CES is always a showcase of giant-sized TVs, and true to form, Hisense has brought two enormous new models to Las Vegas this year: the 136-inch MicroLED 136MX, and the 116-inch TriChroma LED TV.
It seems like, for five or six years now, we’ve been hearing how MicroLED will usher in the next era of home theater and leapfrog OLED in terms of picture quality — without any of the potential risks such as burn-in or panel degradation over time. But the technology remains prohibitively expensive for the vast majority of consumers. Hisense probably won’t be changing that with the 136MX, which is described as the company’s first “consumer-ready MicroLED display.”
Hisense has surged in TV market share by balancing price and performance better than just about any other TV manufacturer besides TCL. Today’s press release describes the 136MX as “a pivotal milestone in making cutting-edge display technology more accessible to households.” But a milestone doesn’t mean that this specific — and very large — TV will be anything close to affordable unless you lead a life of luxury.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25819422/136_MicroLED.jpg)
Image: Hisense
It sure does sound nice, though:
The 136MX builds on Hisense’s legacy of display innovation, leveraging a high-density array of over 24.88 million microscopic LEDs to deliver unparalleled brightness, resolution, and precision. Each pixel is its own light source, composed of independent red, green, and blue LEDs, eliminating the need for a traditional backlight. This self-emissive design achieves a near-infinite dynamic contrast ratio, delivering deep blacks, dazzling brightness, and remarkable clarity. Unlike OLED, which can degrade or suffer burn-in with static content, MicroLED offers consistent, high-quality visuals for years, making it ideal for bright living spaces and dedicated home theater rooms alike.
Hisense’s MicroLED display can hit a blinding peak brightness of 10,000 nits. It checks off support for all the modern musts, including Dolby Vision, Atmos, HDR 10 Plus, 120Hz gaming, auto low-latency mode, and more. But the reality is that it’s another very stunning screen that none of us will ever have in our homes.
For some people, there’s at least more of a chance of actually owning the also-new 116-inch TriChroma LED TV. That’s because, at its core, this is still a Mini LED set. But Hisense has developed a new local dimming system that it calls “RGB Local Dimming Technology.” The key benefit here seems to be color vibrance:
Unlike traditional systems that rely on white or blue backlights filtered through a quantum dot filter to create color, RGB Local Dimming Technology introduces independent red, green, and blue LEDs that generate pure colors directly at the source. This approach achieves richer reds, deeper greens, and more vibrant blues, delivering an industry-leading 97% of the BT.2020 color space — the widest color gamut ever achieved in a Mini LED display.
This precision is made possible by tens of thousands of RGB Local Dimming optical lenses, each containing individual red, blue and green LEDs. These lenses operate as independently controlled clusters, allowing for multi-level dimming at both the RGB chip level and the cluster level.
The company says RGB Local Dimming also helps to prevent loss of brightness and reduces blue light emissions by 38 percent. From what Hisense claims, the TriChroma TV can hit a peak brightness of 10,000 nits. It runs Google TV software and supports Dolby Vision IQ and IMAX Enhanced. On the sound front, there’s “a 6.2.2 multi-channel CineStage X surround sound system” built into the 116-inch frame.
There’s no price or release date for the TriChroma TV just yet, but Hisense says it “not only pushes the boundaries of what MiniLED displays can achieve, but also sets the stage for the future of display innovation.” Stay tuned for some impressions of both of these very, very big TVs once the CES show floor opens this week.