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TCL made possible what until recently seemed a mirage: an almost 100-inch diagonal TV at 4,999 euros in the list. I can imagine that many of you are already thinking, “Ok, but the panel is sure to be cheap! Who knows how many waivers? And the equipment? And the performance? ”
FEATURES AND EQUIPMENT
Well, I must say that the only reading of the data sheet of this unpublished 98-inch C735 allows you to put aside most of the doubts. We have, in fact, a panel 4K Ultra HD resolution VA-type LCD, 10-bit native / 120Hz with backlight Quantum Dot LEDs arranged in Full Array with Local Dimming with 192 control zones.
Four HDMI 2.1 ports, two of which are 120Hz compatible 48Gbps (up to 4: 4: 4 – 12 bit), with full support eARC, Auto Low Latency Mode, VRR up to 120 Hz (also AMD FreeSync Premium) and, of course, HDR content playback in HDR10 / 10+, Dolby Vision (also IQ), HLG and also a certified preset IMAX Enhanced. For gaming, Dolby Vision support stops at 60Hz.
The “AiPQ 2.0 Engine” processor which relies on artificial intelligence algorithms to perform any upscaling and apply detail, sharpness and noise reduction improvements. Moving images are entrusted to the algorithm “120 Hz Motion Clarity Pro”while for “static” HDR (HDR10) we find the dynamic tone mappingwhich analyzes the signal in real time and applies a balance of light and dark scene by scene.
Considering i nearly 2.20 meters wide panelalso the audio section has been particularly cured, with a 2.1 channel system developed in collaboration with Onkyo with a total of 70W and which includes 2 15W “down firing” speakers (with downward emission) and a 40W woofer dedicated to the lowest frequencies (therefore similar to a subwoofer). All with full support for tracks in Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Atmos (both lossy and lossless) and also DTS and DTS-HD Master Audio.
To complete the picture, it goes without saying that tuners are obviously type DVB-T2 up to HEVC Main 10 and DVB-S2also support HbbTV interactivity (in version 2.0.2) and CI + CAM slot, and that on the connectivity front we find an Ethernet LAN port, Dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.2 and also a USB 2.0 port for the possible connection of a portable HDD or flash drive to play content through the integrated media player.
Network connection that allows you to access all Streaming app (and not only) provided for the operating system Google TVcomplete with functionality Chromecastnetwork sharing (DLNA / UPnP) and the ability to recall voice assistants from Google and Amazon Alexa (from remote control microphone). If you want to connect a Logitech compatible webcam (to be purchased separately) you can do video calls or business video conferences via Google Duo.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS WITH CONVINCING MEASURES
As you have just read, there is a lot of meat on the fire and we were really too curious to test its performance: either for the favorable price, or for the equipment, but also for the 800 nit peak HDR declared by the manufacturer. Ok, let’s talk about peak (so in the window at 10%), but on an area of almost 2.8 square meters there are many and, in full screen, it would mean – in broad terms – to be able to count on about 400 nits of light output?
You understand that a possible match of such data makes this mega screen ideal for many applications: evening cinema as a replacement for a video projector, daytime television to see matches or F1 with friends, big gaming screen to challenge friends, but also perfect for play slides in a meeting / conference room without fear of ambient lighting.
We tried to have it sent to the editorial office, but objectively the request was logistically complicated, so we went to the TCL Showroom to take some measurements and find out how it goes.
Already at first glance, the “demo” images on such a wide diagonal and in an environment that had not yet been darkened (the sun came in through the large windows) left both me and Davide Fasola somewhat “effervescent”. Ok, it was a demo and with demos almost all displays do well, but trust me: it was already a lot! 😊
I was allowed to completely reset the C735 (as they say: trust is good, not doing it is better) and armed with a colorimeter, pattern generator and Calman calibration software I took a series of measurements of both SDR and factory presets. HDR. And I promise you that expectations have not remained unfulfilled.
The time available was quite limited, so I focused on the most interesting presets and basic adjustments. There are many image modes available, but the most suitable are undoubtedly Cinema (both SDR and HDR) and then, for purely “television” or “office / PC” use, the Standard.
In standard mode and with the backlight setting at maximum, this screen is capable of achieving in SDR almost 500 nits in full screen! So it went even further than my initial assumptions. It also keeps them smoothly, then to see the games during the day, play or for a business meeting you will always have ample room for any type of environmental scenario. And already here you understand for yourself that a possible comparison with the performance of a projector, with the same diagonal, appears almost merciless.
The cinema preset in SDR is already very good at the factory for watching movies in a daytime environment. The color temperature is a little warm (a little red prevails), the gamma stands at 2 and the luminance reaches 360 nits. Local-dimming is obviously active by default, an operation that leads to the total switching off of the LEDs with black screen and allows to obtain an “infinite” contrast ratio.
By deactivating local-dimming (you can do it from the settings) you can measure the native black level and contrast ratio of this panel. Good, the black stands at excellent 0.016 nit (confirming the VA technology of the LCD panel) e the contrast ratio is 21,000: 1 with factory luminance.
Instead, returning the luminance to values of about 110-120 nit (via backlight control) and intervening on the level of the range, in a few seconds you will find yourself with an ideal picture setting for playing movies or TV series in an evening or in the darkwith a gamma 2.2 and grayscale values with an average deltaE of 2. And all this without any calibration! I didn’t have time to do this, but the menu allows you to perfectly calibrate and linearize the grayscale using the 2-point or 10-point white balance controls (and with these factory measurements I’m convinced the 2-point controls are enough).
The REC709 gamut coverage is also very good, with the primary and secondary colors well centered, although red and magenta are slightly too saturated. However, the deltaE appears to be contained within the expected standard values and those wishing to calibrate perfectly can count on a complete CMS (Color Management System).
In HDR, the preset to choose is definitely Cinema. It is quite linear and balanced all the way down to the mid-tones, only to become slightly cold (excess of blue) in the highlights. The tracking of the tone-mapping also appears excellent and with a slight tendency to emphasize the mids. It is fine by default and reaches over 700 nits of peak luminance (in the window at 10%). Really remarkable performance, especially taking into account the excellent HDR gamut coverage, which reaches the 74% of the REC2020 color space and 95% of the DCI-P3.
And the 800 nits declared? It achieves them (790 nits, to be precise), but with the Dynamic preset. And the value is even obtained in the window at 25%, while at full screen the luminance drops to the 500 nits that we had already found in SDR.
In light of these instrumental performances, I expected an equally satisfying image rendering and so it was. Unfortunately, the viewing environment was not totally darkened, but sat just over 3 meters from the screen, the involvement was absolutely total: I found myself catapulted into a completely cinematic “big screen” experiencebut without the limits in terms of contrast, black level, luminance and focus of a projector.
With images that tend to be dark and with some light points, the limits of the few local-dimming zones (192 zones) on such a wide diagonal emerge in the form of blooming and also some “closure”, but as soon as the level of brightness of the images increases, the perceived dynamics. the great detail and the luminance of the colors (especially in HDR and Dolby Vision) make the vision extremely satisfying.
But the real difference is the ability to enjoy such image quality without the need for a “bat cave”. with dark walls and various anti-glare treatments (anyone who owns a video projector knows what I’m talking about). Not to mention that in HDR, this is unrivaled performance for any projector (even by the cost of several orders of magnitude higher). Of course, we are talking about a 98-inch screen and not the 150 or 180-inch screen of those lucky enough to have a dedicated Home Cinema room.
But, in fact, we are talking about a few “chosen” (also because of the costs) who will still continue to enjoy the latest generation projectors, while this 98-inch TCL C735 opens the doors of the big cinema to a much wider audience of fans and it does so with a quality / price ratio that was unthinkable until recently. Not to mention its versatility even in the workplace or the possibility of combining it with a latest generation console.
Ah! I almost forgot, the integrated sound system is not doing badly at all and unleashed an unsuspected frequency response and a rather lively dynamics. Let’s be clear, with 98 inches of screen, I almost take it for granted when paired with a Home Theater system for playing films… ça va sans dire! 😊
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