Don't Hype $30K Micro RGB TVs: Prototypes, Not Consumer-Ready
The latest advancements in display technology are often unveiled with fanfare, featuring colossal screens and astronomical price tags that grab headlines but remain far removed from the average consumer’s living room. Samsung and Hisense are currently showcasing such innovations, introducing new television sets that command prices upwards of $30,000. While terms like OLED, Mini LED, and Micro LED are becoming increasingly familiar, these manufacturers are now spotlighting “Micro RGB” technology, a development that, for now, serves more as a glimpse into the future than a practical purchase.
Samsung first teased its Micro RGB technology at CES earlier this year. Conceptually similar to the Mini LED backlighting found in many contemporary QLED displays, Micro RGB distinguishes itself by employing a back panel composed of minuscule 100-micrometer RGB (red, green, and blue) lights. Samsung asserts that this arrangement allows for significantly higher precision in color accuracy compared to existing standard displays. However, this cutting-edge display comes with a prohibitive price tag: the inaugural 115-inch flat panel model carries a price of 44.9 million South Korean won, translating to over $32,000, and is anticipated to arrive in the U.S. for approximately $30,000.
Beyond its physical composition, the technology integrates a specialized RGB “AI engine” designed for granular control over each individual red, green, and blue backlight. This engine reportedly analyzes every frame to optimize color output and enhance muted tones. Notably, Samsung’s Micro RGB television also incorporates its Bixby voice assistant, although some critics point out the continued absence of Dolby Vision support, a leading High Dynamic Range (HDR) format known for enabling brighter highlights and superior contrast. Samsung, for its part, consistently prioritizes its proprietary HDR10+ standard across its television lineup.
Not to be outdone in the realm of high-end displays, Hisense offers its own take on the technology with an RGB-Mini LED variant. The company’s new 116UX, a massive 116-inch screen, utilizes a very similar technological approach to Samsung’s, including its own AI-powered chip for precise color reproduction. This model is also available for a premium of $30,000.
Hisense also presented another frontier display at CES: the 136MX, a Micro LED television. This technology represents a distinct leap, utilizing over 24 million microscopic LED lights, each with its own RGB elements, to generate every pixel on the screen. This self-emissive design allows for potentially unparalleled detail and vibrancy. The fundamental distinction between Micro LED and Micro RGB lies in their architecture: Micro RGB functions as a backlight behind an LCD panel, whereas in Micro LED, each pixel is an independent light source. This enables Micro LED screens to achieve astonishing brightness levels, reportedly up to 10,000 nits of peak brightness, alongside exceptional color accuracy. Samsung has been developing Micro LED for over five years, underscoring the protracted development cycles inherent in this industry.
Micro RGB is positioned as a potential successor to QLED, which itself is a form of Mini LED that leverages quantum dots for more dynamic colors. The journey of display technology from conceptual breakthrough to widespread adoption is historically lengthy. Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs), for instance, were in development for decades before they surpassed the picture quality of traditional Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) televisions. Similarly, Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) displays, lauded for their pixel-level control and superior contrast with true blacks, only recently became ubiquitous after years of being prohibitively expensive for most consumers. Achieving this market penetration required significant investment in specialized manufacturing facilities. Now, with OLED setting a new standard, it will take many more years for Micro RGB to scale up in production and reduce in size and cost. Micro LED, despite its pixel-level control capabilities, also necessitates entirely new manufacturing processes.
Ultimately, these $30,000 televisions serve as a potent reminder that the most exciting display technologies often require years to mature before becoming accessible to the general public. Consumers should temper expectations and view these early, high-priced iterations as proof-of-concept for a future that is still several years away, when technologies like Micro RGB and Micro LED may finally compete for mainstream dominance.