The name somewhat gives the game away here. Mini-LEDs use very small LEDs to produce the display’s light. This new technology traces its roots back to traditional backlit LCD technology. Except rather than using a single large or multiple smaller locally dimmed backlights, Mini-LED uses thousands of tiny LED backlights to offer vastly superior local dimming characteristics. To meet the Mini-LED classification, these backlight diodes measure less than 0.2mm across each.
Local dimming is very important for LCD displays because backlight bleed leads to inferior blacks and contrast ratios compared to OLED displays, where individual pixels turn on and off. This is a hybrid approach that aims to emulate the emissive nature of OLED, but with less design complexity. Think of it as LCD’s best shot at taking on OLED. Don’t confuse this with Micro-LED technology though, which is more closely aligned to OLED. But more on that in a minute.
Moving to thousands rather than hundreds of tiny backlights allows for deeper blacks, improved contrast ratios, and brighter panels. That’s great for HDR content. All thanks to the smaller components. Mini-LED technology also scales from small to huge panel sizes quite easily, as there’s no meaningful limit on the size and density of the backlights. However, they are still bound by the size limitations of the LCD matrix that converts the white backlight into colors. But that’s not something that concerns smaller consumer electronics.
Mini-LED has already begun making a splash in the TV market. See LG’s recently announced QNED technology at CES 2021 or the selection of 4K and 8K mini-LED TVs from TCL, to name just a couple. Smaller laptop and tablet displays are the inevitable next step
