Admittedly, Milan Design Week is not the place to expect new televisions. But TCL scores by placing itself at the furniture fair and presenting its lineup for 2023.
These are the new UHD TVs C745 and C845 – with an eye on gamers.
OLED is not visible. Instead, TCL relies on mini-LEDs, which can certainly compete with the contrasts of the organic pixels. The biggest item on the Chinese supplier’s plus side: higher maximum brightness.
Upper class with mini LED: C845
Attention, Samsung, Sony, Panasonic and LG: TCL could be dangerous for you. The top model C935 from the previous year remains, but the C845 settles directly behind it. The panel: UHD resolution and with mini LEDs.
TCL has also doubled the dimming zones compared to last year’s models.
| size in inches | Number of dimming zones |
|---|---|
| 55 | 480 |
| 65 | 576 |
| 75 | 720 |
| 85 | 896 |
Not only will this improve contrast and color representation, peak brightness will increase as well. The Chinese manufacturer states that it can achieve 2,000 nits, which is decent.
Made for gamers: The built-in AiPQ 3.0 processor supports 4K at 144 Hz and 1,080p at 240 Hz. There are also VRR (AMD FreeSync Premium Pro), ALLM, 240-Hz interframe calculation, the in-house Game Bar 2.0 and the HDR modes HLG, HDR10, HDR10+ and Dolby Vision IQ.
A 2.1 sound system with 60 watts is also on board.
Upper middle class for gaming: C745
Also with UHD resolution, this television is not equipped with mini-LCDs, but with conventional LED-LCDs. One difference to last year’s models: the TV has local dimming and now controls the zones directly.
| size in inches | dimming zones |
|---|---|
| 55 | 140 |
| 65 | 160 |
| 75 | 220 |
This increases the maximum brightness. Instead of the 350 nits of its predecessor, the C745 now manages 1,000 nits, according to the manufacturer, which film and gaming fans will notice noticeably.
In terms of gaming technology, the same features as the C845 are slumbering under the hood, but TCL relies on a different processor: MediaTek MT9615.
More features & prices
As before, TCL relies on Google TV as the operating system, version 11 of which will be on board.
Also new: Matter certification. This allows the televisions to be integrated into a smart home that is based on Matter.
However, the Chinese manufacturer owes us availability and prices. The devices are said to be on the market soon. Until then we’ll have to be patient.
TCL stays away from OLED and prefers to use mini-LEDs in its displays. Do you think this is the right way? Can the two technologies compete on an equal footing? What do you think of dedicated gaming features on TVs? Is it worth it for console gamers? Feel free to share your opinion with us in the comments.
