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TCL 4 Series/S434 Android 2020 TV Review

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Table of Contents
Top
General Settings
Gaming
1. PC Gaming
White Balance
Discussions

TCL 4 Series/S434 Android 2020 Calibration Settings

Updated Jan 14, 2021 at 09:57 am

By Nicholas Di Giovanni

We used the following calibration settings to review the 55" TCL 4 Series/S434 Android 2020 (55S435), and we expect them to be valid for the 43" (43S434), 50" (50S434), 65" (65S434), and the 75" (75434) versions as well. These settings should apply to most types of content, except for gaming or use as a PC monitor, which require a few additional changes, listed below.

General Settings

Eco Settings

TCL 4 Series/S434 Android 2020 Calibration Settings 15

One of the first things we did was disable all of the power saving options, such as disabling Dynamic Backlight as we don't want the TV to adjust the image during testing.

SDR

TCL 4 Series/S434 Android 2020 Calibration Settings 3

TCL 4 Series/S434 Android 2020 Calibration Settings 17

For SDR content, there are seven preset picture modes. We recommend choosing the Movie picture mode, as it's the most accurate one out of the box, and allows for the most customization. From the Brightness Settings in the 'Advanced Settings' menu, we recommend setting Contrast to '90' and Black Level to '50'. We also set Color Saturation to '50', and Tint (G/R) to '50' in the Color menu. Finally, we chose the 'Warm' Color Temperature.

Brightness

TCL 4 Series/S434 Android 2020 Calibration Settings 10

TCL 4 Series/S434 Android 2020 Calibration Settings 12

Unlike most TVs, including other Android TVs from Sony and Hisense, this one has two Brightness settings: one in the 'Picture' menu and another in the 'Brightness Settings' page. However, they both change the backlight and changing one automatically changes the other. It doesn't impact picture quality like the Brightness setting on most TVs, and you should adjust it to your liking.

Image Enhancements

TCL 4 Series/S434 Android 2020 Calibration Settings 13

As we aim for an image that is as close as possible to the content creator's intent, we disable most image processing options, including Dynamic Contrast. You should adjust these to your personal preference, though.

HDR

TCL 4 Series/S434 Android 2020 Calibration Settings 72

HDR is automatically enabled for the native apps. When you start playing HDR content, a small HDR icon appears next to the picture mode on the quick settings menu. Once you start playing HDR content, some of the settings change automatically, including the Brightness. We recommend leaving these settings to their default settings in HDR.

Gaming

To achieve the lowest input lag possible when gaming, there aren't many settings you need to change. You simply need to set Picture Mode to 'Game', and we recommend using this for SDR and HDR gaming. You can also set it to 'PC' to achieve a low input lag.

PC Gaming

TCL 4 Series/S434 Android 2020 Calibration Settings 4

If you want to use this TV as a PC monitor and want low input lag and for it to display chroma 4:4:4, simply set the Picture Mode to 'PC'. There aren't any other settings you need to change.

White Balance Settings

The following are the results of the white balance and colorspace calibration on our unit. They are provided for reference, and should not be copied as the calibration values vary per individual unit even for the same model and same size as the TV we reviewed due to manufacturing tolerances. If you want to try them you will need to enter all values shown, as all of them are active at the same time. If you end up with worse picture quality, simply reset them to the default values.