Nothing Else Like It TCL 115-inch QM8 TV Review

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Guys I think the sheer enormity of this TV is  its own introduction so just soak it in for a   second I mean what more do you need okay how about  this this is the most fun I've had reviewing a TV ever welcome back everyone I'm Caleb Denison and  this is the 115 in TCL QM891g QM8 for short and   what I just said about this TV is absolutely  true I have never had so much fun evaluating   a TV and yeah size has everything to do with it I  mean for some folks size does matter hey knock it   off we're talking about a TV here okay seriously  not everyone wants a massive TV or perhaps they   don't think they do until they experience one  for themselves stop it really though for some   folks bringing the movie theater experience  home maybe even besting it is a life goal a   dream and I'm here to tell you this TV can make  that dream a reality if you're willing to spend   big too because while this TV's price is sure  to go down probably quite precipitously in the   months ahead it currently retails for $20,000  wait sorry this just did in it's actually $19,999 before tax of course I mean that being  the case let's be honest with ourselves not   many of you out there watching right now are  going to go buy this TV and that's just fine   it's okay to gawk go ahead take a good  look and you don't have to just imagine   what it would be like to have this TV in your  home because I'm going to tell you what it's   like but there are some of you out there who  are considering buying this TV and for those   you who are in that I imagine very small Club  stick around because I have some very important   information for you to consider before laying  down that credit card all right let's get into it so first off let's talk about what you're  getting with the 115in TCL QM8 well in a nutshell   you're getting TCL's absolute best which probably  doesn't come as a surprise but what does that   actually mean well because it is such a huge QED  TV with an huge and advanced mini LED backlight   system it needs a special processor the processor  is everything in a TV so we're going to be talking   about what it does quite a bit in this review  that processor would be the AI PQ Ultra TCL's   best processor yet turbocharged to handle the  Monumental demands of this equally Monumental TV   it's also got the most advanced audio system TCL  has ever put into a TV uh you can see some of it   via these two Onkyo badge subwoofers on the back  but what you can't see so well is the array of   drivers that are hidden behind these perforated  sections on each side of the back of the TV and   along the top Edge firing at the ceiling as well  that's right while you do have some up firing   drivers primarily it's a rear firing audio system  and while we've had mixed results with that kind   of design here in this studio the 115in QM8 here  fared Pretty stinking well more on that shortly   now you might think that because there's so much  screen real estate here that you'd be looking at a   bulky TV but everyone who's visited to check this  TV out has commented that it's not nearly as thick   as they'd expected it to be this TV will look  awesome mounted on the wall and yes you can wall   mount it I'd highly encourage you to hit three  studs with a robust wall mount rated to handle at   least 200 lb but it can be wall mounted and though  you'll need to buy that wall mount yourself with   many retailers uh wall mounting will be included  with the purchase of this TV TCL's confirmed that   it is included if you purchase it at Best Buy  for example now if you don't wall mount you have   two other options you can use the feet that are  included in the box but with an ultrawide stance   you're going to need a very large credenza  or unusually wide Media Console not even our   beloved BDI consoles here are quite wide enough  to accommodated which is just part of the reason   why I personally prefer the optional legs that  you can buy for this TV they are rock solid and   they offer some cable management and position the  TV at the optimal viewing height thus eliminating   even the slightest amount of neck craning the  backlight system is comprised of Untold tens of   thousands of mini LEDs broken down into roughly  20,000 local dimming zones 20,000 zones y'all   now that number is impressive and even boggles my  mind but impressive numbers don't always translate   into Stellar picture quality so we'll see the TV  is claimed to hit 5,000 nits of peak brightness   again we'll see and it's got almost all of the  other specs that you may want you ready for an   onslaught of acronyms no too bad hdr10 hdr10 plus  hlg Dolby Vision 120 HZ atsc 3.0 tuner 2 HDMI 2.1   ports two HDMI 2.0 B ports two USB ports Alm VRR  with free sync premium Pro and o n Onkyo that's   legendary audio brand AIO slapping its badge  on the sound system need more you get a backlit   Google TV remote with voice control as well as a  defeatable voice mic on the TV itself a built-in   room sensor for automatic brightness and color  temperature control will definitely be talking   more about that in a moment and uh yeah I think  that's about it uh I mean there's more but that's   the important stuff okay so I am going to get  into some measurements and talk about the picture   quality in a moment but frankly what I'm about to  tell you now is the most valuable information I   can offer you in this review this TV's size is its  most notable asset and its greatest advantage and   I understand if you're thinking right now well duh  dude obviously but it size is also a liability of   sorts and not for the reasons that you might think  sure you're going to need some space for this TV   but I imagine that most folks considering this TV  plan to put it in a dedicated space where there's   likely a wall at least 8 ft wide to accommodate it  and I imagine a lot of you folks might be thinking   well it's so huge you'd have to sit at least 15  ft away from it right no you don't have to while   it's true that many optimal viewing distance  calculators will suggest a viewing distance   of at least 12 ft I'm here to tell you that I've  been sitting just 9.5 ft away from this 115in TV  

and have loved well almost every minute of it  there's a caveat there and I'm getting to that   in a moment as well but the key takeaway here  is that this TV can be viewed from what a lot   of folks would consider a normal viewing distance  without it feeling overwhelming and without seeing   pixels it is tremendously immersive it can occupy  your entire field of view you and really put you   in the content without you feeling like you're  missing any part of the scene now I know some   folks are worried about getting motion sickness  and yeah I can see that potentially being an   issue from some folks if they are especially  sensitive that's just physics and biology but   while I've personally gotten a little queasy  feeling in the past in some theater scenarios   I have not once felt ill at ease with this TV  now super shaky camera movement well that's just   annoying and there's nothing that you can do about  that for the most part this TV screen size is just   a huge Advantage but it can be a liability at  times and not for the Practical reasons that I   just mentioned no the real liability issue here  is that a big screen like this just gives you   more of everything it gives you more brightness  more contrast more color more immersion more just   straight up fun and excitement yes but just  as an amplifies all those good things it also   amplifies the bad things and in this context  I'm talking about the amplification of poor   quality content now we're kind of crossing over  into the picture quality section of this review   here but this matter needs its own segment in this  video because I think this is something that folks   aren't really aware of and thinking about first to  be clear high-quality content looks just awesome   pull up a 4K or 4K HDR Show on Netflix or Disney  Plus or Mac any number of streaming services with   high-quality content and it looks outstanding  like knock it right out of the park amazing even   the high bit rate 1080p stuff you can sometimes  get from a YouTube premium subscription looks   amazing and well captured 1080p content delivered  at a reasonably High bit rate from some streaming   services broadcasters and cable TV looks great too  but lower quality content and this is less about   resolution than it is highly compressed content  or content captured by less than Stellar cameras   well it's just blatantly obvious that it is lower  quality content and before you jump to conclude   that means this TV's processing upscaling and  digital enhancements are less than let me assure   you that is not the culprit even Sony's best  XR processor can't hide the artifacts present   in low-quality content when it's displayed on  a screen this size and is viewed at such close   distances that's really what's at play here  there's no hiding the failings of the content   when your viewing distance to screen size ratio is  at this level even an 85 in TV shows it less than   what you'll see here allow me to demonstrate we've  got the same content playing on the 115in TCL QM8   and a 65 in Sony A95L here the content looks much  better on the 65 in A95L in part well because   Sony's processing is pretty stellar and it's an  ol but really it looks much better on the Sony   because the A95L is just 65 in and we're viewing  it from the same distance This 115in TV has over   four times the screen surface area as a 55in TV  that's like zooming in on the content with four   times magnification so let's do that with the Sony  let's zoom in on the Sony and take a real close   look at this content and as you can see here many  of those same artifacts the macro blocking and the   blurriness that comes from it they're right there  you just can't see them as easily on a 65 in TV at   a normal viewing distance it's like the photos you  take on your phone they can look fantastic on your   phone tablet and even laptop screen but put them  on a big screen and suddenly you can really see   their faults it's not just video content either  like if an app developer phoned it in on the   resolution of their app tile for Google TV or the  graphic from a network isn't up to Snuff anything   that wasn't made at a resolution high enough to  look good at this scale well you're going to see   some Jagged edges for example and that can be true  for game Graphics as well if developers decided to   skimp here or there not anticipating that their  game would ever get played on a screen larger   than 85 in well you're going to see it it kind of  feels like catching someone slacking to be honest   I don't hate it now I imagine that most folks who  buy this TV are going to be using it for watching   higher quality content but if you plan on using  this TV to watch old Seinfeld episodes or YouTube   content captured by inexpensive cameras you need  to be prepared to see all of what's in the content   and some of it is not as good as you think it is  from watching it on smaller screens there's no   question that Sony and I think we have to toss  LG in here now too their best processors are   superior to TCL's for image cleanup but guys  garbage in garbage out the garbage May stink   just a little bit less with a top tier Sony  or LG processor but well LG and Sony aren't   making 115in TVs so hard to say how much less now  that we've covered the big screen experience from   several angles I want to talk about the audio  system for a minute it's pretty impressive and   I expected it to be you make a TV this big I want  some of that size to go toward housing great audio   and this TV does deliver an audio experience that  matches its screen size it can't match a proper   surround system with a subwoofer but you will not  be disappointed with this onboard speaker system   the up firing drivers the rear firing drivers and  subwoofer drivers all combined to offer a huge   sound and unlike most TVs this one is wide enough  to offer some real stereo separation and stereo   width the likes of which I've not heard from even  the best sounding Sony OLED TVs I still think   folks should match this to a killer home theater  audio rig the TV deserves that kind of pairing but   for anyone who doesn't want to pull out the big  guns for everything they watch this TV can put out   some damn impressive sound oh by the way quite a  few folks expressed curiosity about the amount of   heat this TV puts out and I suppose that's a fair  concern especially as those of us in the northern   hemisphere are headed into the dog days of summer  if I spot check this TV with my laser thermometer   I don't get any readings higher than say the 65 in  TCL QM8 from last year however you do have to take   into account the amount of screen area here which  makes the TV a bigger radiator essentially I don't   have a way to mathematically break things down  for you here but anecdotally I can tell you that   when I walk by it you can feel some warmth coming  off of it any TV mini LED or OLED at this size is   going to generate more heat than a comparably  equipped 65 or 75 in TV I suppose if it's in   a smaller room which kind of seems unlikely you  definitely notice it warming up the room if you   didn't have climate control but is it likely  to jack up your AC build noticeably I can't   say conclusively but I kind of doubt it you'd  probably heat up your home just as much making a   pot of spaghetti as you would watching a movie on  this TV now let's get down to some picture quality   stuff and that means it's time for Numbers for Nit  Nerds and if you don't care about Peak brightness   measurements and Delta e numbers for d65 white  point and all that other nerdy stuff no problem   skip ahead to the next section using the time  codes down in the description I'll provide all   the picture quality commentary that you need later  for my knit nerds however here's the takeaway as   it's performing now this unit I'm testing at least  I'm going to say that if you want accuracy you're   going to need to pay for a calibration I'm going  to talk about an update TCL says it will issue   soon that may address some accuracy concerns along  with one other thing I need to tell you about but   for now this is what I got when I pulled out the  meters I turned off the room sensor that's under   picture than intelligent settings and placed  the TV in the movie mode picture preset the   default brightness setting for SDR movie mode is  30 and you're going to see a green leaf here but   that is not an indication that eco mode is still  on it just signals that the TV uses less power   and that leaf disappears at 50 end up so default  performance for SDR movie mode the 10% white   window registered at a blasting 2400 nits that is  way too bright for SDR accuracy in a dark room I   mean it looks good to the average viewer uh but  then if you juice the brightness to the absolute   Max you're going to get 3900 nits twoo white  balance was not bad under a Delta e of three   on both points measured that's pretty great but  when we measured the gray scale we see that it's   well off the mark in all but the darkest and  brightest areas of the grayscale charts I think   for the price you pay this needs to be better and  I think TCL can remedy this unless I just have a   rogue unit here color accuracy it's kind of a  similar story the primaries look okay but when   we expand to a wider palette of colors we see the  errors are well above what we'd want to see in a   premium TV it's odd that the primaries are solid  but all the other colors are not in HDR Again   movie mode I got Peak brightness measurements  of about 4,000 nits again this breaks from the   measurements I got of the 98 in model that was  made available to me for testing at TCL's event   in New York where even with test pattern windows I  saw readings up near the 6,000 nit territory now I   can tell you that specular highlights do appear  brighter than even the smallest test pattern   Windows which which indicates to me that the TV  does deliver on its promise to hit about 5,000   nits quickly for HDR highlights but since the  AIP Q processor is in charge of that business   it's hard to measure and thus I don't have a  chart that shows it HDR color without luminance   errors was pretty good but with luminance errors  it's pretty out again based on the readings I'm   getting here it appears calibration will be  essential for ciles who want accuracy out of   this TV and honestly I think better out of box  accuracy than what I'm getting here is to be   expected given the price of the TV now as I'll  soon share the lack of accuracy did not get in   the way of my thoroughly enjoying this TV but  there's something else that did something TCL   says it's about to fix with an update that will  probably hit in July and actually this bug may   be responsible for some of the grayscale errors I  saw as well but here it is I'm going to use bright   white close caption text to exacerbate this issue  but you can see a lower grade version of this just   watching normal content in dimmer picture modes  we're going to hide the closed captions because   if we don't the camera sensor will get thrown  off and you won't see the shifts as well but in   this scene from Ahsoka on Disney plus you can see  the entire screen dim just slightly and then pop   back up as the captions come up the screen dims  then as they disappear the screen goes back to   its original APL now if we go into Vision bright  mode which has a much higher APL by force it's   so difficult to see the fluctuation that it'll  likely go unnoticed and to be fair most folks   didn't notice the exacerbated fluctuation I was  able to show you still since it's indicative of   a software issue or firmware issue and not a  hardware problem I was sure to share it with   TCL they replicated it got to the bottom of it  and will fix it in an update and I'm hopeful   that update may change some other aspects of the  TV's accuracy as well well that means that we're   going to have to revisit this TV post update to  see what's changed so with all those measurement   results and that one bug discussed here's my key  takeaways on the picture quality most of the time   it is spectacular and yes a lot of that is due to  the sheer scale of the image but this TV can get   well brighter than most folks need if you push  it to do so the local dimming system is capable   of doing a great job mitigating blooming and Halo  so you get deep blacks and impressive contrast in   most scenes the color is eye popping if not quite  as well saturated at the brightest levels as say   a QD OLED TV cinematic motion looks great without  the aid of motion smoothing though if you get any   frame drops due to a slow internet connection that  will feel a bit more jarring again because of the   screen size I mean the picture quality you get at  this screen size is well it's just breathtaking   even if it isn't Hollywood grade accurate I grin  ear to ear every time I turn this TV on because   I know I'm in for a whole lot of fun and the  smiles I see on others faces when they see this   TV that's worth a lot as well you just can't deny  it is literally awesome honestly if cost were no   object and you had the space I'd tell you to run  don't walk to get one of these things there's no   shot you'd be the least bit disappointed it's  I mean this TV is just a riot but cost is an   object for a lot of folks so the real problem with  this TV is that more people won't be able to enjoy   it because it is just so expensive I don't think  we should be surprised that it costs so much the   first 4K TV was extremely expensive the first 8K  TV extremely expensive the first 85 and 98 in TVs   extremely expensive of course the world's first  115in TV was going to be extremely expensive but   I think there's hope because the price is going to  come down it'll come down this year still won't be   affordable for most folks but it will come down  and next year it'll cost a little less and the   year after that less still and the fact that this  TV exists and that its price is just going to come   down that just means that other big screen  sizes like 85s and 98s they will become even   more affordable than they're already becoming  that local dimming bug that I mentioned before   needs to get fixed there's no question about that  and and I expect better accuracy especially since   I've measured better out of the 98 in version of  this series obviously TCL can do it you should not   spend 20 grand on a TV and have to deal with those  issues but like I said if TCL fixes it as promised   and I do believe they will I give this TV my  wholehearted unreserved recommendation to anyone   with the means to own it there's nothing else like  it on the market and the experience that you get   from it is is simply unmatched thanks so much for  watching everyone let me know what you think about   this TV down in the comment section I'm sure you  will like And subscribe if you haven't already   I'll see you on the next one and until then  here's two other videos I think you might like I did not KY yes that's how we  like to start videos around here

2024-07-09

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