Electronics demonstrated a 98-inch 8K microLED-backlit LCD TV, branding it as RGB MicroLED TV. This is not a true microLED TV, as it is not emissive, but unlike other LED- and miniLED- backlit LCDs, this one uses smaller red, green and blue microLEDs. A few weeks ago Samsung announced plans to produce this TV commercially by the end of 2025.
According to a new report in Korea, Samsung is now ready to begin trial production of this new TV type. Apparently the company's production process has matured enough and it is progressing as planned.
OTFT developer Smartkem demonstrated a 12.3" MicroLED-in-a-Package (MiP) backlighting unit, based on its unique and proprietary technology. At the core of this development is Smartkem's proprietary Redistribution Layer (RDL) material, which interconnects four chip-first MicroLEDs in a series to form a single high-voltage chip—the MiP4.
Smartkem says that its MiP4 package is designed to replace existing MiniLED packages in LCD backlights and signage applications, offering higher brightness, high efficiency, low production cost and compatibility with existing MiniLED die bonding equipment.
During CES 2025, Samsung Electronics demonstrated a 98-inch 8K microLED-backlit LCD TV, branding it as RGB MicroLED TV. This is not a true microLED TV, as it is not emissive, but unlike other LED- and miniLED- backlit LCDs, this one uses smaller red, green and blue microLEDs.
Samsung now says that it plans to launch this new TV, at a size of 115-inch, later in 2025. This will be Samsung's most premium LCD TV. One of the main advantages over its current miniLED-backlit LCDs, is the use of red, green, and blue microLEDs, rather than blue miniLEDs and color-conversion (QD and phophors) technology to create white-emitting LEDs. This should enable a larger image gamut. The microLEDs may also contribute to a higher contrast compared to the bigger miniLEDs, as there will be better dimming zone control.
Sony has announced that it has developed a new next-generation display technology, which it refers to as RGB LED backlighting, which basically uses red, green and blue mini-LEDs to drive LCD displays.
Current mini-LED backlighting units use blue LEDs, color converted into white color, to form the backlighting of LCD displays. In its new technology, Sony uses three different miniLEDs in each dimming zone, which removes the need to color convert. Sony says that its new technology can enable brighter (up to 4,000 nits) displays with an increase color gamut and wider viewing angles. The company demonstrated a 75-inch RGB LED LCD display that uses 96,000 LEDs to create 32,000 dimming zones.
In September 2024, OTFT developer Smartkem, a MicroLED Industry Association member, announced that it has signed an agreement with Shanghai Chip Foundation Semiconductor Technology (Chip Foundation) to co-develop microLED-based backlight units for LCD displays. Smartkem now announced that it has completed the first sale of its TRUFLEX semiconductor materials to Chip Foundation.
Smartkem prototype microLED display
Smartkem is supplying its proprietary organic dielectric single layer material, or Redistribution Layer (RDL), to Chip Foundation to combine with its own microLED devices, for the joint development of microLED based device structures. The resulting manufactured chip is expected to have the properties of high brightness coupled with high current efficiency, reducing power losses in driving backlights and improving uniformity of illumination. Additional sales of RDL materials to Chip Foundation are expected to continue throughout 2025.
Samsung is showing an interesting new TV prototype at CES 2025, a 98-inch 8K microLED-backlit LCD TV. Moving forward from miniLED backlighting to microLED backlighting enables even more dimming zones (at least 3X as many LEDs as its miniLED TVs) - and so increase energy efficiency and contrast.
Samsung calls the new TV an "RGB MicroLED", which continues the company tradition of unfortunate LED TV naming, although what samsung tries to say is that it uses RGB microLEDs as opposed to its miniLED platform which uses blue LEDs with QD color conversion. These new native RGB microLEDs are also supposed to be brighter than Samsung's miniLEDs, another advantage.
OTFT developer Smartkem, a MicroLED Industry Association member, announced that it has signed an agreement with Shanghai Chip Foundation Semiconductor Technology to co-develop microLED-based backlight units for LCD displays.
Smartkem prototype microLED display
The new backlight units will use Smartkem's proprietary organic dielectric single layer material, or Redistribution Layer (RDL). Chip Foundatiion will use the material with its own microLED devices. As part of the co-development project, Smartkem will develop specifica insulator materials to be used by Chip Foundation. The project will develop miniLED packages that contain four microLEDs wired in series. Smartkem says that the chip will offer high brightness, high current efficiency, improved uniformity and lower power consumption compared to current miniLED based backlighting units.
Where will MicroLED technology take us? We’re only beginning to see all the possibilities it holds for display and imaging, but there are many reasons to envision a bright future. Ioannis (John) Kymissis, is the Kenneth Brayer Professor of Electrical Engineering at Columbia University and Chair of the Department of Electrical Engineering. The president-elect of the Society for Information Display (SID) shares his engineering expertise in display technology during a conversation that illuminates how MicroLEDs are leading the way toward unprecedented innovation.
Q. What are some of the diverse applications of microLED technology across industries, and how does its versatility contribute to innovation?
A. Today, we are seeing microLEDs primarily considered for displays but there are also a range of applications outside displays that can benefit from the technology. Applications include 3D printing, communication, and use as illumination sources in structured backlights and cameras.
