TCL 4 Series/S446 2021 Calibration Settings

We used the following calibration settings to review the 65 inch TCL 4 Series (65S446), and we expect our settings to be valid for the 43 inch (43S446), 50 inch (50S446), 55 inch (55S446), 75 inch (75S446), and the 85 inch (85S446) models too. This TV uses TCL's implementation of Google TV, which is new in 2021, so there aren't many other TVs that use the same settings interface.

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.

One of the first things we did was disable all of the extra image processing features, as we don't want the TV to adjust the image during testing. We disabled the Energy Saver and Sleep Timer settings in the Power & Energy menu so that the TV didn't randomly shut off during testing. We also disabled Auto Detect in the Screen Settings page, so it doesn't adjust the aspect ratio during testing.

For SDR content, we recommend choosing the 'Movie' Picture Mode, as it's the most accurate one out of the box and allows for the most customization. In the Brightness Settings page, we recommend leaving the Contrast to '100', Black Level to '50', Gamma to '2.2', and we disabled Dynamic Contrast and Black Stretch, but you can adjust these to your preference. This TV doesn't have a local dimming feature.

In the Color tab, we left everything at their default with the Color Temperature set to 'Warm -5'. In the Clarity tab, we left Sharpness to '0' and disabled the Digital Noise Reduction, Noise Reduction, and Gradation Clear settings, but once again, you should adjust these to your preference.

HDR is automatically enabled for the native apps. When you start playing HDR content, the picture settings menu changes to specify the HDR format. Once you start playing HDR content, some of the settings change automatically. We recommend choosing the 'Movie' HDR Picture Mode and leaving the other settings to their defaults in HDR. Unlike the TCL 6 Series/R646 2021 QLED, you don't need to enable any full bandwidth signal for it to work.

The TCL S446 doesn't support Dolby Vision.

The TCL S446 has an optional backlight strobing feature, commonly known as black frame insertion. It only flickers at 60Hz, and to enable it, enable the Motion Clarity setting so that you can enable the LED Clear Motion.

The TCL S446 can interpolate lower-frame rate content up to 60 fps. Adjust the Judder Reduction setting to its max for it to work.

The TCL S446 can remove 24p judder from 24p sources like Blu-ray players and native apps when you enable Nature Cinema. However, it can't remove it from 60p/i sources.

From the base SDR and HDR settings, simply enable the Auto Low Latency Mode setting from the Inputs menu. This allows the TV to automatically switch into Game Mode when you launch a game from a compatible device. You can also set the Picture Mode to 'Game' for low input lag. 

The TCL S446 doesn't support any variable refresh rate technology.

If you want the TCL S446 to display chroma 4:4:4 with 4k and 1080p signals at 60Hz when using it as a PC monitor, set the Picture Mode to 'PC' or 'Game'.

The TCL S446 can pass uncompressed Dolby Atmos via TrueHD audio to a compatible receiver through a single HDMI connection. For eARC to work with Dolby Atmos formats, enable the eARC Mode for the input you're using and set Digital Audio Out to 'Auto'.