Samsung South Africa has announced the launch of its new Mini LED M70H and Mini LED M80H televisions, expanding its premium TV^[1] portfolio with powerful new viewing experiences fit for the modern connected home. Combining stunning Mini LED picture quality with Samsung’s latest Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven innovations, the new range represents the next step in the company’s vision for more intelligent, personalised and immersive entertainment.

With 20 years Global No.1 TV^[2], Samsung continues to redefine how people experience content at home. The arrival of the Mini LED M70H and Mini LED M80H reinforces this commitment, bringing cutting-edge display technology and advanced AI capabilities to local consumers while laying the foundation for Samsung’s next chapter in television.

Premium Entertainment Powered by Mini LED Technology

The new range delivers exceptional picture performance through Samsung’s advanced Mini LED technology, which uses significantly smaller^[3] LEDs to achieve greater control over brightness and contrast. The result is deeper blacks, brighter highlights, improved detail and enhanced colour accuracy across every scene.

Designed for households that demand premium performance, the Mini LED M70H and Mini LED M80H offer a compelling combination of picture quality, AI features and sleek design, making them ideal centrepieces for modern living spaces. Whether streaming blockbuster movies, enjoying live sport, gaming with friends or watching your favourite series, you can expect a more immersive and lifelike entertainment experience that elevates everyday viewing.

The launch of the new Mini LED range reflects Samsung’s broader Vision AI strategy, which seeks to transform televisions from display devices into intelligent companions that understand, adapt and personalise experiences for users. Building on the Vision AI roadmap unveiled at CES 2026, Samsung is integrating AI across its television portfolio to create more intuitive interactions, smarter content experiences and enhanced convenience within the connected home.

Mini LED M80H: The Ultimate AI-Powered Football Experience

Leading the new range is the Mini LED M80H, the flagship model designed to showcase Samsung’s latest AI-driven entertainment innovations.

The M80H features the new AI Football Mode^[4] (AI Soccer Mode), an artificially intelligent feature developed specifically to enhance football viewing experiences. Using real-time AI analysis, AI Football Mode automatically optimises both picture and sound settings when football content is detected.

This feature intelligently adjusts brightness, contrast and colour to ensure clearer visibility across the pitch while simultaneously remastering audio to recreate the atmosphere and excitement of the stadium. From fast-moving plays and dramatic goals to crowd reactions and commentary, every moment is enhanced to create a more immersive viewing experience.

As football continues to unite fans across South Africa and around the world, AI Football Mode demonstrates how Samsung is using artificial intelligence to make content more engaging, responsive and enjoyable in real time.

Mini LED M70H: Premium Mini LED Performance Within Reach

The Mini LED M70H brings many of the advantages of Samsung’s advanced Mini LED technology to consumers seeking an accessible entry point into the premium television category.

Delivering exceptional brightness, sharp detail and immersive picture quality, the M70H offers an outstanding entertainment experience across a wide range of content. Whether enjoying family movie nights, catching up on favourite shows or watching live sports, the M70H provides the performance and reliability consumers have come to expect from Samsung. By making advanced Mini LED technology available to more households, Samsung continues to expand access to premium viewing experiences without compromise.

The introduction of the Mini LED M70H and Mini LED M80H marks another significant milestone in Samsung’s ongoing television innovation journey. The new range reflects Samsung’s vision for a future where televisions do more than simply display content, but actively enhance, personalise and enrich every viewing experience.

^[1] Samsung brand is ranked No.1 for 8 consecutive years in Premium TV (*Premium TV: $1,500 and above). Source: Report Name “TV Sets Spotlight Service / TV Sets (Emerging Technologies) Market Tracker, Q4 2025” published by Informa Tech.

^[2] Source – Omdia, Feb-2026. Results are not an endorsement of Samsung. Source: Report Name: “TV Sets Spotlight Service / TV Sets (Emerging Technologies) Market Tracker, Q4 2025” published by Informa Tech.

^[3] In relation to QLED technology.

^[4] Feature availability and performance may vary depending on the content viewed and the apps used.

Samsung Electronics has announced that it ranks as the world’s No.1 TV brand^[1] for the 20th consecutive year — marking two decades as the global innovator in the television industry.

Samsung had held the top position in the global TV market since 2006 and according to market research firm Omdia’s report, the company recorded a 29.1% share of the global TV market in 2025. This achievement reinforces Samsung’s top position across premium, ultra-large and next-generation display technologies. Samsung led the premium segment priced over $2,500 with a 54.3% market share, driven by Neo QLED, OLED and lifestyle TVs. It also maintained its top position in the segment over $1,500, holding a 52.2% market share.

20 Years of Industry-Defining Innovation

Since first reaching the No.1 position in 2006 with its design-led Bordeaux TV, Samsung has consistently innovated to reshape the television industry:

• 2009: The company accelerated the global transition to LED TVs – setting new standards for slimmer, more energy-efficient displays.
• 2011: The introduction of Smart TVs further transformed televisions into connected entertainment platforms – expanding their role beyond traditional viewing.
• 2015: The Serif reimagined how TVs integrate into living spaces by introducing a design-focused TV that positioned the screen as a statement piece within the home.
• 2017: The company launched The Frame, pioneering the Art TV category by transforming the television into a customisable digital art canvas.
• 2017: In premium picture quality, Samsung continued to set industry benchmarks with the introduction of QLED TVs powered by quantum dot technology.
• 2018: 8K TVs delivered four times more the resolution of 4K.
• 2020: Samsung introduced MICRO LED technology, advancing self-emissive display innovation and setting new standards for brightness, contrast and colour accuracy in ultra-large screens.

Through continuous advancements in picture quality, smart functionality and display innovation – Samsung has played a defining role in establishing today’s premium TV standards.

Strengthening its Position in Premium and Next-Generation TVs

Building on its legacy of innovation, Samsung continues to evolve its premium TV portfolio with expanded Micro RGB models, advancing its next-generation display technologies and reinforcing its invention in high-performance screens. The company also continues to enhance its OLED and Neo QLED line-ups, delivering premium picture quality, ultra-large screen options and differentiated display performance.

Samsung is expanding its Mini LED offerings as well, bringing enhanced brightness, contrast and precision control to a wider range of screen sizes and price tiers to extend advanced display performance across its line-up. At the same time, continued investment in AI-powered TVs integrates advanced processors and intelligent features that optimise picture, sound and personalisation in real time.

With two decades of proven global leadership, Samsung remains one of the most consistently recognised and trusted TV brands worldwide — offering ground-breaking technology across multiple price tiers, screen sizes and display innovations.

^[1] Omdia, Feb-2026. Results are not an endorsement of Samsung. Source: Report Name: “TV Sets Spotlight Service / TV Sets (Emerging Technologies) Market Tracker, Q4 2025” published by Informa Tech

Data: Worldwide TV Market Share by Manufacturer – Annual unit & revenue basis

These smaller LEDs are underpinned by semiconductor integrated circuits (ICs), which have attracted the interest of the global TV industry because they affect how efficiently the Mini LEDs can operate.

Samsung recently showcased two new Mini LED Driver ICs, called S6LP441 and S6LDMB1, which have innovative features and are once again elevating standards for Mini LED TV technology. Samsung Newsroom met the developers of the Mini LED Driver ICs to learn more about the innovations that are underpinning the emergence of the Mini LED TV.

(From left) The developers of the Mini Led Driver IC, engineers Kyungtaek Kim, Hyungtae Kim, Sang-gu Kang, and Seongjong Yoo

 A Whole New Approach

The new Mini LED Driver IC solutions are a product line showcased by Samsung for the very first time, that enable improved TV picture quality and efficiency. Speaking about the development of the new Samsung innovations, Engineer Hyungtae Kim said, “Mini LED TVs have many advantages over existing LED products, such as contrast colour expression, brightness and cost competitiveness. We expect Mini LED TVs to exhibit excellent market penetration.”

He went on to explain why this new solution was necessary: “As Mini LED TV technology was adopted, the number of LEDs packed into TVs surged from thousands to tens of thousands per television. This upsurge in the number of LEDs embedded into the same area required a finer degree of control. Thus, we needed to come up with a solution that would allow for closer control of the Mini LEDs’ light emission requirements. The two Mini LED Driver ICs, S6LP441 and S6LDMB1, were the essential to making Mini LEDs more efficient.”

Samsung’s Mini LED Driver IC and the LED Current Driver IC, S6LP441. S6LDMB1 is the controller IC and oversees the S6LP441’s operation.

As the number of LEDs in TVs increases, more ICs are needed, making the systems more complex and increasing the difficulty of establishing a close degree of control. Engineer Seongjong Yoo explained that, “To resolve this issue, we borrowed from the matrix driver plan commonly used in operating LCD TV displays. We succeeded in developing a more accurate and efficient IC solution by applying the matrix driver plan, which allowed us to establish finer control over the more densely-packed LEDs in a set area.”

How Samsung’s Mini LED Driver ICs Work

The innovation in this new IC system solution lies in the separation of the LED Current Driver IC (S6LP441) and the Controller IC (S6LDMB1) that governs it. The S6LP441, which is a micro LED current driver, was placed in close proximity to the Mini LEDs so that it could better control them. This new system, developed by Samsung, allows for more efficient use of the LED’s light emission period compared to the Multiplexing method otherwise applied in the industry. The new method also has advantages in expanding dimming zones and increasing the energy efficiency of the IC itself by minimizing the amount of wiring required.

Looking back at the development phase, Engineer Seongjong Yoo said, “The existing multiplexing method illuminates LEDs sequentially at prescribed intervals, which made finite timing control difficult. Our team analysed the advantages of each LED operation method, and worked to achieve more efficient light emission and reduce the amount of wiring needed.”

(From left to right) Engineers Kyungtaek Kim, Hyungtae Kim, Sang-gu Kang, and Seongjong Yoo introduce the Mini Led Driver IC

Innovative Chip Scale Package (CSP) technology was employed in production of the S6LP441 IC, which eliminated the need for the metal wire connection manufacturing process,” said engineer Hyungtae Kim. “CSP technology additionally proved key to developing the micro IC design, which was essential to slimming down TV profiles.”

 A Revelation for the Industry

Engineer Sang-gu Kang related that, “Dimming technology is important in TVs. For example, in scenes that include night skies, it allows for darker expression of the sky as well as brighter expression of the moon and stars in a clearer overall display.” He added that, “With its ability to adjust the amount of light locally, this product is able to improve TV HDR (high dynamic range) performance by implementing a high contrast ratio. This makes it possible to implement light emitting sections and intensity control at the highest levels in the industry.”

As the technology develops, users’ expectations and the demand for high-definition TVs are continuing to rise. Reporting on the future of the sector, Kyungtaek Kim says that, “Going forward, the number of LEDs embedded in TVs will increase, and LED driver ICs will become even smaller and more efficient. We expect our next generation LED Driver IC solutions to be used in other products as the range of applications they can be applied to continues widening.”

With the solutions being rolled out now to be implemented in upcoming Samsung TV products, users will soon be able to experience Samsung’s Mini LED Driver ICs for themselves.