Best Buys – Audio & AV – July 2019

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AUDIO-VISUAL

S

hould the name of TCL still be new to

you, it’s most definitely time you became

acquainted with the brand. It is Chinese,

but not to be confused with the no-name or

casually-branded TVs that turn up in bargain stores.

Indeed TCL has ranked third or fourth in size for

TV manufacturers worldwide for a number of years

(above the likes of Panasonic), and recently beat out

Samsung to become the biggest-selling brand in the

US (26% of North American TV units sales against

22% Samsung, according to IHS Markit). It has

been around nearly 40 years, operates in more than

80 cities across the world, with 20 manufacturing

units and 35 R&D centres through which it is

one of China’s biggest patent creators. Among

its relevant current TV developments are printed

OLED, quantum dot technology and the increas-

ingly interesting Mini LED display technology. As

for quality, it has won awards globally, including a

2019 Sound+Image Award.

So, having established the brand’s general

credentials, let’s get specific! The shiny new TV

under review is the X7, which has an RRP of

$2199, the same price as the X4 which last year

won that Sound+Image award. But, of course, there

have been changes in the TCL 55X7 QLED TV.

EQUIPMENT

The first thing we noticed was the display panel.

It is remarkable in that physically one could almost

mistake it for an OLED panel. It has a similar

pane-of-glass look. Without the stand attached, the

TV is 44mm deep, but the top 36cm or so of the

76cm-tall display panel (and speaker section) is only

8.5mm thick, by our measurement. That adds a

rich touch of elegance to the design.

As the model number implies, this is a 55-inch

TV, and of course it offers Ultra-HD (4K)

resolution and HDR picture support (although

not Dolby Vision). The TV has 16 zones of local

dimming and uses QLED technology. Remember,

QLED uses ‘Quantum Dots’ to generate narrower-

wavelength bands of light. That reduces overlap

between the RGB light components, which

improves colour precision. TCL rates the maximum

output of the panel at 680 nits and the contrast

ratio at 4000:1. That last is a refreshingly honest

figure, and clearly refers to the native contrast ratio

of the panel. Its effective contrast ratio, given that

the brightness of the backlights in different areas is

adjusted dynamically according to picture require-

ments, is a great deal higher.

Incorporated into the bottom of the panel is

the sound system. This presents to the front as a

neat, full-width cloth-covered bar some 75mm

tall. Again, this makes for an elegant appearance.

There’s not much information about this other than

a power rating: 2 × 4W and 2 × 8W. That suggests

that four drivers are hidden in there. A small

Onkyo label on this bar shows that TCL is going

TCL 55X7 4K QLED Android television

TCL 55X7

A slimline QLED screen, Android smarts, and a built-in bar for

sound — with the X7 series TCL again shows its ability to

deliver a high-quality television package at an attractive price.

Best Buys Audio & AV 2019-#2