Reviews

Review: TCL 55DC760 (DC760 series) – Ultra HD LED TV with competitive price

TCL 55DC760
TCL is a Chinese multinational and the third largest TV manufacturer worldwide, The TCL 55DC760 is a sharply priced 55-inch, mid-range LCD television that delivers remarkable performance.
4.5/5 - (570 votes)

TCL is a Chinese multinational and the third largest TV manufacturer worldwide that is slowly gaining ground in Europe. The TCL 55DC760 is a sharply priced 55-inch, mid-range LCD television that delivers remarkable performance.

TCL 55DC760 Specifications

  • What: Ultra HD LCD TV, Edge Led
  • Screen size: 55 inch (139 cm) ), flat
  • Connections: 3x HDMI (3x v2.0a), 1x composite video, 1x stereo cinch, 1x optical digital out, 2x USB (1x 3.0), 1x headphones, 2x antenna, Bluetooth (A2DP, HID)
  • Extras: HDR10, HLG, WiFi (802.11ac) built-in, Android TV (Nougat, later Oreo), USB / DLNA media player, DVB-T2 / C / S2, CI + lock, JBL sound
  • Dimensions: 1.233 x 790 x 240 mm (incl foot)
  • Weight: 18,0 kg (including foot)
  • Consumption: 90/0.3 watt (Energy label A+)
  • List price: 999 euro

TCL 55DC760 Design

TCL now combines classic design elements of TV with a bold look. The super-slim screen is bordered with a metal edge, but there is no real frame. The screen has a black edge of an inch wide.

At the top of the back of the screen are two silver discs connected by a small black metal bar. The whole probably serves to strengthen the screen, but it is also a nice design accent.

The Y-shaped foot is very sturdy, even though it looks very light. He does take a lot of space in the width (80 cm). But the most striking part of television is the soundbar. TCL worked together with JBL for this solution. The soundbar has the shape of a speaker-covered cylinder at the bottom of the television. The cylinder is left and right open for the bass ports.

Connections

On the side is the typical complement connections of a good middle class. Three times HDMI (ready for Ultra HD HDR), two USB connections, optical digital out, composite video and a headphone connection. In addition to the wired network connection, 802.11gn/ac WiFi is also installed. Bluetooth is available for wireless headphones.

All connections are neatly to the side so that they all remain accessible if you choose wall mounting.

TCL 55DC760 – ease of use

This model is equipped with Android TV, version 7 ( Nougat). The installation is like on all other Android devices. You can use an Android tablet or smartphone to set up your account. A part of the installation (all possible legal disclaimers, installation of TV channels) is done in the TCL menus but that went without problem.

A striking failure in ease of use: the power key of the remote does not send the television standby, but switches it off completely. Since Android does take some time to restart, hopefully that is an error that can be adjusted via software. Naturally, we asked TCL about this question.

Later this year, this device also gets the latest Android version (8 Oreo), which will also provide a new user interface.

Remote control of TCL 55DC760

The DC760 is delivered with two remote controls. The first is the TCL remote that we have known for some time. It is a narrow remote control with pleasant rubber keys and a decent layout. You can not really call them innovative, but they do a perfect job.

The second remote is a lot smaller, and works with Bluetooth. You do not have to focus them. The limited number of tests is not an obstacle in daily use. For some functions such as number keys you can call up a small on-screen keyboard. You do not have to use the arrow keys, because this remote also has a pointing function (airmouse). Pressing the mouse button and a cursor appears on the screen that you move by pointing to the screen. Small movements are sufficient, and the cursor is easy to control.

The remote is also equipped with a microphone for voice commands. Because the Android TV uses Google Assistant is that very extensive, even if you are limited to English for the time being. What is the nearest Chinese restaurant, it is raining tomorrow, and what is on my agenda, all are questions that you can put on TV.

TCL 55DC760 Features

Smart TV platform

Just like almost all other Android devices use this TCL the Mediatek MT5891, with a quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 and Mali-T860 GPU, 2GB RAM and 16GB internal storage. That chipset is powerful enough to make the Android experience smooth enough, although you notice the difference with a modern smartphone that reacts more fluently. For a middle class, this is an excellent choice.

Smart functions

Meanwhile, the interface of Android TV (Nougat) is known. The Home screen takes over the screen, although you can see what you were looking at in the background. Recommendations are prominently at the top, and below them are several rows of apps and TV functions, and a row of entries. At the very bottom you’ll find the Android settings.

TCL 55DC760

Unfortunately, the YouTube app does not offer HDR images, which would be solved in the next version. We also do not find an Amazon Video app, that question lies with TCL. Netflix is ​​present, and works perfectly, also with HDR content. There is a full set of digital tuners on board, but we did not get our CI + card from Telenet. We also reported that problem to TCL. (the device is not Ziggo or Telenet certified, something to be reckoned with). The media player is very complete and played all our video test files, including HDR video. The music player only fails with ALAC, Apple’s lossless format. All other popular formats including tags are played correctly.

With the T-cast app you not only have a convenient remote on your smartphone, but also a smooth way to transfer content (photo, video and music) from your smartphone to the to send TV. Very striking is that you can also bring images from your television to the smartphone. We succeeded at least with live TV and DVD, so that is possible with all sources.

TCL 55DC760 Image quality

The TCL 55DC760 is equipped with a edge LED backlight without local dimming, a VA panel, wide color gamut and 400/500 nits luminance.

Main settings

In our article on the professional calibration of a TV you can read all about the possibilities to come up with the best picture settings with a professional. Here you will find an explanation of the most important picture settings and tips for setting up your TV. With the basic settings we have come to the following settings for this TV.

Statue Advanced video Advanced video
Picture mode: FilmMix Dimming: Off / On
Backlight: 80
Saturation: 45
Screen mode: 16: 9
Overscan: off
Content type: Video
Dynamic background: Off *
Micro Dimming: Off
Contrast: 90
Sharpness: 0
Tint: 50
Black level: 50
Black stretch: Off
Dynamic Contrast: Off
Gamma: 2 *
Color temperature: W arm
Color space: auto
RGB mode: off
MPEG NR: off
DNR: Off

Explanation main settings;

  • Dynamic Background: Want the clearest images For example, when looking at a lot of light, switch on Brightness +.
  • Gamma: This is perfect for darkening. If you look at ambient light, 1 is a better choice.
  • Dynamic Contrast: can give your images a bit more punch and it hardly hides detail, good for looking at a little more ambient light.
  • MPEGNR and DNR activate you when you start from a bad source (old DVDs or low quality YouTube).

General image and image processing

This TCL is neatly in the middle of its image processing. As a weak point we look at some deinterlacing performance. He does not always recognize the right underlying film or video drama, and therefore you can occasionally see some moiré or jagged lines. The best choice is to provide sources in progressive video modes (720p, 1080p or 2160p). The noise reduction (DNR) is excellent, the lightest position is safe for those who want to leave it on, the car mode works fine but is quite strong. Compression noise (block formation) is a more difficult task, and MPEG NR is not completely removed.

This TCL offers many settings that work on brightness and contrast: Mix dimming, dynamic background, micro dimming and dynamic contrast. The latter works well, and leaves your black and white detail virtually untouched, and is therefore a good choice if you want some extra punch. Dynamic background can be switched to ‘Brightness +’, and that does exactly what you expect, it makes the images clearer, which can be desirable in a lot of ambient light. We have asked TCL for some explanation about mix dimming (presumably the light sensor) and micro dimming (local contrast enhancement).

Middenmoters rarely score well on motion sharpness and the TCL 55DC760 should also leave some points there. There is no motion interpolation or other form of improvement for the movement sharpness available. Fast moving objects therefore have a somewhat blurred edge, and fast camera movements can have a stuttering effect. We also notice that the TV at some 24 fps sources suffer from judder.

The VA panel provides excellent black value and excellent contrast (3700: 1), and the television does not hide black detail. Due to lack of local dimming it may be that you still see the dark bands above and below a film in a dark room, but that is no surprise. Those who want to experience movies within a limited budget will still be surprised by the nice images that this TCL produces.

He also owes this to his excellent calibration. In the Film mode he tackles with very impressive results. The gamma value that determines the brightness trend is measured at 2.4. This is good for looking at darkening, but those who look into a more typical living room can change the gamma setting from 2 to 1. The gray scale is perfectly neutral, and the color reproduction is extremely good. He scores excellent on both the general color checker and on the skin tones.

HDR

For external sources, do not forget to change the HDMI input: “System, Advanced Video, HDMI 2.0 -> On. The television supports HDR10 and HLG.

In this price segment HDR reproduction can be a problem. Top brightness and color range are often somewhat limited. The DC760 achieves a peak brightness of 404 nits, which it can also display on a completely white screen. It is striking that in a smaller 2% test window he has a lower peak brightness (292 nits) while we would expect an extra boost there. The clarity curve follows the PQ EOTF excellent, and the tonemapping gently rolls off from about 60% stimulus to map the 1000 nits content within its reach.

The color range is good , with 90% DCI-P3 and 65% Rec.2020, he is on the ground where you usually hit more expensive devices. The calibration is also excellent here and you notice that. Despite its modest figures, the images are very good to taste, with plenty of extra contrast and color visible.

The Smart HDR image mode gives SDR images a HDR flavor, but you have to do some tinkering first. Set the focus to 5, and color temperature to warm for a much more pleasant result. Then you will notice that the colors change very strongly, in other words we are not a big fan.

Reflections and viewing angles

Try to avoid reflections on this device, they remain sharply visible. As expected, the viewing angle is not very large on this type of panel. If one is sitting too far to the side, the color and contrast will be diluted.

Gaming

There is no game mode, but that is not necessary. Even in film mode we measure a 26.8 ms layer, pretty decent and for a casual gamer perfectly ok.

TCL 55DC760 Audio quality

The JBL soundbar provides good musical support for the image. The drivers in the soundbar are directed forward, which provides a more direct sound experience. There is a lot of volume available, a sturdy bass, and clear dialogues. If you turn the volume knob too much, the bass reproduction will remain clear, or even begin to slightly distort. That is certainly not an exceptional phenomenon, even with more expensive television. Given the price tag, we find the sound performances even very good, perfect for TV, and a lot of film material and even sufficient for occasional music.

Review equipment

For the lay-measurement we use a Leo Bodnar Display was meters. For all other measurements we rely on a Spectracal C6 HDR2000 Colorimeter Xrite i1 Pro spectrophotometer, a VideoForge Pro pattern generator, and the Spectracal Calman for Business software. To analyze any HDR problems we use HDFury Vertex.

TCL 55DC760 – Conclusion

TCL may not be a well-known name in the low countries, this TCL 55DC760 shows that the Chinese multinational what ambition may have. The main negatives are software problems. The TV has no standby mode but switches completely off, so Android TV has to start up completely every time your TV is watching. Furthermore, Amazon Video is missing in the app store. The limited motion sharpness and narrow light output for HDR are limitations that you have to accept in this price range.

On the plus side we find a very nicely finished screen with excellent contrast and black value and very good color rendering. Even for HDR it manages to deliver decent performance. The soundbar from JBL is a great asset that ensures excellent sound. Android has slowly become a real smart TV thanks to the Google Assistant. Finally, there is a very affordable price label on this television.

Cons

  • No standby, only completely off
  • Limited motion sharpness
  • Slightly too little light for HDR

Pros

  • Black value and contrast
  • Color reproduction
  • Sound quality
  • Price