TCL takes on OLED TVs with QD-Mini-LED technology

TCL is coming off a hot 2023 after punching up to the third spot under Samsung and LG in US TV sales, and it plans to keep up the pressure with a major improvement across its Mini-LED range on its 2024 TV lineup. 

It’s called QD-Mini-LED, a new display technology that fuses Mini-LEDs, which TCL itself introduced back in 2019, with both advanced AI and self-developed Optical Technology. TCL claims it can deliver better picture quality and performance over rival Mini-LED TVs as well as even OLEDs across the space through a far more sophisticated manufacturing process. 

Designed and developed all in-house within its Pangu Lab in China, TCL’s QD-Mini-LED tech could pit its new range among the best TVs in the industry. While we won’t know officially until the 2024 TVs are in our hands, one point of reference is its QM89 Mini-LED TV, which can hit a purported 5,000 peak nits on top of a whopping 20,000 local dimming zones. 

The QD-Mini-LED development will only be available on the high-end QLED lineup, which includes the QM7, QM8, and aforementioned QM89. 

The three drivers of QD-Mini-LEDs 

TCL’s Pangu Laboratory works as the main artery of its entire creation process, leading the charge in the design of its optical lens, HEXA Mini-LED chip, and ODR LEDs. Put together, these three technologies are the main components that make up its QD-Mini-LED displays and how TCL aims to combat its market competition. 

It all starts with the 6-in-1 LED processor, which boasts incredible power efficiency despite pushing its ultra-high brightness capabilities to the next level thanks to a Fine Light Control feature. TCL’s 2024 TV lineup will be equipped with three varied chips, the AIPQ, AIPQ Pro, and AIPQ Ultra, all of which will offer advanced processing in clarity, motion, contrast, and color.

Then, there’s the ODR LED technology that stands for Optical Distance Reduction. In its 2024 QLED TVs, TCL was able to lower halo effects and blooming by reducing the distance between the refractor and the light guide, which then improves the overall light control across these QLED models. 

Finally, TCL has also retrofitted its TVs with a state-of-the-art ultra-wide-angle lens, which gifts its displays improved image uniformity and light distribution. The special material engineering of the optical plastic ensures that its TVs have better optical stability in tandem with preventing yellowing over long periods of use. 

All of these new advanced technologies deliver what TCL is coining the QD-Mini-LED revolution, an upgrade that will deliver the best TCL TVs yet. It’s set to bring breakneck peak brightness levels and higher controlled dimming zones for the most natural image on the block — to the point that it might even blow the best OLED TVs out of the water. 

You can scoop up one of these new QD-Mini-LED models today on a range of retailers, including Amazon, Best Buy, Target, and Walmart. The TCL QM7 will start at $1,099 for its 55-inch model, the QM8 will be a $1,999 65-inch buy-in, and finally the behemoth 115-inch QM89 is $26,999. 

Curious about how they’ll stack up against rival OLED TVs like the LG C4 OLED? Stay tuned to Tom’s Guide for upcoming reviews of TCL’s forthcoming QD-Mini-LED range. 

More from Tom’s Guide

• Samsung goes head-to-head with TCL and Hisense with a surprisingly cheap 98-inch TV
• TV sales are dragging — here’s what TCL and Hisense can do to fix it
• TCL Q7 QLED TV review

Ryan Epps is a Staff Writer under the TV/AV section at Tom’s Guide focusing on TVs and projectors. When not researching PHOLEDs and writing about the next major innovation in the projector space, he’s consuming random anime from the 90’s, playing Dark Souls 3 again, or reading yet another Haruki Murakami novel.