QNED vs NanoCell: Which LG LCD TV should you get in 2026?
While LG OLED TVs are known for their perfect black levels and infinite contrast, LG’s LCD offerings bring their own set of innovations to the table.
Both QNED and NanoCell TVs belong to LG’s LCD TV range. NanoCell TVs are enhanced LED models that use a NanoCell layer, while QNED TVs build on NanoCell technology by adding a mini-LED backlight along with a quantum dot layer.
QNED TVs outperform NanoCell models in nearly all areas, but they also come at a significantly higher price. NanoCell TVs, on the other hand, deliver solid features at more affordable costs. Choosing between the two therefore calls for a careful comparison of their features in relation to their pricing.
QNED vs NanoCell.
Let’s dive in.
What is a NanoCell TV? Is it worth the money?
A NanoCell TV is a type of LCD TV that uses a special layer of nanoparticles positioned behind the screen.
As the name suggests, these particles are just nanometers in size.
Their job is to filter out dull or impure color tones, preventing them from reaching the display.
The result?
Cleaner, more accurate, and vibrant colors are reproduced on the screen, making images look more visually appealing.
A NanoCell TV costs more than a standard LCD TV but offers enhanced features such as wider viewing angles, more accurate color reproduction, and slightly faster response times, which often makes the higher price worthwhile.
However, this justification becomes less clear when NanoCell TVs are compared with LCD TVs that use VA panels – a point that will become clear later in the article.
What is a QNED TV? Is it better than a NanoCell?
QNED stands for Quantum Nano Emitting Diode.
You can think of a QNED TV as an enhanced NanoCell TV, one that adds quantum dots and often a mini LED backlight to it.
When struck by the backlight, quantum dots emit pure, highly accurate colors based on their size.
Meanwhile, the NanoCell layer filters out dull or impure tones, enhancing overall color purity.
This powerful combination enables QNED TVs to achieve a wide color gamut with pure colors resulting in vivid, lifelike visuals.
QNED TVs also use mini LED backlighting, which consists of thousands of tiny LEDs grouped into numerous local dimming zones.
These zones can adjust brightness very precisely, enhancing both black levels and overall picture depth.
As a result, the QNEDs offer significantly better contrast than standard NanoCell TVs which generally use edge lit or full array local dimming in their budget and premium models respectively.
On the other hand, QNED TVs that don’t use mini LED backlighting aren’t very different from standard NanoCell TVs.
They offer only average contrast and HDR performance, making them less appealing for those who prioritize deep blacks and impactful highlights.
That said, most of the QNED TVs use mini LED backlighting which gives them an edge over NanoCells in contrast ratio.
Advantages of QNED & NanoCell over LED
NanoCell and QNED TVs come with several advantages over normal LED TVs.
Compared to regular LED TVs, NanoCell TVs produce purer and more accurate colors, thanks to their nanoparticle filtering layer.
Meanwhile, a QNED TV with mini LED backlighting can achieve much higher brightness and significantly better contrast than the average LED TV.
Since both are LCD-based technologies, brightness is generally not a concern, especially for QNED TVs, making them suitable for well-lit rooms.
What are the main differences between LG NanoCell and QNED?
Let’s dive into the main differences between QNED and NanoCell TVs on the basis of their visuals.
Contrast & Blacks
QNED TVs usually beat NanoCell TVs in contrast because they have numerous local dimming zones.
However, some cheaper QNED models may still have just average contrast, even with mini-LED backlighting.
The main reason is that most QNEDs and NanoCells use IPS panels, which have much lower native contrast compared to VA panels.
Mini-LED helps a bit in improving that, but since the native contrast itself is weak, blacks still don’t look very deep.
Thus, in dark scenes, blacks may appear grey rather than truly black
Higher-end QNEDs do handle local dimming better, so they do look noticeably better than NanoCells and budget QNEDs.
Still, even the best IPS-based QNEDs can’t match the deep blacks of mini-LED VA TVs like Samsung’s Neo QLEDs.
And of course, OLEDs are on a whole different level when it comes to contrast.
Viewing Angles
IPS panels may lose out on contrast, but they’re great for viewing angles.
Colors stay pretty accurate even when you’re not sitting straight in front of the TV.
Because of this, QNED and NanoCell TVs generally have better viewing angles than VA-based QLEDs or regular LCDs.
Between QNED and NanoCell, QNED TVs usually do a bit better thanks to more number of dimming zones and finer control over them.
Still, OLEDs win here too since every pixel turns on and off independently, no matter where it’s located on the display.
Brightness & Color Volume
QNED TVs use quantum dots, so they can show a wider range of colors than NanoCells.
The mini-LED backlight also lets them get really bright.
When you combine high brightness with a wide color gamut, you get better color volume, which means colors look more realistic at different brightness levels.
This gives QNEDs a significant edge over NanoCells in overall picture punch.
HDR Performance
Thanks to better brightness, contrast, and color volume, QNED TVs usually perform better than NanoCells in HDR.
Still, neither can quite match the HDR impact of a mini-LED VA TV or a bright OLED.
Reflections
QNED TVs use a backlight made up of many tiny LEDs, allowing them to reach much higher brightness levels than NanoCell TVs and better reduce glare.
However, many of they still show clear reflections of bright objects placed in front of them.
That said, newer models are gradually coming with enhanced reflection-handling capabilities.
Response Time
Response times on QNED and NanoCell TVs are what you’d expect from good LCDs, i.e., around 5–10 ms.
Newer models might be a bit faster, but they still can’t compete with OLEDs, which respond almost instantly.
That said, movies and gaming perform quite well on NanoCell and QNED TVs, since their IPS panels are reasonably fast.
Lifespan
When it comes to lifespan, as both are LCD TVs, they are very durable.
Unlike OLED TVs, they are not susceptible to burn-in and the risk of organic pixel degradation, making them a safer choice for static content like news channels, logos, etc.
QNED vs NanoCell: Which TV to buy?
In summary, while a NanoCell TV is a step up from an average LED TV, thanks to its purer colors and wider viewing angles; a QNED TV with mini LED backlighting offers a clear advantage.
It delivers better contrast, deeper blacks, higher color volume and overall superior image quality.
That said, NanoCell TVs are more affordable than QNED models with mini LED backlighting.
So, your buying decision should depend on what you prioritize more.
If you are a bright room viewer who wants better picture quality and doesn’t mind spending extra, you should go for a QNED TV with a mini LED backlight.
That said, at the price point of a QNED TV, it’s wise to also consider good QLED and OLED TVs in the same price range, as they could have a major impact on your final purchase decision.
Otherwise, if you’re on a tighter budget and can compromise a bit on contrast, a NanoCell TV still provides solid performance over regular LED TVs.
NanoCell TVs aren’t sold anymore
Although LG NanoCell TVs once appeared to offer notable benefits over standard LED models, they are no longer available.
The good news, however is that LG has transitioned its newer NanoCell technology into QNED TVs by adding mini-LED backlighting.
Many of these feature-rich QNED models now lead the LCD market.
That said, it’s important to note that not every QNED TV includes a mini-LED backlight.
Do all QNEDs have Mini LED backlight ?
QNED TVs are known for using mini-LED backlighting, but this wasn’t always true.
The QNED81 model released in 2021, for instance, did not include mini-LEDs. Instead, it relied on edge-lit backlighting.
This edge-lit local dimming leads to uneven brightness across the screen.
For example, in a scene showing a bright moon against a dark sky, the LEDs along the edges must illuminate to light the center of the image.
As a result, light bleeds in from the edges, reducing overall contrast.
To address this issue, LG has upgraded its newer QNED TVs with mini-LED local dimming.
According to LG, these models feature around 2,500 individual dimming zones, which significantly enhances contrast.
Since each zone can be controlled independently, specific areas of the screen can be brightened or darkened with much greater accuracy.
Recent models such as the QNED90T released in 2024 and the QNED93 launched in 2025 use mini-LED backlighting, delivering much better contrast compared to earlier versions.
Blooming is also greatly reduced in these newer TVs.
That said, contrast performance is still influenced by another important factor: the panel type.
LG is going to use VA panels in 65/75 inch variants of their new QNED TVs
Earlier, LG exclusively used IPS panels in its QNED TVs.
These panels offer the benefit of wide viewing angles and accurate color reproduction.
However, IPS technology suffers from relatively low contrast ratios, which can negatively affect overall picture quality.
Since contrast is a vital need of a good picture quality, LG has begun adopting VA panels in some of its high-end QNED models.
While VA panels typically have narrower viewing angles, most users prioritize better picture quality over wider angles.
Higher contrast allows for clearer separation between bright and dark areas, revealing finer details and enhancing the overall depth and realism of each scene.
Models such as the QNED90T and QNED93 use VA panels in their 65- and 75-inch (QNED90T) and 65-inch (QNED93) variants.
Combined with mini-LED backlighting, the naturally high contrast of VA panels is further enhanced.
As a result, these TVs are capable of competing directly with other premium VA-based LCD TVs and even some good OLED models available in the market.
Which is the best QNED TV in 2026?
Among all QNED models, the LG QNED90T and QNED93 clearly stand out due to their more advanced overall feature set.
That said, their VA-panel variants perform noticeably better than their IPS counterparts.
However, since the QNED90 and QNED90T introduced newly adopted VA panels, their mini-LED implementation is not as refined on them.
As a result, some visible blooming and slight haloing around bright objects can be observed.
While their color reproduction is undeniably impressive, excessive brightness in certain scenes can wash out finer details.
In darker scenes, blacks may appear somewhat gray due to light leakage.
On the other hand, the QNED93, especially its 65 inch VA variant handles dark scenes much more effectively, with minimal blooming.
For example, on this TV, stars appear distinctly highlighted against a pitch black night sky with almost no light leakage.
And in daytime scenes, the sky retains its natural blue tone without becoming overly bright.
Although it cannot match OLED TVs in terms of contrast, it is still an excellent television that offers strong competition to the best LCD TVs on the market.
