Happy New Year! And Happy Anniversary to Tom!

CES 2026 is happening as we speak. We mention LG’s RGB Stripe OLED & Samsung’s V-Stripe RGB QD-OLED monitor tech. Hisense’s 116UXS RGB miniLED Evo adds a 4th sub-pixel. TCL’s RM9L is an RGB miniLED LCD, but their X11L flagship uses SQD-miniLED with Super Quantum Dots. LG’s C6H OLEDs rival last year’s G5, while their W6 Wallpaper OLED replaces the M5 Series. Samsung is all-in on matte screens and art frames, while their R95H RGB microLED is the first 130″ LCD TV.

Pictures shown in this episode: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCFVtF

00:00:00 – Intro

Happy Anniversary to Tom! But sorry about his bad back.

00:05:44 – Personal Updates

How our holidays went. Tom’s new TV, and Rob’s new car.

00:15:28 – What We Watched

Rob watched Bring Her Back. Tom watched Superman, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, and Deadpool & Wolverine.

00:32:56 – Listeners of the Week

Our Listeners of the Week are Steve for his PayPal donation, plus our 120 Patreon Patrons.

We also appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Brandon, Ash, Nathan, Henry, Gurinder, Karl, Stan, Paul, Art, Stefan, Scott, John, and Patrick. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

In the news:

00:34:45 – News: RGB Stripe & V-Stripe OLEDs

LG and Samsung both have new OLED and QD-OLED monitor tech, respectively, aimed at making text clear to read: https://tinyurl.com/yv6wx3jb

00:38:57 – News: Hisense Goes RGB miniLED

Less expensive and smaller RGB miniLED LCD TVs are coming, plus RGBC miniLED Evo and RGBY microLED: https://tinyurl.com/5528xym8

00:40:13 – News: TCL Super Quantum Dots

TCL does have RGB miniLED in their RM9L, but their flagship X11L & QM8L get SQD-miniLED: https://youtu.be/QB0WmEVrYB8

00:42:28 – News: LG C6H, G6 & W6 OLEDs

Tandem OLEDs with glossy screens, including the return of Wallpaper: https://youtu.be/mun8ieYgmz4

00:47:03 – News: Samsung Matte & 130″

S95H has a frame. S90H is matte any maybe not QD: https://youtu.be/kmfau5WvFVA

R85H RGB microLED goes smaller, while R95H goes huge at 130″: https://tinyurl.com/msjct69f

Comments:

00:55:29 – Comment: Infinite Gary – Audio Timer

Yup, it’s for tapes.

00:56:05 – Comment: Scott – Office System

What he bought.

00:57:33 – Comment: Nelson – From 120″ to 98″

How’s he liking his TCL 98QM8K?

QUESTIONS:

01:00:07 – J.R: Arcam AV41 & Dirac

From Room Correction to Bass Control to ART, what’s it doing in his room? And 12V Trigger solutions.

01:21:21 – Ryan: Quantifying Projector Preference

He knows his OLED is objectively superior, so why does he simply prefer a projected image?

01:31:15 – Henry: Speaker & Turntable Placement

Our permission & placement ideas.

01:41:24 – Stan: Does Dolby Vision 2 Make Sense?

Are all its features compromises to calibration?

01:45:20 – Paul: New Ultra HD Blu-ray Player?

Will paying for a Panasonic fix his issues?

01:47:47 – Steve: Wild 3D Solution

We discuss ways to still watch 3D Blu-rays in his Media Room.

01:53:26 – Infinite Gary: Anticipated Gear

Are we looking forward to buying any home theater gear in 2026?

01:55:21 – Stefan: SVS SB-3000 Alternative

Recorded before the 3000 R|Evolution was announced!

– https://rslspeakers.com/products/rsl-speedwoofer-10s-mkii

01:58:05 – John: 75″ TCL in the UK?

Which TV he should buy for his lounge.

Thanks for listening. Now, don't forget to:

• Check out the AV Rant YouTube channel to watch our show videos.
• Download Tom’s FREE superhero-themed ebook Bob Moore: No Hero.
• If you like it, you can purchase the two full-length follow-ups -  Bob Moore: Desperate Times and Bob Moore: Hostile Territory.
• Check out AVGadgets.com where Tom is the new Editor-in-Chief!
• Download Tom's NEWEST book, Touch of Pain from Amazon now!

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