Faced with more choice than ever, audiences are increasingly moving fluidly between screens for various uses: a large screen for movies and big sporting events, and smaller screens for more general TV viewing and gaming. But the TV is the mainstay, the big screen sun around which all these smaller satellite screens orbit.
TCL, a global leader in consumer electronics and the world’s No.1 Mini LED and ultra-large¹ TV brand, is at the forefront of this ever-evolving ecosystem, with an approach it calls Screen Universe. TCL’s IFA 2026 “Screen Universe” is the broader strategic frame: a full visual ecosystem spanning screen sizes and use cases, reflecting how screens are evolving into intelligent interfaces that connect people with content, services and everyday experiences in the AI era. Rather than pursuing a singular Mini LED formula, its strategy is more all-encompassing, including SQD-Mini LED, QD-Mini LED and RGB-Mini LED TVs. With such a breadth of advanced technology at its fingertips, it truly offers something for everyone.
Beyond the product demonstrations, TCL also brought together a series of industry and technical experts at IFA 2026 to explore the future of big-screen entertainment at home. Bringing together perspectives from Hollywood colourist Natasha Leonnet, Google TV Product Lead Fahad Durrani and tech creator Adam Butcher, the discussions examined how the trend towards larger TVs is making weaknesses in picture quality harder to hide, while AI is evolving the television from a passive display into a more intuitive and personalised content interface. The broader takeaway was that the next level of immersion will depend increasingly on how well display technology, creative intent and intelligent interaction work together – an idea at the heart of TCL’s Screen Universe.
So let’s take a trip into the Screen Universe.
A new benchmark in TVs
At the centre of the Screen Universe is the TCL X11L SQD-Mini LED, which represents a new benchmark for picture quality in a flagship-grade Mini LED TV.
This is a big TV that’s ideal for those big moments. Up to 100% BT.2020 All Scenes Wide Colour Gamut creates colours that are both purer and more stable, for the ultimate balance between stunning clarity and natural, lifelike tones. On-screen images should eliminate the halo effect (where lighter objects seem to ‘bleed’ into darker backgrounds so it looks like they’re surrounded by a halo), thanks to the incredible number of dimming zones on offer: up to 20,736 of them. Which means more precise control over how different areas of the picture are illuminated.
That emphasis on colour and contrast also links the X11L’s technical capabilities with the creative intent behind the content itself. Natasha Leonnet, Senior Colourist at Picture Shop and a two-time HPA Award winner, commented during TCL’s IFA 2026 programme: “This television portrays a filmmaker's vision of colour and contrast wonderfully. TCL is the beauty of colour.”
High dynamic range is onboard, and with up to 10,000 nits peak brightness, it makes for incredible contrast (the difference between light and dark parts of the picture) and a stunning viewing experience. This will also translate to brighter highlights, and more granular shadow detail for greater detail overall and a more immersive picture.
With such advanced technology at your disposal, you’ll want to focus on what’s on screen. And that’s exactly what you’ll do, thanks to the WHVA 2.0 Ultra Panel, which means fewer reflections, even in bright sunlight. Distractions? What distractions?
Of course the real work goes on inside, courtesy of the TSR AiPQ Processor – a highly intelligent chip with incredibly powerful AI abilities. This combines TCL’s proprietary advanced image-tuning algorithms with intelligent perception capabilities to deliver pixel-level optimisation for visuals. It works hand-in-hand with TCL’s AI model to fill every frame with vibrancy, dynamism, depth and a realism that’s stunning in its authenticity.
The X11L is nicely unobtrusive thanks to its flat-thin design resulting in a slimmer flagship form. Yet it offers audio by Bang & Olufsen, maker of hi-fi equipment since 1925. That’s over a century of audio expertise, packed discreetly into a TV with market-leading visuals.
For a more accessible premium SQD-Mini LED experience, there’s the TCL C8L. It takes the same approach as the X11L, but in a broader premium line-up – it comes in sizes down to 55 inches, for instance, as opposed to the at-least-75-inch X11L.
It’s not a compromise, it’s a more compact proposition to appeal to more consumers. It offers much of what makes the X11L such a market leader, but scaled down to offer maximum bang-for-buck. You get the same 100% BT.2020 All Scenes Wide Color Gamut, WHVA 2.0 Ultra Panel, Super QLED and ultra-slim design as the flagship X11L, for example, along with Audio by Bang & Olufsen and the TSR AiPQ Processor and TCL AI capabilities.
Precision lighting control comes with up to 4032 Precise Dimming Zones, which again should eliminate the halo effect, while up to 6000 nits of peak HDR brightness will provide plenty of ‘pop’ and depth.
Hence SQD-Mini LED isn’t a one-model showcase. Rather, the X11L is the ultimate expression of the technology, while the C8L brings the premium experience to a wider range of viewers.
Beyond SQD-Mini LED: the wider Mini LED spectrum
The A400U represents another side of TCL’s Mini LED portfolio. As a QD-Mini LED model, it combines premium picture performance with a design-led proposition, using a wallpaper-style, flat-thin form that allows the screen to sit more discreetly within the room. It is also where TCL’s smarter-screen story comes most clearly into focus, with Google Gemini bringing conversational content discovery, everyday assistance and smart-home interaction to the TV experience.
At the other end of the scale, the 115-inch RM9L demonstrates TCL’s RGB-Mini LED approach. Here, the emphasis is on system-level control of both light and colour at ultra-large scale, with technologies including 120-bit Precise Light & Color Control and 16,848 Precise Color Zones designed to give the display finer control over colour reproduction and illumination across an exceptionally large screen.
Together, the A400U, RM9L, C8L and X11L make TCL’s broader Mini LED strategy tangible: SQD-Mini LED, QD-Mini LED and RGB-Mini LED are not presented as a simple technology ladder, but as different display architectures addressing different premium viewing priorities.
Your ticket to aural nirvana
The TV’s picture quality is what draws you in, but sound really keeps you there. And if you want to augment the TCL X11L or C8L’s audio capabilities, other products in TCL’s home cinema portfolio can help.
The Q95K is the brand’s latest flagship soundbar. It’s an immensely powerful 11.1.4-channel system (which includes upwards-firing drivers for ‘true’ Dolby Atmos immersion) that comes with 1420W of peak power across 22 speaker units. Like the TCL TVs mentioned above, it too is tuned by the audio experts at Bang & Olufsen. Add in the wireless subwoofer and wireless surround speakers, and you’ve got a complete home cinema package that will pull you into the movie and won’t let go.
For true versatility, there’s the TCL Z100, a wireless home cinema speaker that’s small enough to move from room to room as needed. It offers calibrated immersive audio via Dolby Atmos FlexConnect, TV Ensemble that combines the audio output of the TV and speaker for a bigger, more impactful sound, and Spatial Soundstage Calibration to recalibrate the optimal soundstage every time the speaker is moved. It’s the most versatile speaker around, and brings home cinema to a whole new audience.
TCL’s Screen Universe brings together a full spectrum of Mini LED display architectures, intelligent interaction and complementary immersive audio, with the TV remaining the central large-screen anchor for home entertainment.
¹ Ultra-large refers to TVs measuring 85 inches and above.
