Glossary A–ZLetter M
Mini LED
Mini LED refers to very small light-emitting diodes that are used mainly as the backlight of LCD screens, where they make a large number of individually controllable zones possible.
The picture itself is still produced in the LCD panel. Mini LED is therefore an improvement in lighting, not a new imaging technology.
Because many small diodes sit across the area behind the panel, the lighting can be adapted finely to the image content. Dark areas become darker, bright ones stay bright, contrast increases and halos around bright objects become smaller. At the same time, high brightness levels are possible, which makes mini LED interesting for HDR content and bright environments.
The term is also used for LED walls with very small diodes and a fine pixel pitch, in which the diodes produce the picture themselves. In discussions with suppliers it should therefore be clarified which design is meant. For LCD devices with mini LED, the limits of local dimming still apply: even small zones are larger than a pixel. Operators should view the device with their own content, especially bright text on a dark background.