RGB TVs
What is an RGB TV, in one sentence?
An LCD television whose backlight uses separate red, green and blue LEDs instead of white ones, so colour is produced by the light source rather than filtered out of it.
It is still an LCD. It is not MicroLED, and it is not OLED.
Why the category matters
Every LCD television has a backlight. In a conventional set that light is white or blue and the colour you see is what survives after passing through a colour filter — which throws away brightness and limits how saturated a colour can get while staying bright. An RGB backlight makes the red, green and blue directly, so less is wasted.
The claimed result is a wider colour volume: not just more saturated colours, but saturated colours that stay saturated when they are also bright. That is the specific weakness OLED has in a sunlit room, and it is why the category is being aimed at bright living rooms rather than at dark home cinemas.
The state of play
Announcements have run well ahead of availability. Samsung, LG, Hisense, TCL and Sony have all shown RGB-backlit televisions. As of 13 August 2026 exactly one is listed on Amazon US, and it is out of stock.
Where to go next
- What is an RGB TV? — the technology in plain English
- RGB TV vs OLED — the comparison most buyers actually need
- RGB Mini-LED vs Mini-LED — what the RGB backlight adds
- The tracker — every announced model and whether you can buy it
- Best Mini-LED TVs — what to buy while you wait