Monday, January 22, 2018

The New TCL 6 Series is Coming!




No choice, I had to write a blog post about this. What else is an obsessed girl to do.

I recently bought the 55" P605 TV from TCL and was starting to love it, but before my 15 days was up at Best Buy CES rolled around and out came the news that the 2018 version is coming out this spring, so off I go to return my P605 and begin the wait. Woot! and Ugh! The wait!


This is what TCL has to say so far about the 6-Series:

"TCL's 6-Series combines stunning 4K HDR picture performance and the award-winning Roku TV smart platform in a bold, brushed metal design for a superior TV experience. Dolby Vision delivers greater brightness and contrast, as well as a fuller palette of rich colors. With TCL’s Contrast Control Zones™, image contrast individually optimized across up to 120 zones to yield striking contrast between light and dark areas. The 6-Series models' iPQ Engine™ provides precise color replication (meaning out of the box without calibration) and HDR Pro Gamma™ to significantly improve HDR performance in any setting.

The 6-Series also features Wide Color™ with NBP Photon™ technology for even more realistic colors and performance closer to the limits of human vision. Powerful picture performance is complemented by the Roku OS with the most streaming content available and seamless access your cable box, Blu-ray player, gaming console, and other devices without flipping through inputs or complicated menus.

The 6-Series will be available in 55- and 65-inch models this Spring"

Of course I scoured the internet to see what I else could find about the TCL's 2018 6 Series' updated features and it delivered. Here's what we know so far, rumors included:

The physical:
-Variants: 55" and 65"
-Brushed metal finish
-Possibly a .2" bezel (4.8mm) according to this video hosted on TCL Kenya on youtube. The 2017 version was twice that.





And I'm not even mad at the cute little power jewel button they've added to the bottom bezel.


What's new on the inside:
-Increase in local dimming zones (from 72 to 96). 65" inch will be 120.
-Brighter and better contrast according to TCL
-"Wider viewing angles" according to the rep talking to Joelster in his awesome youtube video (see below)
-Decreased reflection (according to a CES TCL rep)
-Each TV optimized for color coverage right out of the box! There will still be room for calibration, but the average customer will be ahead of the game.

Pic from Joelster video of wider color angle:


Price: 
55" = $649. 
65" = No word yet but my guess, $999-$1,099

Release date?: "Spring" says TCL, which could mean any date before June 21st. Oh please don't make us wait too far past May 1. A couple of websites mentioned a scheduled Q1 release date, but I won't hold my breath.


Here are my 2 favorite videos about the R6/6 series taken during CES:

AVS Forum interviews Director of Product Development TCL North America, Aaron Dew.

Joelster 4K visits the TCL booth at CES: 

So far no one knows about the native refresh rate. Their marketing has touted a "240 natural motion rate" and one could take a guess that = a 120 native rate based on companies usually doubling their motion rate with marketing terms, but anything goes, so no guesses on that. Well, if I *were* to guess, I'd go with 60Hz. But that's just me.