During CES 2025, TCL presented its new 27-inch RGB OLED panel. What does this mean in practice? It is yet another proof that Chinese OLED manufacturers are making significant strides forward. Until now, the television and monitor segment has been primarily dominated by LG Display (WOLED) and Samsung Display (QD-OLED). Now TCL wants to prove that it has something fresh to offer.
Why is RGB OLED interesting?
TCL opted for RGB OLED technology with printed pixels. Instead of an additional white subpixel (WOLED) or triangular pixel arrangements (QD-OLED), pure red, green, and blue stripes were used. Such a layout can eliminate common issues of other OLED technologies, such as shadows on text (WOLED) or the effect of colored edges (QD-OLED), which you can see in our tests.
First impressions? The TCL panel features a clear and sharp image, excellent black depth, and wide viewing angles. All of this in 4K and at a refresh rate of 120 Hz – ideal for gamers. However, not everything is perfect: the total brightness is 250 nits, and peak brightness is 600 nits. That's a bit low compared to other solutions on the market.
Does TCL have a chance to surpass LG and Samsung?
So far, the company is starting on a small scale. Their RGB OLEDs are in early mass production. TCL still has a long way to go – they need to increase production, lower costs, and introduce larger screens. What they showcased at CES is more of a preview than a final product. But one cannot deny their ambition: in 2024, they announced that a breakthrough in printed OLED technology is already behind them. Now it remains to prove that it can be done on a large scale.
What’s next?
For now, TCL is focusing on monitors, but it’s possible that in the future we will see their RGB OLEDs in TVs as well. And that could be really interesting. Although the panels still lack brightness and TCL must refine the technology, their monitors already offer something that many users will appreciate: a clean image without the typical problems of WOLED and QD-OLED. Will TCL become the third major force in OLEDs? If they manage to maintain the current development momentum and scale up, it’s quite possible. But for now, this is just the beginning of the story.
