Last year, TCL released the "P" series with the P605 & P607. The only difference between the two is the premium controller packaged with the P607. This P series quickly became a fan favorite. Sporting 4K with HDR10 & Dolby Vision, 72 active LED zones, Roku software, and most importantly, a super low input lag. Input lag is something that very few manufactures measure, and what gamers don't want. When the input lags, the screen generates a shadow when moving the camera angle in a game, which looks like a image is dragging. Most console gamers probably haven't experienced a low input lag, so they have no idea what they are missing.
For those of you with experience, you know just how much that can damper your playing experience. Its especially frustrating when you've just dropped several hundred or thousands of dollars to get a beautiful 4K image with HDR. Now the reason I mentioned Dolby Vision is because it is absolutely the superior HDR option. With HDR 10, you are get 10 bits, which gives you 1.07 billion colors. That is truly impressive and if you've seen HDR10, you know that it looks amazing. Dolby Vision is gets you 12 bits. Doesn't seem like more, but this will essentially give you 68.7 billions colors. You can see now why more and more companies are adopting Dolby Vision. Netflix and VUDU were some of the first ones to adopt it.
The New TCL 6 Series
At CES 2018, TCL announced the P607's successor. They've done away with using letters to differentiate their model categories. It's now called the 6 series. Lets take a quick look at the specs:
- Sizes - 55' or 65'
- 4K w/ HDR Pro Gamma & Dolby Vision
- 240Hz Natural Motion refresh rate
- WiFi 108 ac, Ethernet port, 3 HDMI 2.0a ports
- 96 Contrast Control Zones
- Even lower input lag that last years model (although no quantified result was provided)
Since the new 6 series has an improved refresh rate and input lag, and 24 more contrast zones, you'd assume the price would be a bit higher. The best part is, TCL confirmed the price of the 6 series with me today at CES 2018. The new 6 series will be the same price as the 2017 P series. I can only assume we will see a price cut on the P series in the near future.
Last years P Series
They also received a lot of feedback about the design. The biggest complaint from the P series was how not premium it looked. Being the top of the line series, that not a good thing. TCL took this feedback wisely and put extra care in designing the 6 series. Very slick design language. Thin bezels and a modern weather metal give the 6 series the premium look it deserves.
I also walked around and asked nearly every manufacturer about their input lag, but none of TCL's competitors seems to know or care. In fact, many of them don't even know what it is. When do you think companies will start to take those kinds of specs more seriously? Does the 6 series fall short on something you are looking for? Does it checks all your boxes?
