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On a tight budget of $600 and looking for a halfway decent 55” TV. I’ve narrowed it down to the TCL 5 Series, the Vizio M7 (I can’t find M8 anywhere), or the Hisense U6G. All roughly the same price. Looking for an acceptable picture quality in a fairly bright room. There will be no gaming on it. It’s heaviest use will be movies for my undiscerning 5 year old son, and the wife and I casually watching movies on (we have a 4K projector we use for serious movie watching). The TV is also being mounted in the center of a large built in bookcase I am building, so how the TV looks when it’s off is a tad important to me as well (design aesthetics).
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If you want a 4K TV that supports all the latest video and gaming technologies but doesn’t cost a fortune, we recommend the TCL 5-Series. Although it can’t match the image contrast and brightness of the best LCD TVs and OLED TVs, the 5-Series still delivers a
great-looking 4K picture, and it comes in 50-, 55-, 65-, and 75-inch sizes to fit most rooms. Plus, it’s available with either the Roku TV or
Google TV streaming platform built in, so you can choose the system that you prefer. How we picked and tested
Our pickTCL 5-Series Roku TV (model S535)Best 4K TV on a budgetThe TCL 5-Series delivers a great-looking 4K image, the latest gaming features, and your choice of streaming platforms, but its brightness, contrast, and motion don’t measure up to the best LCD and OLED TVs. Buying OptionsThe 5-Series is TCL’s lowest priced TV line to incorporate advanced LCD technologies like a full-array local-dimming LED backlight to improve image contrast and quantum dots for richer color. (See TV features, defined for more info on the technical terms used here.) Gamers will appreciate the inclusion of many of the latest HDMI 2.1 features, so the TV works great with the newest game consoles. TCL offers the 5-Series with either Google TV or Roku TV built in, so you can pick the streaming platform that works best for your situation. Both versions support the most common HDR10 and Dolby Vision high dynamic range formats, and the Google TV version adds support for HDR10+. Just don’t expect the 5-Series to deliver the impressive HDR brightness and contrast of our favorite premium LCD TVs, and the lack of a 120 Hz panel means that motion won’t be quite as clean and smooth. Runner-upLike the TCL 5-Series, the Vizio M-Series Quantum (model MQ7-J) has a high contrast ratio thanks to its full-array local-dimming LED backlight, and the use of quantum dot technology helps it produce a colorful, bright image. This TV supports all the latest HDMI 2.1 gaming features and every high dynamic range standard in use today (including HDR10, Dolby Vision, HDR10+, and HGiG), but it only has a 60 Hz panel so motion isn’t as clean and smooth as you’ll find on higher-end TVs. The integrated SmartCast platform offers most of the popular streaming services available right now and supports both AirPlay and Chromecast to receive streamed content from mobile devices—but it isn’t as comprehensive and customizable as platforms like Roku and Google TV. The MQ7-J Series is available in screen sizes from 50 to 75 inches (including less common sizes like 58 and 70 inches), but note that the 2021 M-Series Quantum lineup includes two different models—the lesser-quality MQ6-J model does not use a local-dimming backlight, so we do not recommend it. Everything we recommend
I’ve reviewed TVs and home-theater equipment since 2008. I am an ISF level II–certified calibrator, so I am aware of what makes for a good TV image and how to get those things out of a TV. I have all the necessary test equipment and software to provide the objective measurements to back up my subjective opinions. Although most TV reviews involve scrutinizing one display at a time, we compare the models we’re reviewing right next to one another so that we can see exactly how they differ. Who should get thisIf your TV works and you’re happy with it, stick with what you have. If your TV is dying or has already died, or if you’re looking for something a little larger or more compatible with the latest video and gaming standards, the 4K TVs we cover in this guide offer great performance at a budget-friendly price. Although the picks in this guide are good performers that support high dynamic range (HDR) video, they don’t have the outstanding contrast and high peak brightness you can find in higher-end TVs, and they seldom have a true 120 Hz refresh rate to render smooth, crisp motion. So if picture quality is your top priority and you’re willing to pay more to get a better performer, check out our guides to the best LCD/LED TV and the best OLED TV. If you’re looking specifically for a smaller TV, check out our guide to the best 32-inch TVs. Also, while our picks here have some important gaming features, serious gamers may want to check out our guide to the best gaming TV. How we pickedTVs in this price range all make compromises to get the cost down, but some compromises are more noticeable than others. Our goal was to find the lowest priced 4K TVs that use advanced performance technologies to deliver a satisfying viewing experience with the fewest drawbacks. We only considered TVs that support high dynamic range video playback (preferably in both the HDR10 and Dolby Vision formats) and can produce the wider color gamut used in 4K HDR content. Producing darker black levels results in better contrast ratios and leads to an image that seems to offer more pop than on other displays. Accurate colors that look natural are preferable to unrealistic, oversaturated colors in a TV image. A wider viewing angle makes it easier for a group of people to watch the TV while still enjoying a good picture. No budget TV excels in all these areas, but we wanted something that balanced affordability with performance and user-friendliness. Because we were looking for user-friendliness, the quality of a TV’s integrated streaming platform was more important for this category than for our best LCD/LED TV picks. For TVs in this price range, the need to buy a separate streaming device might add 10% to the overall cost, so we favored TVs with an excellent system built in. Gaming-friendly features such as automatic low-latency mode and variable refresh rate are starting to be available on some budget TVs, which is a plus. You can read more about these features in our guide to the best gaming TV. We did not require the inclusion of higher-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 ports for our picks in this guide because most TVs in this price range do not have a true 120 Hz refresh rate; they are 60 Hz TVs that don’t need an HDMI bandwidth higher than 18 Gbps. To help us whittle down the list of TVs to test, we relied on reviews from sites we trust, such as Rtings.com, which does a very good job of providing a large number of objective measurements for TVs and direct comparisons between other models across all price ranges. Reviewed also has lots of reviews, but doesn’t report most of their objective measurements. How we testedThe best way to compare TVs is to put them next to each other and look at them using the same content, so we did just that with the budget models we tested. We also considered how they performed in relation to the more expensive TVs we tested for our best LCD/LED TV guide. We took each TV out of the box, set it up, measured it, and calibrated it using Portrait Displays’s Calman software, along with the X-Rite i1Pro 2 and SpectraCal C6 meters in conjunction with a Murideo Seven test-pattern generator to measure color, color temperature, light output, and more. This process let us acquire before-and-after calibration measurements for each TV to assess its accuracy right out of the box and how close we could bring it in line with HDTV standards. We recognize that someone shopping for a budget TV is highly unlikely to spend the $300 (or more) it costs to get a TV professionally calibrated. As such, we did all of our side-by-side comparisons with the settings reset to factory defaults. The only adjustments we made to the TVs involved the basic user-menu picture settings, using patterns from the Spears & Munsil HD Benchmark Version 2 Blu-ray disc; for $30, this disc lets you correctly set the main controls (contrast, brightness, color, tint, and sharpness). This basic setup is what we hope most of our readers will do (see Recommended settings below). You would need calibration hardware to set more-advanced controls correctly. When we refer to how accurate a TV is in this guide, we are talking about the performance after calibration with a Blu-ray disc, not with instruments. If we found that a TV offered a self-calibration program, as TCL models are starting to do, we ran that program as well, since such calibration can be performed for free. We placed two TVs next to each other on tables of the same height. We made sure each TV was positioned so that we could look at it dead-on from our fixed viewing position; this arrangement prevented the image from looking washed-out due to changes in viewing angle. Using an HDMI distribution amp, we sent the same signal from a Blu-ray player or Nvidia Shield to each TV. Additionally, we evaluated the TVs with the lights on and off and looked at them from wide angles (to see how well they would work for larger seating arrangements). We used a large variety of content, including TV, movies, and test patterns, to compare the displays and assess their abilities. Our pick: TCL 5-SeriesOur pick
TCL 5-Series Roku TV (model S535)Best 4K TV on a budgetThe TCL 5-Series delivers a great-looking 4K image, the latest gaming features, and your choice of streaming platforms, but its brightness, contrast, and motion don’t measure up to the best LCD and OLED TVs. Buying OptionsThe TCL 5-Series includes the following models:
The TCL 5-Series is the best budget 4K TV because it offers great picture quality for the price and has the gaming and streaming features that people need—including the option to choose between the Roku TV and Google TV streaming platform. The use of a full-array LED backlight and quantum dot technology gives the TV great contrast and color, and the inclusion of HDMI 2.1 features like variable refresh rate and automatic low latency mode make it a great choice to pair with the newest generation of game consoles. TCL even offers a free calibration app for certain phones that helps you make sure the image is accurate without having to spend extra for a professional calibration. With support for full-array local dimming (which TCL calls Contrast Control Zones), the 5-Series can produce deep blacks while also having bright highlights by dynamically adjusting individual areas of the backlight, rather than the whole thing. This results in great image contrast. This TV can produce high dynamic range video that is bright and vibrant. The Roku TV version supports the HDR10, Dolby Vision, and HLG HDR formats, and the newer Google TV model adds support for the HDR10+ format. We measured 450 nits of brightness on the Roku version and closer to 550 nits on the Google TV version. This isn’t as bright as the TCL 6-Series and other more expensive LCD TVs that fall in the 800- to 1,000-nit range, and there aren’t as many local-dimming zones—but this TV still looks far better than a budget TV did just a couple of years ago. We saw some blooming (or glow) around bright objects against a black background, but this was mostly kept under control. Many midrange LCD TVs now use quantum dots to display a wider range of colors, and the 5-Series does so, as well. With HDR content this lets you see reds, blues, and greens that are more vibrant and saturated, closer to what you see in the real world. SDR content can’t take advantage of this wider color range, but at least the 5-Series displays those SDR colors accurately, without making everything look like a neon version of reality (unless you want it to). TCL updated the 5-Series in 2021 to add a Google TV model alongside the existing Roku TV one. This choice distinguishes the 5-Series from many competitors. In our guide to the best media streaming devices, we prefer Google TV over Roku because of its more modern interface that makes it easier to find specific content to watch, but some people prefer Roku for its ease of use. The Google TV platform lets you stream from Chromecast-compatible apps in your mobile devices, while the Roku platform does the same with AirPlay-compatible apps. The Google TV remote also adds a farfield mic for voice control, so you don’t need to hold it in your hand for it to hear you, plus the ability to use a webcam. But overall the performance between the two is about the same. The 5-Series is also ready for the newest HDMI devices thanks to support for important HDMI 2.1 features. Both versions of the TV have support for automatic low latency mode, where the TV automatically switches into game mode when playing video games to reduce input lag and provide a more responsive experience. They also have eARC, which lets the TV pass uncompressed audio, including Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, to a soundbar or receiver (older versions of ARC can only pass lower-resolution compressed audio) through the HDMI cable. The Google TV version of the 5-Series also supports variable refresh rate, where the refresh rate of the TV changes if a video game gets too busy in order to reduce on-screen artifacts. Variable refresh rate is nice to have, but it’s less important on a 60 Hz TV like this one than it is on a 120 Hz TV, where PCs and game consoles might not be able to keep up all the time. The 5-Series lacks full-bandwidth (48 Gbps) HDMI 2.1 inputs, but again those aren’t needed in a 60 Hz TV. TCL lets you automatically adjust the image on your TV using a free app with a smartphone. While most TVs have at least one fairly accurate picture mode for you to use, a TV’s image quality can drift over time, so it’s nice to be able to fine-tune the picture quality. We’ve tested the iPQ app (for iOS and Android) over a number of years, and while it isn’t as good as professional calibration, it does make the image more accurate than before, is free, and takes under five minutes to do. The 5-Series comes in four screen sizes (50, 55, 65, and 75 inches sizes) to fit in rooms small and large. Even a 50-inch TV with good performance is becoming more rare these days, as smaller TVs often get fewer features than the larger models. For the two larger 5-Series screen sizes, you can choose between different positions for the feet, making it easier to place on top of a smaller table. We wouldn’t recommend you place the feet closer together if your TV is located in higher traffic areas, as the result will be less stable, but it lets the 5-Series work in situations where other TVs can’t (we recommend adding a wall anchor). The remote that’s included with the TCL Roku TV is like other Roku remotes: very minimal. It offers playback controls, a directional pad, volume, power, and a few buttons for quick access to certain streaming services (but you can’t change which services). There’s no number pad here, and almost everything else is handled by on-screen menus, which some people will find annoying, but it does control the TV just fine. The remote for the Google TV version is very similar to the Roku remote. It’s a bit longer in size, but it has a nearly identical selection of buttons and is just as simple to use. Flaws but not dealbreakersThe 5-Series’s panel has only a 60 Hz refresh rate, so motion isn’t as fluid as it can be on a 120 Hz panel, which offers faster pixel refresh and reduced motion blur. Getting a 120 Hz panel requires spending more on a different model. The 5-Series uses a BGR subpixel array that sometimes causes the image to look slightly different from how it does on TVs with the standard RGB subpixel array. When I fed this TV test patterns with solid blocks of color, those colors looked dithered instead of solid, which is something I haven’t seen in other TVs. But when watching movies or playing games instead of staring at test patterns, I didn’t notice the issue. As long as you don’t enjoy watching test patterns on-screen, this isn’t something you should worry about. Runner-up: Vizio MQ7-J SeriesRunner-upThe Vizio MQ7-J Series includes the following models:
If the TCL 5-Series is unavailable or you need a less common screen size like 58 or 70 inches, Vizio’s 2021 M-Series Quantum (MQ7-J Series) is our runner-up pick. It offers nearly identical image quality to the 5-Series, thanks to its full-array local-dimming backlight that produces good image contrast and its quantum dot color technology, which allows the TV to produce a very wide color gamut. The TV supports all the major high dynamic range formats, as well as HDMI 2.1 features that will appeal to gamers. But the integrated streaming platform isn’t nearly as comprehensive or well designed as the Google TV and Roku TV options on the TCL 5-Series, and the MQ7-J Series currently carries a higher price tag. Vizio’s M-Series Quantum can be confusing because the company offers two different versions in its 2021 lineup: the MQ7-J and MQ6-J. Only the MQ7-J models have local-dimming capabilities, while the MQ6-J models have full-array LED backlights without dimming. We tested both versions and found that the MQ7-J’s superior backlight gives it a clear performance advantage, so we think you should avoid the MQ6-J. However, that can be tricky when stores only advertise the TV as the Vizio M-Series Quantum.
The MQ7-J can show HDR highlights at up to 500 nits of brightness, which is more than the 5-Series Roku version but less than the Google TV version. It supports the HDR10, Dolby Vision, HDR10+, and HLG formats, so it works with every major HDR standard out there. When we viewed this TV next to the TCL, we found that the differences in image quality were very minor, and you aren’t likely to notice them. Overall the image quality is very nice for the price, and no one should be disappointed in it. Vizio has also packed worthy HDMI 2.1 features into the M-Series Quantum, including eARC (to allow for higher-quality audio to pass from the TV to a soundbar or receiver), variable refresh rate, and auto low latency mode (see our gaming TV guide for more on these functions). But like the TCL 5-Series, this TV only has a 60 Hz refresh rate, so you don’t get (or need) full-bandwidth 48-Gbps HDMI 2.1 inputs—and the motion quality isn’t as clean and smooth as you can get from a 120 Hz panel. What hinders Vizio’s TV is its use of the company’s own SmartCast streaming platform, which doesn’t have the depth of app selection or the nice user interface that Google TV and Roku TV offer. SmartCast has improved over the years, but some apps aren’t added until months after they appear on other platforms. The interface also isn’t as quick, responsive, and customizable as the other options, so people may want to rely on an external media streamer instead of SmartCast, which ties up an HDMI input. The TV does support both AirPlay and Chromecast, which is rare. Usually you must choose one or the other. Overall the Vizio MQ7-J has a good image with great HDMI 2.1 features, but it just doesn’t have the better streaming capabilities that the TCL models offer. But if you rely on an external streaming platform, then the Vizio is a fine alternative. Other good 4K TVs on a budgetIf you’re really minding your budget: New for 2022, Walmart’s in-house Onn brand has released the Frameless Roku TV that you can get for $100 or so less than our top pick, the TCL 5-Series. We’ve been pleasantly surprised by Onn TVs before, and this new model continues that trend. For what you’re paying—$378 for the 50-inch or $578 for the 65-inch, with 55-, 70-, and 75-inch sizes coming soon—this TV bundles quite a bit of value with top-tier TV tech: a full-array local dimming backlight, quantum dot color, and HDR10/Dolby Vision compatibility. During use, I found the Roku platform to be responsive and intuitive (as usual), and our lab tests bore out acceptable numbers for SDR and HDR color accuracy. While watching Dolby Vision content, I was impressed by the effectiveness of the TV’s local dimming to produce a fairly deep black level (especially important for keeping letterbox bars totally dimmed), and flesh tones looked very accurate as well—two areas that tend to be difficult for entry-level LCD/LED TVs. And as a bonus, this TV is quite easy on the eyes (hence the “Frameless” moniker). The Onn Frameless Roku TV has some flaws, however, that kept it from being an official pick. The local dimming algorithm occasionally got confused, especially with varying shades of gray on the screen (such as when searching on the built-in YouTube app), which led to some visible shifting of black levels. Onn also claims 500-nit HDR brightness for this TV, but during testing I measured HDR peaks closer to the low 400s, coupled with black levels that were over-bright on occasion. The SDR contrast was more reliable: The TV coupled a brightness of around 350 nits with black levels as low as 0.025 nits. Like our picks, this TV has a 60 Hz refresh rate, so motion isn’t as fluid as it can be on a 120 Hz panel, and it doesn’t have the gaming-friendly HDMI 2.1 features you get with our picks. But overall it’s a good choice for general viewing, given what you’re paying. TV features, definedModern TVs are more complicated than ever before, and even some highly affordable ones come equipped with advanced technologies. If you’ve found yourself browsing one of our guides and felt stumped by some of the acronyms or tech terms, we’ve summarized the most common ones below: LCD: LCD stands for liquid crystal display, and it’s the most common kind of television besides OLED (defined below). LCD TVs shine an LED backlight through a panel of liquid crystal, a malleable substance that reacts to electricity, opening or closing when jolted. In LCD TVs, the liquid crystal opens to allow the backlight through or closes to block it. The specific details of the opening/closing are dependent upon the arrangement of the pixels: The most common LCD arrangements are Vertical Alignment (VA) and In-Plane Switching (IPS), with the former tending to produce higher contrast and the latter tending to produce wider viewing angles. All so-called “LED” TVs are really LCD TVs, as are all current QLED and ULED TVs. OLED: An organic light-emitting diode, or OLED, TV creates light inside each individual pixel without using a backlight and can dim each pixel individually all the way down to black, which LCD TVs can’t do. This tech gives an OLED TV an infinite contrast ratio and other benefits to help create an overall better-looking image, although at considerable additional cost. You can read more about OLED technology in this article. Full-array local dimming backlight: This term refers to a TV technology in which the backlight is behind the LCD panel and has individual zones that can turn on and off depending on the content. Such TVs are usually larger and more expensive to build and design, and more zones cost more. However, TVs with full-array local dimming typically provide the best LCD picture quality by improving contrast ratios and shadow detail. Mini-LEDs: Every LCD TV made today currently uses LEDs to produce the light that shines through the LCD panel. Most TVs use LED lights that pass through a diffuser to light up the entire LCD screen. Mini-LEDs, which some TVs use, are much smaller than traditional LEDs, so TV makers can install more of them and thus create more zones of local dimming, which means less blooming or halos around bright objects. Mini-LEDs are completely different from micro-LEDs, an available (though very expensive) technology that employs individual red, green, and blue LEDs to produce an image without needing an LCD panel at all. Nits: Also called candelas per square meter (cd/m²), this unit of luminance measures how much light a TV can produce. Previously, TVs could output 200 to 300 nits, and standard dynamic range (SDR) content was graded and mastered with 100 nits as the standard. With high dynamic range (HDR), content is mastered with 1,000, 4,000, or 10,000 nits as the standard; so, the more nits an HDR TV can display, the more accurately it can display the highlights in HDR material without having to reduce the brightness of the highlights or clip them. High dynamic range (HDR): High dynamic range lets a TV display much brighter highlights while retaining deep blacks, although only with special HDR content. Whereas standard dynamic range (SDR) content has a peak brightness of around 100 nits, high-end HDR sets can have highlights that exceed 1,500 nits. This feature drastically improves contrast ratios and provides a more dynamic image in which bright objects (the sun, fire, a photon torpedo) really jump off the screen. HDR10 is the standard format that all HDR-capable TVs support. HDR10 content contains metadata (or information about how the image should be presented) only for the movie as a whole, while the more advanced HDR10+ and Dolby Vision formats have metadata for each individual scene—so the TV can better optimize the image as it changes. Wide color gamut: Ultra HD content has a wider color gamut than standard HDTV content; right now, most UHD content is mastered with the same DCI/P3 color gamut used in theatrical cinema (the ultimate goal is the even larger Rec. 2020 color gamut). This expanded color gamut allows a TV to display richer reds, blues, and greens than ever before. Some TVs use quantum-dot technology to produce this wider color gamut. Quantum dots: Quantum dots are a color-enhancing technology primarily found in LCD TVs (though some 2022 OLED TVs now have them as well). Chiefly employed as a filter that’s painted onto a substrate, quantum dots are microscopic nano-crystals that, when struck with blue light, produce very vivid red or green light (depending upon the size of the crystal). Quantum dots are the primary technology that allows LCD TVs to produce the wide color gamut required to display HDR content properly, as they greatly increase the color saturation of red and green. HDMI 2.1: HDMI 2.1, the most recent version of HDMI, adds support for 8K displays, automatic low-latency mode for improved gaming, eARC for better audio when you’re using Audio Return Channel, variable refresh rate for syncing the TV’s refresh rate to a gaming console to avoid stuttering, and dynamic metadata support. For more about HDMI 2.1, read our blog post. HDCP 2.3: This is the most recent version of the copy-protection standard used over HDMI, though for now it’s most important that a TV supports HDCP 2.2. Without HDCP 2.2 support, a TV or other HDMI device (soundbar, receiver) cannot transmit or display Ultra HD images. All of our picks support HDCP 2.2. Refresh rate: All digital displays (including TVs) have what’s called a refresh rate, measured in hertz (Hz), shorthand for cycles per second. A TV’s refresh rate refers to how quickly it displays new incoming video information on a nanosecond-to-nanosecond basis. While there are many possible refresh rates, most TVs come with either a 60 Hz refresh rate (meaning 60 screen refreshes per second) or a 120 Hz refresh rate (120 screen refreshes per second). Ideally, a TV will have the highest refresh rate possible, but there are diminishing returns for higher refresh rates during many types of content. A 120 Hz TV has advantages when watching 24p content or mitigating judder (definitions below), and tends to produce less input lag when playing video games, but it won’t provide advantages for most forms of cable TV or streaming content. In 2022, some manufacturers introduced 144 Hz TVs meant to appeal specifically to gamers, but the majority of TVs still have 60 or 120 Hz refresh rates. 24p: With few exceptions, movies in a theater display at 24 frames per second, abbreviated as 24p, which gives movies that “cinematic” look. All TVs now support 24p content, but some maintain that look better than others. Judder: This term refers to a slightly jerky motion that can occur when 24p film content appears on a TV with a 60 Hz refresh rate. In such situations, to make 24 frames match up to the 60 Hz display, half of the frames appear two times and the other half appear three times. This display technique causes judder, which is most noticeable on panning shots. Some 120 Hz displays avoid this effect by repeating each film frame five times, while some 60 Hz panels run at 48 Hz to show each frame twice. Motion smoothing: Motion smoothing, sometimes called MEMC (Motion Estimation/Motion Compensation), refers to a TV’s ability to intelligently create new frames to create smoother-looking or less juddery motion. Most modern TVs can artificially increase their refresh rates to smooth out fast or difficult sequences, but the efficacy of this motion smoothing is often dependent upon the TV’s native refresh rate. Motion smoothing is also the cause of the “soap opera effect,” where cinematic/24p content looks more like a daytime soap opera due to the insertion of unnecessary frames. The best TVs come with multiple motion smoothing presets, and some even allow the user to fine-tune the degree of judder reduction and frame interpolation employed. When used correctly, motion smoothing can make content like sports and nature documentaries look more realistic, but we prefer it be turned off for content like premium TV, movies, and video games. Recommended settingsThe most important thing you can do to get the best performance from any TV is to set it up correctly. For the TCL 5-Series, we recommend using the Movie picture mode and reducing the sharpness control to zero. We preferred the Contrast Control Zones set to high, as the low and medium settings offered very little improvement (if any) over leaving it disabled. Other image-processing functions, such as Dynamic Contrast, should be disabled as they actually cause your TV to lose dynamic range. Natural Cinema should be enabled so that the TV produces motion that is accurate for TV shows and movies. You should disable all of the Auto Power options in the System Power menu. For the Vizio M-Series Quantum, you should first set it to the Calibrated picture mode to get the most accurate image with minimal work. We recommend setting the sharpness control to zero to prevent edge-enhancement artifacts and setting the Active Full Array function to medium or high. The high setting will provide darker blacks but can overly dim certain scenes—for instance, the stars may not be visible in a dark night sky. The medium setting isn’t as dark but shows all those details. For gaming, we recommend enabling game low latency, variable refresh rate, and game HDR (HGiG) for the best performance with newer consoles. To adjust each TV’s brightness, contrast, color, and tint, we recommend using test patterns to set them properly. You can learn more about these adjustments in this post: Also important: If you have kids and you’re not wall-mounting the TV, be sure to consider anchoring it. Doing so minimizes the chance of the TV falling over if it’s “accidentally” yanked on (or knocked over in an earthquake, if you’re in an area so prone). An anchor system is cheap (less than $20) and easy to install. What to look forward toWe’re currently testing—the Hisense U6H— which looks to be the company’s most promising budget 4K model. The U6H is available in 50-, 55-, 65-, and 75-inch screen sizes, with each model boasting impressive specs for what you’re paying: 600 nits of peak brightness, quantum dot color, and backlights with full-array local dimming (albeit a limited maximum count of 32 zones). The U6H makes some concessions to maintain affordability, however: The series utilizes a native 60 Hz refresh rate (rather than the improved 120 Hz) and—crucially for gamers—doesn’t have HDMI 2.1 inputs, which means you won’t be able to play games in 4K resolution at 120 Hz. Fortunately for gamers, the U6H still has VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) and ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode) enabled. Each U6H TV is also equipped with the Google TV platform. We’ll have an update about TCL’s 2022 TV lineup in September—stay tuned. Finally, Skyworth said at CES 2022 that it is committed to expanding its U.S. presence in 2022 and is moving its TV manufacturing for the North American market from China to Mexico. The company plans to launch five Google TV LCD lines this year, with 11 models total. The more affordable options include the UD8000, a 4K QLED TV with quantum dot color and a 60 Hz refresh rate (in screen sizes of 65 and 75 inches), and the UD7200G, a standard 60 Hz 4K LCD/LED TV (no quantum dots) in sizes from 50 to 75 inches. But none of these models are available yet. The competitionThese are 2022 TVs that did not earn a spot in our guide: Hisense’s 2022 A6H Series is a step down from the U6H Series and does not include technologies like quantum dots or full-array local dimming that produce the best picture quality in an LCD TV—so we chose not to test it. While you’re still getting a 4K resolution, HDR compatibility, and the Google TV smart platform in the A6H Series, our picks are a better choice for performance-minded shoppers. Vizio’s 2022 D-Series is limited to a sub-4K resolution, so we did not consider it for this guide. We also dismissed the 2022 MQ6 and V-Series models from consideration because, even though they deliver 4K resolution, Dolby Vision/HDR10+ compatibility, 60 Hz refresh rates, and full-array LED backlights, they do not utilize local dimming—so the picture quality will likely be a step down from the MQ7-J Series and our other picks. LG’s budget-friendly options for 2022 include two nanocell models (the Nano75 and Nano80) and four standard 4K LCD models (the UQ9000, UQ8000, UQ7500, and UQ7000). We won’t be testing LG’s budget models for consideration in this guide for a few reasons: While the Nano models do offer enhanced nanocell color, they both use IPS panels without local dimming, meaning that their image contrast, while suitable for certain viewing environments, won’t be good enough for the average living room or home theater space. Likewise, LG’s standard 4K LCD models lack any of the higher-performance tech to improve color saturation and contrast that you get with our picks. Early reviews of Samsung’s 2022 budget-friendly BU8500 and BU8000 indicate that, while they might use software local dimming, both are equipped with edge-LED backlights, meaning they’re incapable of performing alongside our top picks that use full-array backlights. Like LG’s standard 4K LCD models, neither Samsung series offers any enhancements for color saturation (like quantum dots), and the reviews indicate that neither gets bright enough to do justice to HDR content (or to look good in brighter rooms). So, at present, we don’t intend to test these models. These are TVs from 2021 or earlier that did not earn a spot in our guide: In 2021, Amazon released two budget-friendly options: the Fire TV Omni and Fire TV 4-Series, both available in several screen sizes. These TVs boast high appeal if you love Alexa or the Fire TV streaming experience, but testing showed them to be poor choices for HDR; the 4-Series is especially dim. The Omni is the better of the two, but we think our picks are worth the slight price hike if you want decent picture quality. The 2021 Hisense A6G wasn’t tested because it uses an IPS-type panel and has no local dimming. It also has a peak SDR brightness of around 270 nits (our picks are at least 450 nits or more), so in a room with a lot of ambient light it might not be bright enough for you to fully enjoy. We didn’t test the 2021 LG UP8000 because it lacks local dimming and uses an IPS-type display, which means it has lighter black levels. Some TVs with IPS-type panels can use local dimming to overcome the lighter blacks in the panel, but without either of these features, the UP8000’s black levels are going to be poor compared to the models we tested. We tested a 43-inch Onn Roku TV from Walmart for Black Friday 2020, and it performed surprisingly well for the price. It doesn’t support a wider color gamut or have full-array local dimming, but it was great at what it could do. The 2021 Samsung AU8000 doesn’t have local dimming or wide color gamut support, so you aren’t going to get any benefits with HDR content on it. It costs as much as our picks despite the lack of these features, so we didn’t test it. The TCL 4-Series lacks support for Dolby Vision and a wide color gamut. Most important, its peak brightness is 50% lower than that of the 5-Series. In a darker room you aren’t likely to notice the effect, but in a living room or other bright situation, the extra brightness of the 5-Series makes that model easier to see. The 2021 Vizio MQ6-J has no full-array local dimming and can only produce peak highlights that measure around 250 nits, so its picture quality is nowhere near that of our picks. It does support variable refresh rate for compatibility with newer gaming systems, but that feature won’t matter as much on this 60 Hz panel as it will on TVs that can run at 120 Hz. The Vizio MQ7-J Series performs much better than the MQ6-J, since it has a local-dimming backlight. Sources
About your guidesChris Heinonen is a senior staff writer reporting on TVs, projectors, and sometimes audio gear at Wirecutter. He has been covering AV since 2008 for a number of online publications and is an ISF-certified video calibrator. He used to write computer software and hopes to never do that again, and he also loves to run and test gear for running guides. Lee Neikirk is a senior staff writer reporting on TVs at Wirecutter. He has been testing and reviewing AV gear since 2012 and is an ISF-certified TV calibrator. When he’s not fussing over pixels, Lee is either jamming on a guitar, playing video games, or driving around endlessly trying to find beach parking. Further reading
Is Hisense better than TCL?The Hisense H8C is a better TV than the TCL US5800. It has deeper blacks, higher peak brightness, better reflection handling, better motion handling, HDR compatibility, and slightly better built-in speakers.
Is TCL Class 5 Series a good TV?The TCL 5 Series is very good for watching HDR movies. It delivers deep and uniform blacks thanks to its fantastic contrast and excellent uniformity. It has a full-array local dimming feature, but it doesn't do much to improve the picture quality in dark scenes as there's blooming around bright objects.
Is TCL Series 5 120Hz?A: No, 60hz at 4k. You need hdmi 2.1 for 120hz at 4k. A: It's terrible! Even when the tv has light coming through a window on the show it's so blinding bright.
What is the difference between 5 and 6 Series TCL?The 6 Series gets significantly brighter, so highlights pop the way they should in HDR. It also has a 120Hz refresh rate, VRR support, and a quicker response time. However, the 5 Series has better out-of-the-box color accuracy, gradient handling, and it has much lower input lag.
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Tcl 5 series vs hisense u6g
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