Growing up, I spent my summers visiting relatives in Colombia, a place where soccer is a national obsession. I remember us crowding around our 18-inch TV with the crooked rabbit-ears antenna whenever a game was on, kneeling shoulder-to-shoulder to see what Carlos Valderrama might do next. When we weren't playing soccer, we were watching it, and when we weren't watching it, we were talking about it.
Fast forward to today and it's way easier to catch every minute of the action in glorious detail alongside friends and family, thanks to Hisense. Hisense is the first Official Partner of the FIFA Club World Cupâ„¢, building on its seven-year partnership with one of sports' most global organizations, and is bringing a slew of upgrades to screen technology every sports fan should know about.
As a professional filmmaker and animator, I'm very particular about how image quality shows up on TV screens. I'm also a lifelong soccer fan who loves how this sport brings together people from many different countries and walks of life.
The author and friends at the FIFA World Cup in Palo Alto in June 1994. (Note from the author: "At this match, Colombia defeated Switzerland 2-0.")
Here's a bit more about how Hisense's visual tech will help power the FIFA Club World Cup, as well as how the company is transforming how we see and experience entertainment in our own homes.
The official screen provider for VAR systems
You know a TV has a clear picture if it's in the control room during one of the biggest sporting events on the planet.
For the first time, FIFA has opened up endorsement rights related to its Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system. This means Hisense's 32", 43" and 55" TV models will be used in the VAR room within the International Broadcast Center. With 32 teams playing 63 matches this year in a tournament format – and a total prize pool of $1 billion at stake – this integrity matters. Hisense branding will also be featured on the sidelines of the stadium's inner field, as well as on the large jumbotrons inside the stadium.
Referees on the field use VAR systems when they need to rewatch plays.
In the FIFA Club World Cup, the contestants are top professional teams from around the globe, rather than the national teams that are formed for regular World Cup tournaments. You might recognize some of this year's Club World Cup contestants: Manchester City (England), Real Madrid (Spain), Bayern Munich (Germany), Inter Miami (US) and many others will be in the mix.
Color like you've never seen before
Hisense's screen quality has earned it a coveted spot in the IBC control center, but the company is also setting new benchmarks in display technology that make every game you watch in your living room bolder, brighter and better.
At CES 2025, the company unveiled its 116-inch UX, a powerhouse product with industry-leading advancements in color and brightness. (Hisense's own tagline for this model is the "World's first RGB-MiniLED TV", to give you a sense of its position in the company's product lineup.) As someone who's done a lot of professional work in and around animation, I'm understandably nitpicky about color and how it shows up on screen. Here's what stands out to me.
Hisense's RGB-MiniLED technology takes MiniLED to the next level. MiniLED TVs typically outperform OLED TVs on brightness, and are good for larger screens or viewing rooms. Hisense takes this one step further with its RGB local dimming capability, adding tens of thousands of locally dimming optical lenses that fine-tune brightness. This TV is really bright – 10,000 nits at peak brightness – and it's anti-glare, which makes it perfect if you're hosting a watch party in a room with a lot of windows like I have in the past.
A photo from a past watch party, in which TV glare made the image quality challenging at times. The Hisense 116 UX boasts anti-reflection technology – good for backlit rooms.
Hisense is also adding AI to your TV to improve both image and audio quality. The 116 UX's Hi-View AI Engine X optimizes every frame to ensure your settings remain ideal, even when the live broadcast inputs inevitably vary.
"By developing and integrating AI technologies, we're able to give our consumers a more dynamic and optimized viewing experience," Hisense Americas President David Gold told CNET in an email.
The takeaway? A bolder, brighter image that makes goal-scoring moments and instant replays a lot more vibrant. The 116-inch UX is expected to be available for purchase in the US later this summer.
Own the moment with Hisense
All these years later, my family and I often reflect on past soccer watch party memories. It was always an easy conversation starter with my dad, and I know I'm not the only person who has a special connection with this sport. Soccer brings people together and helps cultivate moments you'll remember for years to come.
If you're a fan like I am, you deserve to watch the sports you love on top-notch products – especially when those products are the same ones being used to help facilitate the sport itself. Savor every second of this exciting summer tournament with Hisense, an Official Partner of the FIFA Club World Cup, which is going on now and continues through July 13.
