There is no TV, not even very good TVsit looks as good as possible out of the box. If you have a TCL TV, including a new one X11L Super Quantum dot models, adjusting a few settings can significantly change the image. Even if you have no technical knowledge, these settings will get you a more accurate, realistic looking TV.
You don’t need any special equipment — just your eyes and your remote control. Oh, and some games and movies to see how your changes affect the picture. Even just a choice best picture mode it can bring good results.
TCL remote control in front of QM9K TV.
You can’t damage your TV by changing any of these settings, and if you want to go back to where it was before, that’s easy, too. And while TCL and Sony have entered into a joint venture for the upcoming Sony TVsthis should not change anything for current models from any brand. Let’s dive in.
Navigating the settings menu
Once you have completed the initial setup, such as pairing the remote control, connecting the TV to your Wi-Fi and receiving (or not, if you can) anywhere. data sharing policiesyou can start editing the image. Different TCL TVs use different “operating systems”, which are user interfaces. For example, some use Roku while others use Google TV. Although the way to access the settings may differ, they will all allow you to adjust the image quality. Also, not every TCL TV has all these settings, but most should.
TCL QM6K includes Google TV interface.
Picture mode
All TCL TVs have call modes standard, clear, sports again the movie. Others will have it wise again a film maker. Broadly speaking, a film maker again the movie it will be more accurate and closer to what the creators intended.
If the TV is in normal or clear mode, when you first switch to a movie or movie maker, the transitions will look very “warm” or “yellow/orange.” This is because many other methods are very cool color temperatureand when you switch to a more accurate one, it will look warmer in comparison. Give it a little time, and it will look normal, and some modes will start to look “cool” or “blue.” You can also adjust the color temperature separately. This may come as a surprise, though warm is usually the most accurate setting for most TVs.
It is worth noting that, in recent reviews of TV Editor Ty Pendlebury on other TCL TVs, there was not much difference between the ways of the movie and the filmmakers, although the latter was slightly better. Generally speaking, the filmmaker usually disables many image enhancements such as sharpening and the soap opera effect, so he offers the best settings immediately.
Some broadcast content is embedded with a specific flag indicating when filmmaker mode is ready, for example, and TCL TVs can include automatic content recognitionwhich it should switch to filmmaker mode. However, not all content that looks great in filmmaker mode has this flag.
Smart mode
This mode automatically selects the best picture based on the content and viewing area — that is, it adjusts the settings based on what it thinks you’re looking at, and the amount of ambient light in the room. Personally, I prefer to leave the display in single mode. Nothing will look wrong in movie or filmmaker mode. If you prefer how the TV looks differently while watching certain content, that’s fine, but for movies and scripted TV shows, the movie or a film maker best practices. Is the TV aware of this and fix something? I’m not sure I can trust any TV to get it right every time, to be honest.
Important note: Some TVs have different picture settings for each input and the TV’s internal applications. Once you’ve got the TV looking the way you want it, check the different inputs (if you’re using them), and see if the settings are correct. Some TCL TVs have a labeled feature use all image settingswhich should, as its name suggests, allow you to apply image settings to other inputs.
The style of the menus will vary depending on the TV, but they will all look like this.
To decorate the picture
While most TV picture modes are a matter of set it and forget it, televisions come with a number of other settings, which allow you to improve the picture. If you want to try to make the TV look even better, you can try, but even TV reviewers tend to choose the default picture modes as they come in the box. However, this is what additional settings do.
Compare
Adjusts the intensity of the brightest parts of the image. If this is set too high, it will “wash” the highlights. For example, instead of a bright cloud in the sky, it will be a flawless white bridge. This is probably close to what it should be out of the box. Use bright scenes to adjust, especially with the clouds mentioned above. Skiing/snowboarding content is another good option.
On the left, what a teahouse should look like. On the right, when the brightness control is set too low. Notice how the shadows disappear completely.
The light
This adjusts the brightness of the darkest parts of the image. Set it too low, and the shadows will be too dark to see. On other TVs, i the light the controller adjusts the overall brightness, while i dark level the controller adjusts shadows only. Dark movies are good for adjusting Dark Level.
If the TV has a separate backlight control, or if the brightness control adjusts the TV’s brightness, there is no right or wrong setting. Set to its highest settings, the TV may be too bright to watch at night and will draw a bit more power. It is common to adjust this based on how much light is in the room. More on the default settings for this below.
Color and tint
You don’t have to fix these.
You are sharp
In contrast, lower sharpness is usually better. Sharpness doesn’t “add” sharpness — it adds edge enhancement, which can increase noise, introduce artificial-looking edges to objects and mask fine details in an image. I will be careful again digital noise reductionas it does not know what is real sound and what is just film or fine detail in a picture. The gradation is clear it can help remove “steps” from color separation in other content. Most people are not bothered by this, but if you notice them, this feature can help reduce it.
To find out more about these settings, check out Instantly Improve Your TV Picture by Changing These Simple Settings.
Advanced settings
If you’re willing to go a little further, you can adjust a number of settings to tune the image, too professional TV scalesin particular, it will use these.
Gamma
Gamma that is, to put it more simply, how bright the moderately bright parts of the image are. So, it’s not the brightest parts of the image (adjusted with the contrast control) and not the darkest (that’s the brightness or dark level controls), but how bright something, say, 50% looks bright. There is more than thisbut a smaller number will make the image appear brighter, but may also make it look flat, artificial or washed out.
Photoshopped illustration of what different gamma settings will look like. Notice the difference in contrast in shadows (foreground), mid-tones (distant plane), and highlights (clouds).
The clarity of the movement and movement of the LED is clear:
Clarity of movement TCL motion compensation technology. This is also called MEMC or colloquially the result of a soap opera. If you think your TV looks weird or the motion is “too smooth” or everything looks like a telenovela or a soap opera, that’s why. It can make sports look sharp and realistic, but it makes movies and scripted TV shows look cheap and artificial. I highly recommend turning it off.
LED movement is clearon the other hand, he is also called black frame installation (BFI). This includes a black or dark frame between normal video frames. This can sharpen motion with all content and doesn’t add weird motion like Motion Clarity. However, it darkens the picture a bit overall, and some people may notice flickering. It’s worth checking out this feature to see if you like it. For some content, it may be good.
Picture of black frame installation. The original video will have 60 frames per second of fish. A TV with BFI will “insert” 60 black images between the original images.
Dynamic or dynamic or whatever
Personally, I’m not a fan of labeled mods dynamic or flexible. TVs almost always look their best when they are properly set to one mode and don’t change based on what they think the content should look like. This includes dynamic color temperature, black stretch, dynamic color, dynamic difference again local difference.
Different, depending on your room and TV, of course variable lightwhich adjusts the screen brightness based on the ambient light. In contrast, strong light adjusts the image brightness based on the signal. So dark scenes get darker, light scenes get brighter. This may seem strange as the TV goes down and up with certain movies or shows. To turn this off, use the TV menu, usually marked with a “hamburger button” icon (three stacked lines or dots). If you select this, a separate menu will appear at the bottom of the screen. If your TV has a light sensor, scroll right and disable it variable light — this will give you the best picture.
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