Consumer Tech

TCL TV pushes Mini LED displays closer to the limits of human vision

TCL TV pushes Mini LED displays closer to the limits of human vision
The 98-inch model of the TCL X11 on display at CES 2026, with excellent detail and color saturation
The 98-inch model of the TCL X11 on display at CES 2026, with excellent detail and color saturation
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The 98-inch model of the TCL X11 on display at CES 2026, with excellent detail and color saturation
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The 98-inch model of the TCL X11 on display at CES 2026, with excellent detail and color saturation
Under a microscope, looking at a single SQD-Mini LED. It’s that thing that looks like a speck of dust.
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Under a microscope, looking at a single SQD-Mini LED. It’s that thing that looks like a speck of dust.
The slide in the left images shows three TCL SQD-Mini LED blocks (right) next to TV display tech from 5 years ago (top left) and medium-sized QLED (bottom left) - magnified on the screen to the right
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The slide in the left images shows three TCL SQD-Mini LED blocks (right) next to TV display tech from 5 years ago (top left) and medium-sized QLED (bottom left) - magnified on the screen to the right
The textures on the 98-inch TCL X11 model looked "crazy amazing" at CES 2026
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The textures on the 98-inch TCL X11 model looked "crazy amazing" at CES 2026
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Modern TVs are absolutely unreal, especially compared to the halcyon days of adjusting analog antennae to clear up the picture. At CES 2026 in LAs Vegas recently, TCL unveiled a display unlike anything the world has seen before. It’s so impressive, in fact, that it makes CRTs look like artifacts from the Stone Age.

The TCL X11L is the world’s first TV powered by Super Quantum Dot Mini LED technology. That’s a mouthful, right? It means that colors are brighter, contrasts are greater, and the color gamut is more accurate than ever before. That’s all fine and good, but here’s why it’s so impressive.

The majority of TVs use DCI-P3 as their main color standard. BT.2020 is another option that offers a wider gamut of colors, richer shades, and more, but it can be hard to achieve with mini-LED systems due to the risk of color bleed (sometimes called color crosstalk). This happens because mini-LED systems use separate red, green, and blue LEDs to produce color.

The textures on the 98-inch TCL X11 model looked "crazy amazing" at CES 2026
The textures on the 98-inch TCL X11 model looked "crazy amazing" at CES 2026

Super Quantum Dot (SQD) technology generates color through quantum dot conversion, rather than individual LEDs. While 'quantum dot conversion' sounds like something that happens when you activate the Tesseract, it means a single chip produces what TCL calls "pure white" light that then passes through a Super Quantum Dot filter. These filter particles are only 5 nanometers, compared to the standard filter size of 60 nanometers.

To put this in perspective, 5 nanometers is roughly 1/20th the diameter of a strand of DNA. Another way to look at it is like this: a human hair is anywhere from 60,000 to 100,000 nanometers. These filter particles are insanely small.

The slide in the left images shows three TCL SQD-Mini LED blocks (right) next to TV display tech from 5 years ago (top left) and medium-sized QLED (bottom left) - magnified on the screen to the right
The slide in the left images shows three TCL SQD-Mini LED blocks (right) next to TV display tech from 5 years ago (top left) and medium-sized QLED (bottom left) - magnified on the screen to the right

It’s this advanced display technology that sets the TCL X11L apart from the competition. This incredibly precise level of control means better colors and contrast, with an overall sharper picture. When you combine that with the fact it has 20,736 dimming zones and can reach up to 10,000 nits maximum brightness, HDR-compatible content will practically pop off the screen.

TCL also cut down the girth of the TV, making it 2 cm (0.8 in) thinner, and providing what it’s calling a Virtually ZeroBorder design. In other words, the bezels are really thin, almost to the point of being non-existent. It also has a flat back so that it can sit flush against the wall, and the built-in Art Mode means you have a classy gallery display when you aren’t watching your current obsession.

The TCL X11L practically stole the show at CES 2026, but you don’t have to wait to get your hands on it. The TV is available for purchase now, although its price isn’t for the faint of heart.

The 75-inch model retails for US$6,999.99, while the 85-inch takes that price to $7,999.99. The 98-inch model (shown in this article) is a whopping $9,999.99.

Source: TCL

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