HD PICTURE QUALITY HD picture quality was Very Good, overall. Reproduction of fine HD image detail was Very Good, just shy of excellent. Color accuracy was Very Good, with flesh tones in particular, looking natural. Very Good contrast—the difference between the darkest blacks and brightest whites—gave images convincing depth and dimension. Image brightness was Good (with the backlight control turned up), making it a suitable choice for all but the sunniest rooms. Its reproduction of smooth edges on image content was generally Excellent and free of "jaggies" (jagged edges), whether for "up-converting" HD-to-UHD images, deinterlacing 1080i video, or detecting the film mode of 1080i film-based content. However, the black levels were merely OK and maintained some contrast in darker scenes, but fell short of the better TVs. The quality appeared worse as we viewed from the sides—see our Viewing Angle results, below. There was slight display non-uniformity in our test sample—it appeared as brighter cloudy areas which were most noticeable on very dark scenes (or in the black bars of a letterboxed movie)—the severity can vary from model to model.
4K UHD PICTURE QUALITY Overall 4K UHD picture quality was Very Good, overall. In our UHD testing, we played native-4K movies and test videos (non HDR) thru the TV's HDMI input, and found their image detail was mostly all there but fell short of the better performers. For color, contrast and black level, the TV performed similarly to its HD picture quality.
HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE (HDR) PERFORMANCE HDR performance was ineffective. In our tests, the display did not have the peak brightness capability necessary (by HDR standards) to reproduce the extended contrast on our HDR content.
VIEWING ANGLE This TCL model has a narrow viewing angle overall, below-average performance among TVs. Only those seated directly in front of the screen will see the best picture quality. We examined the image quality at various viewing angles—its image quality notably decreased as we moved away from the center position. In our tests, the picture did show some slight dimming from the sides, but not to a distracting degree. With dark scenes this model doesn't fare quite as well. When viewed from the sides, the depth of black levels varied depending on our vertical position. As we moved closer to the screen this limitation became even more apparent, especially if seated on the floor looking upward where black levels brightened significantly. When we viewed the TV from the sides image quality degraded significantly. The picture showed a moderate loss of color, so flesh tones looked a bit washed out. Black levels visibly brightened, and reduced the contrast especially on dark scenes. Lastly, we viewed the image from above and below center screen, and noticed Good vertical viewing angle performance, with only slight changes in color, contrast, and black level.
