TCL is upping the ante in the gallery TV segment with the imminent launch of a new Nxtvision TV that features Mini-LED display technology for the first time. It’s a rival to Samsung’s iconic gallery TV “The Frame”, but it goes one better than that model, featuring “true zone dimming”, as opposed to the edge-lit Mini-LED found on Samsung’s model.
Samsung popularised the concept of gallery-style TVs with The Frame, which is designed to be hung on a wall, making it look more like a picture frame than an actual TV. When it’s not being used to watch movies or TV shows, it’s meant to be left switched on in art mode, so it can display different artworks and appear as if it’s a real picture, enhancing the room’s aesthetics.
TCL has been competing with Samsung’s The Frame since 2024, when it launched its first Nxtframe TV, before rebranding it as the Nxtvision TV in September when it introduced a newer version with a matte display that helps soak up reflections and ensure the art is more visible.
Next year, TCL will launch the Nxtvision A400 Pro, which is a higher-end model that’s set to go up against Samsung’s most luxurious The Frame Pro TV, which debuted earlier this year.
Samsung’s The Frame Pro is labeled a Mini-LED TV, but that claim is not entirely true for it uses an edge-lit panel, which means it doesn’t have the huge numbers of local dimming zones normally found on Mini-LED panels. So it’s really just a superior version of standard edge-lit LED TVs, which are among the most affordable types of TV money can buy. Because there’s only a sprinkling of dimming zones in The Frame Pro, its picture quality doesn’t look all that superior compared to the standard model, and it’s only a little bit brighter.
That explains why we’re quite excited about the prospect of the TCL Nxtvision A400 Pro, as it’s going to feature a proper Mini-LED panel that combines local dimming zones with quantum dots. That should ensure help to bring it to parity, more or less, with some of today’s high-end Mini-LED models, though the exact number of local dimming zones was not disclosed.
Where TCL struggles to compete with Samsung is not the tech, but rather the amount of artwork available in its art store. Samsung said this week it has added 25 new artworks from the Art Basel Miami Beach 2025 Collection, bringing its total number to more than 4,000. From its store, The Frame TV owners can rent access to masterpieces from more than 800 world renowned artists thanks to Samsung’s partnerships with leading art galleries like the Louvre, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum.
In contrast, TCL’s library is extremely limited, with just over 100 artworks presently available to choose from. But the company is working hard to expand this, and it would be a surprise if it didn’t announce some new collections when the updated Nxtvision TV launches next year.
TCL said the Nxtvision A400 Pro TV will have a 144Hz refresh rate and be capable of expanding this to 288Hz at Full HD resolution. It’s also going to support VRR and ALLM via its two HDMI 2.1 ports, making it a potentially intriguing choice for console gamers. Dolby Atmos and DTS:X sound are also supported, and the TV is said to include a pair of Onkyo-tuned speakers. The company did not mention HDR, but we’d be surprised if that isn’t also supported.
The Nxtvision A400 Pro TV is slated to launch early next year, and it’ll first go on sale in China before landing in Europe and North America later. Most likely, the company will have more to say about it during CES 2025 next month.
The TV does look like it's going to be superior to Samsung's The Frame Pro, but there's a likelihood that we'll also see a new version of The Frame announced next month at CES. So don't be surprised if it also gets the proper Mini-LED treatment, or potentially even RGB-LED, though that would seem a lot less likely. But clearly, Samsung will not want to give up its dominant position in the gallery TV segment without a fight.
The Frame and the Nxtvision TVs are also rivaled by Hisense's Canvas TV and Skyworth's premium Canvas Elite Art TV, which also uses a Mini-LED display.
