In partnership with
For years, television development followed a familiar pattern. Screens became larger, resolution increased, and manufacturers competed over brightness.
In 2026, that direction is changing. The main advances now involve how light and colour are produced. Processing systems are also becoming more important. Modern televisions increasingly analyse content before displaying it.
How Jennifer Aniston’s LolaVie brand grew sales 40% with CTV ads
The DTC beauty category is crowded. To break through, Jennifer Aniston’s brand LolaVie, worked with Roku Ads Manager to easily set up, test, and optimize CTV ad creatives. The campaign helped drive a big lift in sales and customer growth, helping LolaVie break through in the crowded beauty category.
RGB Mini LED becomes a major display technology
One of the most important developments is RGB Mini LED. Conventional Mini LED televisions normally use blue LEDs with colour conversion systems. RGB Mini LED uses separate red, green and blue light sources.
This gives manufacturers greater control over colour at the backlight level. It can improve colour volume, brightness and colour accuracy.
Sony has adopted this approach under its True RGB technology. Its 2026 BRAVIA 9 II and BRAVIA 7 II models combine RGB backlighting with Sony's XR processing technology.
The BRAVIA 7 II covers several screen sizes. The BRAVIA 9 II moves further into the premium large-screen segment.
Hisense adds another primary colour
Hisense is experimenting with a different approach.
Its 116UXS uses an RGB MiniLED evo backlight. The system adds a Sky Blue-Cyan LED alongside red, green and blue.
Hisense says this four-primary architecture can reproduce a very wide colour range. The company has also expanded RGB Mini LED technology into other television sizes.
Hisense is experimenting further with RGBY MicroLED. This architecture introduces yellow as another primary colour.
These developments show where premium television engineering is moving. Manufacturers are trying to control colour closer to the actual light source.
AI made PMs faster. Multiplayer mode is still broken.
A PM can summarize research, draft a PRD, and mock up a prototype before lunch. The hard part starts when the team has to decide what actually gets built.
Jira Product Discovery gives product teams one place to capture insights, prioritize ideas with consistent frameworks, and build living roadmaps stakeholders can rally around.
And because it’s connected to Jira, the context behind every decision stays with the work—so developers and their agents know not just what to build, but why.
AI helps PMs move faster. Jira Product Discovery helps the whole team build with confidence.
OLED continues to develop
The rise of RGB Mini LED does not mean OLED development has stopped.
LG's 2026 G6 and W6 televisions use newer Primary RGB Tandem OLED technology. The design focuses on higher brightness, improved colour reproduction and stronger reflection control.
The LG G6 also supports high refresh rates for gaming and fast-moving content.
LG's W6 follows another trend. Its Wireless Zero Connect system separates many physical connections from the television panel. This allows the screen itself to remain thin and visually simple.
Samsung continues developing its OLED televisions as well. Its S95H represents the company's latest premium OLED generation.
OLED still has an important technical advantage. Individual pixels can produce their own light. This allows extremely precise black levels and pixel-level contrast.
Micro RGB targets very large televisions
Samsung is also developing Micro RGB televisions.
The company's R95H was introduced as a 130-inch Micro RGB model. The system uses extremely small red, green and blue light sources within its backlighting architecture.
This represents a wider shift in television development.
Companies are no longer improving only the LCD panel. They are redesigning the light source behind the panel.
That difference matters because colour accuracy, brightness and contrast depend heavily on how precisely light can be controlled.
HDR is becoming more advanced
High Dynamic Range technology is also moving beyond simple brightness improvements.
Dolby Vision 2 introduces a newer image engine and additional content intelligence. The system can modify images according to the content, display capability and viewing environment.
Hisense began supporting Dolby Vision 2 on selected 2026 televisions.
Samsung continues supporting the HDR10+ ecosystem instead. Its newer televisions support HDR10+ ADVANCED technology.
HDR10+ ADVANCED is designed to improve brightness control, tone mapping and motion handling. Streaming services are also beginning to support the newer format on compatible televisions.
The development creates another standards competition.
Consumers may increasingly need to consider which HDR formats their television supports, especially when using multiple streaming platforms.
The television is becoming an AI computing device
Perhaps the largest long-term change is happening inside the television processor.
Modern televisions increasingly use AI models to analyse images and sound.
AI processing can identify faces, objects, landscapes and different types of scenes. The processor can then modify sharpness, contrast, colour and noise reduction.
Upscaling is another important application.
Most television content is still not produced in native 4K or 8K resolution. AI-based upscaling attempts to reconstruct additional visual information when lower-resolution material appears on a high-resolution screen.
Samsung is expanding its Vision AI system across parts of its 2026 television lineup.
Google is also bringing Gemini into compatible Google TV products. This moves television interfaces closer to conversational computing.
Instead of navigating several menus, viewers may increasingly search using natural language.
A person could describe a type of film, actor, subject or programme without knowing the exact title.
Smart televisions are therefore becoming more dependent on software intelligence.
Important 2026 television models
Sony BRAVIA 9 II and BRAVIA 7 II represent the development of True RGB Mini LED.
Hisense 116UXS demonstrates four-primary RGB MiniLED evo technology.
Samsung R95H represents the company's movement into very large Micro RGB displays.
LG G6 and W6 demonstrate continued development of Tandem OLED technology.
Samsung S95H represents another stage of premium OLED development.
TCL X11L takes a different approach. It combines Mini LED backlighting with advanced quantum-dot technology and extensive local dimming.
These televisions use different engineering methods. There is no single display technology replacing every other system.
The television market is becoming more technically diverse.
Resolution matters less than before
For many years, television marketing focused heavily on resolution.
The industry moved from HD to Full HD, then 4K and eventually 8K.
Resolution still matters. But additional pixels alone are producing smaller improvements for normal household viewing.
Most premium televisions already provide enough resolution for typical living-room distances.
The next competition involves colour accuracy, local light control, contrast, reflection management, HDR performance, motion processing and computational image enhancement.
AI processing is becoming part of this competition as well.
What buyers should examine
Display technology should not be judged by the technology name alone.
An expensive OLED can perform poorly in unsuitable conditions. A well-designed Mini LED television can sometimes perform better in a bright room.
Viewing distance also matters.
A larger television does not always produce a better experience when viewers sit too close. Likewise, an advanced 8K television may provide little practical advantage when most available content remains 4K or lower.
Refresh rate matters more for gaming and sports viewers.
HDR support matters for people using modern streaming platforms.
Operating systems matter because television software now controls apps, search, recommendations, smart-home features and AI functions.
Long-term software support may therefore become almost as important as panel durability.
The next television competition is about colour and computation
Smart TV development in 2026 shows that television technology is entering another phase.
The industry is no longer competing mainly through screen resolution.
RGB Mini LED, Micro RGB, Tandem OLED, advanced HDR and AI processors are shifting attention toward light control, colour reproduction and computational image processing.
The television itself is also changing.
It remains a display. But it increasingly operates like a specialised computer built around the largest screen in the home.
That shift may matter more than another increase in resolution.
Introducing The First Agentic CRM
Get revenue agents, workflows, and automations across every stage of your motion. Access customer data in real time through Attio's web app, MCP, API, and SDK.
Then Ask Attio anything about your business and get instant answers.
It's the CRM that runs the work behind every win.