The HDMI format has been the standard for quite a while now, but that doesn’t mean it’s perfect. I don’t have many complaints about the performance itself, but my issues lie more in how every cable looks the same. It’s tough to tell if your current cable supports variable refresh rate (VRR), for example. The tell is whether or not it says Ultra High-Speed somewhere on the cable. If it does, that means you’re dealing with an HDMI 2.1 cable, and you can use VRR. The second step to using VRR is having a TV that supports it. Not everything does, and it’s usually something budget-centric TVs omit.
If you have a TV that supports VRR, then you’re probably aware of the benefits that it brings. Most importantly, it smooths out framerate dips while playing a game, and it helps make those unpleasant gaming experiences much more tolerable. It’s especially helpful in games with uncapped framerates or ones that can’t consistently hold their 60 FPS cap. There are a lot of examples of that in this console generation, and with more games offering 120 FPS modes, it’s very handy there as well.
Something you might’ve noticed if you’ve used VRR enough is that annoying flicker that makes the brightness go crazy for a few seconds. I really noticed it while playing Ninja Gaiden 4 on my Xbox Series X, and I thought it was a sign that my HDMI cable was going bad. I swapped out the cable, loaded the game back up, and still ran into those same brightness problems. As it turns out, VRR isn’t an HDMI cable problem as I thought. Instead, it’s something that just happens when the framerate moves around wildly.
Quiz
Mini-LED vs OLED
TV Tech Trivia Challenge
Think you know your pixels from your backlights — put your display IQ to the ultimate test.
OLEDMini-LEDDisplaysTV TechHistory
What does OLED stand for?
Correct! OLED stands for Organic Light-Emitting Diode. Each pixel contains an organic compound that emits light when electricity is applied, which is what allows true blacks with no backlight needed.
Not quite. OLED stands for Organic Light-Emitting Diode. The ‘organic’ part refers to carbon-based compounds used in the emissive layer — a key difference from traditional LCD panels that rely on a separate backlight source.
What is the primary structural difference between Mini-LED and standard LED LCD TVs?
Exactly right! Mini-LED TVs pack thousands of tiny LEDs — often just fractions of a millimetre — into far more local dimming zones than traditional LED LCD displays. This dramatically improves contrast and HDR precision.
Not quite. Mini-LED still uses an LCD panel with a backlight, but that backlight is made up of thousands of tiny LEDs grouped into many more local dimming zones. This finer control is what gives Mini-LED its contrast edge over conventional LED LCDs.
Which company is widely credited with bringing the first OLED TV to mass market, launching a 55-inch model in 2013?
Spot on! LG launched its 55-inch OLED TV in 2013, marking a turning point for premium home displays. LG Display remains the dominant manufacturer of large-panel OLED screens used by many TV brands today.
Actually, it was LG that launched the first mass-market OLED TV in 2013. While Samsung was an early OLED pioneer in mobile displays, LG cornered the large-panel OLED TV market and still supplies panels to numerous rival brands.
What is ‘blooming’ or ‘haloing’ in the context of Mini-LED TVs?
Correct! Blooming or haloing occurs when bright on-screen elements bleed light into surrounding darker areas, revealing the boundaries of local dimming zones. It’s Mini-LED’s most notable weakness compared to per-pixel OLED control.
Not quite. Blooming refers to light from bright objects bleeding into neighbouring dark areas because a local dimming zone covers more than one part of the image. It’s the visual artefact most often cited when arguing OLED’s per-pixel control is superior.
What is the main reason OLED TVs are susceptible to burn-in?
That’s right! Because each OLED pixel generates its own light via organic materials, prolonged display of static content wears those organics unevenly, potentially leaving a faint permanent image. Modern OLED TVs use various mitigation techniques to reduce this risk.
Not quite. OLED burn-in happens because each pixel’s organic emissive material degrades with use. Static elements — like news tickers or game HUDs — that stay on screen for hours can cause some pixels to age faster than others, leaving a ghost image behind.
Apple’s Pro Display XDR, launched in 2019, used which backlighting technology to achieve its high contrast performance?
Well done! Apple’s Pro Display XDR used a Mini-LED backlight with over 576 local dimming zones, delivering impressive HDR performance. It helped put Mini-LED on the map as a serious professional-grade display technology.
Actually, Apple’s Pro Display XDR used Mini-LED backlighting with 576 local dimming zones. It was a high-profile early endorsement of Mini-LED tech and helped signal the format’s potential as a premium alternative to OLED.
Which display metric, often used in HDR specifications, measures peak brightness in nits?
Correct! A nit is simply another name for one candela per square metre (cd/m²). Mini-LED TVs can often exceed 2,000 nits peak brightness, a significant advantage over most OLED panels when it comes to HDR highlights in bright rooms.
Not quite. A nit equals one candela per square metre (cd/m²). This matters a lot in the Mini-LED vs OLED debate because Mini-LED panels can typically achieve much higher peak nit counts, making HDR specular highlights look more dazzling, especially in well-lit rooms.
Micro-LED is often cited as a future technology that could outperform both OLED and Mini-LED. What is its key distinguishing feature?
Exactly! Micro-LED uses microscopic inorganic LEDs as individual self-emissive pixels, promising OLED-level contrast and per-pixel control combined with Mini-LED-level brightness and longevity. The challenge remains manufacturing cost and yield at scale.
Not quite. Micro-LED technology places tiny inorganic LEDs at every single pixel position, making each one self-emissive without organic materials. In theory it gets the best of both worlds — OLED’s contrast and Micro-LED’s brightness — but production costs currently keep it out of mainstream reach.
Your Score
/ 8
Thanks for playing!
VRR flicker is an issue with your TV or monitor
It’s also not explicitly the TV’s fault
Now that I can rest easy knowing my HDMI cables are fine, I’m forced to face the truth that my TV is the culprit. It’s not like going out and buying a new TV would solve the problems either. The game would still have the same framerate issues, and VRR flicker would still rear its ugly head. If you have a high-contrast display, like an OLED TV, the problem is much more noticeable and pronounced than it is on your typical IPS display. That’s not to say it doesn’t happen on IPS displays, because it certainly does.
There’s really nothing you can do to minimize the problem if you’re using a game console, because the framerate is just what it is at that point. It’s not like a PC game where you can tweak a bunch of settings and push a higher, more consistent framerate. Your display might have some anti-flicker settings you can toggle on to see if it makes a difference. The fix for me, at least for Ninja Gaiden 4, was to turn off VRR. That fixed my problem completely, and I got to continue playing the game without any issues. Of course, that meant I had to stop using a mode that is a major selling point of modern TVs and game consoles, so that’s not a good solution.
VRR flicker just feels like it’s one of those quirks you have to get used to, and the good news is that it isn’t always a major problem. In fact, I can’t think of many moments where it’s actually ruined my experience. Sure, when the whole screen is rapidly changing brightness, that’s a problem. In most situations where I come across VRR flicker, it’s just for a few seconds, and it only continues if I stand still and look at the affected area. If it’s happening to you all the time, then yes, maybe there’s a problem with your TV. At least I learned it’s not an HDMI problem.
Your HDMI cable problems are usually simple to fix
Try this one trick
If you think you have an HDMI cable problem, there’s not a lot you have to do to figure out if that’s the case. The thing I try is unplugging it and plugging it back in. That’s usually the extent of the problem, because HDMI cables aren’t all that complicated. What you need to know about HDMI cables is that they either work or they don’t. If one has failed, it means you won’t see a picture or hear any audio.
Buying new cables doesn’t cost a lot of money, so replacing one is a lot easier than having to replace a TV. Something you’ll have to keep in mind is that a new format, HDMI 2.2, is here, and you might want to snag one of those cables. I’m here to tell you that there’s nothing wrong with doing that, but you won’t reap any rewards from that until companies start taking advantage of the faster speeds. For console gamers, an HDMI 2.1 cable is more than enough. HDMI is fully backwards compatible, though, so go ahead and grab those cables if you just want to upgrade something.
