(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)

TCL's new top-end TV – which introduces a new Super Quantum Dot or 'SQD' technology – is so insanely bright that I more or less couldn't photograph it.

When the TV's demo reel at TCL's off-site space at the CES 2026 show – the largest tech expo in the world – switched from nightscapes to a close-up of a pure white Las Vegas neon sign, the output was dazzling.

Indeed, the X11L is so bright – hitting 10,000 nits, the brand claims – that the included remote control even features a quick-access brightness adjustment, just in case your retinas can't take it.

But just what is SQD and why does it make the X11L so bright and colourful? Indeed, I think it's the brightest I've ever seen – which is saying quite something, considering the calibre of the latest tech on the CES 2026 show floor.

(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)

SQD stands for Super Quantum Dot. Quantum Dot is otherwise known as QLED, so you may see 'Super QLED' banded around too, to describe ultimately the same technology.

Quantum Dot is an additional layer in an LED backlit TV that uses tiny reactive crystals that can produce brighter, more vibrant colours. Super Quantum Dot uses even more responsive crystals, meaning yet greater brightness and colour volume. Indeed, over 100% of the world’s most expansive colour gamut, BT2020, is claimed.

Now, TCL makes other types of TVs too. Its RGB Mini-LED sets, for example, use red, green and blue backlights that can be individually dimmed to enhance specific colours across the spectrum. But SQD doesn't use three colour sources, only the one blue layer by comparison – meaning it can provide a "tripling" of potential zones.

And the X11L doesn't shy away on zoning for accurate backlighting. The 85-inch model I saw on demonstration has no fewer than 20,274 of them. That's why the contrast is so good, yet the focused output so bright. It also avoids "colour crosstalk" that some RGB Mini-LED sets suffer from, so there's no 'leaking' or 'colour clouding' issues.

All of which delivers, as you'd expect, an impeccable picture. Indeed, the X11L netted one of the T3 Awards for 'Best of CES 2026' – a list extending to just 21 products from across the show floor.

How much the X11L will cost when it goes on sale in February to March time, however, is anyone's guess – the screen sizes will range to 98-inches, feature four HDMI 2.1 ports, and therefore the asking price is going to be very much at the 'premium' end.