The TCL 6 series has an insanely good picture for the money

Watch out Sony, Samsung, and Vizio, there's a new TV in school, his name is TCL and he looks like a really popular kid. This is the TCL 6 series and it's already one of my favorite TVs of 2018. It combines an excellent Picture with a rock bottom price. This $1000 65 inch model seen here or the 55 inch size that starts at $650. That's insanely cheap for that level of picture quality. Most important feature on the 6 Series is full ray local dimming, which the company calls Contrast control zone. As the image moves across the screen, the zones light up and dim in response, an effect that really improves contrast. In my side by side test in Samsung and Sony, the TCL more than held its own. With deeper black levels and better contrast than those more expensive brands. It couldn't get quite as bright, but still has plenty of light output for bright rooms and high dynamic range TV shows and movies. The 6 series supports the latest 4K and HDR formats, including HDR10 and Dolby Vision. Another great feature is Roku's smart TV system when I've seem it's favorites for its excellent app selection and constant updates. There's a channel dedicated to 4K and a new Dolby channel that showcases a few demo videos in Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos on compatible TVs like the 6 series. It also supports 4K and HDR video from YouTube, Netflix, Amazon and Vudu. TCL's TV can't match the styling of Samsung or Sony but it's no slouch. With the sleek, metallic frame it's nice and thin around the picture, if a bit chunky in profile. Like many tvs it uses little legs to either side in support there's a signature power button on the bottom edge. I also dig the small simple remote that fit well in my hand and offers a few quick launch buttons for important apps. Overall the TCL 6 Series achieves that lucid balance between image quality, features and style. Where prices have to be. It sets the standard for affordable high performance TVs in 2018.