Hey everybody 2020 is finally wrapping up.
And I've had the chance this year to test a bunch of TVs in my basement.
My favourite overall for the money is the TCL 6 series.
Here's why.
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Start off with features.
Most of the good TV on the market these days feature full array local dimming.
Those are the LCD TV They're not quite as good and picture quality as the OLED TVs.
Those OLED TVs cost a lot more money.
This TCL has that full array local dimming, but unlike most other TVs out there, it uses many LEDs.
Now yeah the LEDs the parent picture are smaller than standard LED is found on other TVs.
But the big advantage is that there's more of them and you can pack a lot more into the screen and get a lot more brightness and control contrast a lot better.
Talk about that in a little bit.
So that's a real point in the TCL picture quality favor.
Also talk about gaming on this set, the TCL, very good gaming capabilities, not quite as good as some of the other higher end TVs on the market from Sony and Samsung.
I compared this TV directly to a Sony X 900 H for example.
Well, the Sony does take 4k 120 Hertz input.
Unlike this TCL TCL with better overall for picture quality TCL six series has a THX game mode that allows you to take some of the higher quality inputs from PlayStation five and Xbox series x now can't handle full 4k 120 frames per second input like some of the other high end TVs on the market can but it does do 1440 120 and it does 60 hertz at 4k At the end of the day, it's plenty of gaming for a lot of people.
Yeah, this TV also supports variable refresh rate.
And of course, like most of the other good TVs out there, this TCL is 4k resolution.
It's got HDR, and it's got all the things you really needed to TV with none of that extra fluff like built in voices.
Systems.
Course features are everything on a TV design is a big factor for a lot of people.
This TCL looks really good.
Again, not as good as some of the higher end TVs like the Samsung q80 in particular, but it does look really sleek.
It's got a nice Thin bezel around the edge metallic accents, a little bit thick when seen from the side but again, nobody watches TV from the side.
There's also these standards to either side.
They do require a larger piece of furniture like I have here.
There's some other TVs on the market use a central stand like that Samsung, but all things considered design not a problem on this.
A real strength is its Smart TV system.
Stuff TCL uses Roku TV on the six series and I really like it.
It's my favorite overall Smart TV system because it's super simple has a ton of apps and the remote is really cool.
It's actually one of the simplest remotes out there a few shortcut keys, nothing really confusing and pretty much anybody can figure out how it works.
One of the downsides to TCL Roku system however is no HBO Max, at least not yet.
By the time you see this, maybe they'll have added it but of course, Roku and HBO Max still a little loggerheads there.
So that's one point against it were some of their TVs and smart systems have HBO Max app Of course you can use airplay on his TV if you want to get HBO max.
A lot of them will work around there but you know if you're an HBO max subscriber and you still want this TCL it's worth the hassle.
So features and design are really solid but really had this TCL standout in my test was picture quality.
Compared to a lot of other TVs on the market that cost more money.
This TCL actually delivers better contrast and particular better brightness.
As many LEDs that I mentioned at the top really put out a lot of light.
This particular TV measured about 1000 nits that's excellent, especially with HDR material and bright rooms so you get that extra brightness but you also don't lose any contrast.
The local dimming on the CD works very well to preserve the black levels, darker areas of the picture, which again are super important for creating that pop and impact.
Side by side with the Sony x 900 h and the Vizio M series which does cost a little bit less.
This TCL was clearly better and it kept up very well the Vizio p series which was a little bit more expensive.
So to sum it all up the TCL6 series of the.
The complete package, excellent picture quality, really good features and design, nothing extra that you don't really need at a price you can really afford.
Again of all the TVs I've tested this year TCL six series is my favourite for the money.
So that's it for 2020 2021 is right around the corner.
Let's hope it's a better year and I'll see you next year in the TV review lab.
I'm David katzmaier.
