TCL's 2026 SQD Mini-LED TVs push 288Hz gaming to the big screen

TCL has launched its 2026 SQD Mini-LED TV range in Australia, headlined by the flagship X11L and the more accessible C8L. Both sit at the top of TCL's lineup and are built with a clear eye on high-performance gaming alongside everyday entertainment.

SQD stands for Super Quantum Dot Mini LED — TCL's proprietary panel tech that shrinks quantum dots from the traditional 60 nanometres down to 5 nanometres. That finer colour filter layer covers up to 4,000 pixels per dimming zone, backed by a high-purity single-stream white LED backlight. TCL claims this delivers 12x better pixel control compared to standard RGB Mini-LED, eliminating the colour bleed and blooming that plagues those panels. The result is deep blacks, high contrast, and vivid colour that holds up in bright rooms — no burn-in risk either. Both the X11L and C8L run a native 4K 144Hz panel and are powered by the MediaTek Pentonic 800 processor. The C8L comes in 65, 75, 85, and 98-inch sizes; the X11L in 75, 85, and 98 inches. The key differences are brightness and zone count — the 98-inch C8L offers 4,000 dimming zones and 6,000 nits peak brightness, while the 98-inch X11L steps up to 20,000 dimming zones and 10,000 nits. The X11L is also significantly thinner at 2cm versus the C8L's 5cm. For gaming specifically, both models pack four HDMI 2.1 ports, FreeSync Premium Pro with Variable Refresh Rate, Auto Low Latency Mode, Dolby Vision Gaming, and a dedicated Game Bar HUD for quick in-game settings access. The headline gaming feature is Game Accelerator mode, which uses Dual Line Gate technology to double the native refresh rate up to 288Hz — dropping resolution to 1080p to get there. PC gamers pushing high framerates can actually use all of that headroom on a 75-inch-plus screen.

TCL has been steadily climbing the premium TV market, and the SQD branding represents its answer to high-end OLED panels from LG and Samsung's QD-OLED line. The pitch is straightforward: OLED-level contrast without burn-in risk and with higher sustainable brightness — a genuine advantage in sun-drenched Australian living rooms. The 288Hz Game Accelerator mode is a notable differentiator; most gaming monitors top out at 240Hz, and getting that kind of refresh rate on a screen this size is unusual. The MediaTek Pentonic 800 is a capable smart TV chip that TCL has used across its upper-mid and premium tiers, handling 4K upscaling and smart platform duties without the sluggishness that cheaper processors bring.

Pricing across the SQD range is described as competitive, with TCL positioning the C8L as the entry point into the technology for buyers who want the panel quality without paying flagship prices. The X11L is the showpiece — thinner, brighter, and with far more granular local dimming control for those who want the best TCL currently offers.