Much like the relentless struggle that once dominated the audio industry during its infamous ‘loudness war’—a conflict in which the overuse of compression gradually stripped recordings of their dynamic subtleties until reaching an unpleasant and distorted pinnacle with Metallica’s *Death Magnetic* in 2008—the television industry has, over the past several years, embarked on a parallel contest of its own: the so-called ‘brightness war.’ This battle, ignited by the arrival of High Dynamic Range (HDR) technology and its capacity for dramatically heightened luminance in mastered content, spurred electronics manufacturers into a competitive frenzy. Each brand sought to outshine the others, both figuratively and literally, by pushing display technologies to achieve ever greater light output capable of fully realizing HDR’s visual potential.
Now, as we approach the tenth anniversary of HDR’s introduction into the consumer marketplace, the year 2025 has emerged as a striking new crescendo in this ongoing escalation—a moment that feels not unlike the saturation point of the loudness war, only illuminated rather than amplified. This year, for instance, we witnessed the debut of the first televisions capable of reaching an astonishing 5,000 nits of peak brightness, albeit under specifically tailored conditions, from leading manufacturers such as TCL and Hisense. At the same time, OLED panels, long admired for their superior contrast and color subtleties but often lagging behind in raw brightness, experienced a dramatic advancement with LG Display’s unveiling of its revolutionary Primary RGB Tandem technology. Just a few short years ago, televisions that struggled to cross the 2,000-nit threshold were considered admirable; now, displays capable of more than double that level of brightness have become a dazzling reality. While it may be premature to declare that the brightness war has reached its own *Death Magnetic* moment of excess, the developments of 2025 could very well foreshadow that reckoning.
Among the year’s many achievements, none stood taller—literally or metaphorically—than LG Display’s introduction of its Primary RGB Tandem OLED panels in a series of cutting-edge televisions, including the LG G5, Panasonic Z95B, and Philips OLED950 and OLED910 (with the latter two models not available in the United States or Australia). This innovation represented a fundamental reimagining of OLED architecture. Where older three-layer configurations relied on a yellow emitter sandwiched between two blue layers, the new four-stack design employs a red-blue-green-blue sequence, substantially boosting both luminous potential and chromatic accuracy. LG Display has claimed brightness capabilities approaching 4,000 nits, alongside improved color purity—an evolution that enhances not just brightness for brightness’s sake, but overall picture fidelity and vibrancy.
Competitors, of course, were unwilling to stand idle while such breakthroughs unfolded. Companies like TCL and Hisense responded by expanding upon 2024’s Sony Bravia 9 advancements, refining their mini-LED displays to achieve extraordinarily high luminance while simultaneously tackling one of LED’s greatest historical weaknesses: black level performance. New strategies for backlight control have sharply curtailed the light ‘blooming’ effect that once plagued LED technology, allowing dark areas of the image to maintain much of the inky depth associated with OLED screens. Hisense and TCL also increased the precision of local dimming zones and reduced the optical gap between backlight and display surface, which in turn diminished light bleed and further enhanced contrast consistency across the panel.
Perhaps the most intriguing development of 2025, however, was the public unveiling of a wholly new display approach: the emergence of RGB mini-LED technology for consumer use. Until now, most mini-LED systems have produced color indirectly, using white or blue diodes paired with quantum dots or color filters. In contrast, Hisense’s newly revealed RGB mini-LEDs—each pixel composed of distinct red, green, and blue emitters—allow for direct color generation, improving efficiency and vibrancy. TCL likewise announced the Chinese launch of its Q10M model featuring the same underlying concept. Samsung, never one to trail innovation for long, showcased its own advancement dubbed ‘micro-RGB,’ pushing the miniaturization of these individually colored backlights even further (though it should not be confused with the company’s emissive micro-LED technology, which remains under parallel development). The visual effect, as witnessed during demonstrations, was nothing short of breathtaking—remarkable brightness paired with astonishingly rich coloration. Even Sony confirmed that it is preparing to integrate similar RGB-based technology into its forthcoming 2026 lineup, signaling that this may become a defining feature of next-generation premium televisions.
Nevertheless, these cutting-edge RGB models come at an eye-watering cost. The intricate manufacturing requirements, coupled with intense processing demands, make them prohibitively expensive—prices currently range from roughly $12,000 to as high as $30,000, depending on brand and screen size. Despite these barriers, the momentum behind innovation is unmistakable. Analysts and enthusiasts alike anticipate that CES 2026 will usher in further announcements, possibly including smaller or more refined versions of RGB mini- and micro-LED sets. Samsung has hinted that its micro-RGB technology could eventually appear in more approachable form factors, perhaps around the popular 65-inch range, though pricing accessibility remains uncertain. Because these micro-RGB diodes are so exceedingly small, they can be positioned more closely together, paving the way for compact televisions that retain immense brightness and precision. The excitement surrounding these developments is palpable—tempered only by the question of how much visual intensity is truly beneficial.
Indeed, that question—when is enough brightness enough?—looms large over the entire conversation. The pursuit of ever-higher luminance levels is not inherently misguided, as brighter displays help to counteract sunlight and other sources of ambient light in well-lit living environments. However, the same power that cuts through glare in the daytime can quickly become overwhelming, even fatiguing, in dimmer settings. When televisions capable of sustaining 5,000 nits already exist, offering headroom beyond the 4,000-nit mastering standard currently used for the most demanding HDR content, one must ask whether additional gains serve the viewer’s experience or simply the manufacturer’s marketing narrative. OLEDs, still playing catch-up to mini-LEDs in sheer brightness capability, will continue their steady evolution; yet, for mini-LED developers, additional lumens alone may no longer represent real progress. Instead, a more judicious allocation of resources toward refined image processing, tone mapping, and improved black-level performance may yield benefits that feel truer to cinematic intent and more pleasing to human perception.
The analogy to the loudness war becomes particularly apt here. Excessive audio compression, designed to make tracks sound instantly louder, ultimately destroyed the music’s dynamic range, flattening its emotional expression and robbing listeners of subtlety. In a similar vein, merely maximizing brightness can produce images that are no longer aesthetically balanced—scenes that appear garish or fatiguing rather than immersive and realistic. Fortunately, just as the audio industry eventually corrected its course through standardized loudness normalization in streaming services (albeit imperfectly), the television industry may likewise reach a moment of self-awareness. Visual brilliance should not be measured solely in raw output but in how deftly a panel manipulates light and shadow to reproduce lifelike detail and contrast.
Ultimately, the question for television manufacturers and viewers alike is not how radiant a display can become, but how effectively that brightness can be harnessed to elevate storytelling and visual engagement. A screen capable of blinding output that disregards nuance risks becoming the visual equivalent of a distorted overcompressed track—a spectacular but tiring assault on the senses. In contrast, a well-calibrated television that utilizes its luminance reserves wisely can render highlights that sparkle, shadows that whisper, and midtones that feel authentically textured. Whether 2025 represents the climax of the brightness war or just a prelude to further excess remains to be seen. But the industry stands at a crossroads where true innovation will be defined not by the abstraction of higher numbers, but by the artistry with which those numbers are applied to create images that captivate, rather than overwhelm, their audience.
Sourse: https://www.theverge.com/tech/841054/tv-brightness-hdr-2025
