If you thought a big-screen 4K Ultra HD TV with HDR was priced beyond your means, think again. TCL has just announced its 2017 TV lineup, and it is headlined by a 55-inch model with Roku’s OS baked in for just $600, available for pre-order at Amazon on May 26.
TCL breaks the high-end portion of its 2017 TV lineup into two series this year, the C-Series and the P-Series. Both series will support 4K Ultra HD resolution as well as both Dolby Vision HDR and HDR10, with Roku apps for Netflix, Amazon, and Vudu (among others) delivering an increasingly deep catalog of 4K HDR content to watch. Additional Roku features include a Roku remote with voice search capability and a headphone jack for private listening. Roku TVs also allow users to pause live OTA TV viewed from a connected antenna.
The two series are differentiated primarily by design and performance. The P-Series will offer the best overall picture quality, while the C-Series will offer extremely thin form factor and sleeker lines.
P-Series
The P-Series (TCL says to think performance) comprises the following models, armed with 72 zones of full array locally dimmed LED backlights for enhanced contrast and HDR brightness as well as an expanded color gamut that TCL says covers nearly the entire DCI-P3 color space. This is a landmark move for TCL, which has not embraced high-end full array local dimming technology until now.
Size | Model | Price | Availability |
50-inch | 50P607 | $500 | Late 2017 |
55-inch | 55P607 | $600 | June 5 |
65-inch | 65P607 | $1000 | Late 2017 |
C-Series
The more stylish of TCL’s new high-end TV series, the C-Series promises performance close to that of the P-Series, but with a slimmer, sleeker form factor. Roku OS is still baked right in, and though the three models in this series won’t offer full array local dimming, TCL asserts they will all offer a premium HDR experience, with support for HDR10 and Dolby Vision. Pricing and availability is as follows:
Size | Model | Price | Availability |
55-inch | 55C806 | $700 | Late July |
65-inch | 65C807 | $1100 | Late June |
75-inch | 75C807 | $2000 | End of year |
TCL has all the makings here of a premium TV line-up. Though it remains to be seen just how good the TVs look, the value offered here is undeniably compelling, and it appears the company has done what it needs in order to deliver a proper premium HDR experience. Digital Trends will soon be reviewing the P-Series and we’ll have lots more to say about this line in the coming months.