TCL
TCL on Tuesday launched the latest iterations of its popular 6-Series and 5-Series 4K HDR TVs. Both lineups are set to begin today, though TCL says the former will have “limited availability” on Tuesday.
Prices for the 5 Series start at $ 400 for a 50-inch model, and then move up to $ 450 for a 55-inch model, $ 630 for a 65-inch model, or $ 1,100 for a 75-inch model. The 6 Series, meanwhile, costs $ 650 for a 55-inch model, $ 900 for a 65-inch model, or $ 1400 for a 75-inch model.
The 6-series and 5-series are the most recommended models of TCL for mainstream TV buyers, and in recent years have offered praiseworthy performance and simple Roku TV software at reasonable prices. The 6-series slips in just below the highest end of the company’s 8-series, while the 5-series just sits in front of the more budget-friendly TVs and 4-series. Overall, TCL’s television business has seen increasing success in the United States; today, the Chinese electronics company traps Samsung only in US market share.
6-Series 4K TVs: Switch to mini-LEDs
The most important addition to this year’s 6-Series Roku TVs is mini-LED backlighting, which TCL first introduced to mass-market TVs last year with its premium 8-Series sets. As the name suggests, mini-LEDs are essentially smaller variants of traditional LEDs – generally 0.2 mm or less. Because mini-LEDs are so mini, TV manufacturers can incorporate many more of them into their monitors: there are more than 25,000 mini-LEDs on the back of the aforementioned 8-Series, and TCL says there “thousands” are on the 6th Series.
The result, ideally, is a TV that can dim some parts of the screen more accurately while leaving other parts illuminated, thus improving the contrast compared to a typical LED LCD panel. The dark parts of an image may look darker, the light parts may appear brighter, and there should be less “blooming”, with a light part of an image looking too far into what should be a dark part. (Think of an image where the night sky around a bright Moon is brighter than the rest of the darkness around it.)
In the case of the new 6-series TV series, TCL says that the mini-LEDs follow a maximum of 240 local arm dimming zones – that is, areas of the display that can be illuminated or dimmed by the backlight. That’s significantly less than the 1,000 zones advertised in the 8-series and less than some higher-end traditional LED TVs, so the contrast performance here is unlikely to be anything out of the ordinary. That 240-zone figure also only applies to the most expensive 75-inch model.
However, there is probably to be an improvement over last year’s 6-Series TVs: while the previous 65-inch 6-Series model was released at a maximum of 120 local dimming zones, for example, this year’s 65-inch set has 160. The 55 -inch 6-series TV, meanwhile, has 128 local dimming zones compared to 100 last year.
In general, mini-LED tech is something of a stopgap between graying LED-lit displays and more advanced display techs such as OLED and microLED, both of which can achieve superior contrast by dimming each pixel individually. LG and, to a lesser extent, Sony have been the only TV makers to offer OLED TVs at relatively affordable prices – although others like Vizio are starting to do so. MicroLED TVs may stand out as the gold standard for display quality – compared to mini-LEDs, microLEDs are around 0.01mm – but they are still unavailable to general consumers in part due to high manufacturing costs. Mini-LEDs offer milder benefits, but advantages nonetheless – and they’re more affordable to produce, which is why we see the tech trickle down to popular TVs like the 6-Series today.
Like last year’s model, the new 6 Series uses a QLED display. For the unknown, this is it net the same as OLED, which is essentially a different – and for the most part superior – display class. Instead, it is another iteration on traditional LED LCD panels – one that, if implemented properly, can produce more saturated colors by using a light-filtering film of “quantum dots” between the backlight and the LCD layer. In simpler terms, there is reason to expect good color performance for the money, as was the case with last year’s sets. High quality LED panels can still outperform OLEDs when it comes to peak brightness, although TCL does not disclose how many nets of brightness the 6-series can display.
In addition, TCL says the new 6-series TV series support up to a 120Hz refresh rate and a variable refresh rate (as VRR) technology that varies from 48 to 120 frames per second. Both should help with movement smoothness, especially with fast-paced video games. (The company has previously announced that VRR will arrive as an update to select the 2019 6-Series TVs.) These are also the first TVs to carry THX’s new Certified Game Mode label: this is a picture mode that goal is to reduce the latency and lag for competitive-minded games without sacrificing too much in the way of contrast and color. We’ll have to see how well this all works in action, but it could come in handy with the upcoming Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5. Each 6-series TV will come with four HDMI ports, all supporting Auto Low Latency Mode (or ALLM ) – allowing compatible game consoles on their own to switch to the Game Mode of a TV and VRR. One port supports eARC, an audio-over-HDMI feature that helps facilitate connection to audio bars and AV receivers. While these are notable features that come standard with the HDMI 2.1 spec, none of the 6 Series TVs have a dedicated HDMI 2.1 port, so you lose a modicum of future-proofing compared to higher-end TVs. t the full spec.
The TV series of the 6 series themselves still have a brushed metal finish with thin side edges, although they now feature a slim cable management system that is hidden in the stands of each model. They still support Dolby Vision HDR, HDR10, HLG, and Dolby Atmos surround sound. And they all run Roku OS, which remains a simple platform for accessing streaming content, though one that still lacks new apps like HBO Max and Peacock due to publisher disputes.
5-Series 4K TVs: QLED and local dimming
TCL
The more affordable 5-series Roku TVs should be a step up in picture quality, but they now come with QLED panels for the enhanced color benefits mentioned above. They also include for the first time a full array of local dimming features: this includes only 40, 48, 56 or 80 zones, depending on which size model you buy, which is not a ton, but it should help the TVs perform better with HDR content. However, there are no mini-LEDs.
The 5-series sets have four ALLM-supporting HDMI ports, with one port supporting eARC. They support Dolby Vision, HDR10 and HLG as well, but max out at a refresh rate of 60Hz. So, do not expect exceptional smoothness when gaming. The design here is not quite as premium as that of the 6 Series, but the edges are equally sleek, and it has the same built-in cable management system.
In more forward-thinking news, TCL says it plans to provide more details about its new premium-tier 8-series TVs, which will at least include this model with an 8K resolution, later this year.
