PICTURE QUALITY Picture quality fell short, overall. Reproduction of fine image detail was excellent. Image detail was notably exaggerated, despite our attempts to minimize this with the sharpness control. Color accuracy was very good, with flesh tones in particular, looking natural. Contrast—the difference between the darkest blacks and brightest whites—in dark scenes was okay, so images had some depth, but it was not the best. Black levels were OK and maintained some contrast in darker scenes, but they fell short of the better TVs. Image brightness was very good (with the brighness at max), so the picture was well suited for a brighter room—a lower setting is recommended for a dimmer viewing environment. Its reproduction of smooth edges on image content for "up-converted" HD-to-UHD images was very good with minimal "jaggies" (jagged edges). Deinterlacing of 1080i video was excellent. Its frame-rate compensation for 1080i film-based content was excellent.
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 moderate viewing angle—decent—but not as good as the better-performers. The best viewing position for this model is directly in front. When we viewed the TV from the sides, image quality got worse. the picture showed a slight loss of color. Black levels brightened slightly. 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.
MOTION BLUR In our motion tests, this TCL LCD (LED) had good motion performance, with some blurring.
SOUND QUALITY We got sub-par sound quality, with below average performance. It could be acceptable for typical programming, but its shortcomings would be obvious with movie soundtracks and music. In our listening evaluations, we found the bass (low frequency sound) to be very weak and mostly well defined. Treble (high frequency sound) lacked detail. The treble was neutral though a bit bright, thin, closed in. This TV should be OK if the room isn't too noisy—we found the speakers could produce a good volume level. If sound quality matters to you, you might want to add a soundbar or other external speaker system.
EASE OF USE Consider the TV's stand is 51 inches wide when choosing a table top to place it on. The remote controls doesn't need to be pointed at the TV. It has a simplified design with a reduced set of buttons. The remote has a microphone use to issue voice commands.
INTERNET FEATURES This TV provides internet functionality via its "Google TV" portal, with access to a library of applications. Movie streaming services that can be downloaded to this TV, or are built-in, include Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, BET+, DirecTV, Disney Plus, Freevee, Fubo TV, Hulu, Max/HBO Max, Netflix, Paramount+, Peacock, Pluto TV, Sling TV, Starz, The Roku Channel, Tubi, YouTube, YouTube TV. It includes a built-in Google Assistant virtual assistant, which allows you to use natural speech to ask questions, launch applications, and search programming by talking to the TV.
CONNECTIONS This model has 3 HDMI inputs one USB port, and an optical digital audio out, an Ethernet port, 802.11ac/WiFi 5 wireless networking, and AirPlay—for sharing videos, photos, music, and more from Apple devices to the TV.
WHAT'S INCLUDED A remote control.
