If you're looking for sizzle at CES 2026, you can never go wrong with the televisions. The annual consumer electronics expo always includes massive walls full of TVs with cutting-edge features such as transparent screens or ultra-high brightness.
In previous years at CES, we've seen everything from battery-powered TVs that stick to a wall to OLEDs that roll up like a treasure map. I'm not a TV designer, so I could never anticipate the bizarre things companies are cooking up right now. While these cutting-edge devices may grab headlines, our focus will remain on the products that actually matter to you.
We know that people don't buy TVs for gimmicks. Picture quality is the most important aspect of any TV, and I expect we'll see advancements in that area, especially at the affordable end of the market.
Like computers and phones, TVs have a 12-month shelf life and are updated annually, usually with picture and feature improvements. Here's what this year's CES promises.
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The mini-LED trickle-down
Two televisions from 2025 point the way forward -- the Hisense QD7 and the TCL QM9. Both models have mini-LED technology, but they're at either extreme of the market -- the Hisense is a budget TV, and the TCL is a flagship. Both were significant for their improvements to picture quality, especially the QD7. The Hisense's mini-LED backlight was a cut above the budget TV competition this year, and I hope it's the start of a new trend. Local dimming has a positive effect on LCD picture quality, and the ability to do it at an affordable price is better for everyone.
Mini-LED is an evolution of traditional LCD TV backlight tech, using thousands of tiny light-emitting diodes to improve picture quality. One of the first mini-LED TVs to become available was the 2019 TCL 8-Series, and it's a technology which has become more widely available with each passing year.
The micro-LED backlit Hisense QD7QF is the best budget TV I have ever reviewed, and I expect to see more of this tech in 2026 Ty Pendlebury/CNET
Improvements in display technology can sometimes seem incremental, almost glacial, but this year, mini-LED backlights helped make LCD TVs eye-weepingly bright. This is a good thing. For instance, in 2025, TCL changed its technology to "Halo control," which was designed to reduce LCD bloom, and it worked!
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