Chapter 2

Brand names decoded

Manufacturers rarely put the technology on the box. They put a name on it — and the same name can mean different things in different years. Here is what each brand's names have meant, mapped to the real panel technology.

Names change every year. The three lines on a spec sheet that tell you what you are really buying: panel type (LCD or OLED), backlight type (edge, direct, mini-LED, RGB) and local dimming (none / full-array / number of zones).

Samsung

Tiers by colour-layer name (Crystal → QLED → Neo QLED → Micro RGB), with OLED as a separate line.

Samsung names, roughly cheapest to most expensive. Names apply to series, not individual models.
Name on the box	Technology	Tier	What it tells you
Crystal UHD	Direct-lit LED Edge-lit LED	Entry	Plain LED LCD. "Crystal" refers to the processor and colour tuning, not the panel.
QLED	QLED	Mid-range	Quantum-dot LCD. Cheaper QLED models may be edge-lit with no local dimming.
The Frame	QLED	Mid-range	A QLED in a picture-frame design with a matte screen; the panel is the same family as Samsung's other QLEDs.
Neo QLED	Mini-LED	Premium	"Quantum Mini LED" backlight — Samsung's name for mini-LED with quantum dots.
Micro RGB	RGB Mini-LED Micro RGB	Flagship	RGB backlight LCD. Not Micro-LED, which Samsung sells separately as a wall-sized product.
OLED (S9 series)	QD-OLED W-OLED	Premium	Top models use Samsung Display's QD-OLED; some sizes in the mid-range OLED series use W-OLED panels instead. Check the panel type per size.

Current line-up and specifications: Samsung official site ↗

LG

LCDs are "QNED" (with or without mini-LED); OLED is tiered by letter, with Tandem panels at the top.

LG names, roughly cheapest to most expensive. Names apply to series, not individual models.
Name on the box	Technology	Tier	What it tells you
UHD / UR series	Direct-lit LED	Entry	Plain direct-lit LED LCD.
NanoCell	Direct-lit LED QLED	Entry	LCD with a nano-particle colour filter — a colour enhancement, not a backlight upgrade.
QNED	QLED Mini-LED	Mid-range	Originally quantum dot + NanoCell; recent QNED ranges use LG's own "Dynamic QNED Color" layer, which may not use quantum dots. Only some QNED models have mini-LED backlights.
QNED evo Mini-LED	Mini-LED	Premium	The QNED models that do carry a mini-LED backlight.
Micro RGB evo	RGB Mini-LED	Flagship	LG's name for an RGB-backlight LCD.
OLED evo (B / C series)	W-OLED	Premium	"evo" marks the brighter generations of LG Display's W-OLED panel.
OLED evo with Primary RGB Tandem (G / M series)	Tandem OLED	Flagship	The four-stack Tandem OLED panel. "Primary RGB Tandem" is LG's brand name for it.

Current line-up and specifications: LG official site ↗

Sony

Everything is "Bravia" followed by a number; the number, not the name, tells you the panel.

Sony names, roughly cheapest to most expensive. Names apply to series, not individual models.
Name on the box	Technology	Tier	What it tells you
Bravia 3 / Bravia 5	Direct-lit LED Mini-LED	Entry	Lower numbers are direct-lit LED; the mid number introduces mini-LED. Check the backlight line.
Bravia 7 / Bravia 9	Mini-LED	Premium	Mini-LED with Sony's "XR Backlight Master Drive" zone control.
True RGB	RGB Mini-LED	Flagship	Sony's name for an RGB-backlight LCD.
Bravia 8	W-OLED	Premium	W-OLED panel.
Bravia 8 II	QD-OLED	Flagship	QD-OLED panel.
Triluminos	QLED QD-OLED	—	A colour-processing brand, not a panel type — it appears on LCD and OLED models alike.

Current line-up and specifications: Sony official site ↗

TCL

Letter series map cleanly to backlights: S (LED) → Q (QLED) → QM (mini-LED) → X (flagship).

TCL names, roughly cheapest to most expensive. Names apply to series, not individual models.
Name on the box	Technology	Tier	What it tells you
S series	Direct-lit LED	Entry	Direct-lit LED LCD.
Q series (QLED)	QLED	Mid-range	Quantum-dot LCD; higher Q models add full-array local dimming.
QM series (QD-Mini LED)	Mini-LED	Premium	Mini-LED with quantum dots. TCL usually publishes zone counts, which makes comparison easier.
RGB Mini-LED	RGB Mini-LED	Flagship	RGB-backlight LCD under the generic name.
X series (SQD-MiniLED)	SQD-MiniLED	Flagship	"Super Quantum Dot" mini-LED — TCL's alternative to RGB backlights.

Current line-up and specifications: TCL official site ↗

Hisense

"ULED" is an umbrella for the whole premium LCD range; the U-number tells you the backlight.

Hisense names, roughly cheapest to most expensive. Names apply to series, not individual models.
Name on the box	Technology	Tier	What it tells you
A series	Direct-lit LED	Entry	Direct-lit LED LCD.
QLED (Q / U6 series)	QLED Mini-LED	Mid-range	Quantum-dot LCD; newer U6 models have moved to mini-LED backlights.
ULED (U7 series)	Mini-LED QLED	Mid-range	ULED is a bundle of picture features, not a panel. In this tier it usually means mini-LED with quantum dots.
ULED X (U8 / U9 series)	Mini-LED	Premium	Hisense's high-zone-count mini-LED.
RGB MiniLED (UX series)	RGB Mini-LED	Flagship	RGB-backlight LCD; Hisense adds a fourth cyan emitter to the usual red, green and blue.

Current line-up and specifications: Hisense official site ↗

Panasonic

Z series is OLED, W series is LCD; the higher the number, the better the panel.

Panasonic names, roughly cheapest to most expensive. Names apply to series, not individual models.
Name on the box	Technology	Tier	What it tells you
W series	QLED Mini-LED	Mid-range	LCD range; the top W models use mini-LED, lower ones quantum-dot or plain LED.
Z series (OLED)	W-OLED Tandem OLED	Premium	LG Display W-OLED panels; the flagship Z model uses the Tandem panel.

Current line-up and specifications: Panasonic official site ↗

Roku

Three plain tiers: Select, Plus, Pro.

Roku names, roughly cheapest to most expensive. Names apply to series, not individual models.
Name on the box	Technology	Tier	What it tells you
Roku Select	Direct-lit LED	Entry	Direct-lit LED LCD.
Roku Plus	QLED	Mid-range	Quantum-dot LCD with local dimming.
Roku Pro	Mini-LED	Premium	Mini-LED with quantum dots.

Current line-up and specifications: Roku official site ↗

Amazon Fire TV

Numbered series for basic LED, "Omni" for the better panels.

Amazon Fire TV names, roughly cheapest to most expensive. Names apply to series, not individual models.
Name on the box	Technology	Tier	What it tells you
Fire TV 2-Series / 4-Series	Direct-lit LED	Entry	Direct-lit LED LCD.
Fire TV Omni QLED	QLED	Mid-range	Quantum-dot LCD with local dimming.
Fire TV Omni Mini-LED	Mini-LED	Premium	Mini-LED with quantum dots.

Current line-up and specifications: Amazon Fire TV official site ↗

Vizio

"Quantum" marks the quantum-dot models; "Pro" adds mini-LED.

Vizio names, roughly cheapest to most expensive. Names apply to series, not individual models.
Name on the box	Technology	Tier	What it tells you
V series	Direct-lit LED	Entry	Direct-lit LED LCD.
Quantum	QLED	Mid-range	Quantum-dot LCD.
Quantum Pro	Mini-LED	Premium	Mini-LED with quantum dots.

Current line-up and specifications: Vizio official site ↗

Same technology, different names

The clearest example is the newest one: Samsung's Micro RGB, Sony's True RGB, LG's Micro RGB evo and Hisense's and TCL's RGB Mini-LED are all LCDs with a red-green-blue backlight. A step down, Samsung's Neo QLED, LG's QNED evo Mini-LED, TCL's QM series, Hisense's ULED X, Sony's Bravia 7 / 9 and Roku's Pro are all mini-LED with quantum dots. The decoder lets you go the other way — pick a technology and see every name for it.