Tag Archives: 6Series

TCL 8K 6 series (R648) TV test: Far more than 8K

RRP $ 3,000.00

"An absolutely stunning television for the price."

advantages

• Excellent picture quality

• Surprisingly good sound

• Improved Roku TV remote control

• Easy adjustment

• Excellent for playing

disadvantage

• Bad off-axis performance

Given the popularity of TCL's 6-series 4K TVs in recent years, it might be easy to dismiss the company's move of adding an 8K model as a trending wallet. Fortunately, that's not the case at all. The new 8K version of the 6 series from TCL (series model R648) offers significant upgrades in the right places compared to the 4K-based R635 version, which I rated quite positively.

That the R648 is the cheapest 2021 8K TV you can buy is just the icing on the cake. Read on to learn why this is one of the best TVs to buy this year, 8K or no 8K.

Video review

Out of the box

Dan Baker / Digital Trends

The TCL 8K 6 series TV has a lot more than just an 8K resolution screen, and that was obvious at first glance on the packaging. A colorful graphic shows the TV with a central, brushed metal stand as opposed to the independent stands that we installed on the other sides of previous TCL TV models. This is great news for anyone interested in a big TV screen but short of media stand space.

The 75-inch model 75R648 that I received for review was very well packaged. Unpacking the TV was a bit more complicated than I'm used to, but the likelihood that the TV will be damaged in transit is extremely low.

In the box with the television I found the aforementioned TV stand, screws to attach the stand to the television, some product literature, two AAA batteries for the remote control and a completely redesigned Roku TV remote control.

Dan Baker / Digital Trends

Consider the R648's audio system properly updated.

When I removed a protective plastic bag from the TV, I noticed another major design upgrade: the presence of a subwoofer driver on the back of the TV. The subwoofer is glossy, black, exposed (not covered by a plastic grille) and has a flat surface rather than a traditional conical shape.

When I saw the subwoofer above, I couldn't help but look over the plastic grids that lined the bottom of the TV while installing the stand (which took four screws, a screwdriver, and about 30 seconds of my time). To my surprise, TCL equipped the R648 with independent tweeters that mate with two oval, downward-facing mid-range speakers.

Dan Baker / Digital Trends

Seeing an independent subwoofer on a television is rare enough, but one with stereo tweeters and mid-range speakers is virtually unknown. Consider the R648's audio system properly updated.

With the TV in place and plugged in, I clicked the power button on the remote and settled for a 20 minute setup routine.

TCL 8K 6 series (R648) TV details

While we tested the 75-inch model 75R648, our test also applies to the 65-inch model.

Screen size	Model no	RRP
65 inches	65R648	$ 2,200
75 in	75R648	$ 3,000

To install

I've complained extensively in previous TCL TV reviews that getting the TVs Roku TV operating system up and running was slow motion and that optimizing and applying the TV's picture settings to apps and all HDMI inputs was both a significant hassle and a hassle as well does not match Roku's historically user-friendly approach. To my delight, my complaints have been heard and the R648 now supports a remarkably quick Roku TV setup process along with one of the most intuitive picture adjustment applications I've seen in over 10 years of reviewing TVs.

Once the 75R648 was powered on and connected to the internet, it began running its own Roku TV software update. This only took a few minutes. From there, I was asked to enter the email address associated with my Roku account and received an activation link. After clicking the link, the TV asked if I would like to install a couple of apps (some of which are already part of my Roku profile) which felt a bit like a sponsored advertisement but was quickly over. Then when it came time for the TV to download apps or update pre-installed apps, I expected to go out and have lunch. Fortunately, this process only took a few minutes.

Dan Baker / Digital Trends

However, what I really enjoyed was how quickly I was able to apply my preferred image settings to multiple HDR formats and multiple inputs. After selecting the movie picture mode for its more accurate color temperature and lack of motion smoothing settings, I found that I could change the backlight intensity from normal to bright or brighter depending on how much ambient light was entering the room or how bright the overall picture looked target.

This is a good start, but I expected to repeat this process again for High Dynamic Range (HDR) and then again for Dolby Vision; and not just for every single app I wanted to use, but for every single HDMI input I wanted to use. As you can imagine, this is a lot of work.

But the R648 series figured out what I was up to and had already selected the appropriate HDR and Dolby Vision mode based on my preference for movie preset in SDR for the Netflix app. It also made similar settings for YouTube and all the other apps I like to use. It was similar with the HDMI inputs, where the settings for all inputs were globalized by default, but I could adjust them if I wanted. This is how it should be done folks.

In any case, it should be noted that as complicated as TV setup can be for those of us who love to peak and tweak our picture settings, the R648 made the process a breeze.

Specifications and dimensions

I knew immediately that this TV was something special. I check enough TVs that I can just spot before I start breaking out the target wheel or making calibration adjustments. The HDR images just popped off the screen, the colors were well saturated, bright lights popped up at me, and perhaps most importantly, the black levels and shadow detail looked really good.

Dan Baker / Digital Trends

Confusingly, however, if you look at the data sheet for the TCL R648, the TV looks very similar to the 4K R635 TV, but with an upgrade to 8K resolution. The processor looks the same, the mini LED backlight looks the same, the Roku OS looks the same. However, when I started measuring the TV's performance, it immediately became clear that the R648 runs with significantly more horsepower than its 4K cousin.

Using a C6 colorimeter profiled on an xRite I1Pro and Calman software, I measured the maximum brightness output of the R648 in film image mode with the backlight setting to normal, bright and brighter. Here is what i got.

In normal, I measured 256 nits in SDR and 910 nits in HDR. This is great for a dark or dark room. In Bright mode I have 346 cd / m² in SDR and 1,226 cd / m² in HDR. In Brighter, the TV hit 460 nits for SDR and 1,563 nits for HDR which, believe me, was more than enough in my test room with quite a bit of sunlight. These are very respectable numbers across the board, and they indicate that the TV is versatile enough to cover a wide variety of room environments.

For those interested in the number of backlight zones, the R648 offers 240 zones on the 75-inch model and 160 zones on the 65-inch model.

picture quality

Dan Baker / Digital Trends

It's clear that although TCL uses the same backlight hardware, the R648 has been tuned for higher performance. The peak brightness measurements I took are significantly better than the ones I measured with the R635. However, the improvements are not limited to higher brightness.

I've observed that the R648 handles dark areas of the screen much better than the R635 and offers deeper blacks, even around light objects on a dark background – a difficult trick to pull off with higher brightness values ​​across the board.

The higher contrast performance of this combination extended to color performance as well, delivering better saturated colors at higher brightness levels than I saw with the 4K R635. However, other performance metrics remained more or less the same. The motion resolution was solid without motion smoothing, with little jerking or jerking at 30 frames per second and 60 fps content and no noticeable jerking at 24 fps film content. The handling of low bit depth content, such as YouTube videos, was handled like the R635, which means that it smooths out gradients pretty well, albeit not as smoothly as Sony TVs, for example.

Upscaling also seemed to be handled with the same skill, although upscaling 720p and 1080p content to 8K is significantly more difficult than upscaling to 4K. Overall, I'd say the R648 does a good job with 8K upscaling, delivering as sharp an image as can be expected with minimal artifacts. Even so, no TV is a miracle worker, and most cable / satellite content that comes in 720p saw higher definition content from streaming apps like Disney +, Hulu, Netflix, and HBO max significantly.

I really enjoyed watching this TV every second that I sat in front of it.

The upscaling of high quality 4K content was very good with no noticeable artifacts. Familiar scenes from 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray discs looked expertly rendered on the 8K screen. Even when I was only 2 meters from the 75-inch R648, I couldn't see any individual pixels. This made for a very immersive experience.

The Achilles heel of the R648 is its off-axis performance. Typically, TVs with a VA LCD panel have difficulty maintaining contrast and color saturation when moving sideways or significantly above / below the TV. While the R648's vertical axis performance is okay, the horizontal axis performance is limited to a very narrow window and off-axis performance is at the limit to be deplorable. If you have a large viewing area and people sit away from the TV a lot, they won't get the same great picture quality sitting right in front of the screen.

Aside from the strict performance analysis, I can say the following about the TCL R648: I really enjoyed watching this TV every second that I sat in front of it. As a huge fan of OLED televisions and their perfect black levels and the complete absence of backlight anomalies, I was amazed at how well the R648 could captivate me without triggering my inflated sense of backlighting and milky black levels. Is the R648 a replacement for OLED in a controlled lighting environment? No, not in terms of contrast and color. But in a brighter room, it performs significantly better than most OLEDs on the market, except maybe the Sony A90J or LG G1 OLED TVs.

Sound quality

Dan Baker / Digital Trends

The R648 has a beefy sound system that only adds value to the television. The included subwoofer offers solid bass and a room-filling presence that few modern televisions have. Dialogue intelligibility is excellent, while stereo effects are present, if not entirely convincing. My only complaint is that the tweeters seem a bit pumped up, which adds a certain harshness to the highs that I could do without. Admittedly, this harshness was more noticeable when listening to music than when watching TV programs or films.

Games

Dan Baker / Digital Trends

If it wasn't clear yet that the R648 offers much more than just an 8K screen, I would like to add a little tidbit on top: The R648 offers two HDMI 2.1 ports and as a bonus they are independent of the TV's eARC port.

Using an Xbox Series X dashboard, I was able to confirm that the R648 can deliver 4K120 / Hz and 8K / 60Hz games with variable refresh rate (VRR), Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM) and HDR at the same time. As with most TVs, 4K / 20Hz gaming is not available in Dolby Vision.

Combine those aspects of picture performance with the respectably low input lag and picture enhancements of the THX game mode and you have one of the best gaming TVs you can buy. Keeping the eARC port free to serve those who have a sophisticated home theater system without restricting any of those HDMI 2.1 ports is an absolute bonus. Only LG can claim to have more gaming-friendly TVs, as it offers four HDMI 2.1 ports in selected models.

Our opinion

The TCL R648 is a standout television and deserves flagship status in TCL's range of products. Its high brightness, solid black level, very good color performance ex works, smooth movements and excellent gaming characteristics make it one of the best televisions you can buy this year. The 8K resolution? That's a bonus. Like most TV manufacturers, TCL reserves its best TV performance for its 8K TV lineup, eliminating the question of whether 8K really matters.

Is there a better alternative?

Not at that price. Samsung's 8K Neo QLED TVs and LG's 8K QNED TVs may offer similar performance in some aspects, but at a significantly higher price. Since the R648 is well above its price, it makes the most sense for anyone who may or may not want to buy a high-end TV with 8K resolution.

How long it will take?

With its two HDMI 2.1 ports, mini-LED backlighting, quantum dot color, and broad support for various HDR formats, the R648 should continue to exist in the future. Future upgrades will likely be incremental. In terms of reliability, TCL's mainstay in TV is growing as TVs from previous years continue to work well.

guarantee

TCL offers a one-year parts and labor warranty on the R648. You can navigate to TCL's registration and warranty information here.

Should you buy it?

Yes. The TCL R648 offers tremendous value for money with excellent performance coupled with a competitive price. While the 8K resolution isn't really what sets this TV apart, it does offer a certain element of future-proofing. You pay a premium for this television but get every penny of performance back.

Editor's recommendations

"The 6 series from TCL offers the masses an amazingly good picture quality."

• Very good brightness

• Excellent black levels

• Sharp mini LED backlight

• Excellent HDR color

• THX certified game mode

• Complicated picture settings

• Limited to 1440p for 120 Hz gaming

• SDR color off somewhat

The 2020 6-series (R635) from TCL offers astonishingly good image quality and undercuts the price competition considerably. But you will have to work for it.

The 2020 TCL 6 series is the latest in three years, offering the best value for 4K HDR TVs. It features mini-LED backlight technology, player-friendly features, and Roku TVs that together deliver performance seen in an unprecedented 65-inch TV for $ 900 or a 55-inch model for $ 650 -Dollar. In fact, I'd say the new 6 Series is the best case yet because of its performance alone, that you don't have to spend a dime over $ 1,000 to get a great TV.

The only problem is that the 6 Series, just like the 2019 5 Series TV, requires skipping through enough picture adjustment frames so I'm afraid that many people may not experience the best it has to offer. Year after year, TV manufacturers point out research that suggests that most people don't change the picture settings of their TVs after they buy them. In the case of the 6 Series, many users could get a fraction of the power that TV is capable of.

However, if you're willing to invest some time and play around in the sandpit, so to speak, the TCL 6 series can be a remarkably rewarding TV.

TCL 6 Series 4K HDR TV Details (R635)

While we tested the 65-inch model 65R635, our test also applies to the 55-inch and 75-inch models.

Screen size	Model number	RRP
55 inches	55R635	$ 650
65 inches	65R635	$ 900
75 in	75R635	$ 1400

Out of the box

Nowadays I'm more of a surprise when a television isn't ready to use right away. It seems that virtually invisible frames and attractive building materials are now the default for everyone but the cheapest TVs. To be completely honest, I wasn't surprised that the 6 Series, despite the old wisdom that affordable TVs look a little cheap compared to their more expensive cousins.

Dan Baker / Digital Trends

Indeed, the 2020 6 Series is a smart-looking smart TV with near-invisible bezels on the top and sides and a modest edge of brushed metal on the bottom. Perhaps the smallest but most significant design change was that the typical circular power switch next to the Roku logo was banned and replaced by a less easily accessible power switch on the back. I'll make the trade off for the cleaner look.

The TV came with a few paper items, two AAA batteries, a Roku voice remote, two legs, four screws, and a composite video breakout cable.

configuration

If you want to stand on a bracket, installing the 6 Series legs is a breeze. Align the three small knobs on each leg with the ones on the bottom of the TV, screw in the included Phillips head screws, and you're done.

Before the final stand placement or wall mounting is complete, some clear protective plastic must be removed. Once that's done, you can start the long road to television readiness.

My memory may be failing me, but it seems to me that Roku TVs used to take less time to set up than they do today. I also feel like the Roku setup is generally ready for some improvement. Here you can find out what you're looking for and how I would like it to be improved.

When connected to Ethernet, it took a total of about 12 minutes for Roku to run the Roku Setup Wizard. You need a computer or mobile device with internet access and either an ethernet or Wi-Fi connection to the internet to continue.

Dan Baker / Digital Trends

After accessing a Roku setup link on your computer or mobile device, enter a code that will appear on the TV screen. The TV will then download and install the latest Roku operating system update. It is shut down and then backed up.

You will be taken through a series of setup questions, presumably aimed at getting the necessary apps installed on the TV. From there, you have the option to let Roku know what kind of content genres you like and presumably re-adjust which apps are installed on the TV. After entering all of this information, the TV will download and install. Don't be shocked if the screen says it is downloading and installing 92 apps like I experienced.

Here's the thing: I don't need to pre-install all of the apps, and I don't want to wait for them to be installed either. After you've answered all of these setup questions, it's like the TV just installs what it wants. It is confusing.

What's even more frustrating is that the apps aren't arranged in an order that makes sense to me. You should take some time to put the apps in the order you want. I would love if Roku could reference my existing account and app arrangement and implement it on every new Roku device I set up – or at least make an option out of it.

In addition to the time it takes to get set up, it takes a while to go through all of the apps I subscribe to and enter usernames and passwords. It would be okay for Roku to access this information from previous setups and implement it in every new Roku device I set up, saving me a lot of time and frustration.

Dan Baker / Digital Trends

With the Roku operating system, you can label your entrances and call them "cable box", "game console", "Blu-Ray" etc. However, unlike many Samsung and LG TVs, it is not smart enough to identify and label them automatically.

Once Roku TV is up and running, it's very easy to use. It's just that it can be a nuisance to get started.

Picture settings

While these earlier complaints are directly the responsibility of Roku TV OS, the problem I have with the TCL 6 series picture settings appears to be a shared responsibility of both TCL and Roku.

I usually don't dig too deeply into picture settings in my TV reviews as the process is traditionally straightforward. On almost every other platform – for example Android TV, LG's WebOS, Samsung & # 39; s Tizen – the picture presetting for film, cinema, ISF or Technicolor is by far the most precise and therefore the most pleasant for me. Choosing one of these presets and then turning off motion smoothing features is usually all that is required.

Surprisingly, it turns out that this is not the case with the last TCL TVs I tested. In contrast, the movie preset for SDR content feels dull and overly warm – this includes cable, satellite, standard Blu-ray discs, and any non-HDR content available through streaming services. There is a lack of powerful contrast and the colors appear muted and excessively warm.

Instead of talking any further about how weird this is, I just want to explain what settings I chose to get the best results.

For SDR, enter the picture settings menu by pressing the asterisk button while viewing SDR content. Again, this is a cable / satellite channel, standard Blu-ray or DVD, or streaming content not marked as HDR or Dolby Vision on the title screen. Scroll down to the picture settings and note that the TV is in low power mode. Turn this off by selecting the Normal Image preset. From there, scroll down and select Warm for the color temperature. Then turn Action Smoothing and Action Clarity. The last two add the "soap opera effect" which I don't like.

Dan Baker / Digital Trends

The process is similar for HDR and Dolby Vision. Start an HDR content on YouTube or with an Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc, then select the normal HDR picture mode, the color temperature to be heated and deactivate Action Smoothing and Action Clarity.

For Dolby Vision, go to Netflix and start a track with Dolby Vision that appears on the title screen. Select either Normal Dolby Vision or Bright Dolby Vision, Color Temperature for Warming, and Action Smoothing and Action Clarity. Remember that you'll need to repeat this for each input that is fed an HDR or Dolby Vision signal.

Since the menu navigation is difficult to describe here, I recommend watching the video at the top of this post. There I go through the whole process.

Note that you will need to do this process for every input, including apps, as well as for SDR, HDR and possibly Dolby Vision in every input. It's a complicated process that I don't think most people will have patience for.

That is the riddle. I'm sure that choosing a picture preset that looks good for a particular viewer will be enough for many people, but given that this TV is a favorite among TV enthusiasts and many buyers who research and find It's high on the radar It's high on many best-of lists. I worry that some will bring it home wondering why the image quality won't overwhelm them.

picture quality

With the correct image settings, the TCL 6 series works very well, although with a little more user control I think it could look even better. I've reached out to TCL to clarify what's happening in terms of the under-hood image settings and I'll update this section accordingly.

For now, I can only report on the results of what I believe to be the most achievable consumer's image settings, which I have described above.

First, some brief specs for those who enjoy them. With a SpectraCal C6 measuring device that was created by a Xrite i1 Pro 2 and CalMAN software, I measured the peak brightness of the 6 series of the TCL in SDR mode at 700 nits and in HDR10 at almost 1000 nits (using the Standard window of 10%). .

For me, this is enough brightness for most viewing scenarios. Only in the brightest rooms I might want more. If you want a brighter TV for roughly the same price, I'd point you straight to the Hisense H9G Quantum.

I think the black levels on this TV are excellent, preserving the shadow detail that the Hisense H9G struggled with in my tests. In addition, with the settings I chose, I got very little light around light objects on a dark background. This helps maintain impressive contrast, especially when there are mailbox bars.

Dan Baker / Digital Trends

The brightness, black levels and general backlight control are due to TCL's pioneering work in mini-LED technology, which will be used in the 6 series this year but was reserved for the 8K 8 series last year. For the stranger, the mini LED backlight is a much more precise version of the standard LED backlight technology that has been around for years. In short, while a standard LED-backlit TV might only contain hundreds of LEDs, mini-LED uses tens of thousands of much smaller LED lights.

It's not enough to just have a lot more little lights at work. They need to be well controlled to enhance the viewing experience and I've found that they are actually well controlled by the TCL 6 series processing. I didn't see sluggish response times as the scenes got lighter and darker. In some very challenging fade-in tests, the 6 Series even performed exceptionally well.

The ready-to-use color reproduction is a little different in SDR, a bit oversaturated with reds and oranges. A professional TV calibrator can correct this, but hiring someone to do color correction will degrade the value of the TV. Aside from the SDR color, I immediately found HDR10 and Dolby Vision colors to be outstanding. If you want a more accurate, out-of-the-box color experience, you'll have to pay $ 500 more for the Sony X900H and be willing to sacrifice some brightness.

The movement of the 6 series is excellent without any jerking or jerking being noticed in content with 24, 30 or 60 frames per second (fps). The 6 series also avoids moiré, screen door and other common image processing errors. Fortunately, I also got a very uniform panel, with no spots or dark areas that cause the so-called dirty screen effect. Overall, the picture was exceptionally clean.

For upscaling lower resolution 720p and 1080p content to 4K, the 6 series is fine. As I often say, this upscaling can't work miracles, but it neatly captures cable / satellite and DVD content and makes it look great on screen. However, native 4K content is rendered very well.

Overall, the TCL 6 series has remarkable image quality, especially for the price. I just wish it was easier to achieve without all of the hyper-specific image settings required.

Play

When it comes to the game potential of the 6 Series, I have good news and somewhat disappointing news. The good news is that the TV's THX certified game mode looks amazing. Aside from the Sony X900H and X900G, no other TV comes close in terms of color accuracy and color temperature regardless of the smooth movement and generally clean finish.

Another feather in the 6 Series gaming cap is the way the micro-LED backlight delivers deep blacks while preserving shadow detail in low-light areas, which is especially handy for competitive first-person shooter games.

Yooo, the official TV for #callofduty, is also the first TV with THX certified game mode. https://t.co/OZrKi0igYQ

– THX (@THX) August 26, 2020

The TV also supports AMD FreeSync's variable refresh rate, up to 120 Hz. However, the 6-series HDMI ports do not support enough bandwidth to achieve both a 120 Hz refresh rate and 4K resolution. So if you want to play with next generation game consoles at 120Hz, the resolution is limited to 1440p. With many competitors like the Samsung Q80T and all LG OLEDs offering 4K at 120Hz, this seems like a missed opportunity.

Our opinion

Honestly, it breaks my heart not to give this TV 4.5 or even 5 stars out of 5. It comes so close, and if TCL can address what I consider to be an extremely complex process of image adjustment, I'll adjust my score. Otherwise, the TCL 6 series is an exceptional television that seriously undercuts the competition and offers top-notch picture quality to those who otherwise might not be able to afford it.

Is there a better alternative?

The only TV that can touch the TCL 6 series in its price bracket is the Hisense H9G for just $ 50 more (at the time of writing this review). The Hisense is a much bolder TV with higher brightness and a slightly more punchy HDR experience. However, the H9G lacks the solid gaming features of the 6-series, so gamers will want to stick with TCL.

How long it will take?

If the 6 Series has 4K 120Hz gaming, I'd say it would last longer than you need it to be. Without full support for everything the upcoming Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 can do, I can't say it's perfectly future proof, but that's a very specific gripe. For the vast majority of users, the TCL 6 series should bring years of pleasure.

warranty

TCL warrants parts and labor for one year from the date of purchase for non-commercial use. More information can be found here.

You should buy it

Yes. The TCL 6-Series is an excellent television, especially considering its price. It takes a little work to get the best image quality, but with our guidance and a little time, great performance can be achieved.

Editor's recommendations