RGB LED TVs have been the speak of the TV world this yr, with fashions coming from all of the producers, and the primary considered one of 2026 is right here — the Hisense UR9. It’s the primary take a look at the viability of the brand new backlight expertise outdoors of demo rooms, and it’s a step above the standard mini-LED TVs of years previous. HDR is colourful and correct, it has nice brightness, and it’s able to exhibiting colours past the P3 shade area for films and TV reveals which have wider shade. However at $3,500, the 65-inch mannequin I reviewed is priced comparably to high-end OLEDs from LG and Samsung, which is hard competitors.
Hisense launched the very first RGB LED TV final yr, the $30,000 116-inch Hisense 116UX, so it’s not too shocking that its top-end fashions, the UR9 and UR8, are RGB LED TVs and never conventional mini LED (you’ll want to step all the way down to the U7SG for that). It’s additionally the primary firm to launch a extra inexpensive 2026 mannequin, however it’s nonetheless dearer than the flagship mini-LED TVs of final yr, just like the TCL QM9K.
$3500
The Good
- Shiny picture
- Correct HDR efficiency
- Shade protection past P3
The Unhealthy
- Some movement judder
- Costlier than different mini-LED choices
The Hisense UR9 is out there in 4 sizes: 65 inches ($3,500), 75 inches ($5,000), 85 inches ($6,000), and 100 inches ($9,000). This places it in direct competitors with flagship OLED shows from LG and Samsung, and is a excessive bar for the UR9 and every other RGB LED TV. I obtained a take a look at the 65-inch selection.
The 65-inch UR9 is 1.8 inches thick throughout the entire chassis and makes use of a pedestal stand. Just like the U8QG final yr, the Hisense UR9 has solely three HDMI 2.1 inputs. Its fourth enter is a USB-C DisplayPort connection, which is located alongside the left fringe of the TV as an alternative of with the opposite connections on the again. I’m not a fan of this placement as a result of if you wish to have your pc regularly related to the TV, the cable is clearly seen. The TV helps 180Hz native refresh charge, AMD Freesync Premium Professional, HDR 10+, and Dolby Imaginative and prescient. A future replace will allow Dolby Imaginative and prescient 2, however we’re not going to see any Dolby Imaginative and prescient 2 content material out there for some time.
I arrange every TV in my lounge on my house theater credenza. I stream films and reveals by way of the TV’s apps, play discs on a Magnetar UDP900 MkII 4K Blu-Ray participant (together with the Spears & Munsil Extremely HD Benchmark disc) and flicks from a Kaleidescape Strato E participant, and play video games on my Xbox Collection X and PlayStation 5. That is carried out at totally different occasions of the day and underneath totally different lighting situations, with curtains open, with lamps and overhead lights on, or with blackout curtains as much as preserve the room darkish. Whereas I’m an authorized ISF Degree 3 calibrator, I don’t calibrate the TVs earlier than measurement, because the overwhelming majority of TV house owners don’t trouble. So it’s vital to understand how properly the TVs carry out out of the field, with minor tweaks within the menu anybody can do.
For measurement, I take advantage of Portrait Shows’ Calman shade calibration software program, a Murideo 8K Seven sample generator, an X-rite i1 Professional 3 spectrophotometer, Portrait Shows’ C6 HDR5000 colorimeter, a Konica Minolta LS-100 luminance meter, and Leo Bodnar 4K lag tester.
One of many touted advantages of RGB LED TVs is their means to attain 100% of the BT.2020 shade area. That’s speaking about chromaticity, which is predicated on saturation and hue and is unbiased of brightness (or luminance). You may need seen shade area triangles on a CIE 1931 diagram. However what this chart doesn’t present us is how colours carry out throughout totally different brightness ranges, or in our residing rooms. (For a deep dive on this, Caleb Denison launched a wonderful video a pair weeks in the past.)
Additionally, the overwhelming majority of HDR content material makes use of the P3 shade area, which is smaller than BT.2020. So even when a TV is able to extending past P3 and into BT.2020 colours (which the UR9 completely is), with most films and TV reveals it doesn’t matter. It’s additionally a little bit of a chicken-or-the-egg scenario — we want TVs that may precisely show BT.2020 earlier than the colour area is absolutely adopted by TV and film creators, but when there’s no content material, why get a BT.2020 TV?
Now, whereas it’s comparatively not lots, there may be some nice video on the market that extends past the P3 shade area and into BT.2020 colours. One instance is the BBC documentary sequence Planet Earth II, which I watched with a Kaleidescape Strato E participant. Episode 3 appears to be like on the jungles of the world, and the greens of the bushes particularly regarded extremely vibrant on the Hisense UR9. There’s additionally a phase about hummingbirds in Ecuador that reveals off the dazzling colours of the tiny creatures, which the UR9 dealt with very properly. It’s on par with what I noticed on the $7,000 TCL X11L, and a extra colourful image than I’ve seen from OLEDs just like the LG G5 or Sony Bravia 8 II. With none movement compensation, there was some judder because the digicam panned by way of the jungle. Altering the movement setting to Movie helped to clean that out with out giving it an unnatural impact.
One of many potential points with RGB LED TVs is shade crosstalk, one thing that LG Show — notably a maker of OLED panels — made a video about again in December. An instance could possibly be when somebody is strolling previous a colourful mural and the crimson from the paintings causes the particular person’s face to look somewhat crimson, which then modifications to be barely blue once they move the blue a part of the mural. I didn’t see this occur on the UR9 with any of the fabric I watched.
The UR9 is able to exhibiting colours past the P3 shade gamut and handles reflections properly.
Google OS is quick and straightforward to navigate with a great deal of apps out there.
The distant is similar one Hisense has included with its TVs for a pair years.
There’s a USB-C DisplayPort enter on the aspect, which sadly permits the cable to be simply seen from the entrance when related.
The explanation behind this could possibly be considered one of two potentialities: wonderful processing and shade filter efficiency able to deftly delineating side-by-side colours, or the backlight as an alternative utilizing white gentle and relying solely on the colour filter when the onscreen shade data will get too sophisticated. The second possibility principally negates the good thing about having particular person crimson, inexperienced, and blue diodes, with the TV functioning as a blue or white backlit mini-LED TV, however the one strategy to know for certain is to take the TV aside and look simply at what the backlight is doing. When it comes all the way down to it, although, what issues is how the image appears to be like, and the UR9 appears to be like actually good in HDR.
OLED nonetheless has an enormous benefit over RGB LED with probably the most vital specs: distinction. Distinction is extra vital to our eyes than shade (it’s one of many first stuff you be taught throughout calibration coaching). It permits us to understand depth, motion, and form, and has been important to our existence as a species — and to our enjoyment of flicks, TV, and artwork. RGB LED TVs nonetheless use LCD panels, solely the backlight system has been improved, and with that comes the inherent LCD drawbacks of sunshine blooming and extra restricted viewing angles. The UR9 handles each of those points properly (though I believe TCL nonetheless has a slight benefit with blooming management), however OLED nonetheless wins. And due to its pixel-level management, OLED nonetheless delivers higher general image high quality.
HDR codecs: Dolby Imaginative and prescient (Dolby Imaginative and prescient 2 with firmware replace later within the yr), HDR10+, HDR10, HLG
HDMI inputs: 3 x HDMI 2.1 (one with eARC/ARC); 1 x DisplayPort over USB-C
Audio assist: Dolby Atmos, DTS Digital X
Gaming options: 4K/180Hz, VRR (as much as 330Hz), ALLM, FreeSync Premium Professional
Sizes out there (inches): 65, 75, 85, 100
Then there’s value. With the 65-inch UR9 beginning at $3,500, Hisense has positioned its flagship instantly in opposition to top-end OLEDs from Samsung and LG — each of that are priced at $3,400 for a similar 65-inch dimension.
Hisense has traditionally been cheaper than Samsung, LG, and Sony for like applied sciences, so that might imply that costs on comparable RGB LEDs from these firms will are available in above the UR9, however I don’t assume so — aside from Sony, which just about definitely would be the costliest of the bunch, and have the very best processing to assist the value. If the flagship RGB LED TVs from LG and Samsung are equal to or dearer than the Hisense UR9, it means these firms are placing RGB above their very own OLED TVs. Particularly with LG, the chief in OLED gross sales for greater than a decade, it could be a shocking transfer.
And there’s nonetheless the step-down fashions from Hisense and Samsung, the Hisense UR8 and Samsung R85H, which can doubtless be within the $2,000-or-under vary for the 55-inch dimension. However that once more places them up instantly in opposition to midrange OLED fashions just like the LG C6, which received’t get as brilliant because the RGB LED TVs, however nonetheless has pixel-level management and wonderful distinction.
The world of TVs in 2026 is fairly thrilling. The accuracy of shows throughout value ranges and manufactures is nearer than it’s ever been, and we’re persevering with to get new improvements like RGB LED. That crowded market means it’s exhausting to suit RGB LED TVs someplace that is sensible. They carry out higher than common mini-LED TVs and can completely overtake them (OLED remains to be out of attain), however it received’t be till 2027 on the earliest.
For now, I’d nonetheless simply purchase an OLED. However the way forward for RGB LED TVs is trying brilliant.
Images by John Higgins / The Verge
Observe subjects and authors from this story to see extra like this in your customized homepage feed and to obtain e-mail updates.
- DevicesShut
Devices
Posts from this matter can be added to your every day e-mail digest and your homepage feed.
ObserveObserve
See All Devices
- CritiquesShut
Critiques
Posts from this matter can be added to your every day e-mail digest and your homepage feed.
ObserveObserve
See All Critiques
- TechShut
Tech
Posts from this matter can be added to your every day e-mail digest and your homepage feed.
ObserveObserve
See All Tech
- TVsShut
TVs
Posts from this matter can be added to your every day e-mail digest and your homepage feed.
ObserveObserve
See All TVs
