Two Blokes Talking Tech
Tech Guide #689 - It's TV season and every company has new RGB technology
14 Apr 2026
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
This is Tech Guide with Stephen Fennec, the podcast that keeps you updated and educated.
Hello and welcome to Tech Guide episode 689. Great to have you with us once again. Thank you for listening. My name is Stephen Fenwick. I'm the editor of techguide.com.au. On this week's show, we're talking TVs. Hisense has unveiled its 2026 RGB mini LED range. And Sony has finally announced its version of the RGB technology. And Meta has just launched Muse Spark to its AI platform.
In the Tech Guide reviews, we take a look at the new MacBook Air with M5. And Dyson has packed 17 years of airflow engineering into a new cooling device that can fit in the palm of your hand. and we'll answer all of your questions in the TechCard help desk. And it's all brought to you by Netgear, the company that keeps you connected, and Norton, the company that keeps you protected.
Well, I'd say it is safe to say that we are entering what I like to call TV season. And by that, I mean this is the time of year where we're seeing the big brands launch their new 2026 lineup of TV. So every year, it's around about this time, around April, April, May, some earlier. Sometimes some companies, I think LG launched their stuff at the end of March.
So it's that time of year where we're going to talk tellies, TVs, and in particular this year, three letters you're going to be hearing over and over and over again are RGB. Now RGB is short for red, green, blue.
And the reason you're going to hear it is because all of the major companies, and we're talking here Samsung, LG, Hisense, and now Sony, have all announced RGB, their version of RGB technology for this year's range of TVs. Now, let me explain up front what this all means.
Now, traditionally, a traditional TV or a mini LED TV would have a backlight, which is what is made up with those mini LED little lights. And in the past, those lights, the whole backlight, is one color, usually white.
So backlight, and then in front of that is a filter, a quantum dot filter in some cases, which then reimagines that color, that white light, into the various colors of the color gamut.
Now, in the case of LG, their OLED technology is self-illuminating, so they don't have a backlight, which is, not to digress too much, which is why OLEDs really, they can't really compete in terms of brightness with LED TVs because LED TVs have a backlight. So OLED TVs rely on the self-illuminating material, though LG somehow have improved the brightness of their TVs. They look incredible.
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Chapter 2: What new RGB technology has Hisense unveiled for 2026?
They used to have the QNED TVs, which were the quantum dot TVs. Now they've moved into mini LED and, in particular, micro RGB technology. So each company has its own form of RGB technology. So now what happens with these new TVs, rather than having just a single color backlight and the color filter – they are now producing color at the backlight level.
So RGB, each of the little mini cells, the light cells that form the backlight, now have a red, green, and blue cell that each one is individually controlled. So they're creating not only the light, the backlight, but the color at the same time. And by doing that, so you're removing a layer of filtration. There's a filter there in previous times.
And removing that layer means there's less of a barrier between the color created and the viewer. And so as a result, the RGB TVs can produce far more accurate color, full-bodied color, and just give you a better sense of accuracy as well about those colors as well. And so that's the basics of the technology.
It's like in the car industry, every car's got four wheels and a steering wheel, but what they do in between all of that is different, and that's what separates them as companies. It's the same thing for RGB TVs. The basics are going to be the same,
But what they do with that light and what they do to control that light and enhance that light and shape it, whatever they need to do, again, there lies the difference between the two brands. So there's still healthy competition between these companies and those three letters are what you're going to be seeing more of, RGB.
Now, in the case of, in fact, all the brands, the RGB range will be their flagship brand. There will still be regular mini LED TVs in the range. Obviously, they're the cheaper models now, but RGB will be the flagship. Now, Hisense, they got out late last week and announced their new RGB mini LED technology. They're going to have the new UR series, which includes the UR9 and the UR8.
Size is ranging from 55 inches all the way up to 100 inches. Now, the UR series brings RGB mini LED technology and performance. And what is impressive about the Hisense range is they have something for everyone. They are intent on making this new technology still within reach of an average customer.
In fact, the cheapest TV with RGB technology on board starts at $2,229, and that's for a 55-inch UR8 TV. So UR9 is the flagship, so 65-inch starts at 3999, and it goes all the way up to 85 inches for 6999, which is for an 85-inch brand-new 2026 RGB technology, that's actually really competitive. They do have the UR8 that goes up to 100 inches. So the 100-inch UR8 RGB is $9,999.
Let's call it 10K for the 100-inch TV. But they do have the U7, which is the ULED, mini LED, so not RGB technology. If you're still intent on buying a 100-inch TV, you've got the choice of the U7. which is 6999, or the U6, which is 5999. And both of those that I mentioned are not RGB. They are still the older technology, the mini-LED, which is still amazing, I've got to say.
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