TCL 6-Series Roku TVs get mini-LED, 120Hz, THX gaming upgrades, stay affordable - CNET

For the last two years TCL's 6-Series Roku TV has been the best TV for the money and now the new 2020 version, on sale Tuesday, could perform better than ever. It adds mini-LED technology for potentially better picture quality as well gaming-friendly extras including 120Hz, variable refresh rate and THX game mode. Unlike last year's model, this one also comes a 75-inch size. These improvements combined with an affordable price make the new TCL 6-Series Roku TV a contender to three-peat as my favorite TV value.

At the same time TCL is also introducing the 2020 5-Series. It costs less than the 6-Series and lacks mini-LED, but does include enhancements including QLED and full-array local dimming. It's also available in a smaller 50-inch size. Later this year, TCL will also release an 8K resolution version of the superb 8-Series, as well as 2020 versions of its popular budget 3-Series and 4-Series models.

All of these new TCL TVs will continue to be powered by the Roku TV operating system, my favorite smart TV platform for its simplicity, frequent updates and breadth of apps (Peacock and HBO Max notwithstanding).

The 6-Series is available in limited quantities starting today, while the 5-Series is in stores and online now. 

What do you think, Katzmaier?

Normally I include this section at the end, but this is 2020 and you probably don't have time to read all the detailed crap below, so I'm putting it right here: I won't know for sure until I review them. TCL says I'll be receiving a 6-Series review sample to check out in my basement soon.

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What's that? You don't want to wait till then? OK, here's my best advice. 

As always Black Friday season in mid-November will mean steep discounts. I think TCL will drop the price of the new 2020 6-Series a hundred bucks at least, and more for the 75-incher. If you can, wait till then. 

If you want a new TV now, I'm guessing the 2019 TCLs -- now available for $800 for the 65-incher, for example, and likely to fall back to $700 or less soon -- will be a better deal than the new 6-Series. I honestly don't think the 2020 improvements (detailed below) will be worth the extra $100 to $200 for most buyers, and the 2019 6-Series will likely perform better than the cheaper 2020 5-Series. 

And then there's the 2019 8-Series. I'm sure it will be a better performer than the 2020 6-Series overall, and it's been going on sale recently for steep discounts: as low as $1,000 for the 65-inch size and $1,500 for the 75-incher. Maybe those sales will go away for the next month or two so TCL doesn't cannibalize 2020 6-Series sales, but if they reappear, for Black Friday or sooner, they make the "old" 8 a better buy than the new 6.

Now without further ado, here's what else you need to know about the new TCL Roku TVs.

Mini-LED comes to cheaper TVs

Mini-LEDs are, as you might have guessed, smaller than standard LEDs, allowing them to be grouped into more local dimming zones. Full-array local dimming is the best way to improve picture quality on LCD TVs. It allows the backlight -- the part behind the LCD screen that provides illumination -- to dim and illuminate different areas simultaneously. Smaller areas, or dimming zones, mean more precise illumination, which ultimately increases contrast, the most important ingredient in a good picture.

Read more: Mini-LED is here: How smaller lights could lead to big TV improvements

TCL is still the only TV maker to use mini-LED technology, first in the 8-Series and now in the 6-Series, but specs on the 6-Series aren't nearly as impressive. The cheaper 6 has around 1,000 LEDs and up to 240 zones, while the more expensive 8 has 10,000 mini-LEDs and 1,000 zones. For that reason I don't expect the 6-Series to perform as well as the 8-Series.

TCL says the benefits of mini-LED in the 6-Series include better uniformity, "more powerful" brightness and "higher contrast precision" compared to last year's model, but didn't provide any more specifics. How it compares to 2020 competitors such as the Vizio P-Series and Sony X900H remains to be seen. The Vizio actually has more local dimming zones than the TCL -- 200 on the 65-inch size -- and Sony doesn't disclose its number of zones, but both cost more than the 6-Series and neither use mini-LED. We'll have to wait for the reviews to see for sure.

Improved gaming? Thanks, THX

The other big feature addition is something called "THX certified game mode." It's a special picture mode for video games that combines low input lag (TCL doesn't say how low, however) with features like Auto Game Mode, which turns on game mode automatically when connected to a compatible device, and Variable Refresh Rate, which reduces tearing and other artifacts in some games. The 2019 6-Series had AGM but lacked VRR. 

TCL says the new 6-Series can accept VRR inputs from 48 up to 120 frames per second, but at 120 FPS it's limited to 1440p (lower than 4K) resolution with HDR. It doesn't support proprietary VRR systems such as Nvidia G-Sync (LG TVs only) and AMD Freesync. The Xbox One X and One S support VRR and should work with the new 6-Series, while the upcoming Xbox Series X and PS5 will also support VRR.

It's tough to say how much of a practical improvement THX's special sauce will provide, and the gaming specs of the new 6-Series are an improvement over last year they're still not as impressive as some 2020 TVs.

In addition to THX game mode, VRR and mini-LED, the 6-Series has a couple other features not available on the 5-Series:

5-Series gets a bump too

I ignored the step-down 5-Series last year because it lacked full-array local dimming. For 2020, TCL includes that feature as well as quantum dot color, making the 5 a serious on-paper rival to models such as the Vizio M-Series. 

Both the 5- and 6-Series share a new dual-position stand leg arrangement on the 65- and 75-inch sizes that let you place the legs either out toward the edge of the panel or more toward the center. Both also include a cable cozy in the legs that let you kinda hide HDMI, power and other connectors.

Other features common to both series include:

8K 8-Series coming this year

In 2019, TCL said an 8K TV would be coming later in the year, but it ultimately failed to deliver one for the US market. This year it says the same thing. The 8K model will arrive "around the same time" as the new game consoles, said Aaron Dew, TCL's director of new product development on a conference call with reporters. That pegs the TV's release date sometime before the holiday season, possibly November.

Dew described the 8K TV as an 8K version of the current 8-Series, so it will likely include mini-LED, high brightness and all of those TVs' extras at least. The current, 4K version of the 8-Series will remain on sale throughout the year.

3- and 4-Series budget TVs: pretty much the same for 2020

TCL also happens to make some of our favorite budget (read: dirt-cheap) TVs in the form of the 3-Series and 4-Series. For 2020 the company is not changing much. Here's what TCL's rep told CNET:

We will be transitioning much of 3- and 4-Series in the coming months. The changes will be minor updates and timing varies by-model. The key difference from S425 [2019 model] to S435 [2020] in 4-Series is the addition of an HDMI port (from 3 to 4) on 50-inch and above. All other performance and specs will remain similar although cosmetics will be slightly different. 32S325 becomes 32S335 and 55S425 becomes 55S435, for example.

It's worth mentioning that TCL is currently selling a 2020 version of the 3-Series in 32- and 40-inch sizes that runs the Android TV operating system instead of Roku. It did not announce any additional Android-powered TVs for the US market.

I look forward to reviewing the new TCL TVs soon. In the meantime, let me know if you have any questions in the comment section.

Update, Aug 12: Adds information on 1440p resolution limit with 120 FPS sources.