TCL 58" LED TV for $599 on Amazon

[psychi]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BP5N49S?tag=at055-20

It was 650 the other night.

Update: $779 now.

 

[sm625]

I've had the 40" version for 2 years. It weighs 15 lbs. The 32" version weighs 12 lbs. Why does this one weigh 53 (!!) lbs? Simple straightline scaling suggests it should only weigh half of that.

 

[SunnyD]

I've had the 40" version for 2 years. It weighs 15 lbs. The 32" version weighs 12 lbs. Why does this one weigh 53 (!!) lbs? Simple straightline scaling suggests it should only weigh half of that.

The huge-ass base.

 

[KingFatty]

OK I just pulled the trigger and ordered one of these.

I hope it doesn't suck, the Amazon reviews are mixed, but I tried to consider whether the poor reviews were from mouth-breathing Morlocks or if they had some merit. On balance I figure what the heck, go for it and return it if it really sucks.

I'll let you guys know my impressions. OH I HOPE I CAN USE THIS ON STEAMBOX TO STREAM GAMES TO THIS BIG-A TV!

 

[Ayrahvon]

OK I just pulled the trigger and ordered one of these.

I hope it doesn't suck, the Amazon reviews are mixed, but I tried to consider whether the poor reviews were from mouth-breathing Morlocks or if they had some merit. On balance I figure what the heck, go for it and return it if it really sucks.

I'll let you guys know my impressions. OH I HOPE I CAN USE THIS ON STEAMBOX TO STREAM GAMES TO THIS BIG-A TV!

When TVs this large are at this low a price, you have to be pretty nitpicky to give a bad review in my opinion. I just keep reminding myself that even the bad HDTVs I've had are 100x better than my SD tvs...

 

[alkemyst]

Sam's has these TVs but oddly doesn't put them on display.

 

[Raincity]

The quick and dirty CNET review does not give it much praise for the price.

 

[mikeford]

I keep a main TV for more than 10 years, so I am aiming high, BF seems like a great time to buy. Right now I think some places are clearing the decks for the "big" sales on good items.

 

[alkemyst]

I keep a main TV for more than 10 years, so I am aiming high, BF seems like a great time to buy. Right now I think some places are clearing the decks for the "big" sales on good items.

And LED/LCD/Plasma may not give on the life they were used to with CRTs. It's all theoretical though.

In general the rule of thumb is expect 4-10 years or 40,000 to 100,000 hours of active time.

At 4 hours average per day one hits almost 1500 hours active time a year if you have kids that have the TV on right after school and all day on weekends you can approach about 5000 hours in a year.

 

[KingFatty]

I think this uses a Samsung panel. And did the CNET review focus on the poor performance of the video scalar, used for upconverting source material (e.g., 720p source for the 1080p panel)? I think my desire for this panel is that I'm only ever sending a 1080p signal via the VGA input, so the TV scalar or any other video processing is not at issue, I just want the Samsung panel and my HTPC will handle all the video scaling etc. But will just have to see how it performs when I get it.

 

[Raincity]

I think this uses a Samsung panel. And did the CNET review focus on the poor performance of the video scalar, used for upconverting source material (e.g., 720p source for the 1080p panel)? I think my desire for this panel is that I'm only ever sending a 1080p signal via the VGA input, so the TV scalar or any other video processing is not at issue, I just want the Samsung panel and my HTPC will handle all the video scaling etc. But will just have to see how it performs when I get it.

Would the scaler also be responsible for the reported black crush causing the contrast issues ?. I am currently looking a replacement set for the bedroom. I am thinking of forgoing some screen real-estate and getting a 50" S class Panasonic plasma to stay close to the TCL current pricing.

 

[alkemyst]

panel <> electronics behind it.

 

[Raincity]

panel <> electronics behind it.

But how much of the panel limitations equate to contrast and color issues ?

 

[KingFatty]

Good point about the black crush potentially being an issue, where if there is a scene with bright elements and dark elements (they describe it as "mixed contrast scenes"), you may lose details in the dark portion (loss of shadow detail). But the CNET review also mentioned how this TV seemed to do better than the other TVs they compared, when in scenes that are mostly dark?

This seemed to be a symptom of failing to provide adjustment for the gamma curve?

Regardless, they used an older version of the firmware, so I'll have to see if maybe TCL added any adjustments to address the gamma curve or somehow compensate for it.

But for this price, I have to see with my own eyes if the loss of shadow detail is unacceptable. I'll have to ask myself if I want to spend $X more on a more expensive set to avoid the loss of shadow details (assuming the most recent firmware, available on the TCL website, doesn't add any adjustments). Ugh I hate being a guinea pig, but gotta take a plung now and then. I also wonder if the issue can be avoided by using the VGA input, instead of the other inputs? Whether it's something about the video processing/settings, or if the black crushing is an aspect of the panel itself - maybe my PC can adjust gamma levels and offset the TV settings. I don't know if CNET adjust gamma in their video source when faced with TVs like this? So I'm hopeful and willing to try it.

 

[Raincity]

Thanks, I would be interested in the results after your done testing.

 

[Linux Guru]

Thanks

 

[KingFatty]

OK so far I'm very happy with this TV, but you do have to adjust the settings to dial it in. I think it's a great value for the $599 price for a 58" size.

I've only used the VGA input to provide a display for a living room computer, and it works great browsing the internet and navigating windows media center etc. I still haven't tried a blu-ray, but watched a couple movies and a TV show. I specifically tried to look for the black crush and loss of shadow detail, and what I saw was not as bad as I expected, so it was a pleasant surprise. I also tried certain scenes with dark and light to them, and I could reveal more shadow detail if I adjusted the settings, but this resulted in affecting the bright portions (where maybe a light gray would look less gray and more white).

Ultimately I settled on the suggested settings published on CNET for their review, where the colors look really good and the brightness/contrast is a good compromise between trying to keep shadow details without losing lighter shades. My wife didn't know to specifically look for the loss of shadow detail, so she thinks it looks good, but we could both tell our smaller 46" Samsung has a higher range of shadow detail when we compare both to each other. But with just one TV on, we immediately adjusted and found it's not an issue for us. Also we are using the TV's built-in speakers, which are fine.