CalebRated and CD Creative Media Set to Anchor Premium Home Theater Coverage at CEDIA Expo 2026

DENVER, CO — SEPTEMBER 1, 2026 — Independent digital media company CD Creative Media LLC today announced that founder and veteran technology journalist Caleb Denison will lead on-site editorial coverage and brand partnerships at the CEDIA Expo 2026 in Denver, Colorado, from September 1 to September 4, 2026.

Operating under the flagship consumer brand CalebRated, the coverage will spotlight next-generation home entertainment infrastructure, high-fidelity audio systems, and flagship residential display tech. Denison is scheduled to evaluate highly anticipated product introductions, including major showcases from Screen Innovations, Magnetar, and the Premium Audio Company portfolios. Following the successful launch of CableRated™ Ultra High Speed HDMI cables, this footprint marks the brand’s largest independent expansion into dedicated trade floor evaluation and creator-brand collaborations. Coverage is available on the CalebRated YouTube Channel.

“CEDIA represents the absolute pinnacle of residential integration and premium audio innovation,” said Caleb Denison, Founder of CD Creative Media. “As an independent platform, our mission is to cut through the industry jargon and deliver honest, high-impact buying intelligence directly to our audiences.”

Reviewers, brand executives, and production partners looking to coordinate on-camera features or product evaluations during the expo can request scheduling availability via sales@calebrated.com.

ABOUT CD CREATIVE MEDIA LLC

CD Creative Media LLC is an independent multimedia production company producing elite consumer electronics education, video reviews, and industry commentary. Through its flagship brand CalebRated, the platform delivers unbiased technical evaluations to millions of home theater enthusiasts globally.

The Epson LifeStudio Grand Plus is a projector I’m genuinely excited to discuss, and I have plenty to share. But in a twist for this site, things won’t go the usual way — this is not a review of the Epson LifeStudio Grand Plus Ultra Short Throw projector. To be clear, this is also not a sponsored post — when we do sponsored content, we’re always upfront about it, and we don’t do sponsored reviews here.

That said, I am going to recommend this projector. I just won’t call this a review because I have high standards for my reviews, and this time, I won’t be meeting them — but I’ll explain why in a bit.

The Epson Backstory

First, let me tell you a little story about what Epson has been up to and why I respect it. The shortest version is that Epson has spent a few years taking legal action against other projector brands over brightness claims. The TL;DR is that many projectors have been advertised with big, impressive-looking lumen numbers that were either inflated or based on non-standard measurements such as “LED lumens,” “lamp brightness,” or lux. Epson wasn’t successful in every case, but several cases did end up getting brands to lower their published brightness specs and agree to use recognized standards like ISO lumens going forward.

Of course, Epson benefits from insisting on standardized brightness claims — it sells projectors, after all. But I respect that push for accuracy. Without real standards, brightness specs are meaningless. By enforcing recognized measurements, Epson has made it much easier for shoppers to compare projectors. It hasn’t eliminated misleading claims, but the company has made real progress. For reviewers like me, that means less time debunking spec sheet nonsense and more time focusing on what it’s actually like to live with a projector.

On brightness, Epson claims a true 4,000 lumens of white and color — by its own strict standards. That’s a bold claim, and, importantly, it holds up. I’m not saying that because I measured it myself; I’m still learning the ropes of projector measurement and won’t share numbers until I’m absolutely confident. For now, I lean on experts—shout-outs to Classy Tech Calibrations and Mark Henninger, whose Projector Screen review is a must-read.

Mark is meticulous and honest, and he put this projector through its paces. Long story short: it performs extremely well, and I can explain exactly how.

Laser Tech in UST Projectors

Many UST projectors now use a blue laser with a phosphor coating to create white light — much like LED TVs. Instead of a color filter or quantum dots, the laser passes through a fast-spinning color wheel with red, green, and blue sections. The projector syncs these flashes with its image chip, painting red, green, and blue onto the screen in quick bursts. This happens so quickly that you see a single, vibrant image — unless you’re sensitive to rainbow artifacts, a common DLP issue.

The LifeStudio Grand Plus takes a different approach. It’s a three-LCD projector that splits the laser light into red, green, and blue beams, sends each through its own LCD chip, then recombines them before projecting. All three colors hit the screen at once, which is part of how Epson achieves high brightness for both white and color.

Now, before I go further, I need to acknowledge that there are also tri-laser projectors — these have red, green, and blue lasers instead of just a single-color laser light source, and they are super UST projectors. There aren’t many of them, and they are expensive. For example, the Hisense L9Q is about $5,000 while the LifeStudio Grand Plus here is about $3,000.

Since it uses a single laser light source, the LifeStudio Grand Plus won’t achieve full BT.2020 color coverage. In fact, while it can cover nearly 100% of the rec.709 non-HDR color gamut, it’s down in the low 80% range, according to Mark’s review at Projector Central. I guess now is as good a time as any to point out that the LifeStudio Grand does not support Dolby Vision, but it does support HDR, and especially in a dark room, you do feel those HDR highlights.

My First Impressions

I have to own up to something: early on, I used this projector as a backdrop for a TV comparison — mostly for fun, but in hindsight, it wasn’t fair to Epson and made me look foolish. My real mistake was not digging into the picture presets and settings. The default “Cinema” mode wasn’t accurate, and I overlooked that because I’m used to how TVs handle their defaults. That’s my TV reviewer bias talking. I’m still new to projectors, so I might have to check in with the projector reviewer community about this.

After experimenting, I found that switching to the “Natural” preset and moving away from the warm color temperature setting made the image look much more accurate and natural to me.

Black Levels & Screen Size

Before even checking Mark’s review, I noticed this projector’s black floor is impressive. Blacks look as deep as your room allows — any ambient light, though, and they quickly turn gray, which kills contrast. You can bump up brightness with dynamic mode for daytime use, but this projector just can’t compete with direct-view TVs like the TCL QM7L or Hisense U7SG when it comes to sheer brightness.

But you don’t buy a projector to act like a TV or for gaming. You buy it for the cinematic experience—movies, sports, and shows on a huge screen. While 120 inches is plenty, Epson teamed up with Elite Screens to send me a 140-inch floor-rising CLR 5 screen. CLR stands for ceiling light rejection, which makes a real difference — and leads me to my next point.

Choosing the Right Screen & Calibration

If you’re using a UST projector, you need a specialized light-rejecting screen. While these are often called ALR screens, for UST models you really want a CLR screen. It reflects light from below the projector while rejecting light from above. It won’t do much against light coming from the sides, so if I open the windows on a sunny day, the image can still get washed out. Still, the screen makes a huge difference, day or night, by blocking unwanted overhead light.

According to Mark’s review, this projector looks accurate in the right picture mode, even to an untrained eye. But a professional calibration takes it to the next level — something I recommend if you really want to optimize your setup.

Sound & Setup

Epson partnered with Bose on the speakers, and honestly, the sound rivals most TVs’. While I could live with just the built-in sound, I’d still recommend adding a receiver and speakers if possible—even a basic stereo setup. You can fit a slim soundbar in front of the projector on some stands or credenzas.

Epson sent a Salamander brand stand designed specifically for the LifeStudio Grand Plus, which should have made setup easy. Unfortunately, the stand arrived assembled incorrectly, and I didn’t have the time or energy to rebuild it.

The stand is custom-built for this projector, letting it sit neatly below the screen so the image appears to rise perfectly from the floor. But because parts were upside down, I couldn’t orient the centerpiece correctly or lower the projector as intended, which affected the final setup and image positioning.

All of this turned into an installation headache—not really the projector’s or Epson’s fault. My best guess is that someone rushed the stand assembly for a tradeshow and put parts in upside down.

As a result, getting the projector positioned correctly, both horizontally and vertically, was tricky. I eventually got it close, but it took effort.

I also can’t speak to how well Epson’s keystone correction app works in normal conditions. For me, it simply didn’t work, even after following the instructions multiple times.

Between manual focus, screen size, and keystone correction, I eventually got everything dialed in. Still, I can’t say if setup is truly DIY-friendly—there’s not much guidance online, and most demos just show the projector on the floor with a 120-inch screen.

Honestly, my setup is the main source of trouble here, and I’ll need to change it for future reviews—especially since other projectors won’t fit my cutout space, even if I fix the stand.

The Big Picture

But the positives far outweigh my setup headaches. This projector has been a blast: 104 inches of sharp, vibrant projection is stunning, and I expect it to hold its own in upcoming shootouts. If it does, my confidence will only grow. In the meantime, I’ll keep working on my measurements so future videos can be true reviews.

I might need a new credenza — or maybe just keep experimenting with my cinder block setup (that’s a story for another time).

Honestly, that says a lot: even with my less-than-ideal setup, the LifeStudio Grand still looked fantastic. With a proper installation, it’ll look even better.

​

It happens every few years. A high-end TV so hyped up, so intensely anticipated, that anyone and everyone who cares about TVs just has to know how good it really is. People start asking, “Is this the TV that, finally, does so many things OLED TVs can’t, that it could take the honors of being the best TV of the year?

This is that TV everyone’s fussing over – the Sony Bravia 9 II. It’s an icon. It’s a feat of engineering. But is it the best? And should you buy it? Well, let’s get into that.

Even I’ve been hyping up this TV, if only passively. I spoke at length about how Sony’s True RGB looks like it might be the best, most meaningful implementation of RGB backlighting out there — though the jury is still out on whether it makes a big enough difference to be worth all the extra effort, size, and cost. So, could the Bravia 9 II be the one that proves RGB is the future of mainstream TVs?

Trust me when I say this isn’t a spoiler: the Bravia 9 II is probably the most fun I’ve had watching TV in a long time. Maybe ever.

I can say with a great degree of confidence that the Bravia 9 II is likely to be the people’s choice TV. Theoretically, if you sat a bunch of folks down in front of each TV — either with the TVs separated or side by side — I think more people would vote for the Sony. That’s not based on a mountain of empirical data, mind you — it’s vibes, albeit … vibes based on experience.

But speaking of empirical data— how does this TV literally measure up to the competition, including Sony’s own Bravia 7 II? My headlines questioned whether it was too good for the newest Bravia 9 to make sense. Now we’re going to find out. I mean, the Bravia 9 II is bright, no doubt about it. But is it color accurate? How does it handle greyscale and low-luminance colors, and does the RGB backlight meaningfully reduce blooming?

Also, what’s up with the new anti-glare, anti-reflection screen and why is it the best we’ve ever seen? What about new features like connecting a Sony wireless subwoofer directly to the TV to add more bass and impact, or the My Cinema upgrade — what does that do? And, finally, is the Sony tax justified in this case? Is Sony really moving away from OLED? I might have to change my answer.

This sounds like a lot, but I’ll make it easy for you. Let’s dive in.

Remote, Inputs, and Design

I’ll start with the remote because there are only two upgrades to mention here: USB-C charging — no batteries to change — and a bright backlight, which I really appreciate. Everything else is the same, including the remote-finder function.

Next, let’s get it over with: you get two HDMI 2.1 inputs, and one of them is HDMI 3, the eARC input. (If you want to know why — and why I still don’t think it’s a huge deal for most people — check out that section of my Bravia 7 II review.) There’s also a coax connector that leads to an ATSC 3.0 tuner.

Underneath, we see the same sort of holographic stand that we saw on the Bravia 7 II– it does a good job of hiding cables. Sony feels it gives off a sort of floating vibe, but for me, the real treat is how easy it is to install.

Display and Sound

Now let’s talk about the screen. First off, let me tell you that I compared this directly to Samsung’s own remarkable light-eating screen, and frankly, Sony’s worked a little bit better for me both in tests and in real life. Samsung has dominated this field, so it’s nice to see Sony stepping up with some competition. You know Samsung’s going to respond, and that is good news for consumers. And for enthusiasts who have beef with so-called “matte screens,” I’ll address that in depth in my upcoming Samsung versus Sony comparison.

But if there were ever a “bright room TV,” this is it. And the reason I say this is that it seems to maintain better contrast in bright environments; it doesn’t just overpower ambient light with unmitigated brightness — though it is bright, as I will demonstrate below.

The Bravia 9 II runs Google TV, but with a recent update, you can now add a wireless subwoofer and/or surround speakers directly to the TV, no soundbar required. This applies to the Bravia 9II, along with the Bravia 7 and 7 II, the Bravia 8 and 8 II, and even the Bravia 5, as far back as the A95L. I think that’s pretty awesome. Now, it will need to be one of Sony’s newer subs, but the Sub 9 will knock your socks off, and I like where Sony has gone with its new Atmos speakers.

I do have to say, since the TV’s speakers are going to hold down the Left, Right, and sort-of-center-channel fort, they’re going to do a lot of heavy lifting in a system with a real subwoofer and proper surround speakers. I think that’s a task the A95L is up to; I know the Bravia 8 II is up to it, but what about an LCD-based TV like the Bravia 9 II, which doesn’t have the advantage of the screen also being the speakers? Can it hang? How does it sound on its own?

One thing I am concerned about is how quickly the backlight system works. It is no doubt a super-advanced backlight system, with more granular control over each Red, Green, and Blue backlight than we’ve seen even on white-backlit systems, where there was only one color to coordinate with. That subtle gradation becomes pretty obvious when you watch some dim scenes, but as I was testing the TV, and it would bounce between bright patches and darker ones, I could see the adjustment just sort of slowly sliding into place. It does not strike me as a particularly quick-to-adjust backlight system. Which is perhaps why Hisense puts a “fast and normal” backlight speed switch in its picture menu; I’m not sure. I just noticed that when I was steeply off-angle from both the side and above, and very close to the TV, as I was when I was testing it, I could see the blooming around the menu die pretty slowly when I exited the menu.

Now, maybe the TV’s algorithm is like — I know where we’re going here; this isn’t active content; I don’t see the need to rush, folks — that very well could be the case, because I didn’t notice any slow transitions while watching real content. But during the testing — slow to adjust. I don’t remember the Bravia 7 being that way, and I feel like I would have noticed.

Deez Nits

Let’s get into some of that empirical data I mentioned.

First, what I know you want to know is: what’s the peak brightness? Well, in the right mode, it will definitely hit 4,000 nits, and in real gaming content, it looks like it will keep on hitting 4,000 nits for nearly 5 minutes, which is bonkers. Peak brightness in the professional mode, without a bunch of brightness-preferred maximization settings, came in at more like 3,600 nits, which is outstanding. Full-screen brightness hit almost 1,000 nits. Think of what you could do to SDR content with that kind of power. The right processing could make SDR content look like HDR content if that’s what you want.

HDR

Moving beyond the nits, in HDR, the gamma curve looked pretty good. The 2-point white balance out of the box matched Sony’s preference, but because of how Calman works, I needed to calibrate to D65, which required taking quite a few points off blue and a couple out of red to arrive at what was pretty stinking great at 100% stimulus. However, oddly, the better I made the bright side, the more the errors crept up on the low side – curious. I wondered if it would do the same in SDR.

​Greyscale and EOTF tracking looked awesome right up until the end. I assume that’s because I didn’t do a 10-point white balance, but that dip in the EOTF is a little suspect. I ran this test twice just to be sure. I even threw the ol’ 10% window softball at it, and it still came up strangely just before it hit peak luminance. And I have to wonder if that has to do with preserving highlight detail. That’s a shot in the dark, but the dip in brightness right at the end is confusing.

Color Saturation and Luminance sweeps showed results more or less the same as I’ve seen with other ultra-bright TVs, except these were more closely aligned with the target boxes. However, as the TV tries to reach the outer reaches of the BT.2020 high-luminance space, it falls a little short. But that’s the best expected — nobody out there is doing more than 92% coverage of the BT.2020 area. The color volume here was a bit lower than I’d hoped, perhaps because I’ve looked at some brighter TVs. Note how much impact having the TV in RGB mode had compared to having the backlight in always-white mode here. That’s significant. And that option — moving it to a white-only backlight — is something we haven’t seen on other RGB TVs. The most popular theory is that professionals want to see how their content will look on non-RGB TVs, so manufacturers include that option.

The color checker looked good — just remember these primaries are always a problem because they can’t get bright enough. This causes a similar impact on luminance sweeps. The color saturation was excellent at both 75% and 40% testing parameters.

Overall, excellent HDR performance, preserving bright highlight details if you ask it to, and then punching up the bright areas to the max if you don’t mind the TV clipping a bit.

SDR

In SDR, the TV performed admirably, but it wasn’t the picture of perfection I expected. In the stock Professional mode, I corrected the white point to D65 for the same reasons I mentioned earlier. Once again, just like the Bravia 7 II, peak luminance was set at right around 100 nits – which is purist territory. You can, of course, pump that up to extremely bright levels if you want, because, as I mentioned earlier, it’ll do 1,000 nits full-screen white.

​Gamma strays a little bit in the dark areas, which is to say that the brightness of the dark greys is a little low — not crushed blacks low; that looks more like a choice than a flaw to me. The 2-point white balance had a max Delta E of 0.78, and the low-luminance white balance was so good as to be undetectable. I actually got better on the Bravia 7 II, but I think that’s because local dimming makes TVs really difficult and unpredictable to measure, despite our best efforts.

In greyscale, we get the same story: the gamma is a little high coming out of black, but otherwise outstanding. I’m literally picking apart nits here. Most TVs wish they were this good.

Color saturation was actually slightly better at low luminance than at high luminance, which was a surprise, but I think that’s because, the luminance test shows, we see that the red primary, cyan, and blue are way out of whack. I don’t know why this is, but it’s not the first time I’ve seen this before on an RGB TV. The color checker test shows that blue and cyan aren’t problems in the luminance area like red, which is way less bright than it should be in SDR. This looks like a bug, because we’ve seen what it can do in HDR.

I noticed similar issues with high gamma and red primary accuracy on the Bravia 7, though they were slightly more pronounced than on the Bravia 9.

Takeaways

I had to pick this TV apart, piece by piece, to find something to complain about, and frankly, I think that says everything we need to know about the Bravia 9 II.

It’s designed to match up to the $42,000 HX3110 reference monitor — and based on what I saw in Tokyo, it does. In fact, the Bravia 9 II is so accurate if you want it to be, you have to question whether it’s maybe too close for Sony to be charging $42,000.

I initially thought the Bravia 7 II might make the Bravia 9 II unnecessary. I was wrong. The Bravia 7 II is a stellar TV, but the level of excellence the Bravia 9 II reaches is virtually unimpeachable.

At least, by the measurements. But measurements mean a whole lot less than they used to. So how is it to actually watch this TV?

​Audio

I’ll get to picture quality in a moment; first, audio. I’ve got good news and bad news.

After spending more time with the Bravia 7 II — the model just below this one — I’m impressed by how much its sound improves with use. Sony’s room calibration system truly enhances the audio to suit your environment.

The bad news about the Bravia 9 II is that, even though the remote was supposedly paired via Bluetooth, it wouldn’t let me use voice search or do acoustic auto calibration. It could be a faulty remote, or maybe there’s some rogue setting I’ve never, ever had to deal with before, but one thing is certain: it’s always worked right out of the box with every Sony I’ve tested that had this feature.

The good news is that even without the benefit of that auto calibration, the TV sounds exceptional. I’m not gonna tell you not to go get a soundbar or add a subwoofer and surrounds to this TV, but you won’t be disappointed with the onboard sound. Sony is kicking everyone’s tail with its built-in sound. I’m sorry, everyone else — it’s true. If you have the Bravia 9 II you bought, compare it to your flagships, listening to them side by side. You don’t have to go public with it, but behind closed doors, you have to admit what Sony is doing here is working.

Except when it isn’t.

I had a lot of HDMI handshake issues keeping my Klipsch The Nines II connected to the Bravia 9 II, and I just didn’t with other TVs. I just did half a Just Ask Caleb episode about how maddening HDMI CEC and eARC are; but just because it’s expected doesn’t make it ok.

​Otherwise, the audio system gets two enthusiastic thumbs up. It’s one of the best TVs I’ve heard, maybe even better than the Bravia 8 II, which uses its screen for more directional sound. We’ll see … er, hear about that later.

Picture Quality

Finally, on to picture quality. Here’s what you need to know. This TV is an absolute blast. I had so much fun watching this TV. I may actually cry a little when I ship it off. Or maybe I’ll beg Sony to let me keep it as a reference for LCD TVs because I’m telling you –– this TV is just outstanding.

I had a bunch of guests over while I was reviewing this TV, a few of whom saw some other high-end TVs in here the last time they came through, and they saw the same scenes from The Greatest Showman on both – and they were like – now that’s what a flame should look like – it’s so crisp ... if a flame can be crisp, one said.

Another was just astonished by the color brightness, noticing that, in professional mode, the HDR color popped off the screen harder than anything he’d seen in a house before.

​I’ve used certain scenes from The Greatest Showman to test more TVs than I can count, but I watched it all the way through for the first time on the Samsung S95H — and the picture was exquisite throughout. But the Bravia 9 II did a few things that the S95H OLED couldn’t. ​

And don’t think all the brightness excitement means this TV is going to blind you. No, Sony just reproduces the content how it was intended to look. So, if someone made a super-bright movie, well, it may be super-bright. But tasteful HDR highlights hit different on this TV.

I could go on and on. I watched so many movies and TV shows on this TV. The cleanup of low-quality content was second to none — though Samsung is right behind Sony right now and maybe pulling up even, so watch out, Sony.

As for off-angle viewing, it does pretty well at maintaining contrast and color saturation off-angle compared to other LCD TVs. But like all LCD TVs, this is where you’re going to see blooming and halo the most. That’s just how it works with these.

Gaming

I think it’s pretty well established that I’m not a gamer. But I can tell you I measured a 17-millisecond lag at 60Hz and a 9-millisecond lag at 120Hz. Not the best we’ve seen, but better than we had years ago. I can also tell you it’s got all the cool game-bar features. It works flawlessly with the PlayStation 5 – I mean, it’s great for all but the most hardcore of gamers who only game on high-end gaming PCs and really want that legit 165 or 240 HZ on a TV because, let’s face it, it’s fun to game on a big screen.

But the Sony Bravia 9 II isn’t built to be a gamer’s delight. It’s built to be a movie- and TV-buff’s dream. And that it is. It’s a dreamy TV.

​Final Thoughts

This TV is about as artifact-free as an LCD TV gets, but it’s still an LCD with local dimming, and its dense local dimming zones do make the Bravia 9 II better than the Bravia 7 II below it. They make it brighter, too.

But does this LCD TV kill OLED?

That’s another article, and it’s coming. But I’m telling you, it’s the first LCD TV good enough to make OLED worry.

​

Why CableRated? After years of testing TVs, home theater gear, gaming systems, and more, my team and I kept running into the same problem: HDMI cables were either super cheap and unreliable, or outrageously expensive with a lot of marketing hype and questionable claims. We wanted a cable that just works: reliable, durable, and actually delivers what it promises. No magic, no snake oil — just real performance.

So, together with my friends and co-founders, Dipin Sehdev and Alex Pasco, we decided to build exactly that. We partnered with manufacturers, ordered what felt like a sea of sample cables, and put them through the wringer — testing, routing, stressing, and even surgically dissecting them to separate meaningful engineering from empty promises. Signal integrity, construction quality, durability, connector design, flexibility, and long-term reliability were all part of our checklist.

Built for Real-World Performance

The result? A cable that delivers dependable performance at a fair price. Here’s what you get with the new CableRated HDMI cable:

Everything You Get with CableRated

• Ultra High Speed HDMI performance means up to 48 Gbps of bandwidth for uncompromised video and audio, so your movies, games, and sports look their best.

• Supports up to 8K at 60Hz and 4K at 120Hz — perfect for next-gen gaming and premium home theaters, with smooth motion and crisp detail.

• Dynamic HDR delivers deeper blacks, brighter highlights, and lifelike color for a more immersive viewing experience.

• Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) eliminates screen tearing and stuttering, while Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM) and Quick Frame Transport (QFT) ensure responsive, fluid gaming.

• Quick Media Switching (QMS) removes black screen delays when switching devices.

• ARC and eARC support means your cable is ready for the best audio experience, from surround sound to lossless formats.

• HDCP 2.3 compatibility means CableRated is ready for today’s 4K and 8K streaming services, plus support for HDR10, HDR10+, Dolby Vision, HLG, and 3D.

• Universal compatibility: Standard HDMI Type-A connectors work with TVs, projectors, AV receivers, gaming consoles, PCs, and streaming devices.

• Premium Construction: Gold-plated connectors, durable aluminum housings, a soft-touch aluminum-magnesium braided jacket, triple-layer shielding, and a low-EMI design ensure long-term reliability.

• And of course, it’s backward compatible — so you can use CableRated cables with your older devices, too.

The CableRated Commitment

We didn’t want to create the most expensive cable out there — we wanted that sweet spot where better materials and construction actually make a real difference. So we focused on what matters, left out the costly “extras” that don’t, and landed on a design that’s built to last.

My co-founder Dipin Sehdev put it well:

We ordered countless samples and analyzed each of them, then compared them to premium cables to find out where the law of diminishing returns came into play. What we discovered is that consumers shouldn’t have to choose between questionable quality and excessive pricing. We wanted to create a cable that simply works and continues working.

The Cable CalebRated Uses

And here’s my favorite part: these are the exact same cables I’ll be using in every TV review and product test for CalebRated.

You already know I demand consistency and reliability in testing environments. If I’m recommending a product to you, I have to trust it myself. These are the cables I’ll be using every day.

More Than Just Cables

But we’re not stopping at HDMI cables — CableRated is about building a performance brand for people who care about their gear, whether you’re a home theater buff, a gamer, or just want your setup to work flawlessly. We’re already working on more products built to the same standard: honest claims and real-world performance.

As my partner Alex Pasco said:

We’re just getting started. The goal isn’t to launch one cable and call it a day. We’re building a brand around products we personally want to use and recommend.

You’ll also find new CalebRated merch on the site — apparel, drinkware, and some fun stuff inspired by this awesome community.

Availability

Ready to check out CableRated? The HDMI cables are available right now, in multiple lengths, exclusively at CableRated.com.

Thanks for being part of this journey. I can’t wait for you to try them out.

For all the details, specs, and updates, visit CableRated.com.

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About CE Critic

CE Critic is a consumer electronics intelligence and review platform founded by Dipin Sehdev. Often described as the “Rotten Tomatoes of consumer electronics,” CE Critic helps consumers make better purchasing decisions by aggregating reviews, providing expert analysis, and leveraging market intelligence and industry research. The company also provides market intelligence solutions for manufacturers, retailers, and technology brands through CE Critic Intelligence.

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So how is it NOT the perfect TV? More to the point, will you even care?

Enthusiast Controversy, Mainstream Appeal

Let’s not beat around the bush — the S95H is controversial to some enthusiasts because of certain design elements. But those same enthusiasts will be super impressed with this TV’s performance. It aces every exam — the ones that matter, anyway. In most ways, it’s the best picture quality we’ve ever seen.

But the people who are actually about to buy a TV — most of them not the enthusiasts who control the conversation around TVs — the chatter that gets seen during the average Joe’s research sessions — what will they think? What will they think of the frame, the remote, and all the new bells and whistles? What will they think of the redesigned user interface, and how will it tie in with their Samsung washer, dryer, fridge, and oven?

Let’s dive in and explore the S95H from every angle that matters for real-world buyers.

First Impressions: The Frame Factor

First, let’s start with the part that stood out to me most.

When I saw the prototype of this TV at Samsung’s HQ in Korea, I said out loud (but not very loudly) “that frame thing is going to be a problem.” And I’m not saying this to gloat, but it looks like I was right. ​

Enthusiast Gripes vs. Performance

Enthusiasts have grown increasingly frustrated with Samsung for removing features they like about the company’s best OLED TV and adding features they don’t. For example, they didn’t like the matte screen; they definitely didn’t like doubling down on it. They don’t like that it is the only QD-OLED in Samsung’s U.S. lineup (because the S90H is now a W-OLED). But perhaps they wouldn’t be so frustrated if the picture quality weren’t so darn good, and if it were the latest QD-OLED that can get super bright, and available in up to a 77-inch model. Sony can’t say that right now.

But by the numbers, it’s crushing it — and not only that, but the visible artifacts — the annoying stuff we used to complain about with Samsung? They appear to be gone. It’s like the engineers said, “You asked, you shall receive,” but the design department was, “We sell more of these to wealthy, design-conscious folks who love The Frame TV and how it looks in art mode, but wanted better picture quality.”

And that’s what this TV is.

It’s like The Frame’s design blended with Samsung’s latest, cutting-edge tech. I think it’s going to sell like hot cakes, but to folks who don’t understand that some of its colors and picture performance go beyond what LCD TVs are capable of, even those with RGB backlight technology, which Samsung also makes.

Here’s something else I’ve said before — it’s not like Samsung doesn’t care about the enthusiast crowd and what they say about their TVs … it’s just that the bean counters like selling lots of them, and they have a pretty firm grasp on what does that. And it’s a frame like this that looks great on the wall.

But I’ll be the first to admit it looks dumb on a stand. Or, if not dumb, reminiscent of older times. I’m not a fan, and I know a lot of you aren’t either.

Matte Screen: Love It or Leave It?

But let’s get off the frame for a while and talk about the other controversial part of this TV: its so-called matte screen. Look, folks, we wanted a bright-room OLED — this is it. I mean, no more TV-turns-into-a-mirror-in-the-living-room issue. This is as anti-glare and anti-reflection as I’ve ever seen. I have a friend with a sweet house and these massive windows, and he needs this TV for his family. And he’s going to buy it, because this is the TV I recommend for anyone who wants a bright-room OLED.

I’m not going to lie, there is something to a glossy screen that I like. But when the picture looks this good, and I know I can watch it in any environment I want, I’m buying this TV. Like, for real, I’m buying this TV. It’s gorgeous. I had a guest over, and they aren’t a tech geek AT ALL — and the first thing they said when we started watching an episode of The Studio? “This TV is gorgeous!” You know what they didn’t say? Not one thing about the frame. Not once — even before we turned it on. And only when I asked them to take a picture for me did they notice they couldn’t see themselves reflected in the screen. Before then, the matte screen was zero issue.

Don’t worry, we’ll still talk about whether there are elevated black levels. First, though, let’s cover the extra features and what they add.

Extra Features: The Good and the Frustrating

There’s so much more to this TV than its picture quality — good and bad. I do like the feature that detects when you walk into the room and displays a series of widgets you choose, like the weather and driving conditions. You can also turn that off if you don’t like it — my guest didn’t, calling it creepy, so it was turned off for the rest of my testing.

I like that it has a whole bunch of AI companion stuff for people who are into that. I am not one of them, but I like that it’s an option. I like that owners of certain Samsung phones can further calibrate the TV.

​I don’t like that the remote doesn’t have an input selector and that I have to navigate to an unidentifiable icon to switch inputs. I don’t like that when I hover over picture mode, it tells me what it wishes it were, not what it actually is, and it only displays that if I click the option. I still don’t like that Samsung TV Plus autoplays with sound.

This is the new millennium. Please stop.

I do like that the new One UI is a little less cluttered, even though ads are part of that clutter. I do not like how hard it was for me to find and install certain apps, like Pluto. I also think the icon for switching inputs is way too hard to find. But I do like that everything I’ve used recently is here, so I can quickly switch to it. How do you make something so frustrating and cool at the same time, Samsung? HOW? ​

I do not like that, at one point, the TV wasn’t very responsive because its Wi-Fi connection apparently needed to be reset.

But I do love the feet and how easy they were to put on. Bravo, Samsung — they are 43 inches apart from the outsides on this 65-inch model, by the way, which may matter if you’re placing it on a stand.

Gaming: Next-Level Features

I like Samsung’s Game Bar — do they still call it that? If you’re into cloud gaming, this is awesome. I like all the gaming features, including four full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 ports that deliver 4K resolution at a native 165 Hz refresh rate across every input. We are talking about ultra-low latency here, with input lag dropping to a blistering 4.8 milliseconds, paired with a comprehensive variable refresh rate suite featuring certified G-Sync Compatibility, AMD FreeSync Premium Pro, and HDMI Forum VRR to completely eliminate screen tearing.

It also packs a heavy-hitting AI Gaming Optimizer that instantly detects your game genre to dynamically tune shadow detail and audio on the fly, alongside Super Ultrawide Game View for 21x9 and 32x9 aspect ratios, a digital Mini Map Zoom tool, and direct cloud streaming right from the Samsung Gaming Hub without needing a console. Best of all, it wraps all of this processing speed and Auto Low Latency power into a glare-free screen that completely flips the script on the matte versus glossy debate, because even the most hardcore glossy-screen purists are going to praise this coating when they can clearly see enemies coming in dark rooms that players on reflective TVs will completely miss.

I could go on forever, because Samsung loads its TVs. I wish I didn’t have to sign in to get the goods — that part bugs me. But then again, you have to sign in on Google, Roku, and Apple TV, so … I guess I don’t have a rational reason for feeling that way.

Deez Nits ​

You ready for this? Let the good times roll. This TV hit 2,800 nits across all window sizes up to 25%, where it dropped to 1,400, then 851 at 10%, 600 at 75%, and 473 at 100%. Very good for QD-OLED.

​BT.2020 area coverage was just shy of 90%, which isn’t as meaningful as some make it out to be, but so long as we’re comparing numbers, 84% is very good, 90% is excellent, and anything above that number in this test specifically is amazing if and only if, dots are in or near the boxes in this triangle — which they are, save cyan and green, which are online, but short. That comes up later.

​BT.2020 color lab volume came in at 170, while the gamut rings test showed it didn’t push out into the furthest reaches of green, as suggested by the gamut area test we just saw, but there were no gaps in what it did cover.

But let’s go back to SDR for a moment. The two-point white balance is so good I didn’t want to touch it, so I didn’t, but I do in HDR later — just wait till you see how low I got it without going into the service menu. Stock Filmmaker Mode had the greyscale test looking damn near perfect in both SDR and HDR — look at that EOTF tracking — perfection. No overbrightening or underbrightening anywhere — and just to make sure the old 10% window test wasn’t getting gamed, I tried our super-secret window-size test — it’s 18% with APL — and again, perfection.

SDR Saturation sweeps looked good except at the highest luminance, which we expect because the brightest green, blue, and cyan primaries lost saturation at the brightest end. Luminance tests verified that, with red acting funny in the middle.

Back to HDR, the color checker came out looking great, with errors in the primaries, which we expect due to luminance errors — trying to get out to BT.2020 and just not making it, and ITP is brutal compared to Delta E 2000 — we have to talk about the difference between the two, since some reviewers just soft-launched that and luminance errors in general.

The S95H did admirably in the brutal HDR content color test — we’ll see if any other TV can beat it soon. This is where I corrected the HDR 2-pt white balance from 1.38 to 0.86.

I’ve seen some LG OLEDs get close, and some Sonys have knocked at the door, but the S95H is the TV to beat so far. And not only that, but a trusted calibrator friend, ClassyTech Calibrations, says he’s been able to calibrate this TV to as close to perfect as he’s ever seen from any TV — that’s the best professional endorsement I’ve heard and one I didn’t expect. ​

From what I’ve seen with my own eyes and what I’m told by industry professionals, the S95H fixes what little was wrong with its predecessor, the S95F: low-luminance color shift and an issue we call posterization. Color banding is reduced, and it cleans up low-quality content about as well as Sony’s best. Samsung’s processing has come a long way. Its gaming experience is outstanding; 4K HDR Blu-ray movies are absolutely stunning, and premium streaming shows like The Night Manager and Jack Ryan look spectacular, with beautiful, sparkling highlights. It even aced my Star Trek-on-Pluto-TV test.

From a picture quality standpoint, the only thing the S95H can’t do is blow you out of the room with a high average picture level like some of the mini-LED torches we’ve seen. But with an anti-glare, anti-reflection coating this good, it’s hard to see the kind of power necessary for quality daytime viewing. Also, this TV can’t hit 4,000 nits, which means any content graded to that lofty brightness will have to be “tone mapped,” but the TV preserves highlight detail if you ask it to, or maxes out brightness to give you a more vivid overall picture if that’s what you prefer.

Of course, it has perfect black levels, outstanding contrast, incredible color, and motion that’s as good as the source will allow — so sports fans, be sure to use the right apps from the right streaming devices, and for that you’ll want to use Google’s Gemini — which, wouldn’t you know it, is built right into the TV!

The TV’s picture is killing it across the board in terms of accuracy, and its other, less accurate modes will suit you just fine if you’re into vivid, dynamic, or even the slightly cooler Standard mode. There’s no doubt that what’s happening in this black zone, which by the way is plenty black when the TV is off — which is not when you watch it — and appears dead black when light comes from it, because your irises close down and you can’t see it as anything other than black — plus, the measurements put the blacks at “awesome” level and though I’m loathe to leave everything to measurements, I’m going to lean on that one, even though the meter operated in relative darkness.

The Takeaway: Who’s It For?

The problem is not with the picture — it’s whether you like what’s surrounding it. If you’re an enthusiast, you just want the panel and the awesomeness that comes with it. However, if you’re anyone else, what you don’t want is a black mirror on your wall. You know how popular The Frame TV is? Virtually the only complaint it gets is that it’s great at art and just OK at TV.

The S95H is pretty good at art and amazing at TV — and I know you hate it when I say this, but it’s a smart business decision by Samsung. Because, despite enthusiasts not liking it — and I have to be honest, I could do without the bezel — my stance hasn’t changed since I saw it last summer. Samsung is going to sell a ton of these.

So I understand the move, and I’ll rock this TV — when I watch it, I don’t see the frame. And when I’m not watching it, I do, but if it’s mounted on the wall, I don’t hate it. I’d definitely buy this TV because the S90H in the U.S. does not use the QD-OLED panel, and that’s what I want — I bet that’s what you want, too. A super accurate QD-OLED that you can get up to 77 inches.

This is worth buying. Besides, something tells me this TV will be as historic in 12-15 years as the curved TVs of yesteryear. It reminds me of when Samsung signed off on plasma with its swan song, the F8500 — I wish I had one of those now, and I don’t want to wish — 10 to 15 years down the road, that I missed out on this TV.

Don’t miss out on the S95H.

​

Glad you asked. This article explores how two top TV brands tackle the same goal from different angles with their flagship models. Yes, it’s the QM8L versus the UR9 — but we’re making this more fun and insightful than your average comparison. Stick around; you haven’t seen a TV battle quite like this.​

Methodology and Philosophy

​In a side-by-side comparison of these two models, your eyes will be drawn to one more than the other — and that’s ok. In fact, I would argue that’s more important than figuring out which one is “correct” according to Hollywood standards, because I’ve heard a lot of you out there tell me, “don’t tell me how I like my TV to look” -– and I hear you. Plus, I don’t have a reference monitor set up today because I’m not interested in talking about which TV gets closest to a studio reference monitor – I want to talk about how each TV approaches making a picture and everything else that makes the TVs different, like sounds, remotes, motion, and maybe a little gaming.

What we will not be doing is judging SQD vs. RGB, because the Hisense UR9 is just one version of RGB, and I’d like to have a few to look at before we decide which represents RGB in that test.

Picture Quality Testing: Process and Calibration

For our picture-quality comparisons, we’ll use a two-phase approach. First, both TVs will be set to their default Filmmaker picture presets, with no modifications — this includes keeping the two-point white balance at its default, neutral setting. In the second phase, I’ll calibrate the two-point white balance on each TV to D65 and run the tests again, now using HDR content. We’ll also set each TV’s peak brightness and tone mapping to their most accurate or neutral settings, depending on each brand’s naming.

​That’s our effort to try to level the playing field — have them both shooting arrows at the same target, so to speak.

Controlling for Camera and Viewing Variables

To ensure an unbiased comparison, we’re careful to avoid introducing camera-related inaccuracies. The camera used to capture TV images is white-balanced to a D65 card under consistent room lighting, which we keep unchanged throughout the process. We also select a middle-ground exposure because the TVs’ dynamic ranges exceed the camera’s capture range. Without this adjustment, one TV might appear much brighter or darker than it actually is. It’s important to note that even with these precautions, differences can be exaggerated or diminished by camera limitations, video compression, and the device’s settings and capabilities when viewing this content. Our goal is to provide the most accurate comparison possible for readers, but some discrepancies are inevitable when translating real-world visuals into web content.

Sound complicated? Because it is! That’s why we are going to do what we can to make these TVs look as close to real life as possible, so you can judge for yourself.

For our comparisons, the TCL QM8L images will be on the left, with the Hisense UR9 on the right.

Let’s examine some differences between the TVs. The example above highlights just how distinct these displays can look right out of the box. For instance, the joystick controller’s red appears much more intense on the Hisense, while the Hisense tends to render oranges as a bit more muted. Looking at the music app icon, the Hisense displays it as lighter and more pink than the TCL does. Similarly, the Netflix and YouTube logos appear more vibrant on the TCL, whereas the Hisense presents them in a more natural tone. Stepping back, the blacks on both TVs are very similar, as are the blue-green elements of the Disney logo and the purple tones elsewhere. Overall, the most noticeable difference is in how each TV displays reds—this color seems to be the biggest differentiator between the TCL and the Hisense at this stage.

Just as a reminder, I have not adjusted the two-point white balance yet. What we’re seeing here really comes down to the red. There’s a bit more blush — almost a tan tone — to John Oliver on the TCL, whereas he looks, well, more natural to me on the Hisense. I’ve never met John Oliver in real life, but I’m guessing he’s probably not that tan. Although I did see a recent special on Stephen Colbert’s last show that suggested John Oliver is more tan than you might think. At the same average picture level, Shirley Temple appears a bit more blown out on the TCL than on the Hisense. So, it seems like there’s a bit more local dimming control on the Hisense compared to the TCL.

Even in this splash screen from the Pokémon show, you can see a slight difference in yellows and blues between the TVs, though most of that comes down to brightness.

Pausing on this Universal scene demonstrates how similar the TVs can actually look. For example, the bright highlight appears nearly identical on both the TCL and the Hisense. The blue tones, including the various shades of blue, are very close. The exposure of the stars is also about the same on each TV, indicating that local dimming is very similar. The silver and gold around the Universal logo also look nearly identical. So, there are times in HDR where these TVs look very, very similar.

HDR Content Comparison

Now, let’s look at some HDR content and hone in on some differences. Again, this isn’t about which one is right; it’s about which one you prefer — unless you live and/or watch TV in a grading or mastering suite, which, I can assure you, is not a healthy thing to do for too long.

This opening scene tells a big story. On the TCL, the influence of red is very clearly seen in a much browner skin tone, while the Hisense appears almost too light, with a much cooler, whiter look overall. We still see some browns on the Hisense, but compared to the TCL, the image is both brighter and lighter.

It may be difficult to see some details here because of the locked exposure, but one thing I notice is that there’s much more definition around the white spot in her eye on the TCL, with a clear ring of blue visible. On the Hisense, the white spot appears larger, and the blue ring is less defined — more of an amorphous blob of white. The red veins in the eye also look deeper and more pronounced on the TCL than on the Hisense, though that may actually be more natural-looking. But again, that’s the whole point — sometimes, it’s just a guess. If we weren’t looking at these TVs side by side, I’m not sure we’d even notice a difference. The green eye with the brown specks, for example, looks almost identical on both.

Here’s a great example of how things look nearly identical unless you examine them very closely. The green leaf on each side appears almost identical. The Hisense might be slightly blowing out the exposure, but to the eye, they look very similar. Looking at the skin tone of her fingers, there’s a bit more pink in one nail, making it look a little ruddier or redder, while on the other TV, the nail isn’t pink at all—it looks almost like vanilla or cream, and the finger itself is much whiter. You can see just how granular you have to get to spot the differences between these TVs.

More of the same here: the purples in the lower left part of the screen look very similar on both TVs, as does the green leaf. The skin tone is a little more blush on the TCL than on the Hisense. The biggest difference remains in the reds — no surprise. The TCL shows more red, while the Hisense has a bit more pink and sometimes a slightly more orange look to certain flowers.

We’re starting to see a trend where greens are nearly identical, and there’s similar detail in the hair. There may be slightly brighter highlights on the Hisense, which is just how it’s set up out of the box. The pinkish lips on the Hisense contrast with the redder lips on the TCL, and the same pattern appears in the flowers. The skin tone is a bit more blush on the TCL, while it’s peachier on the Hisense. It’s hard to say which one is more natural without a reference monitor. Right now, the TCL has a much brighter highlight on the forehead than the Hisense, which is the opposite of what we saw earlier with another scene. The greens remain almost identical, and so does the yellowish hue in the water. Oranges, purples, and pinks look very similar on both.

With unavoidable biases and whatever display metamarism might still be involved, you may see one TV as looking too brown in skin tones or too red in certain scenes, while the displays look virtually identical in other scenes. One may look more natural to you, while the other looks a little more “dimensional.”

Calibration: White Balance Adjustments

You may notice the Epson Life Studio Grand Projector on an Elite ALR screen and wonder why it’s part of this process. It’s a good question. For one, it makes a great background, but it also serves as another reference point for how an image can look.

Now, what happens if we balance things out a bit more? I’m going to set the two-point white balance on these TVs as close to D65 as possible, then see what changes.

The whites appear a bit cooler and crisper on the TCL. John Oliver’s skin tone, however, still looks a little more tan on the TCL than on the Hisense, which matches what my measurements indicated—the TCL consistently pushes hotter reds. Similarly, the woman’s complexion looks a bit more blush on the TCL than on the Hisense. The whites are closer after calibration, but the Hisense displays more intense highlights on her hands in this scene. The oranges, especially on the fingernail, are somewhat closer now. Purples and greens remain very similar, so most differences come down to how each TV handles reds.

Looking again, the browns are also different, which makes sense since red impacts brown tones. So, even after calibration, there are still noticeable differences. We now have a more accurate white point, but the TVs’ color processing remains unique. The TCL tends to have a slightly more ruddy or red appearance, with hotter reds, while nearly everything else looks almost identical between the two. This makes the decision between them genuinely difficult. Even the local dimming looks nearly the same.

The blues look the same here, and the gradients are similar. Even the word “colors” looks alike — except for the reds. That pretty much sums up what we need to know.

Motion and Gaming Performance

Both TVs handle fast-moving scenes almost identically. We noticed a bit of blur in the fast-moving buildings, but otherwise, their motion processing is very similar.

Watching these side by side, it was to spot any real difference in performance. Maybe there’s a bit more of a dirty-screen effect on the TCL, but overall, everything else looks very similar. Both TVs show the same motion. So far, so close.

For gaming, whether it’s Xbox or PS5 Pro, both TVs check all the boxes. Response times feel about the same, and I’m enjoying myself as much as I can (since I rarely get to game). Upscaling is pretty good on both — this is 1080p content, and I’m not upset about how it looks. Motion at 120Hz looks smooth, and both have built-in motion blur.

Another thing I noticed is how fast the backlights are on these TVs. When I turned off the fast backlight setting on the Hisense earlier, it immediately went to black — that’s impressive. We weren’t seeing that just two years ago.

Final thoughts

The Hisense’s white point is way off out of the box, although it didn’t affect color math most of the time. What stood out was the TCL’s tendency to push reds, which impacted several colors. We were going to do an audio test, but after all this, trust me — the TCL sounds better than the Hisense. Still, I’d recommend a soundbar for either setup (the TCL Z100 would be a great companion for the TCL TV).

Picture quality? The QM8L’s reds might be a bit overcooked to my eyes, but you should judge for yourself — it could look fantastic to you. The Hisense is generally a little brighter and cooler out of the box, but it also looks more natural and laid-back, not like it’s trying too hard. Both TVs offer great dimming systems, minimal blooming, and similar off-angle performance. Glare and reflections are handled equally well on both — pick your winner there.

When it comes to sports, both TVs have 120Hz panels and solid pixel response times. What matters most is your sports source. If you’re watching a heavily compressed, low-bitrate stream from a built-in TV app, the picture may suffer, especially during fast action. For the best experience, use a higher-quality source — like a native app from Apple TV or Peacock, or even an over-the-air antenna if available. Higher bitrates and less compression mean better picture quality and less work for your TV.

So, there you have it: TCL vs. Hisense. If you want me to pick a winner? Honestly, it’s a tie. Both TVs have strengths and weaknesses, and your preferences might differ from mine. I’d be happy with either one. I do think the TCL’s upscaling is slightly better (and I watch a lot of older content, so I might lean toward the QM8L), but those reds? Maybe I’d get used to them or dial them down. Ultimately, pick the TV that’s right for you — they’re both excellent. You’ll be splitting hairs, but that’s half the fun, isn’t it?

I’m not going to bury the lede here — the Sony Bravia 7 II is a big-ol-slap-in-the-face reminder that Sony can really ace a test when it comes to measurements. It’s so good that as I was testing it, there were moments where I wondered: Is this TV too good? Is it so good that the Bravia 9 II will either have to drop the mic on the entire TV industry or suffer extremely low sales?

Pricing

No, there’s still room for a Bravia 9 II, but not a lot — meaning I predict the Bravia 9 II should be the best-performing example of an RGB Mini-LED TV — I’ll let you know soon. But the Bravia 7 II is far more attainable. The pricing for Sony’s 2026 lineup: and you’ll notice there’s a $1,000 difference between the two at 65 inches, and that gap increases as you go up, with a $2,500 difference at the 85-inch level. The Bravia 7 II tops out at $9,000 for the 98-inch model and goes down to 50 inches! (insert image)

I can find the tiniest fault in any TV – and yes, I have found what the Bravia 7 is hiding - but honestly, this TV is crushing it. On top of that, Sony has pulled off either the gutsiest move I’ve ever seen in this industry or is straight-up slapping the competition in the face. Ready for this? You can actually turn off the RGB processing and make the TV use plain white as the backlight. The results? Extremely interesting.

Out of the box

Design and Build Quality

I’m itching to dive into the best parts, but first, let’s actually look at the TV. The stand? It’s subtle genius. The floating look is slick, and you can stash all your cable clutter behind it. That clear piece of plastic? Just plain fun. Plus, this thing is rock-solid—the feet you attach are chunky, heavy-duty metal. You can literally feel where the money went.

Speaker Setup and Sound

Flip to the back and you’ll find grills for three speakers: one’s a bass transducer, one handles the mids, and the third, way out on the edge, does the high frequencies—and those highs get fired out the sides for real stereo separation. Smart! As for optimizing the sound in your room, you supposedly can, but I’ve had mixed results. Sometimes the default sound is better than what the optimizer manages, and that was the case for me here.

HDMI Ports: The Trade-Off

Let’s talk HDMI ports. Don’t shoot the messenger — unlike almost everyone else this year, the Bravia 7 II only has two HDMI 2.1 ports. But stick with me. The last time Sony swapped out its system-on-chip (the brain behind image processing), they had to rewrite everything from scratch — which, as you might recall, wasn’t exactly smooth sailing. Tackling RGB backlighting is already a big leap, so I get why Sony played it safe here. Yes, the limited ports will spark some complaints (fair or not), but don’t write this TV off. Just keep a solid A/V receiver in mind and move along.

Why the Bravia 7 II is Worth It

Measured performance is impressively accurate, with just a couple of minor misses. It gets genuinely close to hitting the full volume and area of the vaunted BT.2020 gamut — not that this matters to everyone. The bigger deal? It makes for a more exciting, dynamic viewing experience overall. You might not always notice it, but you do feel it — making it a meaningful step up from the previous version.

Deez Nits: Brightness & Picture Quality

Color Accuracy and Calibration

Back to the TV: First thing you’ll want to know — Sony’s treating professional mode like a Hollywood studio monitor this year. Pro mode in SDR tops out at 100 nits, built for the kind of dark room you only see in mastering suites. If you’re watching in a brighter space and want to keep things as accurate as possible, you’ll need a few key adjustments. You’ll want to turn off the ambient light sensor, bump up the backlight, and turn on the peak brightness setting.

Color Errors and Saturation

But let’s see how the Bravia 7 II performs as a mastering monitor by the measurements. In short: awesome. Some of the lowest errors I’ve ever seen—except in a few spots. In low-luminance colors, the dark blues shift slightly toward purple (pretty standard for LCDs), but the biggest misses are in bright reds and adjacent secondary colors. Reds are seriously oversaturated. It’s classic Sony LCD behavior, but this time, I think it’s showing us some new quirks.

Greyscale and Gamma

Greyscale is mostly incredible, but there’s a weird bump at 65% and 70% stimulus I don’t get — it also affects gamma readings. Strange. Color checker? Awesome. Luminance errors are minimal, and color saturation — well, see above. Not surprisingly, most of these tests didn’t change much between white backlight and color mode, but they’ll shift in HDR.

Brightness Adjustments

Want to make this TV brighter? Switch to Cinema mode for about 650 nits — though you’ll get some processing stuff that I don’t love as a purist, but you might be fine with. Or stick with pro mode, crank up the backlight, and tweak the peak brightness setting. You’ll lose a bit of accuracy, but not much.

HDR Performance

White Balance and Greyscale

In HDR, things get interesting. White balance stays locked in even at high brightness. Greyscale still shows the weird bump at 65 and 70; reds are oversaturated, as is cyan, and blue remains the weakest in luminance.

Peak Brightness

But even with these errors—which we’ve historically forgiven TVs for — the Bravia 7 II is just killing it. It’s hitting just over 2,000 nits peak in a 10% window, and 825 nits full screen — that’s seriously bright at this price level. Until the UR9 started hitting 1,200 nits full-screen, 825 was considered pretty incredible.

Color Gamut and Volume

Now we’re going to get into something interesting. The Bravia 7 II in its white backlight mode did about 80% of BT.2020 and 84% BT.2020 color volume, but the Bravia 7 II doesn’t just stretch way out on a made-up BT.2020 triangle map; it colors between the lines better than anything I’ve tested so far, which is classic Sony.

Color Wars: White Backlight vs. RGB

Now for the fun part: In HDR — where it really matters — I ran tests with the backlight set to white, then to RGB. The differences were fascinating. For example, in the luminance-sweeps test with the white backlight, colors drift as they become brighter. The max and averages stay steady, but blue errors drop dramatically — only green still stands out. Hmm, why might that be?

For saturation sweeps, I dug deeper. I started at the default 75 stimulus, maxed it out, then dropped it to 40 — where most TVs start to sweat.

Color Gamut Mode and L*a*b* Volume

Color gamut mode tells a great story. With the white backlight, the Bravia 7 II covered about 71% of the BT.2020 area (in UV terms), but notice how close the dots are to the boxes. Switch to RGB backlight, and it jumps to 87.93% — and aside from yellow, the dots line up almost perfectly, meaning they’re following the target. For LAB color volume, I got 74% with the white backlight and 84% with RGB, showing a clear boost in color volume and area. The gamut rings make it even clearer: with the white backlight, the rings don’t reach the boundaries, but there are no gaps in color brightness. With RGB, the rings nearly fill the entire space, falling short only in the green-to-yellow area, exactly as you’d expect from the gamut tests.

I’ll compare charts to the Hisense later, but here’s the takeaway: While the Hisense UR9 had a higher color volume percentage and the dots reached further out, they didn’t land nearly as close to the target boxes as Sony’s did. Same story with the gamut area — Hisense scored higher at 91%, but its dots were further from the mark.

All this proves that, even if most people can’t spot it with the naked eye, the Sony gets closer to how colors are supposed to look than the Hisense. Is that a big deal? That’s up to you. Jeff Yurek at Nanosys had a great example: in Inside Out 2, when the angry character turns that specific BT.2020 shade of red, the Sony nails what the filmmaker intended much better than the Hisense.

In summary, the Sony Bravia 7 II stands out as the most accurate TV we’ve tested so far this year. It consistently delivers excellent results in our measurements, which matters. For best results, brighten up professional mode for accuracy, but if SDR looks too dark, Cinema Daylight mode is a great way to boost brightness without sacrificing much quality.

Real-World Experience

Gaming

Quick confession: I didn’t get to run my usual console gaming tests on this TV — timing didn’t work out, and my PS5 Pro isn’t set up yet. But I have zero concerns about compatibility. The Bravia 7 II even supports remote gaming so that you can play your PS5 from another room — very cool.

Given how stunning regular TV looks on the Bravia 7 II, I fully expect gaming to be just as impressive.

Off-Angle Performance and Blooming

Off-angle viewing was a concern during testing — test patterns made colors look washed out and blooming more obvious. Watching real content, though, colors and contrast held up well, with just some contrast loss, similar to the Hisense UR9. Blooming is more apparent when viewed from the side, and even standing up from a seated position revealed some blooming around the subtitles on the black letterbox bars. It’s not extreme, but it’s more visible here than on the Hisense UR9, which has a higher dimming zone count.

Despite that, colors are gorgeous, HDR highlights really pop, and the overall balance is classic Sony — refined and vibrant. It’s Captain America — on the right side of things most of the time — but in a tuxedo.

One more note: low-luminance blacks can look a touch purple. It doesn’t crush near-black detail, but shadows don’t look quite as natural as they could. And yes, the oversaturated red in SDR is still present.

The Bottom Line on Bravia 7 II

So, is the Bravia 7 II so good that the Bravia 9 II becomes irrelevant? Not quite. There are definitely areas where the 9 II will step up and likely outshine most of the competition. That’s my prediction, anyway.

The Bravia 7 II is the most accurate TV I’ve tested, and one of the most enjoyable to watch—Sony’s signature accuracy paired with a big boost in color brightness. The Bravia 9 II, though, is the most jaw-dropping RGB demo I’ve seen, and I have a feeling it’s going to make some serious waves. Stay tuned for that review.

That said, the Bravia 9 II will come at a price that’s out of reach for most. The Bravia 7 II, on the other hand, is much more attainable. If you’re a videophile craving accuracy and capability across a range of sizes, the Bravia 7 II is your best bet. Samsung may bring some competition later, but right now, this TV is setting the benchmark for the year.

The Bravia 7 II is, yet again, what other TVs aspire to be.

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Hisense, known as the undisputed brightness king, is also frequently cited as one of the best values in TVs. But the UR9 debuted as one of Hisense’s most expensive TVs ever. So, the pressure is on to deliver. Let’s find out if it does.

Why RGB Backlighting Matters

Hisense was the first to introduce RGB backlighting at CES. The 2025 116UX was a monster of a TV that bowled us over with its sheer size and brightness. I got to measure that TV in New York once upon a time, but my equipment couldn’t even handle it. It went well beyond the 5,000 nits of brightness that my reliable colorimeter could handle. And the readings I got from my less-reliable 10,000-nit colorimeter were a mess. I had to wonder if I could believe anything I was seeing at all. What I was certain of was that it was the brightest TV I’d ever seen, regardless of size. Unfortunately, I never got to report on that, so you can imagine why I’ve been pretty excited to review the UR9. It’s a lot like that 116UX, but scaled down to sizes normal folks can fit in their homes, at achievable prices.

Price reality check

When we first heard about the pricing, many people were shocked. Initial reports from The Verge had the 65-inch launching at $3,500 — compared to the $2,200 the U8K cost at launch. The 75-inch was set to debut at double the price of its U8K equivalent: $5,000 versus $2,500 the year before. It was a little disconcerting. But what many headlines failed to mention was that those high prices also included a free 55-inch canvas art TV.

So let’s take a breath and see where things stand now, just a few weeks after the May 21, 2026, launch event. The 65-inch is currently $2,000 — well below the original $3,500. And that’s not a sale price; that’s the new standard. The 75-inch is now $3,000. Okay, blood pressure is coming down from that $5,000 sticker shock. The 85-inch is $4,000. Still pricey, but lower than comparably equipped competition.

RGB backlighting explained

I think we can relax a bit about the pricing. Now we have to ask: is this second-gen RGB tech, or is it the first-gen RGB tech that LG Display was only too happy to show off to journalists earlier this year?

Until recently, premium non-OLED TVs used white light from blue LEDs and quantum dots, then filtered it to produce colors via subtractive color mixing. As you might guess, subtracting light makes everything dimmer. The excitement around RGB TVs is that they don’t need quantum dots at all — they use red, green, and blue LEDs directly. The benefit? The color filter doesn’t have to work as hard because the RGB backlights can sometimes combine (additive color mixing) to create the needed color. Less filtration, or subtractive mixing, means brighter colors. And yes, we all do a color-brightness dance.

So now you can see why TV reviewers like me — and TV geeks in general — are so invested in whether an RGB TV is actually using its RGB backlights to produce color, or if it’s mostly just combining them to produce white, making pictures the old-fashioned way (which, to be fair, has looked pretty good so far). But if you’re charging a premium price for a premium technology, the picture has to live up to the price tag—or at least the hype. That’s what I’m here to help figure out. Does the Hisense UR9’s RGB tech actually improve on previous generations? Is it better than last year’s TVs—and is that enough, RGB or not? And how does it stack up against all the other TVs jumping on the RGB bandwagon this year? We’ll get to all of that—but first, let’s look at everything else you get with this TV, because you’ve got to live with this thing, right?

Out of the Box

Design

First off, the UR9 is a little bulkier than you might expect, and most RGB TVs will be this year. That’s because when the red, green, and blue backlights have to combine to make white, they need some space to converge just right. So, the TV is a little thick, but a lot of folks have moved past the ultra-thin TV phase, so I’m not sure that’s a dealbreaker for anyone.

The speakers on the sides — Hisense has done all it can to make them less obvious because people complained about previous versions being unsightly. The problem is, I’m not sure they fulfilled their intended purpose of sounding more direct than the down-firing speakers we see on most other TVs. I’ll comment more on the sound shortly.

Stand

The TV itself is pretty hefty, but with its stand, it’s downright heavy. That’s because the stand is solid metal. I had a little trouble figuring out how to put it together correctly, but that’s because I refuse to read instructions. Turns out the instructions weren’t very helpful. Anyway, it’s just an odd way to put together a stand with a lot of screws. But I tell you what, this stand is solid as a rock, and that counts for a lot with me. It’s really heavy to move, but it lets you put a big old 85-inch TV on a relatively small stand. So once you get it in place, you don’t need to worry about it.

Remote

This is the only time I’ll compare the UR9 to the TCL QM8L — I’m saving a full comparison for later. Sitting side by side, the QM8L and UR9 remotes are similar, except that the buttons are in a different order. The UR9 places hotkeys for streaming services at the top, while TCL places them at the bottom. Both have a star key you can assign to any streaming service you want. Hisense decided to include a dedicated kids’ streaming service button, which is an interesting choice.

The Hisense remote is backlit, like the TCL’s, but you won’t find the brightness controls on the side as you do with the TCL. Both remotes are plastic disguised as metal, but they get the job done — nothing remarkable, nothing to complain about.

OS and Inputs

Google TV runs super snappily on this TV, likely because it uses the MediaTek Pentonic 800 SoC (system-on-chip). Here, that means you get three HDMI 2.1 ports and one DisplayPort connection on the side. There’s also a powerhouse USB-C input featuring DisplayPort Alt Mode, designed specifically for high-end PC gaming and creator setups. It’s been upgraded to handle a massive 4K signal at up to 170 or 180 Hz and can push a blistering 330 Hz variable refresh rate, depending on your resolution.

Because it taps directly into the TV’s supposed native 100% BT.2020 Pro color space and features a dedicated Adobe Vision PC monitor mode, the idea is that it can transform this massive screen into a color-accurate studio monitor. We’ll see about that. But it definitely pulls double duty by delivering 10 watts of power to keep your laptop or handheld console charged while you play — that’s more for the gaming PC nerds.

The SoC also enables this TV to support Dolby Vision 2 and Dolby Vision 2 Max, though those features won’t be active until a future firmware update, which isn’t entirely under Hisense’s control.

Reflections and Off-Axis Viewing

Beyond the TV’s core features, the two things most folks want to know about are reflection and glare handling, as well as off-axis performance. The UR9 doesn’t have the kind of matte screen, ultra-bright room reflection, or anti-glare treatment we’ve seen on the upcoming U7 SG or some recent Samsung OLEDs. Even though this TV seems positioned to compete with OLED — something I’ll discuss more when we get to picture quality —the anti-reflective and anti-glare coatings here aren’t groundbreaking.

I do notice some reduction in harsh light sources, like lamps, and the rainbow effect is present but not especially bright or distracting. Still, this TV isn’t built to handle direct, bright light. In a room with plenty of ambient light, though, it should be just fine — especially since, as I’ll soon show, it’s bright enough to fend off the kind of light you’d find in a geodesic dome off the coast of Florida. It’s bright.

As for off-axis performance, it’s actually pretty good. I’m used to being extremely disappointed, but it seems Hisense has adopted a wide-angle filter that does a nice job here. Color saturation and contrast hold up well, though there’s a bit of sharpness loss when you move off to the side.

Audio

Honestly, I’m just not impressed. I know Devialet tunes this TV — if you haven’t heard of it, it’s a French audio company known for some pretty wild-looking speakers that sound incredible. But I hear no resemblance between that premium audio brand and this TV.

To its credit, there’s a lot of control over the TV’s audio performance—more than I can say for most TVs. With enough tweaking (there’s a full graphic equalizer), you can probably get a sound you like. But right out of the box—which is what most people will experience—I don’t think the sound is very warm or rich. It seems to chase dialogue clarity by boosting the upper midrange, and that’s just not a sound I enjoy.

The UR9 Under the Microscope

I spent a lot of time testing this TV, more thoroughly than I have any other I’ve reviewed. There’s been some confusion in the TV reviewer world lately — especially with the latest version of Calman, the software we use for measurements. Some of the numbers from respected, measurement-focused publications have been all over the place. Here, I’ll break down what I found with the UR9, keeping things as straightforward as possible for readers.

Settings

For all my tests, I started with the default Filmmaker Mode. On the UR9, that means Warm 2 color temperature, which — oddly enough — is actually cooler than Warm 1. I compared both and found Warm 2 to be more accurate, but when just watching TV for fun, I actually preferred Warm 1, even without a detailed white balance calibration.

One thing to note: whites on this TV aren’t especially accurate. The colors look great, but there’s more going on behind the scenes. So, as we walk through these numbers, keep in mind that lab measurements don’t always reflect the real-world viewing experience quite as much as they used to.

I tested this TV under a variety of screen conditions: 18% window, full-screen (100% window), and the more common 10% window. Some manufacturers “game” these measurements, so I also used an 18% window with the average picture level setting, meaning the whole backlight is on, but just a portion of the screen is measured. I even tried a newer method—the 2015 two-degree standard observer—to find the most realistic performance numbers.

What stands out is that Filmmaker Mode peaks at about 280 nits for SDR, which is right on target for this setting. In my 100% window test, I measured about 278 nits—so, very consistent across different screen sizes.

Gamma, or how the TV handles brightness and grays, was inconsistent. The best results came from the 18% window, with the average picture level, suggesting the UR9 will perform well in everyday use. Still, the readings varied depending on the window size and the amount of the screen being measured.

From Grayscale to HDR: Where It Shines (and Where It Doesn’t)

Now we get to the interesting stuff: the two-point grayscale. As I mentioned, it’s a bit on the cool side with too much blue, but Warm 1 had way too much red, so I stuck with this setting. We see a max delta E of 6.08 — ideally, we want to see something below 3. So, out of the box, accuracy isn’t amazing in bright whites, but in dimmer grays it’s perfectly acceptable, right around 2.3. What we know from this is that as the picture gets brighter, especially in the whites, it becomes less accurate.

Let’s look at the grayscale. Results varied a lot depending on the test. With an APL of 18%, the max error was 6.45. If I used a 100% window, it wasn’t great, with a max delta E of 11 — not what we want to see. The standard 18% window performed well, with a max delta E of 6.07. In the lighter grays, it’s fine up to about 50%, but as it gets brighter, accuracy drops slightly. Not horrible, but definitely not Sony-level accuracy.

Saturation and Luminance

Now, onto saturation sweeps, which show how the color map works in SDR. Here, things look really good. The max error is 6.24 at the white point (100%), but everything else stays in the low range. So, we’re actually seeing pretty accurate color out of this TV — though there are a couple of outliers in the greens and at the brightest blue. The brightest blues are always the biggest problem on this TV, probably because they’re hottest in the white point.

Luminance sweeps show everything’s fine except for the brightest whites, which are a bit off. The color checker gives us more of the same — another really good result. The color on this TV is surprisingly good, even though the whites are way off. Looking at the chart, blue and cyan are slightly off, as we’d expect. Cyan is close to blue, but the skin tones — all those browns — are really nice and accurate. Overall, we’re noticing some oversaturation of blues and reds, though not as severe as I saw on the TCL QM8.

The chart above is what has caused a lot of trouble for reviewers so far: the HDR content color chart. When I pull it up, it looks absolutely awful — these bars are literally off the charts. Max error: 33.48. Remember, we want to see a score of 3 or below. Six is acceptable. Twelve is bad; 33.48 is horrible. What’s going on here? Charts like this are getting out to the public because people don’t realize you have to change the target setting for these tests — the target doesn’t change automatically.

HDR Testing: Errors and Adjustments

If that sounds like gibberish, here’s the quick version: calibrators and testers used to have separate tests for SDR and HDR, so we didn’t have to worry about targets. Now, we do. So, I clicked the target box to switch to HDR mode. That process takes a few minutes for the system to recalculate everything, but once it’s done, we’re working in Rec 2020 ST2084—meaning the TV is being measured against an HDR target.

Once I switched and ran the HDR content color test again, things looked much better. The maximum error dropped to 6.63 — not perfect, but a lot more manageable. The whites are still way off, and there’s a particular shade of green that’s off by 6.1, but this is basically what we expect to see: a little unsaturation in some places, and a little oversaturation in the whites. Overall, not bad.

The reason I bring this up is that many reports show terrible HDR results, and it’s usually because reviewers don’t realize they need to adjust the target setting. The good news is that the software company says it will fix this, so hopefully we’ll see more accurate reports soon.

Peak Brightness Performance

Now, let’s move on to the part everyone wants to see: just how bright does this TV get? Well, prepare to be impressed. In a 1% window, brightness is around 4,700 nits. At 2%, it climbs to 5,400 nits. At 5%, it’s over 6,000 nits. For full-screen white, you get 1,418 nits. If you want to know whether this TV can get bright, the answer is a resounding yes—it can absolutely light up a room.

Color Coverage and Volume

As for color coverage, there’s a lot of hype about TVs hitting 100% of the BT.2020 color space. That’s not the case here. This TV hits about 91.7%, which is still very good — about what you’d expect from a QD-OLED. What I really wanted to know, though, was how much color this TV can actually produce — what’s called “color volume.” Unfortunately, the software I use doesn’t save that data in a way I can easily show here. I’ll be able to provide a more detailed comparison of color volume when I put this TV side by side with the TCL QM8L in an upcoming review.

What Do These Numbers Mean in Practice?

So, what do these numbers actually mean? Some of the measurements were great, others not so much. The whites were off, but the colors were strong, which suggests that Hisense tuned this TV for great color performance, even if the white point drifts from the traditional D65 standard.

But does any of that really matter? To a degree, yes. It shows that this TV can produce any single color extremely well. If you’re only watching test patterns or colored rectangles, this — and just about any other RGB TV — will look fantastic. That’s because producing one color at a time is easy for the processor.

But real content isn’t just blocks of color. Real content puts yellow flowers next to pink ones, green grass, maybe a blue lake, and skin tones all in one scene. How does the TV handle that? It creates white and lets the color filter do the rest. So, most of those colors you see aren’t necessarily unique to RGB tech — at least not most of the time.

Where red, green, and blue backlights really shine is when they’re creating colors, not white. So when does that matter, and will you notice it? You definitely will with certain demo footage — it looks incredible. But after showing off a few demos to friends, most of us go back to watching TV shows, movies, or games.

Real-World Performance

Now we need to talk about real-world picture quality and how the UR9 handles actual content. I tried hard not to compare the UR9 to the QM8L, but with the TCL sitting right there, some comparisons slipped in. To be honest, it taught me more about the QM8L than the UR9, but I’ll save those thoughts for the dedicated comparison.

Let’s start with a compliment: I think Hisense has continued to make real processing improvements. Overall, the TV looks more refined than previous models — generally cleaner than any Hisense TV I’ve seen before. It still doesn’t clean up really poor-quality content as well as some competitors, but most cable and nearly all premium streaming content looked great. Blu-rays, whether 4K or standard, looked awesome.

I pulled out Batman v. Superman, John Wick 4, Interstellar, The Martian, and Pan — they all looked stellar (not just Interstellar). I also noticed minimal telecine judder, and pull-down processing was solid, especially compared to Hisense TVs from two or three generations ago.

Motion and Highlight Handling

Since this isn’t an OLED TV, it doesn’t have instant pixel response. That means some of the flashing from bright objects in motion won’t be as jarring as it is on an OLED. Still, with really bright highlights that move across the screen, you are going to notice some flashing — unless you enable motion smoothing (the “soap opera effect”) and let the TV create fake pixels to smooth things out.

Does RGB Backlighting Make a Difference?

I watched just about every kind of content on this TV, from low-quality streaming to top-tier 4K Blu-rays. In the end, I can’t decide if the RGB backlighting is a true advantage over conventional Mini-LED TVs. When it does make a difference, the effect is spectacular — but honestly, it doesn’t show up all that often. Most of the content available doesn’t really take advantage of what this TV can do.

So, will there be future content that leverages this TV’s color capabilities? And when it happens, how will the TV handle it? In theory, the real benefit should be color brightness, and I do see that on the charts. But real-world performance is complicated — cross-talk is an issue for any LCD TV, so the charts don’t always tell the whole story. How often do those red, green, and blue LEDs get to do something other than make white? That’s what I’m looking for.

The Real-World Test

Putting the technical questions aside, the real test for me is this: if you watched a full movie on a standard Mini-LED TV like the Hisense U8K, and then watched the same movie on this UR9 RGB Mini-LED — without knowing which was which — would you notice a dramatic difference? Honestly, I think you would. The UR9 has a quality that stands out, something I don’t remember from the U8 last year. I can’t quite quantify it, but after years of reviewing TVs, it’s a gut feeling I trust.

Is It Worth the Price?

There’s no doubt the UR9 is a gorgeous, impressively bright TV. The question is whether it truly earns its price premium. To answer that, we need to look at the competitors and do some side-by-side comparisons. Maybe that’s the point — you can’t really know without seeing them together. And if that’s the case, does it make a big enough difference?

I will say — and this isn’t a comparison review — that there were times I preferred what I saw from the TCL QM8L, and other times I was glad the UR9 wasn’t doing what the TCL was doing. So next, I start thinking about price. But does the pricing even matter when the UAQG is gone, this is the best TV Hisense offers, and prices are dropping? I’m not sure it does.

Where Does RGB Really Matter?

In the end, this is the best TV Hisense makes that most people can actually buy. I think it’s the best TV Hisense has ever made. The 116 UX with the Cyan Pixel is another story — the jury’s still out on that one. Also, I don’t think we can pin the entire RGB conversation on this one TV. We need to see how Samsung, Sony, and even TCL — despite pushing SQD technology — approach RGB. That’s when we can really talk about where Hisense sits on the RGB tier and whether RGB is a net benefit. I definitely believe in its potential, though. Credit to Hisense for being the first company to get an RGB TV into my hands. That’s a tough position to be in.

Final verdict

So, as far as RGB goes, I believe in its promise. The Hisense UR9 is a beautiful TV, and it uses RGB technology — those are facts. Whether one is the reason for the other, we’ll have to wait and see.

There were moments while watching the UR9 when my jaw dropped. Some Blu-ray scenes blew me away. Premium streaming content looked stunning. Even lower-quality live TV streaming was better than I’ve seen from Hisense before. Classic shows like Star Trek: TNG on Pluto? Decent upscaling — though I think TCL has an edge there, and Sony, Samsung, and LG are still at the top.

In the end, there’s no doubt this is a flagship-level TV, and it’s going to impress a lot of people. The question that remains is whether anyone can do significantly better and justify the much higher prices I expect competitors to charge. I can’t wait to find out.

Recently, a new contender has arrived: RGB TV technology. It’s quickly become the talk of the industry, with top-tier models boasting this innovation as their standout feature. As excitement grows, many are wondering: can OLED still hold its own, or has RGB become the new gold standard for premium TVs?

The answer, of course, is nuanced. To really understand where each technology shines, it’s helpful to start at the beginning—with how they work and what sets them apart under the hood.

Behind the Screens: What Powers OLED and RGB TVs?

RGB

At their core, the new RGB TVs are still LCD televisions, or liquid crystal displays. They’re built on the same foundational panel we’ve seen in living rooms for decades. What sets them apart is the backlight, which has evolved significantly over the years. Early LCDs relied on fluorescent lamps, then progressed to LEDs, then mini LEDs, and now we’ve arrived at the latest iteration: RGB LED backlighting.

Whether they’re mini or micro, the idea is that instead of blasting blue through a bunch of quantum dots or white through a color filter, we’re now blasting red, green, and blue light through a color filter and supposedly getting more colors than we’ve ever had before and brighter colors than we’ve ever had before.

The thing about RGB backlighting technology is that it’s really hard to pull off. We’re seeing it being done in a bunch of different ways. The real benefit is that the backlights are making colors, so the color filter doesn’t have to work as hard. If the color filter doesn’t have to work as hard, we get brighter colors. And when we start with pure red, green, and blue light, supposedly, we get new colors we’ve never seen on a TV before. That all sounds amazing and a lot more advanced than OLED. The problem is that it’s really hard to pull off with an RGB TV. It requires a massive amount of processing. So, depending on the RGB TV, your mileage may vary.

OLED

So, what sets OLED apart — and why does it still matter? Unlike other TVs, OLED panels don’t need a backlight. Each pixel produces its own color and light, so when a pixel is off, it’s truly black. That level of true black creates outstanding contrast — again, at the pixel level — which is what really makes images pop on screen. While vibrant color gets a lot of attention, contrast is the foundation that makes those colors stand out.

Now that we’ve talked a bit about how the TVs operate differently, let’s home in on the key differences: contrast, color, off-angle viewing, and brightness. We’ll also talk about price and size, because they’ll be a big part of the discussion.

Color and Contrast: Which Technology Wins?

Let’s talk about contrast first. No need to wait — OLED is the clear winner here. Sure, RGB TVs can get much brighter, but when you start from true black, contrast is far more pronounced. That’s one major advantage of OLED. The other is pixel-level control: each pixel can be set to completely black, allowing perfect contrast. This really matters when you’re watching normal content, not just test patterns. It’s most noticeable in scenes where dark areas sit right next to bright ones — those moments when OLED’s contrast really shines. You don’t need a microscope to see it, either. Stand back, and the OLED’s richer, deeper image stands out. Almost anyone comparing an OLED to any LCD TV will immediately notice the difference — OLED just looks more vibrant and lifelike.

Brightness and Real-World Performance

Let’s move on to brightness, another major factor that influences your viewing experience. There are two different kinds of OLED technology on the market right now. One is what we call W-OLED, where there’s a white pixel alongside the red, green, and blue. The other kind of OLED is called quantum dot OLED, which uses a blue OLED pixel with red and green quantum dots. I point out that difference because the W-OLED tends to get slightly brighter in highlights. It can really dazzle you. In fact, some would say it’s gotten bright enough for just about anyone. QD-OLED has a slight edge in color brightness and expanded color gamut. So, we don’t call it the most intense OLED, but it has an advantage in color.

RGB, though, is killing it on both ends because we’ve got three LEDs emitting red, green, and blue light. The color filter doesn’t have to work as hard, so you’re going to get brighter everything: brighter whites, brighter reds, brighter greens, brighter blues, and every other color that results when you mix those up together. What a color filter really does is carve out light. So, the less light the color filter has to block, the brighter the picture.

There’s also the argument that RGB TVs can produce colors OLEDs cannot. And while that may technically be true if we use test patterns and measure the TV, I don’t think it’s going to be the big advantage in real-world content that a lot of people want it to be. Those very special colors — somebody’s got to put them in movies or TV shows, and not a lot of folks are doing that right now. So, it’s sort of an imagined benefit for now: RGB TVs can produce more unique colors than OLEDs can. But that’s just theory right now.

In practice, when I compare an OLED to the RGB TV, the OLED looks better most of the time. And I think that’s because of the content that we’re getting right now. Most of the content we get doesn’t fully take advantage of an RGB TV’s capabilities. So, years down the road, maybe it’s a different story. But for now, OLED is winning on color. But before we move on, I should mention that we’re talking about very, very tiny differences here. Both technologies look fantastic, but we’re here to scrutinize the details — that’s the whole point.

Off-Angle Viewing: What Really Matters

Next up is off-angle viewing. Frankly, I think this issue is a bit overblown. No matter what tricks you try, an LCD TV will fade, lose contrast, and show less saturated color as you move off to the side. OLEDs simply don’t have that problem—their viewing angle is much wider, with only minimal color shift. But here’s the thing: how often do you have a room full of TV purists watching at extreme angles? Even off-angle, these TVs look great to most people, whether they’re watching sports, movies, or regular shows. Usually, the pickiest viewer gets the best seat anyway—unless you’re constantly bumped from the sweet spot. If that’s the case, a wider viewing angle matters, and here, OLED is the clear winner.

Size and Price: Finding the Right Fit

Now, let’s talk about size and price — they really go hand in hand. OLED TVs have dropped in price over the years and come in more tiers, but they’re still generally premium-priced. RGB TVs are the new hotness, currently reserved for the most expensive, top-tier models, so they’re pricey too. In fact, for the same size, some RGB TVs may even cost more than their OLED counterparts.

Keep in mind, it’s early in the year, and most of these TVs are sold at full MSRP. Prices will drop as sales roll out, making future comparisons fairer. But one thing’s for sure: the bigger the OLED, the steeper the price. Once you reach a 77-inch OLED, you’re in serious premium territory. An 83-inch OLED? That’s almost ridiculous for most. Meanwhile, 85 inches is just an everyday breakfast for an RGB TV or any LCD, really. If you want to go even bigger, LCD-based RGB TVs can hit 98, 100, even 115 inches or more — if you’re willing to pay. OLED probably won’t reach those sizes anytime soon, and if it does, you’ll need deep pockets.

As RGB tech matures and becomes easier to produce, prices are already beginning to drop. This year, we’re seeing more tiers and more affordable options than last year, and that trend will likely continue. With OLED, though, we’ve likely hit a price floor — these panels are tough to make and will remain expensive. So even though it’s still early days, RGB currently has the edge on both price and size.

Design and Practical Considerations

Now, let’s talk about a few other factors I don’t think get enough attention. First up: OLED’s thinness and weight. Nothing is slimmer or lighter than an OLED TV — they look incredibly sleek on a wall. On the other hand, these new RGB TVs are heavy and need to be thick to work properly. I’ve got the Hisense 85-inch U9 in the studio right now, and trust me, it’s hefty. You’ll definitely need to drill into studs or use heavy-duty, toggle bolt-style wall anchors if you want to mount it.

The Burn-In Question: Should You Worry?

And finally, I hate to bring this up, but there’s still the concept of burn-in with OLED TVs. These days, it’s extremely rare — technology has made it almost a non-issue, except in the most extreme cases. If you leave your TV on all day, every day, especially on the same channel with a fixed banner or logo, OLED isn’t for you. But if you’re watching five or six hours a day and changing the channel regularly, you’ll be fine. I know I’ve said this a lot, but it’s worth repeating: burn-in is a difference between these two TV technologies.

I have one more concern I want to discuss regarding RGB TVs. It’s just new technology. We haven’t really identified its limitations. But as of now, I’m looking at some of these RGB TVs, and they look fantastic.

The Verdict: Which TV Is Best for You?

Which brings me to my final point. The fact of the matter is, these TVs are very close. They both look excellent. We live in a golden age of television where you can get an amazing-looking TV at a very reasonable price. It’s not really about which one is better categorically. It’s about which one is better for you.

What Makes the QM8L Stand Out

The QM8L is, in many ways and probably to nobody’s surprise, a spectacular TV. It features TCL’s new Super Quantum Dot (SQD) technology, which trickled down from the insanely spec’d out X11L TV that I reviewed (and accidentally melted) earlier this year. That’s the main headline with this TV and why we’re here: the QM8L brings SQD tech to sizes and prices that people can — and will — save up for. It has tons of local dimming zones and nearly every feature TCL could pack in. There’s definitely more than I’ll cover in this one review because it’s already going to be long enough.

I think what most of you really want to know is that this TV does a lot of things extremely well—so much so that I almost don’t have to do this review. But I do, because every TV brand claims to have a model that delivers top-tier performance at a surprising price, and the QM8L is TCL’s answer to that challenge.

What truly sets this TV apart, though, is the introduction of Super Quantum Dot (SQD) technology—a major step forward from the typical display tech you’ll find elsewhere. To help you understand why SQD matters, let’s quickly break down what makes quantum dots special and how TCL’s approach is different.

Super Quantum Dots and a New Color Filter

The other brands use RGB backlight technology, which this TV does not. Super quantum dots are a lot like regular quantum dots, only they are super. But I can’t explain how they are super until you understand how regular quantum dots work. Okay, so you’ve heard of QLED, QD-OLED, etc. The Q is usually short for quantum dots. Quantum dots are ridiculously tiny nanoparticles that glow a certain color when you shine light on them.

So, what TV makers do is shine blue LEDs, which are already really good, onto a sheet filled with these red and green quantum dots. And when those colors combine, they make white. But not just any shade — very pure white with a very specific balance of red, green, and blue. The better the white light, the easier it is for a color filter to remove it and produce the colors you see on your screen.

That’s why quantum dots were such a big deal when they started to appear in TVs. We started seeing colors and color brightness that we’d never seen in TVs before. Well, super quantum dots have been refined to be even purer. So, the resulting white light they help create is purer as well. So pure, in fact, that a new color filter had to be invented to handle this new super pure white light. You might not have heard of it because “the super color filter” just doesn’t sound nearly as cool. But you can’t have SQD without a super color filter. And that new color filter means even more colors than we’ve seen before at brightness levels we’ve never seen before. It’s all very impressive.

Yes, we’ve heard this story before, but this is next level. It is first-gen technology, but based on well-understood science. So, it’s less risky, both for TCL to make them and for you to buy them. This is like a turbocharged version of last year’s best TCL TVs. But the QM8L is not a perfect TV either. We need to talk about the few areas where it falls short, because whether this TV is right for you depends largely on whether it can do what you need it to.

Build Quality: Stand, Design, and Ports

Stand

So, let’s talk about the TV itself. It’s got a central pedestal stand instead of legs, so it’ll fit on smaller credenzas or tables. That, I do like. But the pedestal is made of plastic, unlike Hisense’s metal stand on its UR9. That’s something I don’t like, because the TCL TV is already really heavy, so the stand should be heavy-duty as well. Of course, if you’re going to be wall-mounting, none of that matters. But if you spend good money on a TV, it should feel premium everywhere. And the stand does not.

Ports

On the back of the TV, we have four — yes, four — HDMI 2.1 inputs. You have been clamoring for it, and now you have it. Whether anyone will actually use all of that bandwidth is another story, but they are here. They are all 4K 144 hertz inputs. Number one is the eARC port. I love that that’s the direction we’re going. I would love for the eARC audio port to be port 1 on every TV. Also on the back are Bang and Olufsen mid-bass transducers. How well do they help the sound? We’ll get there in a moment.

Design

This TV has no real bezels on the top or the sides, though there is a silver strip on the bottom. I’d prefer a gunmetal or just a straight-up black strip. To me, the silver strip won’t vibe with modern decor.

The image on the QML goes all the way to the edge. There’s no black matrix. So, the whole screen is an image. And sometimes that image is Google TV’s homepage, which is ripping-fast to navigate. Thank goodness, because as many manufacturers moved to the chipset that powers this TV and supports those four HDMI 2.1 inputs we’ve been whining about for years, it was not a foregone conclusion that the chip would run Google TV well, but it does. For me, it’s been an exceptional start-up. Even with eco mode set to low power (like off mode), it still gets up and running pretty quickly. Sorry, I didn’t time it, but it wasn’t long enough to bother me, which means it probably won’t bother you either to save a couple of bucks a month on your electricity bill by turning off that little ecoRemote Controller setting.

Remote

Now, before we start talking measurements, pretty pictures, motion, black levels, blooming, and such, let’s look at the remote. It feels like plastic. I wish it were metal, but I love it anyway because there are brightness up/down buttons on the side and a quick-menu button, which I love. There’s also a standalone button that can be programmed to launch your favorite app. TCL gave up money to give you that option rather than sell access to a particular streaming service. And for that, we thank you, TCL.

Picture Quality

Now, let’s break down the measurements. If you want to get into the weeds with me on precise metrics, I encourage you to check out my video review.

Brightness

To start, I turned off adaptive brightness in the eco settings — unless you often watch TV in rooms with highly variable lighting, I’d suggest you do the same, since it helps keep things consistent during testing.

In “filmmaker mode,” the brightness is set very low by default (19 out of 100), which might seem odd, but it’s actually pretty close to professional standards. At that setting, I measured about 239 nits — bright, but not eye-searing, and a bit more than you’d get in a totally dark studio. “Movie mode” is technically brighter (321), but the difference isn’t huge.

Gamma, which describes how the TV handles shades of gray, wasn’t perfect — the image gradually dims, then suddenly jumps to full white. This isn’t unusual, but it’s something enthusiasts might notice. In terms of color accuracy, the results were generally good, especially for an uncalibrated TV. Most colors were on point, with only the very brightest whites and some highly saturated colors being a little off. If you’re picky, calibration can fix these issues, but most people won’t notice them during everyday viewing.

One thing to note: reds and blues (and to a lesser extent, magenta) were noticeably more intense than they should be. That means some colors might look a bit too bold, which TCL could address with future updates or calibration tweaks. Overall, though, the TV’s color and brightness performance are impressive — especially for the price point.

Peak Whites

Now, let’s get into the peak white nits — the numbers that matter for real-world viewing. In my testing, the QM8L consistently reached around 4,800 nits of peak brightness, with one measurement even hitting 5,400 nits. That’s beyond TCL’s own claims and puts this TV firmly in flagship territory. For reference, the industry-standard 10% window landed at about 3,700 nits, and full-screen white measured 804 nits — enough to comfortably light a room, even in daylight.

On the color side, HDR performance tells a mixed story. While the TV delivers impressive brightness and wide color, I observed that some HDR colors were oversaturated — certain shades registered delta E values above 12, which is outside the ideal range for accuracy. In ‘Filmmaker Mode,’ where faithfulness to the creator’s intent is the goal, I would have preferred more restraint, especially for reference content. That said, these levels of oversaturation are unlikely to be obvious in typical viewing, except perhaps with skin tones or highly specific color gradations.

Color Volume

The color volume test showed the QM8L covering just under 90% of the standard, which is a strong performance for this class of TV. As for the advanced gamut ring test — the same one that famously melted a previous model — I’ll be diving deeper into those results in an upcoming SQD versus RGB analysis, since some technical details are still being confirmed with engineers.

Gamut Ring

To complete the gamut ring test, the TV required significant cooling between each of the 62 measurements, and the process took nearly two hours. The good news: the QM8L handled the stress without issue.

The main takeaway here is that even without calibration, the QM8L posts impressive numbers. With minor adjustments to white balance and grayscale, gamma performance can be further refined. For those seeking absolute accuracy, professional calibration is a worthwhile consideration that could further elevate results.

One ongoing challenge I observed is oversaturation in the blue and red primaries, along with some color errors in HDR mode. These are particularly noticeable in demanding test patterns, and while super quantum dots deliver excellent color brightness, dialing in perfect HDR accuracy remains a complex task — especially for low-luminance shades. This is an area I’ll be exploring further as I compare SQD to RGB technologies in future coverage.

Real-World Content

So, that’s the nerd stuff, which, as we know, doesn’t necessarily translate into a viewing experience— and that is especially the case here. This TV’s color is truly exciting to look at. When you see really green leaves or luminescent blue waters, the vibrancy is tantalizing.

Move away from the dazzling demo material, which is meant to test a TV’s limits and show it off, and you start watching everyday content. That’s where you learn what living with a TV is going to feel like in the long term. I sat down and started by watching season 1 of The Pitt and then moved on to Fly Me to the Moon, which, if you ask me, is underrated for its cinematography. I watched the last few episodes of Picard on Paramount+ (yes, I’m a subscriber), which is how I also got into several episodes of Landman — you should probably check that out. I ran the Spears and Munsil disc through the TV because I know exactly how all that content should look. I also watched both the 1080p and 4K versions of Gravity, and some Pluto TV to check the upscaling. It all looked fantastic.

Brightness management and ambient sensors

It’s nice to know you can “hit the gas and go 200 mph,” but what’s the ride like when you’re cruising most of the time? When we hear “5,000-nit TV,” we might think, “Yikes, that’s just going to be a beacon of sun in my room all the time.” And, yeah, if you want it to blast you right out of the room while watching cable, this TV can do that. But Filmmaker Mode SDR is chill, the way it’s meant to be for a dark room. You can ramp up the brightness easily with the remote for daytime, or just use the built-in ambient light sensor and not worry. It works pretty well.

AI Processing and Backlight Precision

In HDR, the TV either follows the rules or it doesn’t — and this TV, well, it’s not exactly following the rules, at least not all the time. If I change the test parameters, it can actually look dimmer in HDR than it should. The updated processor and advanced image controls in this TV sometimes handle standard test patterns differently than expected, but they generally make smart adjustments based on the type of content you’re actually watching. In typical scenes, brightness and contrast tracking appeared excellent, and overall, I was impressed with how well the TV responded to everyday movies and shows.

This TV has a lot of work to do, but I’d say its backlight control is dangerously close to the X11L’s. The X11L has insane precision, though that level of precision doesn’t benefit most people, which is why the QM8L is a far better choice for the average user. You get all that trickle-down technology from the X11L, reined in a bit for everyone but the ultra enthusiast, for a real-life flagship that outperforms its predecessor by a significant margin — in some cases, for less than last year’s QM8K.

Motion handling and upscaling

Motion handling is better on this model, with less stutter even before turning on any motion smoothing. You get less ghosting when you crank up motion interpolation, though by its nature, that’s a system bound to create flaws, not fix them. Upscaling and cleanup of older, lower-resolution or lower-bit-depth content have definitely improved — the picture is just cleaner overall.

Console and PC Gaming Performance

The QM8L is an outstanding TV for watching shows and movies. If you’re gaming with a console, you’ll love using it here. Input lag varies with resolution and refresh rate, but TV companies have done a good job of mitigating it while preserving decent picture quality. For most console gamers, it’s a big thumbs-up for high-framerate content. PC gamers, keep in mind: TVs are not, by nature, made like monitors. The TV has to handle all image processing and graphical rendering, so it won’t perform like a monitor that just passes the signal from a high-end graphics card. Enjoy the 144Hz frame rate capability, but don’t expect this TV to beat your high-end PC gaming monitor. That’s why those smaller, high-end monitors cost so much—because they do things equally priced TVs can’t.

Audio

As for the audio, the QM8L TV sounds … okay.

I can count on one hand the number of TVs with sound I found impressive Sony’s recent OLED TVs — which use the screen as speakers — Sony’s X900B (launched in 2014), which had an array of speakers flanking the sides of the screen. almost universally denounced as atrocious-looking (unsightly as it may have been, it sounded great), and Panasonic’s fairly recent Z95B, which had a soundbar strip tacked on below the screen.

To me, everything else sounds mediocre at best. And that’s not just my inner audiophile speaking. If your speakers aren’t aimed at your head, you are fighting physics. No DSP magic or acoustic sleight of hand can override the fundamental laws of sound discovered by giants like Pythagoras, Galileo, and Newton.

The best thing I can say about the QM8L’s sound is that it is fairly warm (not harsh), dialog is intelligible without being chesty, AND you can now add a wireless subwoofer to the TV to lend some sizeable sound commensurate with the size of the screen.

Attainable Premium Picture Quality

The X11 is fire, but I’m not going to recommend it to any of my friends. That’s a TCL flex model, showing what the brand can do. If you’ve got X11L money and obsess over top performance, go for it. The folks I hang out with — friends, family, some referrals from each — I’m going to tell them to save up and get the QM8L later this year when the price comes down. Once prices do drop, watch out.

This TV is one of the best ways to get ultra-premium picture quality at an attainable price point. Note, I did not say affordable — that’s up to you, and how you spend or save your money — but it is attainable. There’s not much I dislike about watching this TV, other than the Netflix red looking off to me, or the YouTube logo’s red looking wrong. There are times in actual content — like intense flames in Mad Max: Fury Road — where some colors seem a bit overcooked. It’s the only thing that occasionally took me out of the immersion. So, sure, there’s room for improvement, but I don’t see any deviation from TCL’s core principles of delivering insane picture quality for the money you pay.

Price Comparison

For price comparison, the 65-inch QM8L came in $500 less than the QM8K and is currently available for $1,800. The 75-inch is $200 less, but TCL knows the popular size now is 85 inches, and that model is $500 more expensive. If you want the 98-inch size, that’ll be $1,000 more, and you can get it right now for $5,000.

Final verdict

I’m looking at the TCL QM8L and thinking, “Hell yeah, that’s a fantastic TV that probably shouldn’t be as good as it is.” TCL made some smart decisions and came out with an overachiever that punches dangerously close to its moonshot TV, but offers meaningful performance improvements over the QM7L step-down model. I suspect the QM7L will end up being the TV most folks should buy, but for now, the QM8L is a top-five TV this year. I don’t know which category it’ll grab, but it’ll be up there — probably the smartest move for the money. We’ll see how that holds up by the end of the year, but this won’t be the last you hear from me about the QM8L.

Community Q&A

Before we go, I want to answer some specific questions we gathered using a data model built by my team at CE Critic. You can also visit CE Critic, which is among the most respected reviewers (full disclosure: I am an executive partner at CE Critic). Here are some quick answers:

Is the QM8L using a new processor chip, or is it the same as last year?

Yes, it has a new SOC, which means some reprogramming and a new processing name, pointing to new tricks even if based on prior language.

Did TCL fix motion processing issues from last year?

Yes, motion processing is improved. It’s a bit better, though I’d argue the QMAK wasn’t bad to begin with. TCL is creeping up on Sony — actually, not quite there yet, but getting closer every year. Interpolation artifacts are hard to remove because they create fake pixels, which is a tough engineering challenge. Stutter on sports shouldn’t be a thing unless motion smoothing is on, and even then, ghosting is more likely. I haven’t watched baseball on this TV yet, but it’ll be in that versus video I mentioned. Low bitrate streams — well, you can’t put lipstick on a pig and call it a runway model, but the TV does well cleaning up dirty content.

Any improvements to blooming?

There weren’t major blooming issues with the QM8K, and for the price, it was one of the best-controlled TVs on the market. Remember, the brighter an object is, the more your eyes will see a halo. Try watching closed captions in the letterbox bars of a movie and see if the bottom half of the screen lights up — I don’t think you will.

Does the crazy brightness improve HDR colors and black levels?

Black levels don’t have much to do with SQD. There’s still some loss of shadow detail at extremely low (5%) stimulus levels. You can fix that for gaming, but your contrast will look a little more washed out — that’s an LCD thing. HDR color has expanded, and the gamut rings test shows that while it may not reach the furthest BT2020 extremes, it covers every color at every brightness level, right up to the edge.

Did TCL improve accuracy out of the box?

Not with my review unit, but other reviewers are reporting improvements. Is the QM8L actually different from the QM851G from two years ago? Yes, vastly different. The ultra-wide-angle viewing filter alone is notable, and SQD takes things to the next level.

How close is the QM8L to OLED?

I have a whole video on why OLED LCDs can’t beat certain aspects, but I’d say the QM8L is second in line so far, behind the X11L. Other TVs may soon give it a run for its money.

Is this TV range still a good value? Without question, yes. Check the price differences I mentioned earlier, and I think you’ll agree.

Now, I love a retrospective, but this one is more important than ever, because to understand what’s going on right now with RGB and SQD, we need to remind ourselves what the past 15 years or so have looked like.

How TV Tech Has Evolved

I’ve been involved with TV tech and reviewing for more years than I like to admit. I watched HD-DVD lose to Blu-Ray, plasma overtaken by LCD, then LED. The race for thinnest TVs, Curved TVs, 4K TVs, OLED, Quantum Dots, wide color gamut, HDR, Dolby Vision. Then, Mini-LED, more dimming zones, more Nits.

And no sooner had Mini-LED celebrated its 5th birthday than RGB backlights arrived; TCL clapped back with Super Quantum Dots (SQD), and now Hisense is out here with RGBC – adding cyan to the backlight mix.

We went from Plasma to RGB and SQD in about 23 years. And along the way, there was one consistently present factor — the marketing hype machine — and I don’t blame ‘em one bit. But we’ll come back to that.

Review techniques stayed largely consistent during this time, even as technologies changed. But, in many ways, they didn't need to. The equipment we used evolved, and the software most reviewers use, Calman, has been consistently updated to keep pace with the output capabilities of these new TVs; even now, it can measure things and display results in ways we’ve never had before.

Here’s the problem, though. While many reviewers have rightly focused on the most important stuff — how the TV actually looks when you watch it — what reviewers and journalists have not been doing is testing manufacturer — correction, I mean marketing master claims. And that’s become extremely important with today’s TVs.

The Missing Piece: Testing Marketing Claims

I’ve already made a video about how marketing folks have taken what used to be very inside-baseball terms like BT.2020 color coverage and turned them into cornerstones of their marketing messages, and I see that as problematic. What I have not done is make a call for reviewers to test those claims and hold marketing teams accountable.

I do want to express empathy and sympathy not only for the engineers who make these TVs, but also for the folks who run the marketing and advertising for these TV brands. They all have a tough job, and it’s because we — the consumers and TV enthusiasts who control the conversations around these TVs — have demanded yearly progress.

If we look at the progress TV technology has made over the last 23 years, some of it has been revolutionary, and some of it has been, well, more evolutionary. Engineers are pushed to make better, more impressive TVs every year. But during those evolutionary years, the marketing teams are tasked with making those evolutions seem revolutionary. That’s where the hype comes in.

Is this TV from 2026 really meaningfully better than this other TV from 2025? Is SQD meaningfully better than RGB? Orr is RGB meaningfully better than SQD? In what ways? Are any of these TVs really doing 100% of BT.2020 color, and even if they are, does that do anything meaningful for us? Are we getting blown away by 100% of BT.2020 color? Or are there more important parts of TV performance that have a bigger impact on what separates the good TVs from the Great or even Exceptional TVs?

My job is tough: I want to speak to everyday folks seeking a good TV, as well as prosumers making informed choices, and enthusiasts and industry experts who want to get into the nitty-gritty. At the same time, I want to hold brands accountable for their claims. I aim to share the real story about where the bar is actually set.

Balancing Audiences and Accountability

That’s a lot to accomplish in one review without it going on so long that no one will read it. That takes skill and, sometimes, compromise. Oh, and I almost forgot about dispelling rumors, that’s almost a whole job unto its own.

I’m going to tackle it all: whether RGB or SQD matters, their strengths and weaknesses, and how they stack up against the long-vaunted OLED. also want to answer the perennial question I get all the time: How much better can TVs really get at this point? I also want to help you discern which hype matters and what to look for when choosing a TV.

My reviews will cut through the noise and deliver a meaningful understanding of what living with a TV is like and how it will dazzle you or deflate you. I’ll address real-world problems like “how can I stop having my window wash out the actor’s faces on my soaps,” or “Which TV is going to make ESPN’s crappy signal look its best?” I’ll tell you what this TV is doing for gaming and movies that other TVs don’t.

Real-World Testing: Beyond the Specs

TV reviews need to evolve a little bit. Because the way I see it, a TV isn't great just because it wins a spec-sheet battle. A TV is great because it disappears. Just like the sound a great audio system makes.

The best TVs don’t remind you you’re watching a TV. If the TV does its job, you stop thinking about numbers, color percentages, dimming zones, or buzzwords—you just enjoy what you see and get pulled into the content.

Measurements do matter. They separate perception from reality, helping to identify strengths, weaknesses, trade-offs, and limitations, and exposing marketing nonsense. Measurements help us hold manufacturers accountable.

Without context, measurements can mislead. If a TV covers 95% of BT.2020 but struggles with saturation, shadow detail, low-brightness color, motion, skin tones, near-black handling, subtitle blooming, or SDR TV in bright rooms, then who cares about 2,000% of BT.4090?

And on the flip side, sometimes a TV that doesn’t measure all that well looks pretty great for the price and will absolutely be the best choice for someone to live with every day. I want to bring more enjoyment to more people, not just tell the wealthy which TV gives them the real bragging rights.

At CalebRated, reviews go beyond scores. I explain what each TV does and why it matters—or why it doesn’t—helping you see the real impact.

Context and Nuance: My Review Philosophy

Does RGB backlighting improve HDR color performance in meaningful ways? Awesome — let’s measure it and assess its benefit to real content. Does SQD improve brightness efficiency, viewing angles, or color purity? Great — let’s test it and show it.

Does 100% BT.2020 actually translate into a noticeably better viewing experience? That’s a more complicated question.

Honestly? Some of these answers I’m about to deliver are probably going to surprise people this year. Because I think we’ve officially entered an era where raw capability is outpacing meaningful content improvements in certain areas. Not all areas — but some.

For example, are brighter highlights cool? Absolutely. Better color volume? Fantastic. Reduced blooming? We’re already there, but still, it’s a huge win. Better motion and processing? Yes, please.

But there’s also a point where what separates a good TV from a truly exceptional TV becomes less about chasing a single giant number, and more about balance. Consistency. Restraint. Accuracy. Processing. Tone mapping. Handling difficult scenes gracefully. Preserving the creator’s intent while still looking beautiful in your room.

Those things matter maybe more than ever. And that’s also why my studio is built the way it is.

My viewing room — and the tools in it — are designed to help me compare TVs fairly, consistently, and repeatably. Not just in a pitch-black room with demo footage designed to make every TV look incredible, but with real movies, real streaming content, sports, and some gaming. And also difficult scenes, challenging lighting conditions, and side-by-side comparisons that reveal where these TVs excel and where they struggle.

A Better Studio for Better Reviews

That means new measurement tools for me. Like my Colorimetery Research, Inc. CR-250 Spectroradiometer/Spectrophotometer. For more thorough color analysis, I have the latest version of Calman. I have better ways to visualize performance — thanks to Calman, which is giving me metrics on more rigorous workflows, plus I’m developing my own. A lot more work is happening behind the scenes than most people will ever see. The Calman gamut rings test I’m using gives me 602 measurement points, takes almost 2 hours, and requires a huge fan, so I don’t melt another TV.

If manufacturers are going to evolve the technology and the marketing around it, then reviewers like me need to evolve too.

Looking Ahead: The Reviews Begin

So as we head into what might be the wildest TV season I’ve covered in years — with RGB, SQD, OLED, Mini-LED, next-level brightness numbers, crazy color claims, and probably a few more absolutely ridiculous marketing phrases along the way — my goal is actually pretty simple:

Cut through the noise. Figure out what’s real. Figure out what matters. And help you decide which TVs are actually worth your money.

And that starts with the TCL QM8L, following closely by the Hisense UR9, then a TV that’s still a secret, then the OLED to beat all OLEDs, but you might hate it … and so on.

Thank you for putting your trust in me. This is how I’m going to keep earning it.

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Now we’ve got those details. I’ll walk you through the lineup, top to bottom — from RGB down to Mini-LED. I’ll share my thoughts as I go, since I saw much of it in person at a vivid, color-coded launch event Hisense just held.

What Actually Matters This Year

I’ll keep it simple: what each TV is, what changes as you step down, and what matters for each TV. Still, I must say—even though the 2026 TV landscape feels mysterious, I’d bet Hisense will offer the most attainable, high-performance TVs this year. It usually does. Its RGB and Mini-LED TVs will be aggressively priced. Based on what I’m seeing from the UR9, they look very good. But as promised, we start at the very top—the 116 UXS.

Top of the Line: 116-inch UXS — RGB + Cyan, Explained

Not only is this the biggest TV Hisense makes, but it’s also kind of an experiment. It’s the “what happens if we push everything to the absolute max?” TV. Just one size: 116 inches. And, yes, it’s absolutely enormous. But the real story isn’t about the size; it’s in the backlight system, which uses RGB Mini-LEDs plus a cyan LED.

I know the first reaction for most of you when you heard about this from CES is, “Hey, that’s cool marketing.” Yet the addition of that one extra backlight color actually changes how the TV works. Normally, you get blue LEDs that excite quantum dots to make white light, which then passes through a color filter to make the picture you see. That’s what we’ve been doing with Mini-LEDs for years. Then we get the RGB version, which has red, green, and blue backlights and relies less on the color filter. What that means is better color purity and, most importantly to me, brighter colors — not just brighter whites. But now, if we add the cyan on top of all that, they’re basically taking the pressure off the blue backlight.

Traditionally, the blue LED handled too much, leading to less precise color mixing. Adding cyan splits the workload, resulting in purer blue colors, cleaner mixing, and more accurate brightness. The cyan LED helps blue stay vivid when needed.

I haven’t compared the new 116-inch model to the older RGB-only one because processing has changed, too, making direct comparisons tough. It’s unclear exactly how much the cyan LED impacts the picture, but it appears to add at least a small improvement without any negative effects. Next come other enhancements introduced with the second-generation RGB.

You’ve got tons of local dimming zones, very high brightness, improved anti-glare this year — not a matte finish, but it still knocks down reflections really well, and black levels that are honestly better than you would ever expect from an LCD TV. For HDR formats, you get all of them: Dolby Vision, HDR10+, HLG, and IMAX Enhanced.

For audio, this TV comes with a full Devialet system. That means Devialet amps, drivers, and tuning, which we’ll talk about more in a bit. This is the real deal. Dolby Atmos, DTS :X — the whole thing. This is the only TV where you might hesitate before buying a soundbar. That’s the level that the audio is at. I’ve heard it. It’s really, really good.

The Flagship for Most People: UR9

Now, if we step down from the 116 UXS, which I feel like is more of a moonshot TV, you lose the cyan, but then you keep the RGB backlight. That really matters. The next one on the lineup is what I consider the real flagship for most people: the UR9. It’s available in 65-, 75-, 85-, and 100-inch sizes, with pricing expected to range from $3,500 to $9,000.

On paper, it’s a step down from the UXS, but I think this is the one competing with everyone else’s best TV. The panel is a 165 Hz native panel, with Hisense claiming up to 180 Hz depending on mode. There’s also the fake motion rate 480. You get Game Booster and FreeSync Premium Pro. Processing is Hisense’s High View AI Engine RGB, its top processor for RGB backlights.

As for HDR, you get the full Monty: Dolby Vision, HDR10+, HDR10, HLG, IMAX enhanced. There are no compromises there for HDR. As for audio, it steps down from the UXS, but it still sounds very good. It’s got a 4.1.2 audio system, 90 watts of claimed power, and it’s Devialet-tuned, which means Devialet basically voiced it to sound its best. Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, DTS Virtual :X — it’s all supported. I think it sounds really good. Just not skip-the-soundbar good.

For connectivity, it’s familiar: three HDMI 2.1 ports, not four. The fourth is a DisplayPort input, seen last year. PC gamers dismissed it before, but full specs aren’t available yet. I’m hopeful it’s slightly improved over last year. You get Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.4. It’s loaded. So stepping down from the UXS, you lose cyan, full Devialet hardware, some peak brightness, and dimming precision, but keep RGB. That’s the key takeaway.

The Enthusiast Pick: The UR8

If you want a more affordable TV with new tech, the UR8 is a solid option. Sizes range from 55 to 100 inches. Prices drop here, and you’re still in RGB Mini-LED territory, though there’s some trimming. Brightness shifts to a typical high-end range — still brighter than most, but not the ceiling of the UR9. Dimming zones drop, as expected.

Processing stays strong, though maybe less aggressive than UR9. You still get all the HDRs, high refresh rate, Devialet-tuned audio, Dolby Atmos, and DTS. For HDMI, I’m optimistic: many are using MediaTek 800 SoC, which offers four HDMI 2.1 ports. The difference between UR8 and UR9 is typical — you lose some of the insane brightness and dimming precision, but keep RGB. For enthusiasts, this makes sense, but not for most people.

Best Value Pick: U7SG Mini-LED

That title goes to the U7SG, where RGB ends and traditional Mini-LED returns. It’s not a drop in quality. Mini-LED TVs look great. As I’ve said before, the U7 usually strikes a good balance between premium performance, price, and size. Sizes range from 55 to 100 inches, starting around $1,300. That MSRP will probably drop quickly. If brightness is your thing, it’s still very bright.

Expect around 3,000 nits peak. Full array local dimming, tons of zones. Refresh rate stays strong at 165 Hz native. Gaming is great here. Processing shifts to what Hisense calls High View AI Engine Pro — still capable, just not RGB-optimized. HDR support matches. Audio drops to 2.1.2, Dolby Atmos, DTS Virtual:X — no Devialet tuning. So from UR8, you lose RGB, Devialet, and some color-brightness, but keep performance for the price. Historically, this is the one I recommend for most people.

The Crowd Favorite

The one that most people actually end up buying, though, is the U6. Sizes go from 55 to 100 inches.

That’s a lot of 100-inch TVs from Hisense this year. The U6 is the entry into Mini-LED. Brightness and dimming drop—fewer zones—but it’s still sufficient and handles HDR well. It retains full-array local dimming and quantum dot color. Refresh rate drops to 144 Hz native, from 165 on U7. PC gamers will be satisfied; non-gamers likely need only 120 Hz. HDR support stays strong: Dolby Vision, HDR10 Plus, HLG. Depending on the version, you might see IMAX Enhanced and Filmmaker Mode. Audio is simpler. You do get Dolby Atmos support. I’m not sure about DTS, but honestly, this is the level where you might want to consider a soundbar.

The smart TV platform will vary. You’ll get a Google TV or Fire TV variant, depending on which model you get. The “F” likely means the Fire TV. So, stepping down from the U7 to the U6, you lose a bit of brightness. The refresh rate drops a little. Audio quality takes a bit of a hit, and you lose some processing chops, but you’re still getting a very impressive, very respectable TV for the money. It’s less expensive than the U7. It looks awesome, and I think that’s why more people end up buying it.

Projector Options: PX4 Pro and XR10

I think the PX4 Pro, a brand new ultra short-throw projector, might take a bunch of awards this year, and that’s because the PX3 last year did super well. It sits nearly flush against the wall. It has a really, really short throw distance that can throw a massive image up to about 200 inches. I recommend ultra-short-throw projectors all the time because they’re easier to get in places where you can’t get a huge TV. And this projector is going to deliver that high-end picture and big screen for anyone who can’t fit a giant TV into their space. It’s quoted at around 3500 ANSI lumens, offers improved contrast with a new iris system developed by Hisense, and supports Dolby Vision, which still isn’t super common in projectors. So, big image, minimal hassle for living room or home theater, and videophile-level video quality.

Now, this last one is pretty interesting, but in a different way. The XR10 is a traditional long-throw projector that can go from 65 to 300 inches and projects about 6,000 ANSI lumens. Now, that sounds a lot brighter than the PX4 Pro, but remember, it’s got to go a much longer distance, so it’s not going to look any brighter than a UST projector right away. It does, however, have a triple-laser RGB light engine. And this ties right back to what we were talking about with RGB earlier, because when it comes to doing true BT2020 color, not just the range or the area, but the actual volume, projectors like this have been doing RGB the right way for a while now. That’s why they look the way they do. You get pure red, green, and blue light mixing without relying heavily on filters, the way some TVs do. Plus Dolby Vision, HDR10+, IMAX Enhanced, lens shift, and zoom. This is a much more enthusiast-focused setup, but it’s from Hisense, so I expect the price will be really attractive.

Looking Ahead: Is RGB the Future?

That’s the Hisense lineup. We’ve got everything from a wall of light doing experimental color science down to something that a lot of people can actually afford. This year, it’s not just about white brightness, though; it’s color brightness, too. So, we’re going to be talking a lot about that. That’s what Hisense is betting on, too, with RGB. If it can control it right, I think it’s going to be the right direction for the brand. But if not, is it really progress?

So, I’m going to use this Klipsch system to start the 2026 soundbar conversation. And even if you’ve watched or read a review about this soundbar and its system add-ons before, I think we’re going to be referencing this review for a while.

​Out of the box

Let’s get into the basics. This soundbar, which is long but not exceedingly deep or tall, feels better built than any Klipsch soundbar I can recall laying my hands on. This feels like a legit piece of gear, and that is almost always a good start.

Around back, you have inputs and outputs. The notable ones are the wired subwoofer output, a USB-A input (which delivers a wireless audio signal to the other components), and a mic input (for the built-in Dirac room correction system).

That’s right, the Core 300 offers free, limited-bandwidth Dirac access built right in, just plug in the included mic and follow the instructions on the app.

​A Word on HDMI Inputs

Before I move on to pricing and performance, I want to address the complaints I hear from other reviewers that it only has one HDMI input. Yes, you’re paying a lot of money, but this is not an A/V receiver. It’s not even an A/V receiver replacement. It’s an alternative to an A/V receiver designed to prevent you and others in your home from getting frustrated with a bunch of wires coming out the back of your system. The whole point is to use your TV’s eARC function. And if you need to go direct to use the DTS:X support because your TV won’t pass it through, then your Blu-ray player can go here. Or maybe your Apple TV needs to go in here. Otherwise, if you need a soundbar to act like an A/V receiver, please buy an HDMI switcher and don’t whine about having another remote around because you insisted on the custom setup. End rant.

Pricing

This soundbar alone has been retailing for about $1,200, but that price is going to drop — at least temporarily — to $900. I consider that a great deal.

At full price, the Flexus Core 300 punches a hole in the wallet, but Klipsch — and I — will argue that you’re getting a lot for that money. You get premium drivers, premium amplification (backed up by Onkyo in some way or another), premium build quality, and Dirac built in. Now, you can pay yet another $100 to get the full Dirac license, and Klipsch did offer that to me for this review, but I don’t think most of you need to bother – the 20Hz to 500Hz range that the built-in system covers most problem zones in most rooms.

First Impressions: Design, Interface, and Everyday Use

With or without Dirac, this soundbar sounds great. From an aesthetic and user interface standpoint, I have no complaints. The app is comprehensive and controls it well. I like the big display on the front, and I like the little Klipsch logo; I think it’s tasteful. I don’t even hate the remote that comes with it, and how it works. Day-to-day function is brainless in the best sense.

But the sound is what I’m here for, so let’s get to that good stuff.

The Heart of the Matter: Sound Quality

Dialog clarity is killer on this thing. Just wanted to say that to keep you paying attention – I’ll come back to that, because what I really want to talk about is how much music I listened to on this soundbar and why I think I’d end up getting it with the subs and surrounds if I could, rather than using the standalone version.

​Flexus Core 300 vs. Sonos Arc Ultra: Precision vs. Immersion

On its own, I tend to prefer the Flexus Core 300’s sound to the Arc Ultra’s. To be sure, there are things the Arc Ultra can do that the Klipsch can’t – like really trick your ears into believing sounds are coming from weird places in the room. Sonos is putting out more of a bubble of sound than the Flexus Core 300 – but what the Klipsch lacks in envelopment, it makes up for in precision.

The short version is this: if you want the soundbar that pulls off the biggest Atmos magic trick, this may not be it. But if you want the soundbar system that sounds most like real speakers playing real sound in a real room, Klipsch is making a very serious argument here.

With the Klipsch, I can’t point to exactly where I hear a movie helicopter or van screeching by. But I can tell you what kind of tires were on that van because the high-frequency extension is better and more detailed. I could tell you if it was a Ninja Blender or a Vita-Mix because the overtone series for each was more complete and less compressed. And also because I’m really, really weird.

The Sonos doesn’t sound generic, it’s just … the Sonos is less “there’s the sound,” and more “the room is made of sound.” The Klipsch is more like: there’s the sound. There’s the edge. There’s the texture. There’s the tire squeal. There’s the blender I’m apparently identifying like an absolute maniac.

​Bass, Room Correction, and Dirac’s Impact

I’ve heard some folks say the Klipsch is kicking the Sonos Arc Ultra’s booty when it comes to the bottom end of the frequency spectrum. I wasn’t getting that here — until I used Dirac. And then the bass really leaped out. Look, I’ve never been a fan of room correction software — I’ve always believed fixing a room would be more effective, and I still do. But I will say that the auto-calibration system picked up on the lean bass from my seating position and not only boosted it, but did so with an EQ curve that worked seamlessly with what the rest of the bar had to do — which is perhaps why the bar works so great with the sub 200 — more on that later.

Tweeter Tone: Klipsch vs. the Competition

For dialog and overall fidelity, Klipsch gets the win from me. Now, I know the horn-loaded tweeters might have a bit more ding, ting, or ring to them than some folks prefer – and for those of you who feel that way, I think you’ll dig the more laid-back approach of the Arc Ultra or the Sennheiser Ambeo, since we’re going upscale. But there were only a handful of times I wanted the Flexus Core 300 to sound smoother while listening to music, and I never wanted less high-frequency extension or a crisper treble attack from the Klipsch for watching movies.

Stereo separation is also really great with the Flexus Core 300 – and that’s because it’s wide – so, thanks, physics. See, Klipsch works with the laws of physics instead of fighting them, and that’s why it sounds more natural and less like it was extruded from a digital waveform analyzer. With that said, even with music, and especially with movies. I wanted the surround speakers. But … I’m getting to that.

​Why Music First? My Listening Test Tracks

The reason I test a soundbar with music first is that I can immediately hear its benefits and drawbacks. I use music I’ve listened to more times than I care to count, and on reference systems, so I really know what it’s supposed to sound like. For this review, I used almost the entire Oscar Peterson We Get Requests album, and the “On Green Dolphin Street” track from the Sound of the Trio record, because how Ray Brown’s Arco bass sounds at the intro is almost everything you need to know about an audio system in just a few seconds. I listened to “Make a Move” by Lawrence because those horn textures and transients are both fun and familiar, and of course, “Forget Me Nots” by Patrice Rushen. All of that before going down a Lake Street Dive rabbit hole I still haven’t crawled out of. When possible, I listened to the vinyl and CD versions in addition to the Apple AirPlay versions, just to see how much – if any – playing a better source made a difference to the experience.

I’ll play AirPlay or Google Cast to this soundbar, listening to it in the background all day, and I’ll be very pleased. I even enjoyed sitting down right in front of it and being impressed. It really can hold its own sitting there by itself. It sounds great. But, I won’t lie. It sounds miles better with the sub and surrounds. And, maybe this isn’t the news you want, but it’s the news you need – Don’t get the surrounds unless you get the sub, too. Because somehow the bass from the bar alone doesn’t fill out the experience that you will get from the surrounds when you add them in.

​Surrounds and Subwoofer: Worth the Upgrade?

And I’ll side-step here to say that I wouldn’t mind having bigger surrounds being an option for this system, but I don’t think that makes sense because once you add the perfectly capable, sealed, 12-inch Sub200 — arguably the best value in bundleable wireless soundbar subwoofer on the market — and then toss in the surrounds — the cost of this system goes up considerably. By the way, the Sonos Sub 4 might take the Sub 200 for both looks and some performance areas, but it’s also $200 more. Plus, as I’m about to explain: the whole is more than the sum of its parts.

The surround 200 speakers are selling for $500, and the Sub 200 is going for $600, so you’re adding another $ 1,100 to an already pricey soundbar. Now, the sub and surrounds will be 20% off through May 31 – that brings the price of adding them down to $880, so $1,780 for the whole system if you buy it on sale. That’s still a lot, but let’s take a look at what similar systems cost. The full price is $2,300, and the discounted version is about $ 1,800 – what else can you get for that kind of money?

Value Compared to Rivals

The Flexus Core 300, at full price or sale price, is in the same general conversation as systems like Samsung’s Q990 series, LG’s flagship S95-series bars, and JBL’s Bar 1300X. And if you’re shopping by spec sheet, yeah, some of those systems make it look like the Klipsch might sweat a little — especially the Samsung, because the Q990 series has been the one to beat, and I still haven’t reviewed this year’s version yet.

But Klipsch is making a different argument here. It’s giving you more features and more hi-fi pedigree than a lot of the competition: Dirac built in, DTS:X, HDMI 2.1 passthrough, a real sealed 12-inch wireless subwoofer, and the option to add a wired third-party sub if you want to get weird.

And as for Sonos, the only Sonos setup I’d really put up against this would be the Arc Ultra with Era 300s in the back, and a Sub 4 — all locking you into the Sonos ecosystem, by the way — and that system currently runs, well, a lot more than the Klipsch does. And I’m not sure everyone would appreciate the sonic difference.

I guess that’s the price of relatively high performance with the convenience of fewer wires, buttons, and dials. You can still assemble your own killer system for the same or less – I mean, I enjoy it – but all the data shows that soundbar surround system sales are on the rise, so it makes sense to me that companies like Klipsch are gonna not only get in on the action, but see how far they can push it.

​Musicality and Emotional Impact: Real Listening Moments

I like where Klipsch has pushed the Flexus Core 300. When I listened to the Oscar Peterson recordings, I loved how natural the upright bass sounded, both when plucked and when bowed. I loved how I could hear the nuances of Peterson’s humming along with his own playing, just under the rich, overtone-filled piano, which had weight but zero thunk, because both the built-in bass modules in the soundbar and the subwoofer are in total control. There were moments when the drummer’s cymbals sounded like they had more ring to them than the dryness I’m used to, as I mentioned before.

But I enjoyed the high overtones in all the brass I heard, and on the Lawrence cuts I listened to, I loved especially how the gruffness of Clyde Lawrence’s voice came through while Gracie — who can really belt it out, by the way — never came across as shrill, unless she intended it to be that way. ​

As for movies and TV – well, it’s a party. As I said before, the Sonos gives you more of a bubble – and I’m looking forward to seeing how this system does against the Samsung Q990H and whatever Sony might have in store this year – again, I’m not saying anything, but not not saying anything – but the Klipsch’s front soundstage is super wide, the front to back motion is pretty smooth.

​Surround Placement

I prefer the surrounds to be closer to me than farther away. I’m also not sure what the wireless range is from the bar to the surrounds, but I wouldn’t test the limits beyond about 17 feet – that’s how far I had them, and I noticed that when they got too far away, they started to break up.

The Atmos effects may not be the strongest I’ve heard, but you definitely miss them when they are gone because I dropped their level while cranking up everything else, and they were sorely missed — they add height and fullness with fidelity even if they don’t let you point directly at the surround object you want to be hearing from an exact spot.

​Final Thoughts: A High-Fidelity Soundbar System

So, overall, this is a big win for Klipsch. I tried a prior Flexus Core system, and while I had good luck with the soundbar, the whole system’s performance just wasn’t what I expected from Klipsch.

The Flexus Core 300 is a loud and clear message that Klipsch still makes some of the most kick-ass audio gear you can buy. Klipsch hasn’t lost sight of its identity — if anything, it has a clearer vision of it than it has had in years. This is why I’m so excited to get to the two-channel alternatives in the Nines, Sevens, and Fives, because while a soundbar system like this is what a lot of you want, a simpler two-channel system can also be a lot of fun, so we’ll be sure to explore that, too.

For now, know that if you want a soundbar-based surround system with the fidelity of a component-based system, I don’t think there’s a more musical, high-fidelity option in this price class. It’ll tug at your wallet, but it will tantalize your ears in return. And that sounds like a great deal to me.

​

I rarely comment on emerging tech stories unless they are significant or widely misunderstood. This is one of those instances, so I want to reassure you. Still, the FCC’s announcement on Friday, May 1st, was concerning. The ban on specific Wi-Fi routers is legitimate, and you should be prepared. However, the situation is not as dire as some claim.

Let’s be clear: the FCC is not banning 75% of electronics from coming to the United States — yet. It could happen, so let’s talk about what’s really going on.

What’s Really Going On?

At the root of the FCC’s concerns is that wireless products from China contain hidden “back doors” that threaten everything from espionage and surveillance to infrastructure disruption and supply chain shutdowns. The devices are deemed a threat to National Security. The US government has been steadily tightening restrictions around Chinese involvement in telecom and connected tech — basically anything with a radio in it: Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, etc. The proposal handed down this month is just one piece of that larger trend. So even if this specific version gets softened or delayed, the direction is clear: less reliance on China for critical parts of the tech pipeline.

Proposal, Not Policy—Yet

The electronics ban is a proposal, not a rule. That means nothing is going to change overnight. There’s a formal process: public comment, revisions, then a final rule, and even after that, a transition period. Proposals can be shot down, and I think it’s fair to say that this one definitely could be. But even if this proposal gets shot down, it will probably come back in a revised version because the underlying concern is not going away.

The backlash is likely to be huge. However, it was unanimously passed by the FCC, and Chairman Brendan Carr proposed it, so it has support and teeth. It’s not something to just shrug off … look at what happened with the Wi-Fi routers. The US Government believes national security is at stake, so even if this proposal is shot down, it could return in a revised form we still wouldn’t like.

The Impact of Blocking Chinese Labs

This is perhaps the most important point to understand: the proposed ban targets testing facilities in China. While that isn’t an outright ban on tech entering the US, if this ban on testing facilities does go into effect, it will have a major impact on electronics shipped to the US.

There are roughly 600 FCC-recognized testing labs worldwide, with about 125 in China and Hong Kong. Here’s the key: those labs handle about 75% of the testing volume because they’re right next to where most electronics are built, and that’s why you’re hearing that the ban will affect 75% of electronics. Manufacturers don’t just prefer those labs — they’re integrated into the production process. You build it, you walk it across the street, you test it, fix it, test it again. If you remove that process, everything will suddenly take longer.

When will we be affected?

If this goes through, the effects likely won’t be felt until late 2026 or early 2027, given the transition process and typical product planning cycles. For context, companies like TCL plan their TV launches 12 to 24 months in advance. When manufacturers anticipate slower or more costly testing, they will begin making adjustments ahead of the official change—potentially delaying launches, modifying SKUs, or even canceling products well before the ban takes effect.

Capacity Crunch: The Hidden Challenge

All this creates a bottleneck, even though it seems like it shouldn’t. We have 460 labs outside of China, and that sounds like plenty, but those labs are not built to suddenly absorb 75% of all the electronics we need. That’s where we get backlogs. You can’t just build new labs overnight. You need specialized RF chambers and shielding — multimillion-dollar facilities with highly trained engineers and accreditation processes that take months or years to develop. It’s not like opening a new Starbucks. This takes a long time, and someone’s going to have to pay for it.

Who Gets Hit Hardest

That’s why it’s the smallest companies that are going to get hit the hardest. Big companies like Apple, Samsung, and Sony can shift testing to existing labs in the US, Taiwan, South Korea, or Europe. There are already about 138 labs in the US, 100 in Taiwan, and dozens more across Japan, Korea, and Germany. They can pay more, and that money will buy them priority slots. Smaller companies like TPLink and Anker, and even big companies like Hisense and TCL, will get hit hardest. They rely on speed and cost efficiency and depend on super-tight integration for manufacturing. If you break that, it breaks their margins and timelines. They get hit hard, and everything gets more expensive.

Another reason devices might disappear from the US: if you only sell 10% of your product here, you might just decide not to send it here anymore.

Limits of the FCC’s Approach

The proposed ban is ostensibly about national security, not just electronics. We’re still impacted in the same way, but there is some credibility to the idea that this will protect us … eventually. But this is one reason the proposal doesn’t make much sense to me — it doesn’t address the millions of devices we already have in use here. Supposedly, the vulnerability already exists, and this new FCC proposal doesn’t address it.

What’s next?

I don’t think the proposal will make it through as-is. We will likely get a softened version. What does that look like? Probably not an immediate full ban, but a phased rollout over several years. Certain labs or firms will get exemptions, probably for a fee. There will be a push to expand testing capacity in the US, Taiwan, and Europe. In other words, it’s not a hard stop — it’s going to be a slow shift. That gives companies time to move and adapt, but it also means this problem isn’t going away.

I think the public needs to speak out. Big companies will speak out and might soften things up, but we’re not getting out of this entirely.

This is the part you haven’t heard.

I was tempted to split this into two pieces. In fact, I probably should have. But the X11L isn’t a “two tidy posts” kind of TV. It’s a swing-for-the-fences, change-the-conversation, possibly-change-how-we-review kind of TV. So we’re doing this in one go.

The first half is for most readers: what makes this TV a big deal, what it does brilliantly, where it falls short, who should (and shouldn’t) buy it, and whether the price makes sense.

The back half? That’s for enthusiasts, calibrators, and industry folks. We’re going to talk about why this review took longer than usual, what I discovered during testing, and why I think the way we measure high-end TVs may need to evolve.

Buckle up. This is a ride.

Why the X11L is a big deal

First: What makes this TV such a big deal? Well, mini-LED TVs have been around for a while now — they are becoming the new normal. The brightness has gotten intense, the blacks have gotten blacker, the contrast has been off the charts, the processing has gotten better, and the colors are more accurate. All great things!

But the display industry never rests. Always pushing for the next great thing, the top TV makers are turning to RGB mini-LEDs to make TVs even better, primarily by enhancing color and color brightness.

Until now, mini-LED TVs have used tiny blue LED backlights that illuminate red and green quantum dots (the “Q” in QLED and QD-OLED). The resulting high-purity white light then passes through a color filter to display the full spectrum of colors. This filter is what turns white light into vibrant images on your screen.

Color filters, however, are inherently inefficient. They carve out wavelengths to create specific colors — and in doing so, they waste light.

The industry’s next move? Reduce reliance on those filters. By using separate red, green, and blue backlights, these TVs allow for more precise color control and reduce reliance on color filters. Less dependence on color filters means less light loss — and ultimately, bolder, brighter colors. This approach eliminates quantum dots from the equation.

The new generation of RGB mini-LED TVs is different. ​

TCL is manufacturing an RGB mini-LED-backlit TV, but it has also chosen to advance quantum dot technology further. This leads to the “SQD” badge you’ll find on the X11L’s box and, soon, on more affordable models as well.

SQD: super quantum dots

SQD stands for Super Quantum Dot, and while it may sound funny – oh, TCL made the quantum dots super, huh? Well, yes. Quantum Dots are already fascinating and kind of super on their own – it’s wild that something as small as a virus or antibody can glow a specific color depending on its size. And then they deposit billions of them onto a sheet and make a TV out of them? Are you not impressed?

I’m oversimplifying a bit here, but it’s remarkable to consider that TCL has refined quantum dots to about one-quarter the size of a hydrogen atom, increasing efficiency at a scale that’s almost absurd to think about. Tiny adjustments. Massive implications. This level of innovation would have seemed like science fiction just a few decades ago. You think ol’ Mr. Wizard or Bill Nye saw this coming decades ago? I didn’t.

But making the quantum dots “super” was only half the trick toward making a new kind of TV. TCL also had to make a super color filter to go with the super quantum dots, because now this color filter had a tougher job. Wouldn’t you know it, TCL knew how to make one, but to start making it, TCL would have to shut down its operations, making regular LCD panels for the whole darn world, to set up a special portion of its factories to make these new color filters.

That’s expensive. Risky. A big swing.

No one else made that swing this year.

The X11L’s picture quality is so impressive that it’s impossible to capture accurately in photos or video. The picture this TV puts out is astonishing, and the only way to have any inkling of what it can do is to bear witness to it in person.

And for those who can — even those without a background in imaging — will instantly recognize that they’re seeing something unprecedented. The brain knows it. It’s like — this doesn’t compute. How am I seeing that kind of green on a TV right now? How is it this bright? It’s unreal; the overall impact is simply on another level.

Let’s explore the X11L’s features before delving into its picture quality and price — because understanding what TCL offers for your investment is essential.

​Key features and design

Remote

Let’s start with the remote. TCL’s remote stands out for its functionality, featuring dedicated picture mode and brightness buttons. This allows users to easily adjust the screen’s brightness for different viewing environments — no need to dig into settings menus to make quick changes.

All the other buttons you need and then some are on here. I wish this remote were metal – it’s plastic masquerading as metal, and considering this remote is that part of the TV you touch the most, I think it should feel premium. That’s something Sony gets right – its remote is unnecessarily heavy, but it feels premium because of its weight. It’s actually made of recycled plastic called Sorplas, which is super light, but Sony added weight to make it feel awesome, and I think TCL should be doing the same.

Build quality

TCL got it right with the TV’s exterior build quality, though. This thing is a tank, and I mean that in a good way. It feels like a well-built TV, and I believe that’s because, for the most part, it is. It’s solid and stable.

Mounting

There is one design quirk: the VESA mounting holes are positioned unusually high on the back of the TV, possibly to accommodate the audio system, and they aren’t exactly centered. Now, that may not cause a problem for a fresh installation, but that’s going be tough on someone who has an existing wall mount and wants to use it. Even with the arms placed as far down on the TV as possible, it’s still likely to sit far lower than your previous TV, and if you take a step up in screen size, well, it’s going to go even lower on your wall. I’m not sure that is going to be a design compromise worth making, in the end. Of course, if you’re doing a fresh install, it won’t matter.

Audio system

The X11L’s audio system — developed with Bang & Olufsen — is TCL’s best yet. The integrated soundbar delivers strong bass and clear dialogue, projecting sound directly toward the viewer. Some may find the design polarizing, but it provides an impressive audio experience out of the box.

​The audio system, designed in conjunction with Bang and Olufsen, is the best I’ve heard from TCL. It’s got bass, presence, and slam, and the best thing about it is that the audio is directed toward you by a soundbar strip at the bottom. The soundbar strip has extremely clear dialogue and definitely has B&O vibes. Thus, it is polarizing. I’ve gotten a few messages from subscribers saying how ugly it is and that TCL should know the buyer of this TV is going to have a fancy audio system.

To that I say: Ugly? Sure. But buyers are all going to have a fancy audio system? No. Not “most of them.” Plus, TCL would have gotten roasted if it charged this much for a TV and didn’t include a decent audio system. We put TCL in a catch-22 — whine if they do, whine if they don’t.

Poor TCL, laughing all the way to the bank to the tune of $7,000 for a 75-inch, $8,000 for an 85-inch, and $10,000 for the 98-inch model. Somehow, I think it’ll be ok.

Smart features

​So what else do you get for the money? Google TV and Google Gemini, which, can I say: you can clown AI in TVs all you want, but using the AI image generator through this TV is a blast. I’m giving it the most insane prompts, and it’s cracking me up. No, seriously, I’m as annoyed with AI showing up everywhere as anyone else might be, but there’s no arguing that Gemini on board makes this TV way more interactive.

Display technology

The X11L features a zero-bezel design for an immersive, edge-to-edge picture. TCL’s Crystal Glow HVA panel delivers excellent off-angle viewing, and with up to 20,000 local dimming zones, backlight bleed and halo effects are minimized. TCL claims peak brightness up to 10,000 nits — an extraordinary figure for any TV.

The X11L features a zero-bezel design for an immersive, edge-to-edge picture — and TCL is very proud of it. TCL’s Crystal Glow HVA panel delivers class-leading off-angle viewing, and with up to 20,000 local dimming zones, it minimizes backlight bleed and halo effects. TCL claims peak brightness up to 10,000 nits — an extraordinary figure for any TV. It’s the most premium thing TCL could make.

After using the X11L as my primary TV for three weeks, I can confirm it delivers a spectacular viewing experience. The combination of brightness, color, and contrast is genuinely thrilling, making even familiar content feel new.

Living with the TCL X11L

I watched this TV as my daily driver for three weeks before this review — longer than I normally do. And I was giddy just about every second of it. This TV is a gas, as they used to say. Pure delight meets exhilaration. I didn’t know whether to squeal or scream, so I did a little bit of both. I was laughing out loud at how preposterously good this TV looked while I wrapped up the last three episodes of Picard with my brother and sister-in-law. I gasped when I watched the first 20 minutes of Mad Max: Fury Road for the 319th time — and no, I still haven’t watched the whole flick. I watched just about every single Eugene Belsky and Jennifer Gala video on YouTube. I’m telling you, this TV is mind-blowingly good.

It’s not just about contrast and color. The X11L’s motion processing is solid, pixel response time is among the best I’ve seen on an LCD TV, and blooming or halo effects are virtually nonexistent during real-world viewing.​

Clean-up of low-quality content is reasonable — perhaps not the best in the industry, but in the top 10th percentile.

Look, we can dissect this TV 20 different ways, but at some point, the specs and numbers melt away, and what you’re left with is a stellar-looking TV.

Should you buy the TCL X11L?

If you have the budget, the X11L is an easy recommendation. But don’t buy it on the assumption that it’s “future-proof”— no TV truly is. That said, it supports Dolby Vision 2, likely HDR10+ Advanced, an ATSC 3.0 tuner, and offers four HDMI 2.1 ports with high refresh rate support. It’s as ready for the future as any current TV, but technology always moves forward.

For those of you who would take a second mortgage out on your house to buy a TV? Don’t. This is first-gen tech, and as amazing as it is, there are bound to be bugs to work out. I think I’ve already found a couple worth addressing, and besides, this will be less expensive in a year. You can stand to wait a year to save a bunch, right? Not to mention, we’ll get SQD tech in lower-priced TVs later this year, and those might be the smarter choice for most of us anyway.

TCL’s pricing reflects the innovation and investment required to develop the X11L. As the brand moves beyond its budget-TV roots, it’s asserting its presence in the premium segment — much as Samsung did years ago.

​But I can’t throw shade at TCL over the price. When you make a groundbreaking product, you charge prices commensurate with the innovation required to create it. I know some of you want to keep TCL in its “inexpensive TV” lane, but TCL isn’t interested in being oppressed. It is moving on up. Samsung and LG didn’t “stay in their lane” back in the day, and TCL isn’t going to either. It’s a new frontier, and TCL is staking its claim.

Pushing the limits: advanced testing and scrutiny

New technology warrants new scrutiny. The next section dives into how the X11L performed under advanced testing protocols — and what that says about the state of the industry.

​By the numbers

Testing the X11L required the use of the Colorimetry Research 250 — a high-precision instrument that enabled thorough, cutting-edge measurements.

This new instrument enables advanced measurements that my other tools can’t provide. While the C6 HDR 5,000 from Portrait Displays covers most needs, only this specialized device reveals the X11L’s full, forward-looking capabilities — insights I haven’t seen in other reviews. I’m concerned some coverage may be based on incomplete information, which I’ll address shortly.

For those seeking accuracy and strict adherence to creator intent, none of the default picture modes deliver this out of the box. That’s probably a good thing for most viewers, but reviewers and purists will need to make additional adjustments.

Start with FilmMaker Mode for both HDR and SDR. While Movie mode looks brighter, in HDR it severely overbrightens the image due to always-on dynamic tone mapping and peak brightness settings — pushing highlights toward 10,000 nits, since the peak brightness setting is on boost.

That is neither accurate nor comfortable for most folks. Also, the white balance starts strong, but, as I’ll explain, it may not remain strong after about 2 hours of viewing.

Even the default Filmmaker Mode isn’t perfect, but it’s more comfortable for most environments and conserves energy and heat — a benefit I’ll revisit later.

With brightness set at 50 (same as Movie mode), but peak brightness on low, and local dimming set to high (with dynamic tone mapping and contrast off), the TV undertracks the EOTF curve in the midtones before recovering. Two-point white balance is excellent in both HDR and SDR, though, oddly enough, the 20-point grayscale shows some deviation at the top.

I also noticed — and this only happened in default filmmaker mode — that the 10% window was curiously brighter than any other. Again, only in default filmmaker mode. It was otherwise part of a predictable decline from 1% or 2% on down. That’s super puzzling to me.

The TV performs best when you bump the brightness to 60 or 70 and set both peak brightness and local dimming to high. At that point, the TV starts to track the EOTF curve correctly. This is the most accurate I could get the TV out of the box, but it still really wants to be extremely bright.

Most of my testing used full-screen patterns for SDR and an 18% window with constant APL to give HDR measurement results that might best match real-world performance – but I also used an 18% window without constant APL, just to give the TV a chance to kick extra tail.

​New testing protocols, new hurdles

However, even with refined testing methods, new challenges emerged. The latest version of Calman introduced much more stringent testing protocols, changing how TVs are evaluated.

​But even that approach, I would soon learn, would not save this TV from its own power. Because I’m not the only one who’s been changing their testing protocols. Portrait Display, the folks who make Calman, also changed the game with its latest version.

A new era of TV testing

The good news is we have new charts to look at. Calman challenges TV makers to take their TVs to the next level by showing where they still fall short, given how good they’ve gotten. The complicating factor is that key settings that used to be automated are now manual, and if you miss that, you’re going to get some whacky results. I worry some folks are getting whacky results and not knowing it.

The new Gamut Rings, Color Volume, and HDR color checker tests are more comprehensive, but they are also brutal: so much high brightness color being tested and for so long, sometimes up to half an hour – measuring 386 points of color or more? This needs to be addressed.

When brightness bites back

​Because of how hardcore these new tests are, two things happened while I was testing this TV — and please understand me when I say that, along with Calman, I was unaware that we were torturing this TV. But because this TV can get so bright, the exhaustive nature of these tests caused the TV to overheat.

And it overheated by quite a bit. I measured 164 degrees at the center of this TV, and it wasn’t even in its brightest mode. Imagine if I had done this in Movie mode, where it was reaching for 10,000 nits. Not only that, but the screen appears to have sustained slight damage as a result.

Now, don’t panic. I have good news. I tested the TV cold, then ran it hard on HDR content for 3 hours, and it never got above 107 degrees on the surface. So, unless you’re testing HDR test patterns for hours as I did, you are not going to hurt your X11L. But there is one issue you might run into.

The drift I didn’t expect

My only real concern right now is that this TV’s white balance shifts as it warms up. The red channel in the white balance goes down steadily. And down, and down. So if I left the TV alone, it would end up deficient in the red channel an hour or so later, and it was a slow decline I charted the whole way. If I were to knock down green by 6 points and blue by 1 point to get a solid D65 white when the TV was well warmed up, then it would be highly inaccurate for the first hour and a half of operation. ​

I’ve never seen white balance drift like that before.

That anomaly stood to throw off all the other test results. So, before I ran any color checker, saturation sweep, or pretty much anything, I needed to adjust the white balance first, because all the color math is based on how white behaves. That, and giving the TV breaks, transformed a 1-day job into a 3-day job. ​

But under adjusted testing conditions, the X11L aced the tests we’ve been running on TVs for over a decade.

But as I said before, Calman made harder tests, and so some of the results, at first blush, make it look like the TV was struggling. On the contrary, it’s doing amazing, it’s just that we’ve never seen a TV attempt these very specific color shades at their very specific brightness levels before. Just wait until other TVs try this.

In short, the X11L is breaking records and setting a new standard for TV testing. It will be the benchmark against which other models are compared this year. I imagine it is setting that bar extremely high, though we’ll see when we get to some of the RGB-backlit TVs.

The hidden weakness: low-luminance color

I believe every brand needs to improve its low-luminance color saturation. We get so excited about high-luminance color that we forget TVs fall short in dimmer colors. You can see this in saturation sweep tests, and you can see it in the color gamut coverage tests below 75% stimulus. When it’s bright, the TV is tight, but when we lower the brightness of the test patterns, the TV’s BT.2020 coverage drops. Again, every other TV we test this year will be doing the same thing. We’re just talking about it in a TCL X11L review because TCL had the guts to put out a flagship TV in January.

How does the X11L compare to OLED?

Is the X11L an OLED killer? Not quite — but it’s the closest an LCD has come. It surpasses OLED in raw brightness, but pixel-level dimming and absolute black levels still give OLEDs a slight edge in richness and contrast.

​Verdict: a new benchmark for LCD TVs

​The X11L is a revolutionary TV. The SQD tech inside it is compelling. I’ve never seen a TV like it before. TCL deserves massive praise for doing what it had to do to make this TV a reality, and I love it.

​Much of it is first-gen tech, though, and, as a result, early adopters run certain risks. I don’t know if I would buy this TV if you plan to leave it on 12+ hours a day and like to watch in standard or vivid mode. But for those with the disposable income, looking to get everything OLED can’t do and won’t do, along with 75, 85, or 98 inches of pure bragging rights, plus the joy of seeing the shock on people’s faces when you tell them this is TCL? Well, that sounds like it might be worth a lot to me.

The TCL X11L is a triumph — likely to be remembered as a landmark in LCD TV development, much like the Sony Z9D in its era.

It’s incredible to think of how far we’ve come, that something like the TCL X11L exists. And it’s fun to dream about how much further TCL could take it.

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Importantly, this is only a memorandum of understanding — nothing is finalized yet. Deals like this sometimes fall apart after initial agreement, so it’s not a done deal. Things could still change once both sides “open the books.”

Timeline and what to expect

If the joint venture does go through, real changes won’t begin until April 2027. That’s over a year away, and even then, it’ll take time for new decisions to impact products. In the TV business, new models are designed and developed a year or more in advance, so we likely won’t see the true effects of this partnership until 2028 or later — at least for TVs. The impact on home audio is less clear.

What does this mean for Sony and TCL?

Most likely, TCL will help with manufacturing and capital. TCL may already be manufacturing some Sony products, but its role would become more significant. It’s also likely that Sony will keep its name and identity, with Sony TVs remaining distinct. Sony’s engineering, intellectual property (IP), and the things that make a Sony TV a Sony TV aren’t just going to disappear. If anything, TCL’s resources might help make Sony TVs more affordable or expand the lineup.

Sony uses various manufacturing partners for different components, but its “secret sauce” lies in design, engineering, and especially its picture-processing technology. TCL, as a manufacturing and financial partner, could boost Sony at a pivotal time.

Industry context and speculation

Looking back, Japanese brands were hit hard after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, just as South Korean giants Samsung and LG were disrupting the U.S. TV market. Brands like Toshiba, JVC, and even Panasonic eventually exited the U.S. TV market. Sony survived by focusing on the premium segment — a risky move at the time, but one that paid off. Its products have remained excellent, though it’s unclear how solid the business has been behind the scenes.

It’s possible Sony needs a partner now for financial or operational reasons, and TCL is a logical choice. TCL and Hisense have put a lot of pressure on Samsung and LG recently. A TCL-Sony joint venture could be a massive power move in the home entertainment business, especially in the U.S. and in global markets such as Europe and India, where Sony has a strong presence. But TCL is a global company as well. And TCL does a lot more than just television. As I reported from CES, it spans a wide range of technologies, both inside and outside the home.

Potential impacts for consumers and the industry

If the deal goes through, it could mean positive changes for the TV industry. It’s not yet clear if TCL will get access to Sony’s IP, but some cooperation is likely. This could result in TCL TVs getting incremental performance improvements and Sony TVs becoming more accessible and affordable. However, I don’t think Sony will lose its identity — Sony has too much invested to let that happen.

Of course, we’ve seen mergers where a brand’s soul did fade (Sharp, Toshiba, Pioneer), but we’ve also seen brands thrive through ownership changes (like Denon and Marantz under Sound United and Harman, now owned by Samsung). There’s no reason to assume doom and gloom — there’s just as much evidence this could be a good thing.

What do you think? Is this a good move? Who benefits most? Or is this a bad sign for the industry? Leave a comment below and let’s dig into it.

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Dolby Vision 2 availability and long-term rollout

Let’s start with the fact that Dolby Vision 2 is a long play. We are starting to see support for Dolby Vision 2 in some of Hisense’s highest-end TVs. TCL will also make it available on some of its TVs.

So there are TVs you can buy in 2026 that have Dolby Vision 2 built in. That is exciting because even without Dolby Vision 2 content, there are benefits to having Dolby Vision 2 onboard your television that you can enjoy right now.

Hardware requirements and upgrade limitations

This leads me to the next thing I wanted to bring up: yes, there is indeed a hardware component to Dolby Vision 2. Right now, the MediaTek P800 SoC is the magic chip with a dedicated partition for running Dolby’s proprietary IP. That is what makes Dolby Vision 2 sing on a television.

So yes, the TV does need a piece of hardware to run it, which is why we’re not going to be able to get TVs that run Dolby Vision now updated to Dolby Vision 2. It has different hardware requirements, and so you’re not going to get your current TV upgraded to Dolby Vision 2. I know that comes as a bit of a disappointment, but it’s to be expected, since a lot more processing power is needed. Frankly, Dolby Vision 2 is doing a whole lot more.

Should you wait to buy a Dolby Vision 2 TV?

This raises the question: should I wait to buy a Dolby Vision 2 TV until there’s more Dolby Vision 2 content available? Dolby would tell you no, and I tend to agree. If the TV that you want to buy happens to have Dolby Vision 2, that’s great because it means you’re going to be able to enjoy some of what Dolby Vision 2 offers right off the bat.

Unfortunately, if you want to get it from another brand, you might have to wait a little bit longer. Right now, we only know that Hisense and TCL are implementing it in 2026 TVs. We have heard conclusively that LG is not including it. Samsung doesn’t do Dolby Vision at all. Word’s still out from Sony, but I don’t expect it to be doing it, because Sony tends to take a while to adopt new technologies.

Among the big five, Hisense and TCL are the ones moving forward, which is great news because they have some seriously hardcore TVs coming out at CES 2026.

Benefits without Dolby Vision 2 content

The benefits you can get from Dolby Vision 2 without Dolby Vision 2 content include superior tone-mapping capabilities. It’s going to give you a brighter, punchier picture with more detail when you want it, and it’s also going to rein that in when you don’t.

When you have cinematic 24-frames-per-second content, you don’t want oversharpening of the edges, and you don’t want to overdo certain highlights. Otherwise, you take away from the content's cinematic look or filmic feel.

Dolby Vision 2 vs. Dolby Vision 2 Max

There are two levels of Dolby Vision 2. There’s Dolby Vision 2, and then there’s Dolby Vision 2 Max. Max brings enhanced capabilities, most of which rely on an ambient light sensor built into the TV.

Since not every TV has an ambient light sensor, not every TV can feature Dolby Vision 2 Max. But it’s not like it’s more expensive to get to the Max level. We just need to see an ambient light sensor built in to unlock those enhanced features.

Dolby Vision 2 on inexpensive TVs

You will eventually start seeing Dolby Vision 2 in really inexpensive TVs. A lot of you might be thinking that if a TV is barely bright enough to do HDR, then what is Dolby Vision 2 really doing in that TV? It starts to sound like marketing hoopla instead of a real user benefit.

However, based on the demonstration Dolby gave us today, even in the $200 to $300 TV range — especially when the TV doesn’t have enough dynamic contrast on its own to make meaningful HDR — Dolby Vision 2 will optimize the look of HDR content for that TV. It’s going to make HDR look better.

A lot of people say their TVs don’t handle HDR well, and when HDR content can’t be turned off, it ends up looking terrible. Dolby is out to fix that problem. Dolby Vision content will look great on inexpensive TVs all the way up to the most expensive ones.

Dolby Vision IQ going forward

Dolby Vision IQ is kind of going away because many of its benefits — ambient light sensing, white point adjustments, and tone-mapping changes based on room brightness — are baked into Dolby Vision 2.

This is why you need an ambient light sensor to enjoy Dolby Vision 2 Max.

Smarter HDR for sports and cinema

One of the things I’m most excited about is that Dolby Vision 2 recognizes that there’s a difference between how cinematic HDR should look and how sports HDR should look.

Sports use a different white point target. According to NBC and Peacock, that is absolutely true. Sports generally look better with a slightly cooler color temperature. Night games, day games, indoor venues, outdoor venues — all of that changes how sports should look. Dolby Vision 2 adjusts white point and tone mapping so sports look more like you’re actually there.

On the cinematic side, there has been a widespread problem with HDR being too dark, especially in episodic television. Dolby figured out what was going on there. So, it turns out that the people mastering and grading this HDR content in Hollywood and other places are in a perfectly pitch-black room, and I mean a zero-nit room. They’re on a professional grading monitor. The whole scenario is nothing like what you experience at home. And unfortunately — and I’m dumbing this down intentionally — the work they did there and all the absolutes they’re programming into the metadata for Dolby Vision just weren’t translating well for us at home, even when Dolby Vision IQ was trying to compensate for it.

Dolby has created new math that understands how the content was created and what’s happening in your viewing environment, recreating the content as it was meant to be seen. That means no more super-dark HDR, better shadow detail, and no unnecessary over-brightening. Dolby Vision has changed how it handles brightness changes on your TV. I, for one, think it’s pretty fantastic.

Motion handling improvements

Another major improvement is motion. One of my biggest gripes about Dolby Vision is that it turns on Dolby Vision Bright and automatically sets motion smoothing to full, and it just looks awful. It’s not on brand with what Dolby was trying to do. If we’retrying to recreate the creator’s intent in our home, motion smoothing isn’t the way to do it.

At the same time, judder is annoying. Dolby’s solution is to make the judder level variable throughout the content. On the creative side, AI helps determine where motion smoothing should be increased or reduced. On the TV side, it's getting instructions from metadata that says, “Let's turn up the motion smoothing just a little bit because this is a high-judder scene. And then let's turn it back down so we get back to that cinema-grade filmic feel we really want to see in movies.” That way, we can still feel like we're watching a movie, but without all the annoying judder, which is made even harder by the fact that we have these really bright TVs doing bright things in HDR.

The result is smoother motion where it’s needed and a proper cinematic feel where it isn’t.

Metadata, streaming, and Blu-ray possibilities

The TV knows what to do because of metadata — instructions that travel with the content. Most of us will get this through streaming services.

I did ask whether Dolby Vision 2 could be implemented on Blu-ray Disc. Technologically, nothing prevents it. But the question is whether the Blu-ray market will shift to support it. Disc authoring would need to change, and players would require different hardware.

Could Dolby Vision 2 come to Blu-ray? Technically, yes. Is it likely? Probably not. Streaming, even high-end streaming, is becoming more compelling than large physical collections. I love my discs too, but we have to recognize where things are headed.

I hope I’ve answered a lot of your questions about Dolby Vision 2. After hearing directly from Dolby, I’m more convinced than ever that this is a meaningful evolution for HDR in televisions.

That said, we’ve got a long on-ramp. We won’t see much Dolby Vision 2 content in 2026, maybe toward the end of the year. The real conversation starts in earnest in 2027. But I’ve got to tell you, I’m really happy it’s here.

Samsung Audio context at CES

We could not find Samsung’s big flagship soundbar with surround speakers, the Q90H, on the floor right at CES, but that particular model has in the past been compatible with the Music Frame speaker. So, if you wanted to use the Music Frame speaker as part of your Atmos surround system, you could integrate it. You could use a number of different Samsung soundbars and enhance them with the Music Frame speaker.

What I’m talking about now expands on that integration a bit.

The Studio 5 and Studio 7

The Studio 5 and the Studio 7 are new standalone speakers from Samsung. Now, the Studio 7 is the one I’m most geeked out about because it’s got the most drivers. It’s got force cancellation inside, so the bass it produces is prodigious, but it doesn’t shake the cabinet much. Sounds fantastic.

The tuning Samsung did on this is really high quality. I think that’s part of the — well, I’d say that’s a big benefit of owning the Harmon group, and with it, not just Harmon’s sound engineers, but also the JBL brand is involved too.

Q Symphony and surround configuration

You can build an entire surround system using Q Symphony around the Studio. So let’s say you have a Samsung TV with Q Symphony built in. The speakers in the TV will do their thing to enhance the center image, and then you can set up four Studio 7 speakers for a surround audio experience.

And I’m telling you, it is ridiculously powerful. It’s a really, really good-sounding system. I remember when I heard it, I was like, “Good grief, that sounds amazing.” And so, I had to tell you about it.

Studio 5 as a lifestyle speaker

You can use the Studio 5 as a surround speaker using Q Symphony, if I’m not mistaken, but it’s more of a lifestyle speaker. It also sounds very good. There’s a lot hiding inside it, including one very large driver. It really does put out a lot of bass. And the front fascia of the speaker isn’t just for good looks. That’s actually a radiator or a dispersion plate for the tweeter that’s in the middle. It’s a great little speaker.

These are definitely the best stuff that Samsung has produced sonically, in my opinion, outside of its soundbars. Yes, we have seen some speakers come from Samsung at CES, and then they never materialize – we never saw them. But I do think Samsung’s going to break that trend. The Studio 5 and Studio 7, and their potential for integration, have been carefully thought out and have been in production for a while.

Check back for release date news and pricing information as soon as I have it.

Well, apparently that wasn’t enough.

So now Hisense has itself a 163-inch MicroLED TV, but its size isn’t even the most interesting thing about it. I’m making short work of discussing the MicroLED because we have another TV to move on to just after this. But there is one common thread tying these TVs together: a new color.

Moving beyond RGB

You’ve no doubt heard all about RGB. RGB this, RGB that. RGB backlighting is the new hotness at CES 2026, but Hisense has already moved past simple RGB and is now introducing new ways to express color.

There’s some actual, firm science behind this, which I’ll explain.

But first, 163 inches of MicroLED is massive. Let’s just be honest about that. It’s an absolutely massive, pie-in-the-sky dream TV for most people. It is definitely a little bit of a flex for Hisense.

The yellow sub-pixel explained

What makes the 163-inch TV so interesting is that Hisense has added a yellow pixel to its RGB matrix.

If that sounds familiar, and you remember Sharp and its Quattron days of filling in with a yellow sub-pixel, that was a little bit different. Sharp actually split the green pixel in half, so that part of it was green and part was yellow, serving a completely different purpose.

Here, with the 163-inch MicroLED, the yellow sub-pixel is meant to help with a part of the color spectrum that can be difficult to express in smooth gradients.

Why yellow matters: color gradients

Let’s take sunsets, for example. When watching a demo video, we can see gradients from yellow to soft orange, to more intense orange, to deep orange, to burnt umber, and finally to red.

Getting that kind of smooth gradient is actually pretty tricky.

Adding a yellow pixel to the RGB color space makes it easier to create a more expressive color palette. And as a result — because 100% BT.2020 was apparently not enough — we’re now doing 110% of BT.2020.

If you look at the CIE color chart and the big triangle surrounding what these displays can do, you’ll notice a little bump-out where the yellow sub-pixel exists. That’s what’s new for this 163-inch MicroLED TV.

Brightness and real-world use

The net effect, beyond enhanced color expression, is that it appears brighter. Hisense isn’t talking about peak nits here, and honestly, I don’t think it matters. It’s more brightness than you can handle at times.

That means it’s going to be great for all sorts of uses. I can easily imagine very wealthy people — my mind goes to NBA players — having this casually mounted in their house, watching TV on a 163-inch MicroLED.

Absolutely insane.

A more attainable option: the 116-inch UXS

Now let’s move to something that also has a bonus color, but might be a little more attainable.

You may remember that at CES 2025, Hisense was the first to introduce an RGB Mini-LED backlit TV. It basically kicked off the RGB trend we’re now seeing everywhere at CES 2026.

So how does Hisense stay ahead?

It adds another color — but this time, the story is a little different.

Introducing the Sky Blue backlight

What’s new here is the addition of yet another color. We now have red, green, and blue backlighting, plus a new sky blue (cyan) backlight.

So why add a fourth color?

The transition between blue and green is notoriously tricky. You may have heard me talk about color crosstalk—that’s when unwanted colors bleed through the wrong color filters, making colors less pure and a little dirty.

By adding a sky-blue backlight, Hisense smooths the transition between blue and green while reducing some crosstalk.

It’s not a pixel — it’s a backlight — but it helps keep the color filters from accidentally picking up colors they shouldn’t.

Expanded color and health benefits

If you look again at the BT.2020 triangle within the CIE color chart, you’ll notice a slight bulge in the blue-green area. That means it’s actually expanding beyond BT.2020 in that region.

There are other benefits too.

Blue light isn’t great for your health — it messes with your circadian rhythms. That’s why our phones have blue-light reduction modes at night.

This sky blue backlight helps reduce total blue light output without sacrificing brightness, which is meaningful.

Power consumption matters

Believe it or not, even though they’re adding another backlight, they’re also helping to reduce power consumption.

We’re getting into really big screens now — 85 inches, 100 inches, 116 inches. The bigger the screen, the more power it consumes. We’ve got to calm that down, or we’re going to roast ourselves to oblivion.

Our TVs are literally going to kill us, and we can’t have that.

Hisense is doing its part by reducing total power consumption with this extra-backlight approach.

In practical terms, does it make a huge difference? Can I see a difference between the UX and the UXS?

I don’t know yet — but I cannot wait to find out.

Hisense will give me that opportunity later this year. It doesn’t know it yet, but it just found out.

You listening, Hisense?

Final impressions and what’s next

Adding a different backlight color or sub-pixel smells like innovation, doesn’t it? And that’s kind of the point at CES — constantly innovating and outshining the competition.

But if we put that aside and just look at the TV, there’s no doubt it’s absolutely stunning. The UXS is a gorgeous piece of equipment. It’s positioned right at the entrance, and there’s no ignoring it.

I’ve watched people pass the Hisense booth at CES all day. They stop, slack-jawed, linger, forget where they were going, and then move along.

Absolutely spectacular.

Hisense’s upcoming RGB lineup

One last thing — you might be wondering about the rest of Hisense’s TV lineup.

There are some surprises coming later this year. We’ll be hearing about new RGB models across two tiers, down to 55 inches. Hisense is already trying to make RGB backlighting affordable and the new normal.

We’ll have more details in the coming weeks, and we hope to see those TVs shipping very soon.

What’s not yet clear is how this affects the ULED lineup. Will there still be a U9 or a U8? What will that look like?

I can’t wait to tell you later this year.

Yes, this is the TV that I’ve been hinting at several times over the last few weeks in my videos. I’ve had to keep a tight lid on it. This is the one with some very special technology.

I have said that while RGB backlighting is a great evolution of that technology, this is more of a revolution in the TV technology we’ve had for some time now.

‘Super Quantum Dot’ skepticism

I’m going to be honest with you. One way to get something dismissed as pure marketing hype is to add the word super, ultra, or pro. So my concern here is that when you hear the term super quantum dot, you might just be like, “Oh, okay, it’s just super now.”

It really is super.

Here’s the deal. I called my friends — they are the ones responsible for making quantum dots — and asked them what’s so super about the new super quantum dots I’m seeing in TCL’s X11L TV. Because I saw the TV and was gobsmacked by its brightness and color saturation — everything about it looked amazing. So I asked them, “What are you doing?”

Why these quantum dots are different

What they told me was that, to make the quantum dots — specifically the red and green — more accurate and efficient, they had to improve their purity dramatically.

If you’re a super nerd and you’re looking at an SPD, or spectral power distribution chart, you want to see very, very thin, very, very tall peaks of color in the graph. You don’t want a sloping hill or a sloping mountain. You want stiff, tight peaks.

What that means is you’ve got very pure color. That means your color filter doesn’t have to work very hard. That means you get lots of color brightness and overall brightness from the TV, because the color filter doesn’t have to steal a bunch of light.

The insane science behind it

So what’s the deal with these super quantum dots? What they told me was nothing short of fascinating — and the quantum dots are only half of the equation.

In order to make these quantum dots purer — more pure green, more pure red — activated by the blue backlight, they had to make a tweak to an already tiny particle that is tantamount to the adjustment of about one-quarter the size of a hydrogen atom.

Think about that for a second. One-quarter the size of a hydrogen atom to get better color out of a TV. That is some ridiculously insane science.

What’s even crazier is that they had to do this consistently, over and over and over, so they could make an entire vat of these quantum dots that would ultimately get deposited on a sheet that goes into this TV.

When the blue light shines on the red and green quantum dots — super quantum dots — you now get a much purer white color for the color filter to work with.

The other half: a new color filter

But as I said, that’s only half of the equation.

In order to take advantage of these new highly pure quantum dots, they needed to change the color filter in the TV, because the color filter also needed to be more exacting and more precise.

Here’s the problem: you don’t just put a new color filter into a TV. You have to shut down your entire production line, bring in new machines, and manufacture a new color filter layer. Doing that costs millions of dollars. Nobody wants to do that.

Panel manufacturers are busy making money by manufacturing panels and shipping them out to various customers.

Why only TCL is doing this

What TCL said was, “You know what, we’re kind of the only people that can do this — TCL CSOT.” So they shut things down, changed the fabrication, and now have this new color filter that they can pair with the super quantum dots.

That’s why you’re only hearing about super quantum dots from TCL right now. TCL is the only company that chose to do it.

Now, I would fully understand if you wanted to be dismissive and say, “Well, TCL’s just being contrarian because everybody else is coming out with RGB backlighting.”

Not true.

First of all, TCL also has RGB-backlit TVs that we’ll be hearing more about later this year. It chose to do this because it thinks it has unique applications and unique benefits — and I have to agree with TCL.

The TV looks fantastic. Some of the issues inherent to using an RGB backlight structure are not present here. Also, you can use an existing backlight structure when you’re just changing the quantum dots and the color filter.

What this means in real-world viewing

So, all of that science stuff aside, what are we actually getting out of this TV?

We’re getting 100% BT.2020 coverage, which we are hearing a lot about at CES 2026. But I actually think we’re going to see some of that happening outside of just color test patterns. We’re going to see those BT.2020 colors in real content because the crosstalk issue is minimized to a very significant degree.

I know that’s a lot of technical information, but I feel like it’s worth sharing, because that’s what makes this TV so incredibly special.

Honestly, I don’t know that there’s another TV at CES that is more stunning at first glance than this one. And the more you stare at it, the better it seems to get — which is not always the case.

Availability, Sizes, and Pricing

I haven’t even gotten to what might be the best news here.

This TV — the X11L — you can buy it right now. Right now..

Here’s the deal:

• 75-inch: $7,000

• 85-inch: $8,000

• 98-inch: $10,000

Yes, it’s pricey. Brand-new technology tends to cost a lot of money. But think forward a little bit. This is coming out now. By the time we get into late summer, fall, and the holidays of 2026, just imagine how far the prices will have come down.

I wouldn’t wait, though. I’d jump on this right now. If you want to be the cool kid on the block with the hottest new TV, this is the one. Bar none.

A CES surprise and what’s next

Nobody launches a TV at CES — except maybe TCL last year with the 6 Series, which turned out pretty well. Still, I’m surprised to see TCL doing it with a flagship-level TV like the X11L.

I have to calm myself down just a little bit, because I’ve been pretty excited. Let’s take a more practical, editorial look at this.

What is not to love about this TV? The fact is, I don’t know yet. I need to test it.

Here’s the good news: you’re not going to have to wait very long. One of these TVs is on its way to me right now. I’m going to unbox and give first impressions of a 98-inch TCL X11L, then thoroughly review it in just a matter of weeks.