Accra, Nov. 3, GNA – TCL, the world’s largest Mini LED television brand, has urged consumers in West Africa to pay closer attention to key display features rather than relying solely on the “Mini LED” label when purchasing a television set.
The company said while Mini LED technology was becoming increasingly popular, televisions carrying the same label could offer significantly different viewing experiences depending on the underlying hardware and display architecture.
According to TCL, consumers should focus on three critical factors when comparing Mini LED televisions: dimming technology, the number of dimming zones and backlight architecture.
The call comes as TCL strengthens its position in the global television market. Citing Omdia’s global Mini LED TV shipment data for the first half of 2026, the company said it ranked first worldwide by shipment volume, delivering 2.43 million units, representing a 77.1 per cent increase over the same period in 2025.
Mini LED technology uses LED chips that are considerably smaller than those found in conventional LCD television backlights, allowing manufacturers to fit more LEDs behind a screen.
This creates a denser backlight system capable of producing deeper blacks, brighter highlights and improved picture detail.
However, TCL noted that the Mini LED designation alone does not indicate how many LEDs are used, how they are arranged or how effectively their brightness is controlled.
Mr Daniel Ray, Director of Sales and General Manager, West Africa, TCL Middle East, Africa and beyond, said consumers needed to understand the features that influenced overall performance.
“Mini LED gets talked about as if it’s a single technology, but it’s really a family of approaches with very different results,” he said.
“The three things that actually decide the outcome – hardware versus software dimming, zone count and backlight architecture – are things any shopper can ask about, for any brand, before they buy.”
On dimming technology, TCL explained that hardware local dimming physically adjusts the brightness of different LED clusters behind the screen, allowing areas of the display to be illuminated or darkened independently.
Software-based or virtual dimming, on the other hand, relies more heavily on image processing and may offer less precise control of bright and dark sections of an image.
The company also highlighted the importance of dimming zones, which determine how accurately a television can manage different sections of its backlight.
It said televisions with a higher number of independently controlled zones generally provide better contrast and preserve image detail more effectively, particularly in scenes combining bright and dark elements.
Regarding backlight architecture, TCL said edge-lit televisions position LEDs around the perimeter of the screen, while direct-lit sets place them behind the display.
It said Full Array Local Dimming (FALD) technology distributes LEDs across the back of the screen and enables independent control of different sections, resulting in more precise brightness and contrast management.
TCL said it had incorporated FALD technology across its Mini LED television range, from entry-level products to flagship models, to provide consumers with consistent access to advanced display technology.
The company encouraged prospective buyers to inquire about dimming technology, the number of dimming zones and the television’s backlight architecture before making a purchase decision.
It said these factors provided a clearer indication of a television’s performance than marketing labels alone.
TCL operates in more than 160 markets worldwide and specialises in the research, development and manufacture of consumer electronics products, including televisions, audio systems, home appliances, mobile devices, smart glasses and commercial display solutions.
GNA
Edited by Kenneth Odeng Adade