I just got back from a couple of exciting days at CES 2026. If you aren’t familiar with the Consumer Electronics Show, it is one of the largest trade shows in the world (148K attendees) and is where new monitors and TV are often announced. I’ve attended the last three years to see the latest HDR (high dynamic range) displays on the market.

The trends continue to look very good for the future of HDR photography. There were several notable trends, especially significant expansion of 1,000+ nit monitors, much greater choice for 27″ HDR, numerous TVs (and even a monitor) offering 100% Rec 2020, and brighter displays (up to the full 10,000 nit HDR target). That ultimately means a larger range of outstanding HDR displays, likely price competition, and a clear signal that there is significant ongoing investment in the space. With these changes and recent price drops, I’ve updated my list recommended HDR monitors. page.

Before we get to the details, it’s probably helpful to provide some background. Here are a few key things to know:

• HDR here refers to new display technology, not the old “HDR” many of you know (which was just a software trick to offer a different result on limited “SDR” or standard dynamic range monitors). SDR displays offer only 8 stops of dynamic range, while HDR displays offer up to 12 stops (and the latest premium TVs offer just over 14 stops). That compares very well with the 14 stops of dynamic range humans can see in static condition, and the 14+ stops of dynamic range our cameras have long offers. One of the key reasons we typically say “the picture doesn’t do it justice — you had to be there” is that we’ve been using terrible monitors. That is quickly changing.
• OLED is a popular category of HDR technology. Each pixel emits its own light, which means it offers perfect blacks (no haloing). However, it’s very hard to make a single pixel very bright, but the latest generation of OLED displays are quickly improving on that front.
• Mini-LED is the other popular category of HDR technology. Each pixel is created by an LCD layer blocking light from a shared backlight. It’s very easy to make this larger backlight bright, but it makes it more challenging to ensure perfect blacks in pixels near brighter ones. Modern mini-LEDs tend to do an excellent job managing halos (thanks to high zone counts and advanced software/dimming to control them).
• Rec 2020 (aka BT.2020) is the ultimate color gamut target for HDR. It includes all of the P3 and Adobe RGB colors. It also includes a significant range of printable colors not offered by either of those gamuts, offering the potential for stunning electronic display and more accurate soft proofing of prints (especially in the green/cyan/ blue/magenta color range).

 

1,000+ nit monitors (to provide 3+ stops of HDR headroom):

There are several considerations when buying an HDR monitor, but the most critical is the peak brightness. That’s what gives these displays excellent contrast, highlight detail and color, and gets translated into “HDR headroom” (a measure of how much HDR capability the display offers). At 1,000 nits or more, you have 3+ stops of HDR headroom and a display that offers significant wow factor. There were numerous companies announcing 1000+ nit displays around this year’s CES.

The biggest trend was around bright OLED monitors, but there were also several new mini-LED displays as well. There was even the first RGB mini-LED monitor, which offers 100% coverage of Rec2020.

ASUS:

ASUS is always a leader, especially with their unique ProArt lineup (the only monitors supporting HDR calibration other than Apple).

• P16 laptop (the premium model: H7606WX):
  • 1,600 nits peak (Display HDR 1000 true black)
  • This is the first PC which I would consider a true Windows alternative to the excellent MacBook Pro (Lenovo also has an excellent HDR display, but options to upgrade specs beyond the display are limited)
  • PANTONE Validated, Anti-reflection display, 120Hz refresh rate, 100% DCI-P3
  • Touch screen with stylus support
  • Unlike ProArt external monitors, I am told the laptops offer no similar software calibration.
• Zenbook Duo 2026 (UX8407)
  • This unique laptop offers TWO 1,000 nit displays
  • Each are 14-inch 3K OLED touchscreens, with a very small gap between (this year’s hinge mechanism is smaller than the 2025 model).
• PA32UCDMR-K and PA27UCDMR (OLED)
  • These are similar 32″ and 27″ 4K displays.
  • 1,000 nits (DisplayHDR 400)
  • ΔE < 1
  • 240Hz make these potentially very interesting for gamers who also demand serious color for photography, as well as better scrolling/panning than the Pro Display XDR (which is limited to 60Hz).
  • The 32″ model with a “-K” suffix means it also includes an external colorimeter, which in this case is their new ProArt CaliContrO MCA02. It can measure up to 10k nits, control the on screen display of the ASUS monitor, and be used to control apps (including Adobe software).
• PA279CDV
  • 1,000 nits (I expect likely to be Display HDR 400 True Black, but not specified yet)
  • 27″ 4K
  • 120 Hz
  • KVM (lets you share a display with multiple computers by switching keyboard/video/mouse.
  • ΔE < 2
• Gaming displays:
  • PG27UCWM
    • 27″ 4K RGB stripe tandem OLED
    • 1,000 nits (DisplayHDR 400)
    • 240Hz (or 480 at half)
    • 99%P3,
    • ΔE < 2
    • This is one I hope to try in person. The specs are very interesting, however I was unable to show content on it at CES for me to evaluate it for photography.
  • ROG Swift PG34WCDM
    • DisplayHDR 400, 1300 nits peak
    • 34″ curved display with 3440 x 1440 resolution. This is not an optimal form factor for photography.
    • 240Hz
    • Uses Samsung’s next-generation 5th gen QD OLED = RGB stripe (clear text), No white sub-pixel for better color volume

 

The rest of these displays are generally gaming oriented. Many of them may be excellent choices for HDR photographers on more of a budget, but won’t offer the same level of color accuracy photography as an ASUS or Apple display.

LG:

• LG 27GM950B 5K
  • 27” 5K mini-LED with 2304 zones
  • 1250 nits (DisplayHDR 1000)
• 32GX870B
  • First 32″ 4K Tandem WOLED Monitor
  • 240Hz (up to 480 at 1080p)
  • VESA DisplayHDR™ True Black 500
  • 4K, 240Hz

TCL:

• TCL 27R94 ($800 at Best Buy)
  • DisplayHDR 1400
  • 27″ 4K
• TCL 32R84 ($750 at Best buy)
  • 1,500 nits (DisplayHDR 1400 w/ 1400 zones)
  • 32″ 4K, 165Hz, deltaE<2

Note on optimal settings for these TCL monitors: reduce game mode / dark part brightening (blacks too bright), go to color / user for RGB gain control to get more neutral white balance (or use standard)

 

Samsung:

Samsung had no monitor announcements at CES. However, their displays power numerous 1,000 nit OLEDs and it is very likely they’ll have something interesting to show later in the year.

 

This isn’t even a complete list, with other offerings from AOC, the RGB mini-LED detailed below, and more. With all these announcements in just the first month, 2026 is shaping up to be an excellent year for HDR monitors.

 

100% Rec2020 (via RGB mini-LED and “super quantum dots”)

A very clear theme at this year’s show was expansion to cover “100%” of the Rec2020 gamut. I have that in quotes as truly covering every little corner probably requires the display to emit pure spectral colors. A laser projector can do that, but these new displays aren’t quite that precise. Regardless, these displays clearly have a much wider gamut than almost anything out there, and 100% is not a crazy marketing claim (if there’s a gap, it’s likely trivial). We also need to see how they hold up to closer inspection with controlled tests (to ensure we won’t have concerns with metamerism), but each and every one looked fantastic to me in person with the demo content at the show. This is a very exciting development and the entire industry seems to agree.

The main technology behind this is RGB mini-LED (confusingly marketed by some companies as “micro RGB”, but these still use a shared backlight and are not comparable to exotic and super expensive micro LED displays we might see several years from now). This is similar to mini-LED but now each zone has separate red, green, and blue backlights (instead of white). This allows more more pure color for a much wider gamut. This approach will be used by all of the top 5 TV brands. There was also a computer monitor with support, which bodes well for this technology trickling down to computers.

TCL (the 3rd most popular brand globally) is taking a two track approach. They are launching an RGB mini-LED, and additionally offering an even higher tier option with what they call SQD mini-LED (“super quantum dots”). This uses a mini-LED backlight where each zone is and then converts that to the final red, green, and blue sub-pixels via quantum dots. Like RGB mini-LED, it offers a massive increase in gamut and some additional benefits. It avoids the risk of “color cross talk”, which just means that any halos with this kind of mini-LED now have a potential color bias (though I saw very little issue in the RGB mini-LEDs at the show). It likely helps enable higher peak brightness as it’s easier to create brighter backlights and high zone counts when you only need the backlight to generate one color instead of three. This is the most impressive technology I’ve seen in a TV you can buy now (I will be giving serious consideration to buying the TCL X11L).

RGB mini-LED monitors:

One monitor has already adopted RGB mini-LED: the HKC Monitor M10 offers:

• mini-LED with 1596 local dimming zones (4,788 RGB dimming zones)
• 1600 nits peak (DisplayHDR 1400)
• 32″ 4K
• 100% Rec2020
• 165Hz refresh rate (330 at 1080p)
• Availability outside China TBD, but I think we should anticipate Chinese companies help push the envelope for both pricing and capability globally in the years to come.

 

RGB mini-LED TVs:

• Samsung “Micro RGB” will be offered in 55, 65, 75, 85, 100 and 115-inch models.
• LG MRGB95: expected to offer 3,000+ nits peak brightness, 1,000+ luminance dimming zones (sizes: 75, 86, 100 inches).
• TCL Q10M Ultra offers ~9,000 nits, 2,912 luminance dimming zones (8,736 RGB dimming zones), Dolby Vision 2 (sizes: 85, 98, and 115 inches).
• TCL Q9M offers~2,000+ nit, 960 luminance zones (2,160 RGB zones).
• Hisense UR9 & UR8 offer Dolby Vision 2 (sizes: 55, 65, 75, 85, 98, and 100 inches).
• Sony announced last year they will offer an RGB mini-LED this year (likely announced March-April). This is expected to be branded as the Bravia 10 and be positioned as their top TV (above OLED). They may called it “True RGB” (a term they’ve trademarked).

Manufacturers have not shared all specs, so I’m only listing what I’ve been able to find.

Note that zone counts vary by display size, so I tried to use the number for 85″ models. 

 

SQD mini-LED:

The TCL X11L stole the show for me with an impressive list of specs:

• 10,000 nit peak brightness
• 20,736 luminance zone count (these are true zones, this is not an RGB backlight where you might divide the number by 3).
• While it has 100% Rec2020 coverage like the RGB mini-LEDs above, there is no color bias to the backlight and therefore no color cross-talk.

This means it can in theory cover the entire target HDR specification, which is the 10,000 nit (PQ) and Rec2020. With its incredible zone count, it should offer almost no detectable halos for a very OLED-like performance. In reality, we’ll have to see how quickly ABL (automatic brightness limiting) kicks in with real content (these peak values are achieve for 2% of the display). As a mini-LED, it should hold up well and I suspect it will remain quite accurate with real content. In a well edited image, only a minority of pixels should exceed SDR white and even fewer should get to the brightest levels. That means it may be practical for accurate display of HDR images up to 6.6 stops (need to test with real content edited properly). While we won’t see computer monitors do that in the foreseeable future, I’m personally excited to try it and get first hand experience as to the value of HDR photos going beyond the 4 stop limit of XDR displays (I’m not even sure MacOS will allow this on an external display, but Windows and Adobe software will).

Putting aside HDR photography (where we can provide the content), there are some limits to the benefits here in the near term. There are some Hollywood movies where HDR content is mastered with Rec 2020 and 10,000 nits. Many of those may not use that full color volume or only in very limited scenes (which is artistically ideal, you only want to use the extremes when called for). More practically, a lot of HDR content is mastered for P3 at 1,000 or 4,000 nits. That means the extra color gamut may not show until more movies are remastered. However, the full 10k nits should be very useful even for 1k and 4k masters as the content may be brightened via Dolby Vision 2 when ambient light levels call for it. These movies are graded in a dark cave – so if you watch in a room with windows, you may well need to boost the brightness to preserve as much of the same look and feel as possible.

These brightness levels may sound absurd if you are used to setting your SDR display to 100 nits (which is ideal in a controlled room). 10k nits is roughly the brightness of a fluorescent tube. The Dolby research behind the 10,000 nits PQ curve is substantial and based on both theory and validation with human studies. It showed benefit up to 10k nits when assuming 100 nits SDR and a very dark ambient surrounding (5 nits). Keep in mind brightness is perceived by humans in stops (powers of 2), so the jump from 4k to 10k is actually smaller than going from 1k to 4k, etc. There is real value at this level. If you see HDR which looks too bright, then either the display is not properly adapted for the ambient light (SDR brightness too high) or the content itself is too bright (the brightest values should only be used in a small percentage of pixels).

 

Frames to display HDR as wall art:

With the success of the Frame TV, there seems to be growing interest in offering TVs meant to look like art on the wall when not being used for video. I’ve seen Sony show their Bravia 9 (4000 nits mini-LED) in wooden frames, which would be a great use for that set. We don’t yet have an easy option to show the photos on a TV without a computer, but hopefully a set top box like the AppleTV may soon be updated to enable it (the hardware is clearly capable). There were a couple of notable sets for displaying art at CES.

 

One of the true darlings of CES this year was the LG W6, offering:

• Only 9mm thick! That’s thinner than your finger.
• Excellent HDR: “3.9× brighter than conventional OLED”, but no detailed specs (speculation is 2500-3000 nits peak).
• It looks stunning in person. It has only a power cable. You send the video signal wirelessly via the LG Zero Connect Box.

The Samsung S95H was similarly interesting and features:

• included metal frame to look wall art
• 2700 nits (10% window)
• It can display SDR photos from their Art Store or via USB stick (I see no reason they could not support HDR with a firmware update – and you could show HDR photos over HDMI now as with other TVs).

 

Other HDR news out of CES:

Dolby Labs have long been associated with the highest quality HDR experiences for movies and TV. Their DolbyVision already offers superior adaptation of HDR content over HDR10 or HDR10+, and they’ve just announced huge updates with DolbyVision 2. It features “Content Intelligence” to adapt based on the content and viewing environment, “Precision Black” for better shadow detail, “bi-directional tone mapping” where both the content and display participate in determining the optimal way to render the content, “Authentic Motion” to control motion smoothing on a scene by scene basis, and more. In a nutshell, it’s designed to adapt to any display in the most optimal way in order to offer the experience most closely matching what the content creator envisioned, regardless of your display or ambient lighting.

TVs with an ambient light sensor can utilize a premium Dolby Vision 2 Max, which will help optimize brightness of the display across day and night viewing conditions. Both versions requires new hardware, so this isn’t something you’ll be able to add with an older TV via firmware update.

TCL, Hisense, and Philips have already announced support for Dolby Vision 2 (and we’ll see if Sony jumps on board this year soon, as they hold a separate event outside CES to launch new products). NBC will support streaming live sports with Dolby Vision 2 on Peacock.

Samsung TVs will use their newly announced HDR10+ Advanced. It offers many similar sounding promises to Dolby Vision 2, but appears to rely more on AI and less on the content creator to determine results. As an open standard (no royalty costs) promoted by the #1 TV brand, it could certainly dominate in the long run, but Dolby Vision likely remains the leader for at least the next several years.

See my CES 2025 recap if you’d like to learn more about the history of this show.