Why Your Next TV May Have Mini LEDs

Mini LEDs in the backlight take the idea of local dimming much further. By shrinking the size of the LEDs, companies can use more of them packed together—thousands of them in each TV. Because the LEDs are so small, there can be a lot of dimming zones—say, a thousand zones, instead of the dozens typically found in even the best LCD sets without Mini LEDs. These zones can be controlled precisely to help improve contrast and black levels and reduce halos.

By increasing the dynamic range of the TV—the difference between the brightest whites and deepest blacks—Mini LEDs can also help boost a TV’s HDR (high dynamic range) performance. That means you’ll be able to see all the detail in a darkly shadowed scene.

Combine these factors, and Mini LED sets can perform more like OLEDs, while retaining some traditional benefits of LCDs, such as better brightness and a wider choice of brands and screen sizes. One big trend we’re seeing in 2025 is that companies are focusing on improving Mini LED performance by exerting more precise light control and increasing the efficiency of the LEDs. This can produce even brighter images and further reduce halos around brighter objects on dark backgrounds.

The technology has been gaining momentum. Mini LED backlights not only are in many brands now but also are no longer being relegated to the most expensive LCD sets. At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January, several brands, including Hisense and TCL, announced that their more mainstream sets will include them, though the pricier models will have higher peak brightness, more dimmable zones, and more powerful processors for controlling them.

Consumer Reports has been impressed with the Mini LED models we’ve tested. “We’ve seen Mini LEDs can make an improvement in the local dimming feature, with better control of black levels and dark scenes, and significantly reduced haloing effects,” says Matt Ferretti, who heads TV testing at CR. These sets have done well in our ratings, and delivered top-notch HDR performance.

Here are a few of the models we’ve tested that include Mini LED backlights.