// ARS TECHNICA — LINUX & OPEN SOURCE
TCL is right to question Samsung’s use of the term “Mini LED”
It’s a question that sounds like it should have a simple answer. But it’s now at the center of a lawsuit between two of the biggest names in TVs, with TCL accusing its longtime competitor Samsung of falsely advertising budget LCD-LED TVs as Mini LED sets.
TCL may have a point. Samsung’s M-series TVs, which range from $300 for a 43-inch model to $2,300 for a 100-inch model, do raise some legitimate questions about what should qualify as Mini LED. More broadly, though, the dispute highlights a problem for shoppers: Without agreed-upon standards for what “Mini LED” actually means, manufacturers have plenty of room to define the technology for themselves.
In a lawsuit (PDF) filed in the US District Court for the Central District of California in late August, TCL accused Samsung of resorting to “fraud” to compete with TCL’s QM-series of Mini LED TVs. Samsung’s M70H, M80H, and M90H are “merely recycled… pre-existing, low-end, standard LED televisions, [which are Samsung’s entry-level] Crystal UHD line… re-labelled… as ‘Mini LED,’” TCL’s suit says.
“Samsung’s M Models contain none of the technological advancements associated with Mini LED technology, including [full array local dimming],” the complaint reads.
Samsung didn’t respond to questions I sent about specific claims in TCL’s lawsuit. Instead, a spokesperson shared a statement noting that it intends to vigorously defend against the lawsuit.
TCL argues that M-series TVs don’t have backlights capable of true full array local dimming, or FALD, the most advanced type of backlighting technology available in LCD-LED displays.
A FALD backlight uses dozens to thousands of small LEDs, or Mini LEDs, grouped into different zones, each with individually controllable brightness levels. This helps boost contrast, which is critical for image quality and essential for delivering quality HDR on an LCD-LED display.
According to a specification line titled “Micro Dimming” on the M-series TVs’ product pages, the devices use “Supreme Mini LED Dimming.” The spec sheets (PDF) available for download from those pages include a tiny footnote that clarifies: “Supreme Mini LED Dimming is Software-based (not full-array hardware-based) technology.”
Samsung also uses the term “Supreme Mini LED Dimming” on product pages for its Neo QLED TVs, which TCL accepts as true Mini LED TVs. The Neo QLED spec sheets don’t include the footnote, though.
Software-based dimming without individually addressable LED zones differs from the FALD technology described above. With software-based dimming, a TV typically analyzes each frame of a video, breaking it into different zones and determining each zone’s ideal brightness level. Using that information, the display modifies the frame’s brightness to boost perceived contrast. Critically, though, the display’s brightness level remains uniform across the panel, unlike in a display using a FALD backlight.