RGB LED prototype points to Sony’s brightest TV future yet

Sony used IFA 2025 in Berlin to give its new RGB LED television technology a first European outing. Positioning the prototype as the most significant display innovation since OLED, RGB LED promises major advances in brightness, colour reproduction and HDR performance.

The new panel replaces the traditional LED backlight and Quantum Dot filter with a full RGB LED diode array. Each red, green and blue element is driven independently, enabling higher colour purity, wider gamut coverage and enhanced light output. Sony claims over 99 per cent coverage of the DCI-P3 colour space and around 90 per cent of BT.2020, with peak brightness levels reaching 4000 nits.

The 85-inch prototype was unveiled amid a film set environment bristling with Sony’s Venice digital cinema camera, grading monitors and post-production workstations, underlining the company’s end-to-end role in content creation and distribution.

There was also a pre-recorded endorsement from cinematographer Lawrence (Joker, Garden State) Sher.

Shoji Ohama, Head of Home Entertainment for Sony Europe, confirmed the decision to show the technology in Berlin rather than at CEDIA Expo in Denver, reflecting its importance to the European market.

Inside CI had an exclusive hands-on preview of the panel, and was impressed by both its oustanding colour vibrtancy and black level control (no easy feat, given the overall luminosity of the panel).

Key to this success is Sony’s proprietary XR Backlight Master Drive, combined with a dedicated processor co-developed with MediaTek, capable of 96-bit panel control. This enables precise luminance mapping and subtle gradation management, helping to deliver bright highlights without clipping and deep blacks without crushing.

Novel Color Booster processing enhances vibrancy further; Sony told Inside CI that RGB LED offers four times the colour volume of QD OLED. By individually controlling these high-density RGB LEDs, the system minimises haloing and colour shift, while ensuring consistent performance across the entire screen surface.

The panel structure itself benefits from input by partners including ROHM and Sanan Optoelectronics, with engineering designed to scale into mainstream premium screen sizes such as 55 and 65 inches, rather than focusing solely on ultra-large displays. This scalability positions RGB LED as a direct competitor to OLED and Mini LED in core market segments.

There’s no commercial release date yet, though 2026 is regarded as likely.

According toDaisuke Nezu, Senior General Manager and Head of Home Product Business at Sony, the new system is designed to bring reference-level accuracy into living rooms and to faithfully reproduce the intent of filmmakers: “By mastering the complexity of RGB panel technology, we can set a new standard in home entertainment that brings every work to life as the creator intended.”