Today at its CES 2025 press conference in Las Vegas, Hisense announced a big-screen TV with a new twist on Mini LED technology.
The company says its 116-inch TriChroma LED TV (aka, the 116UX) signals a new benchmark among large consumer model screens due to RGB local dimming technology, which serves as “a bridge between today’s Mini LED advancements and the next frontier of Micro LED.”
Hisense is concurrently traversing that Micro LED frontier with its release of the 136MX, a sister flagship to the 116UX. The difference — the bridge, if you will — is the latter’s RGB local dimming capability. So, what’s special about RGB local dimming?
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Instead of blasting white or blue backlights through a quantum dot filter to create color, this innovation employs tens of thousands of RGB locally dimming optical lenses to independently generate pure colors directly at the source. The result, according to Hisense, is the widest color gamut ever achieved in a Mini LED display, covering 97% of the BT.2020 color space.
The tiny lenses of the 116UX operate as independently controlled clusters, allowing for multi-level dimming at both the RGB chip level and the cluster level. This design nullifies the inefficiencies of traditional color filtering while producing distinct gradients, lossless brightness, and potent contrast. It also sustains precise control over each pixel to virtually eliminate blooming, or the “halo effect.”
This level of precise illumination is reported to reduce power consumption, although Hisense did not provide a quantifiable statistic for that. It did, however, claim that the 116UX produces 38% less blue light emissions than other Mini LED displays, making it literally easier on the eyes in terms of viewer comfort.
Like the 136MX, the TriChroma LED 116UX is powered by Hisense’s Hi-View AI Engine X. Its advanced processor enables a slew of real-time, AI-driven enhancements including RGB local dimming, peak brightness, and an “AI Banding Smoother” — all to ensure extraordinary depth and smooth transitions. Speaking of peak brightness, and also like the 136MX, the 116UX issues a lofty 10,000 nits from its super-sized display.
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Artificial intelligence is being widely implemented to tailor new TVs’ audio outputs to match the content frame by frame, and the 116UX is onboard with that AI trend as well. Its AI Sound Optimization, paired with a 6.2.2 multi-channel CineStage X surround sound system integrated with Dolby Atmos and DTS Virtual X, should afford an immersive, multidimensional soundscape experience.
Features like Dolby Vision IQ and IMAX Enhanced also contribute crisp, stunning visuals to complement the 116UX’s audio performance. Additionally, Hisense promises wide-angle, distraction-free viewing even in bright environments due to its ultra-low glare and low-reflection panel.
The words “sleek” and “elegant” are often used in describing modern TV design and Hisense has earned those terms with the 116UX. At less than four centimeters thick, the panel also has a pencil-thin bezel to add to its 116-inch aesthetic.
Pricing details for the Hisense TriChroma LED 116UX have not yet been disclosed.