TCL today announced that its new 8-Series TVs — its first line with Mini-LED backlighting — are now available for preorder at Best Buy stores and online at BestBuy.com.
There are two sizes from which to choose — the 65-inch model runs $1,999, and the 75-inch model is $2,999. Both support 4K resolution, of course, and both also handle Dolby Vision for HDR, as well as Dolby Atmos for audio.
More: Why the 8-Series is the line to beat
We got a look at the new 8-Series back in September at the IFA conference in Berlin, and it was pretty obvious just how good it was going to be. That's in no small part due to the introduction of the Mini-LED backlighting. Without getting too far into the weeds, here's what that's all about:
Mini-LED allows TCL to form a much more precise backlighting pattern, that mirrors the image on the screen. As a result, blacks are actually black. To prove this, the company put the latest Samsung QLED side-by-side with its 8-series TV and the result was the latter is able to actually turn off the LED diodes behind the black parts of the screen. Look at a Samsung QF9N QLED closely and you'll see that the black parts aren't actually black, especially when you tap on them and you can see the LED diode behind respond with a bubble-like effect. With the TCL 8-series, blacks are actually black, and when you tap the screen with your knuckle, it doesn't bubble like on other QLED devices.
The 8-Series also comes with three HDMI ports, and another for the audio return channel (that's ARC). It's got an ethernet port, a TV tuner, optical audio output and of course can do Wifi if you prefer.
And because this is a Roku TV — that is, it comes with the Roku operating system built in — you'll be able to watch pretty much everything without ever having to plug in another streaming device.
Take it with a little grain of salt, but Best Buy's website currently has the 8-Series being delivered on Nov. 13.
Mini-LED brilliance
New tech for a brand-new line
The 8-Series is the newest line from TCL, and it's now the cream of the crop. It's TCL's first to use Quantum Dot technology and Mini-LED backlights — and it's a beautiful sight to see.
The big daddy
When only big will do
What's better than a 65-inch TCL Roku TV with a QLED panel and Mini-LED backlighting? How about a whopping 75-inch model. That's what you get here, with the price to match.
TCL Teams Up with Best Buy to Deliver Most Advanced Roku TV to Date – The All-New Premium 8-Series
America's Fastest-Growing TV Brand Rolls Out First-to-Market Quantum Contrast Technology Powered by Mini-LED Back-Lights, Available Only at Best Buy
CORONA, CA, October 8, 2019 - TCL®, one of the world's best-selling and America's fastest-growing television brand, today announced the U.S. availability of its much-anticipated 8-Series exclusively at Best Buy. In an exciting partnership, TCL and Best Buy will bring the powerful new models, featuring revolutionary picture and Dolby Atmos® audio technology for next-level performance, to consumers this month.
TCL's 8-Series meets the highest standards in home entertainment solutions, adopting Quantum Dot (QLED) color technology as well as Quantum Contrast, and is the world's first television utilizing newly developed high-performance Mini-LED back-lights. The TCL Roku™ TV 8-Series models will be available in a 65" 4K resolution model (65Q825) for $1999 and in a 75" 4K resolution model (75Q825) for $2999 exclusively through BestBuy.com and Best Buy stores across the country, with pre-orders beginning today.
"By leveraging TCL's massive R&D team and our unique vertical integration capabilities, we are able to develop a solution that will provide broad color volume and stunning whites, while displaying the inky blacks that our users are demanding. The 8-Series is a testament to what we can accomplish with innovation that meets those needs. There are very few display devices available at any price that can match the cinematic picture and audio quality that these sets can deliver," said Chris Larson, Senior Vice President, TCL. "Together with Roku and Best Buy, we are thrilled to see our vision of providing a first-rate home theater experience to the U.S. market come to life and we hope to further spread excitement for the new 8-Series with an outstanding retail experience that elevates our world-class product assortment. We are confident that this powerful new TV line will mark a milestone in our North American offering and strengthen TCL's position as a leader in the global consumer electronics industry."
The new 8-Series delivers groundbreaking new technology for an experience of color, contrast and clarity that's unmatched by almost any other television. With a measured 100% color volume in the DCI-P3 Hollywood reference color space, the QLED color technology in the 8-Series Roku TV models will deliver deeply saturated reds, stunning greens and spectacular blues without the limitations of lower color volume or shorter life found in other display technologies.
The 2019 8-Series TCL Roku TV models feature a completely new contrast technology, developed to deliver the picture quality performance fundamental to a great TV experience. With Quantum Contrast technology, a new standard in TV performance is being defined with more than 25,000 individual Mini-LEDs powering the 75" 8-Series TV, compared to only a few hundred traditional LEDs found in standard big-screen TVs. This first-to-market technology allows the 8-Series to produce brilliant whites shining next to deep blacks and now sets a new benchmark for LCD TVs to directly take on high-contrast OLED TVs in delivering a superior overall viewing experience. Quantum Contrast yields a major improvement in picture performance including a significant jump in total TV brightness, substantial increase in Contrast Control Zones® (local dimming zones), smoother and improved even light distribution throughout the screen, enhanced uniform reproduction of color across the screen, wider viewing angles and a slimmer design.
TCL Roku TV 8-Series
TCL's new 8-Series Roku TV models are engineered to push the boundaries of HDR using the latest technologies combined with TCL's broad expertise in designing end-to-end high-performance display systems. Embraced by all the major Hollywood studios, leading content providers such as Amazon, Netflix, VUDU and more, as well as video sources like Xbox One and Apple TV, the Dolby Vision™ HDR technology supported on the 8-Series TVs delivers spectacular visual experiences that bring all forms of entertainment to life.
Driven by machine-learning algorithms matched with vast knowledge in human visual perception, TCL's AiPQ Engine™ optimizes color, contrast and clarity for an unrivaled 4K HDR experience. AiPQ Engine features three core picture quality algorithms - Smart HDR for vibrant color, Smart 4K Upscaling for sharp clarity and Smart Contrast for dramatic depth. With TCL's deep supply chain vertical integration, TCL Roku TV models can intelligently compensate for any small performance variations of components used in each TV to optimize the color accuracy. This smart performance control called iPQ Engine® was first introduced in 2018 TCL TVs and in 2019, TCL is expanding the capabilities beyond an algorithm running on the TV, adding functionality that allows an app for select Android and iOS mobile phones to improve the performance even more.
While picture quality is consistently the main driver of a TV's performance, audio quality enables deeper immersion in stories and a true emotional connection to what's on the screen. New for 2019 in 8-Series Roku TV models, Dolby Atmos audio technology delivers a new dimension of enveloping audio performance. Atmos audio delivers an object-based surround-sound experience where sounds are precisely assigned to any position around or above the listener, producing a powerfully moving experience in the 8-Series TCL Roku TVs.
In addition to a striking bezel-less design called "FullView," all 2019 8-Series televisions come equipped with a convenient Auto Game Mode feature that works with the latest generation of game consoles to automatically enable the TV's Game Mode when a video game is played. Auto Game Mode is designed to deliver some of the lowest input lag performance for fast-trigger response and helps ensure that the TV picture always looks its best with all types of video content.
With over 5,000 streaming channels featuring access to 500,000+ movies and TV episodes, TCL Roku TV models are even more versatile with Easy Voice Control which allows compatibility with popular third party voice assistants to give users additional options to control the TV via the Roku remote, third-party device or mobile app. In addition, Roku Voice makes it easy to launch streaming channels, search for entertainment, turn the TV on and off, switch inputs and more. Now, when customers use voice on their remote control to search for specific movies and TV shows on nearly 40 channels, their TV will begin playback rather than display search results.
