How I optimized the cheapest 98-inch TV available to look and sound incredible (and it's $1,500 off)
ZDNET’s key takeaways
- TCL’s 98-inch Class S5 Collection TV is among the most accessibly-priced TVs of its dimension, and it is at the moment on sale for $1,500 off.
- Watching films and TV reveals on such a giant show is as near a theatre-like expertise as one can get at house.
- With such a big TV, setting it up generally is a wrestle, particularly if you do not have a sufficiently big console or wall area
extra shopping for selections
TCL makes some spectacular TVs utilizing superior show applied sciences, specs, and optimizations for the very best image high quality doable. But typically, they put all that apart and say, “Hey, let’s simply make a extremely huge TV for the sake of constructing a extremely huge TV.” And that is what this 98-inch set is all about.
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This TV, a member of TCL’s lower-end S5 collection, is at the moment on sale for $1,500 off its regular worth of $2,999, bringing the price right down to $1,999. TCL was type sufficient to let me learn about this deal in an e mail just a few weeks in the past, and I used to be wildly intrigued, to say the least. “A 98-inch TV for lower than $2,500?” I assumed to myself. That appeared inconceivable.
I have been dwelling with the 98-inch TCL S5 Collection, and this is how the expertise has been.
Establishing a 98-inch TV
The most important problem this TV poses is becoming it in your house. This factor is gigantic; it is 85.7 inches vast, 49.1 inches tall, and the toes are 68.5 inches aside. When you’ve got a wall sufficiently big to mount it on, then you definitely’re all set. However should you do not, you is perhaps scrambling to search out an leisure middle sufficiently big to accommodate this behemoth.
The latter was me, by the best way — I used to be the one scrambling. My brothers helped me unbox the TV (which felt inconceivable since our drop ceilings stopped us from lifting the lid straight up within the air), and after we ripped by all of the Styrofoam and plastic wrap, we wanted to determine a spot to set it up in our comparatively small lounge.
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My first thought was to depart it on the bottom, however who desires to look down to look at TV? Then we thought of ditching our present leisure middle and shifting our 65-inch LG TV someplace else to caddy nook it (once more, on the bottom), however that meant we would need to dismember our whole lounge.
So, we got here up with a compromise: we arrange two folding catering tables, pushed our sofa and loveseat towards the wall, and plopped the 98-inch mammoth proper in entrance of our hearth. Is it good? Probably not, but it surely works for the sake of this evaluation.
Probably the most immersive expertise out there (except you discover one greater)
None of us had been fairly ready for simply how huge this TV is. Certain, I had a way of how huge it was earlier than we plugged it in, however as soon as that 98-inch display screen lit up, we had been all bowled over. Many individuals dream of getting a movie show of their house to get pleasure from their favourite cinema flicks and video games, and shopping for a TV like TCL’s 98S550G will get you as near that actuality as doable.
Possibly it is as a result of we’re sitting so near it, possibly it is the swap from watching on a 65-inch TV for therefore lengthy, however regardless of the cause, the sensation of immersion you get from watching this 98-inch TV by no means appears to fade away. The whole lot you tune into will really feel extra lifelike than you’ll be able to think about — that goes for films like “Oppenheimer” and “Spider-Man: No Method Dwelling” to cable TV like “Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives”.
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My solely want is that I had gotten to see Tremendous Bowl LVIII on it. That being mentioned, I can already inform this TV would be the good match for anybody who makes use of multiview by NFL Sunday Ticket.
I imply it once I say that your jaw can drop at any second when watching this TV. When you’ve got a favourite film or TV present, it merely makes it higher because it’s simply so huge. It is simple to see regardless of the place you might be within the room, and it ensures there is not a nasty seat in the home.
Extraordinary specs, however stable image high quality nonetheless
My 4K HDR Oppenheimer DVD regarded wonderful on this factor.
Max Buondonno/ZDNET
Past its magnificent 98-inch dimension, the remainder of the 98S550G is fairly fundamental, a minimum of in relation to high-end TVs. It makes use of a QLED panel which helps ship brighter colours and higher distinction, and I can confidently say it is the most effective LED TVs I’ve ever seen. Nonetheless, you will not get the identical luxuries as one thing like an OLED or Mini LED TV with native dimming, richer distinction, and elevated brightness. On the brilliant facet, you will not get any mild haloing round your content material because it makes use of one large backlight.
The TV has a 4K decision and helps refresh charges as much as 120Hz, which is a pleasant contact for any players who need to get pleasure from silky-smooth gameplay on the panel. I’ll say although, 4K on a 98-inch panel would not really feel the identical because it does on a 65-inch panel; pixel density is not almost as excessive since they’re scattered throughout a a lot bigger canvas, and should you get near the TV, you’ll be able to positively see particular person pixels. It isn’t a difficulty by any means, however I discovered it attention-grabbing nonetheless.
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The image high quality is first rate total. “Oppenheimer” regarded nice enjoying off the 4K HDR DVD I bought, whereas 1080p upscaled cable reveals weren’t too shabby, both. You’ve gotten loads of choices to manage how every part appears to be like within the settings menu, and when you set it up, I would extremely advise turning off movement smoothing. On 98 inches of tv, the added frames doesn’t do most content material justice.
With the 98-inch S5, TCL made positive to incorporate a variety of specs and options prospects is perhaps curious about, together with HDR Extremely (consisting of Dolby Imaginative and prescient IQ, Open HDR, HDR10, HDR10+, and HLG), a devoted Recreation Accelerator 240 for 240 VRR help, Dolby Atmos, AirPlay, Chromecast, voice assistant integration, and even dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi. There are 4 HDMI ports to reap the benefits of, together with optical audio and Ethernet ports.
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Sound high quality can be stable. At greater volumes, mids and highs can begin to screech, however the built-in subwoofer helps anchor every part with a shocking quantity of bass, one thing that may be tuned within the settings if you’d like roughly growth throughout your films. I would nonetheless go for a devoted sound system if you’d like a real movie show setup, however my household and I had been proud of what the TV kicked out.
ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation
At $1,599, it is exhausting to disregard TCL’s 98-inch Class S5 Collection TV for very lengthy. When you’ve got a spot in your house the place you’ll be able to match a TV of this dimension and magnitude — and you do not thoughts dropping $2,000 — I can see this TV making a variety of sense for an immersive leisure setup. Granted, you will not get the very best image high quality on the market, but it surely’s necessary to keep in mind that something higher than what TCL provides you’ll run you a minimum of $5,000 to $10,000.
In the long run, I had a variety of enjoyable reviewing this large 98-inch TV, however I am able to ship it again. For our house, it’s kind of too intrusive and will get in the best way as a rule. (Let’s keep in mind that it is blocking my whole hearth.) However when you have the area for it, a part of me desires to inform you to hurry out and seize one whereas the deal’s occurring. I feel you will dig it, and your whole family can be hooked on it. And on the finish of the day, is not that what we’re all after when shopping for a brand new TV?
