TCL 8-Series review: TV tech tour de force gives superb performance

The price is at least partially justify, however, because the 8-Series is a animal. Inky-deep black levels and brilliant highlights, created by TCL ‘s industry-first Mini LED engineering, deliver the kind of contrast that makes every picture dad, particularly HDR. In my side-by-side comparisons it came closer to the standards set by that OLED television receiver than any early I ‘ve tested this year. Despite some hiccups with local blur, it ‘s a check mark better overall than that Vizio PX and Samsung ‘s Q80R but the three are all close — and, as usual, a significant tone behind OLEDs. Read more: Best television receiver gifts for the holidays so yea, the 8-Series is one of the best television you can buy, money-no-object, but the Vizio PX is hush a better value and the LG B9 a better high-end choice overall.

Reading: TCL 8-Series review: TV tech tour de force gives superb performance

Update, Dec. 20, 6:43 a.m. PT: When this review inaugural published earlier this dawn, the TCL 8-Series was priced $ 400 higher, but since then it has dropped to the prices mentioned above. The headline and presentation — where I asked specifically for a monetary value spend — have been modified consequently, as has the rat ( I bumped Value up to 7 and the overall evaluation to 8.0 ). I ‘ve asked TCL to specify whether the stream price is permanent or otherwise ( it dropped concisely before vitamin a well, then even further after a certain Twitter exchange ) and will report spinal column here when I know more. Our original follow-up continues below .

Design

When TCL introduced the 8-Series it aimed squarely for the higher end of the market. And, as you ‘d expect, that means it gets better style : Nice, grey textured metal along the bottom of the television rather of plastic. A metallic frame on the sides. Glass that reaches all the means to the edge. A glossy black buttocks. The best contribution is the daring stand. It ‘s a wide central bar in metallic gray again, drive far out beyond the riddle and attached to a individual, angled branch that supports the panel in space, creating the illusion of flotation. That ‘s a blasted sight better than the two little splay-legs found on most of its peers. Sarah Tew/CNET

Why Roku TV rocks

The 8-Series has Roku television receiver and, for reasons I ‘ve documented extensively in previous reviews, I ‘m a winnow. here ‘s the short list of reasons to love it :

Frequent updates and feature improvements
Simple menus with quick responses
Full customization, including input naming
Inputs on the same home page as TV apps
More apps than any other smart TV system
Cross-platform search covers many services, allows price comparisons
Can pause live TV from an antenna source (and a USB stick)

My recapitulation sample was running the latest translation, 9.2.2, which adds a few other bang-up features, including a voice-activated sleep timer and curated capacity “ zones. ” Check out my writeup of Roku ‘s 2019 players and my review of my darling 4K Roku device, the Roku Streaming Stick Plus, for more details. One thing presently missing from the Roku platform in general and this TCL television receiver in particular — and available on competing bright TVs from Vizio, Samsung and LG — is support for Apple ‘s AirPlay system. Roku does have the Apple TV app, but on the 8-Series it does n’t support Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. alone Apple TV devices get those formats. Sarah Tew/CNET The 8-Series includes the dim-witted Roku distant with built-in part control. Roku ‘s part affair is n’t about ampere robust as Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant, found on LG and Sony TVs, for exercise, but it worked very well for searches, app introduction, switching inputs and tuning to an antenna channel. If the television is off, using a part dominate like “ launch Netflix ” will turn it on and launch the app .

Key features

Display technology LED LCDLED backlight Full array with local dimming (Mini-LED)Resolution 4KHDR compatible HDR10 and Dolby VisionSmart TV Roku TVRemote Voice sol about those Mini-LEDs. TCL is the first television godhead to use them and from what I ‘ve seen of the 8-Series, they do lead to better picture quality. The main reason seems to be because the smaller LEDs are able to be grouped into more local blur zones. here ‘s a crash course. fl-tcl-8-series Watch this: TCL 8 series, 6 series boost Roku television ‘s picture timbre chops 02:34 Full-array local blind is the best way to improve picture quality on LCD TVs. It allows the backlight — the part behind the LCD screen that provides illumination — to dim and illuminate unlike areas simultaneously. Smaller areas, or dimming zones, mean more precise clarification, and TCL says that the 8-Series has 1,000 zones — about doubly a many as the Vizio P-Series Quantum X for example ( Samsung and Sony do n’t publish their dimming zone numbers ). Read more: How ini-LED could lead to big picture quality improvements Beyond Mini-LED, the 8-Series has quantum dots ( besides used on the 6-Series ). TCL ‘s adoption of “ QLED ” proves Samsung does n’t have a monopoly on that futuristic-sounding acronym — TCL even uses the lapp baptismal font as Samsung. It stands for “ quantum dot LED television receiver, ” and those dots are microscopic molecules that, when hit by light, emit their own, differently colored light. Quantum dots do improve HDR color and besides appear in Vizio ‘s new 2019 TVs. Of course the 8-Series supports both Dolby Vision and HDR10 high active range formats. These days basically the merely manufacturer that does n’t is Samsung. The television receiver besides touts a specification called “ Natural Motion 480, ” but as usual, that ‘s a made-up number. The 8-Series does have a 120Hz native dialog box, like the Vizio P-Series Quantum, the Samsung Q80 and Sony X950G. See below for details. Spoiler alarm : The soap opera effect is enabled by default in Movie mode. Boo ! One unique extra : TCL has an app, branch from the standard Roku app, called “ iPQ calibration. ” It ‘s designed to let users adjust color and other image quality aspects — in early words, calibrate the television receiver — without the need for any specialize equipment. I did n’t get the opportunity to test for this inspection and the io adaptation is n’t available ( only Android then far ) but I look forward to taking it for a spin. Sarah Tew/CNET Around back you ‘ll find a healthy set of jacks.

4x HDMI inputs ( HDMI 2.0a HDCP 2.2
1x analog (composite) video input
1x USB port (2.0)
Ethernet (wired internet)
1x headphone jack
1x optical digital audio output
1x RF (antenna) input

The 8-Series lacks some of the HDMI 2.1 extras found on some competitors like Samsung and LG, such as variable refresh rate, but it does feature of speech car game mode, designed to automatically engage the humble input signal interim setting when connected to a compatible bet on device. The earphone jack is a decent equal, and unlike cheaper Roku sets, this one has Ethernet, besides .

Picture quality comparisons

Click the visualize above to see CNET ‘s recommend mental picture settings . Sarah Tew/CNET The TCL 8-Series has the best picture choice of any non-OLED television I ‘ve tested this year, beating the Vizio PX and Samsung Q80R, the two next-best, by a scent. It delivered the best contrast and brightest HDR highlights, adenine well as upstanding video march, accurate semblance and all of the other boxes a good television receiver needs to check. I encountered some eldritch artifacts related to its local blur, it ‘s not ampere good as the Samsung in bright rooms or from off-angle and as usual LG ‘s B9 OLED outperformed it in many aspects, but as a prove land for Mini-LED and four-digit zone counts, it ‘s a flying success. Click the picture at the good to see the picture settings used in the review and to read more about how this television receiver ‘s photograph controls worked during calibration. Dim lighting: For this comparison I used the infamously dark Game of Thrones episode, The Long Night aka The Battle of Winterfell ( the third gear episode of season eight ) — but rather the excessively compressed HBO immediately stream, I slipped in the new Blu-ray disk, which looks about a thousand clock dear. In this torment test, the TCL looked the best among the LCDs, thanks to its combination of deep black levels than the Vizio and the 6-Series and better shadow detail than the Samsung. As usual the B9 OLED looked best with its perfective blacks, which besides made shadows more naturalistic. With this SDR title the LCDs did n’t show the lapp degree of differences I saw with HDR ( see below ), however. And all of the screens, even the 6-Series, looked similar, and very good. As Sansa gazes over the ramparts for exercise ( at timestamp 4:08 ) the fur of her coat was obscured on the Samsung. It was bright ( and less realistic ) on the 6-Series and specially the Vizio, while the 8-Series rendered it best ( aside from the OLED. One of the darkest shots of the troops and Gendry ( at 5:26 ) exaggerated those differences adenine well, and again the 8-Series managed them best, while in bright mix scenes, like the faces of reflected in the torchlight of Melisandre ( at 8:59 ), the TVs looked more exchangeable. I besides could n’t help but check out an erstwhile darling night scene, the venerable Voldemort muster anterior to invading Hogwarts in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows : share 2 ( Chapter 12 ). here the TCL was a hearty second to the LG, beating the black levels of its cheaper cousin and specially the Vizio PX, while exposing more tail contingent than the too-dim Samsung. Bright lighting: The TCL 8-Series is one of the brightest television receiver I ‘ve ever measured and excellent in well-lit rooms, albeit not quite deoxyadenosine monophosphate brilliantly as the Vizio PX nor arsenic good at dealing with ambient light as the Samsung Q80R. here ‘s how the numbers compare .

Light output in nits

TV Brightest (SDR)Accurate color (SDR)Brightest (HDR)Accurate color (HDR)Vizio PX65-G1 1,9901,1202,9082,106TCL 65Q825 1,6539041,818982Samsung QN65Q80R 1,4438321,4941,143Sony XBR-65X950G 1,0504271,2641,035Vizio P659-G1 792561822602TCL 65R625 653578881813LG OLED65B9 374283628558 As usual, the brightest arrange is dreadfully inaccurate. On the TCL it ‘s “ television brightness : bright ” and “ Picture mode : graphic, ” ( or “ bright HDR ” for HDR content ). An accurate bright-room picture is admirably easy to achieve, however. Just switch the mode to “ Movie ” or “ dark HDR ” mode, which reduces light output but delivers a much better trope. It ‘s worth mentioning again that these measurements of standardized test patterns do n’t tell the whole story. With real HDR material ( see below ), the 8-Series and Samsung both looked and measured brighter than the Vizio PX. Under bright lighting in broad daylight the TCL ‘s shield was the worst in my comparison at mitigating reflections and better than only the Vizio at preserving black levels and contrast. none of the other TVs in my lineup could hold a candle to the brilliant Samsung, which has the most effective antireflective screen door I ‘ve ever seen and was the best bright-room television in my lineup. Color accuracy: The TCL ‘s coloring material measured quite well although compared to the other review samples I received, it was reasonably plus-red before calibration. After calibration it was about perfect, as were the others. When I watched Game of Thrones, the differences were negligible.
Video processing: The 8-Series is a 120Hz native television with batch of options for handling gesture but did n’t perform ampere well in this category as the other TVs. As I lamented above however, and unlike the cheaper 6-Series, the default option settings for Movie mood introduce unwelcome smooth, besides known as the soap opera impression, and something video recording purists like me ( and Tom Cruise ) abhor. To turn it off on the 8-Series, you ‘ll need to go into the Picture Settings menu and switch “ Action Smoothing ” from Low ( the default ) to Off.
In Off the television delivers correct 1080p/24 film cadence but in the other settings, Low and higher, it causes the television receiver to have that buttery eloquence that makes film look like, well, a soap opera. none of the other TVs I ‘ve tested this year, high-end or otherwise, turn SOE on by default option in Movie mode. Those other settings, “ Action Clarity ” and “ LED Motion Clarity, ” involve gesticulate resolving power and interact with one another. The good news program is that achieving utmost motion solution does n’t require SOE. When I toggled LED Motion Clarity on, engaging black frame insertion, and cranked Action Clarity to High, I measured a healthy 1,080 lines of resolution — very good, albeit not a good as the Samsung or Vizio. A lower AC sic, and turning LED Motion Clarity off, has the like effect. I preferred to leave AC on High and turn LED Motion Clarity off because the latter dims the double slightly and introduced some flicker. Viewers very antipathetic to blur might want to leave it on, however. The TCL ‘s bet on stimulation slowdown was beneficial at around 18ms for both 1080p and 4K HDR in game manner but fell a few milliseconds short of the best TVs, including the 6-Series. Twitch gamers might notice but cipher else will. That said, the chances of noticing slowdown go way up for anybody who does n’t use game mode in 4K HDR : I measured 134ms ( ! ) in 4K with game mode turned off. Uniformity: With test patterns the TCL 8-Series was solid without excessively a lot brightness pas seul across the filmdom, better than the Vizio PX but worse than Samsung, the 6-Series and the LG OLED. From off-angle it preserved black levels and fidelity better than the Vizio but worse than the Samsung, while a usual the OLED was basically perfect from off-angle. HDR and 4K video: The independent reason to buy a high-end television is to luxuriate in its high-dynamic range performance, and while the TCL fell short circuit of the LG OLED overall — despite the TCL ‘s notice brightness advantage — I liked it better than the Vizio and Samsung. The 8-Series expose quite unrefined local blind, however, leading to some strange artifacts. If the Blu-ray of Game of Thrones Season 8 looks a thousand times better than the HBO stream, the 4K Blu-ray with HDR looks approximately a million times effective ( if you ‘re keeping score at home note that I used the HDR10 version not Dolby Vision, because I did n’t want to leave Samsung out ). During The Long Night the 8-Series ‘ bass black levels beat the Vizio and 6-Series, as earlier, and the Samsung, while deeper, fell short on shadow detail again. But with HDR the TCL besides added brilliant highlights to its advantages. As Melisandre ignites the torches, for case ( at 9:23 ), the TCL looked and measured the brightest in my lineup, closely matching the overall punch and shock — in other words, the contrast — of the LG OLED. The more a picture shuffle bright areas and dark, the more the TCL ‘s many dimming zones helped. When I did notification blooming and stray illuminance, for exercise the “ Cease fire ! ” subtitle at 12:40, the 8-Series showed less than the Vizio and Samsung. One disadvantage, however : The TCL ‘s local blur did n’t behave a well as the others, leading to some weird artifacts. In one 13-second succession, when Sandor steps through the line of battle ( at 5:22 ) through Sam ‘s substitute with Dolorous Edd ( 5:35 ), a stop of the image along the buttocks of the blind become actually dark ( the lapp artifact occurred multiple times late vitamin a well ). At 6:55, a knight emerges from the gloom and parts of the double abruptly shift in brightness. Maybe TCL will refine its local anesthetic blur with a software update ( it has issued at least one that addresses prototype choice already ), but Vizio and Samsung ‘s dim is presently more consistent.

Moving on from Game of Thrones, I besides checked out the excellent video collage from the Spears and Munsil 4K HDR benchmark phonograph record. As I mentioned in my Vizio PX review the TCL came in second stead among the four higher-end sets, falling short of the LG and outclassing the Vizio and Samsung overall. In the most unmanageable bright-on-dark scenes, for exercise the beloved dripper against the black background ( at 2:47 ) and the Ferris wheel at night ( 4:50 ), the LG B9 ‘s perfect blacks and complete lack of blooming won the day but the TCL ‘s lighter black and specify bally, combined with its brilliant highlights, was about as thoroughly. In bright scenes the light end product advantage of the LCDs over the OLED became more noticeable. When I watched some crop horses in a snowfield at 0:37, the TCL looked the best, with brilliant detail and definition and lake superior luminosity. The Vizio and B9 besides looked well-detailed but dim, while the Samsung was quite bright but obscured details the most. I wo n’t rehash all the bloodstained details hera, but I will include the table of measurements I took from selected highlights. ( note that subject mastered in 1,000 nits is most common, while 4,000-nit content takes full advantage of the light end product of LCD sets. )

Selected HDR highlights in nits

Spears & Munsil scene element (timestamp)Sequence (nits)LG B9Samsung Q80RTCL 8-SeriesVizio PX Sky above peaks (0:10) 1,000200370345208Sky above peaks (0:10) 4,000260453636388Between horse’s neck, forelock (0:37) 1,000203512464226Between horse’s neck, forelock (0:37) 4,000191487555440Reflection in honey dripper (2:47) 1000384506438360Reflection in honey dripper (2:47) 4,000386604735704Middle of Ferris wheel (4:50) 1,000150234208167Middle of Ferris wheel (4:50) 4,000233207190232