TCL to bring 50-inch 4K Ultra HDTV to the US for less than a grand

Shawn Knight

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tcl hdtvs 4k

Keeping pace with the cutting edge of technology is an expensive affair but for some of us, it’s a necessary evil. That’s especially true when a new standard is on the horizon, like 4K Ultra HD televisions, for example. It's destined to become the next big thing in a few years but if you want to play now, be prepared to shell out a lot of money to do so.

That’s all about to change, however, as a Chinese manufacturer by the name of TCL (The Creative Line) is planning to bring a 50-inch 4K Ultra HDTV to the US for just $999. I think the Staples commercial says it best.

Michelle Mao, president of TCL USA, said their mission is to deliver high quality HDTVs with advanced technologies and premium design at an aggressive price to establish the TCL brand in the US. Mao further pointed out that as other brands see the introduction of 4K as an opportunity to make large margins, they see it as an opportunity to demonstrate to US consumers the combination of technology and value they’ve been delivering to other parts of the world for 30 years.

Naturally, there’s got to be more than meets the eye here. Gizmodo suggests the TV is cheaper in part because it doesn’t come loaded with a ton of branded certifications like THX or any smart connected TV features. That’s perfectly fine by me (and probably many others) so long as the picture quality is up to snuff once properly calibrated.

TCL’s 50-incher is expected to arrive on US shores this September.

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You know, that's great that technology is moving along. But even at that price, what's the point of having a 4k HDTV when there is NO media and content available for it?
 
Go TCL! It's your Birthday!

Yeah.. sooo... when we said the price would come down on 4K TVs in a few years I think we should have said hours.
 
You know, that's great that technology is moving along. But even at that price, what's the point of having a 4k HDTV when there is NO media and content available for it?

Bragging rights! And they'll probably be some DVD players capable of upscaling blu-ray soon. A while after HDTV came out DVD players upscaled regular DVDs so well it was thought that Blu-ray wasn't going to take off because it wasn't needed.
 
Unless it comes with HDMI 2.0 or DisplayPort 1.2, it is a waste of the screen, because 4K at 24/30fps is horrible.
 
If they can do a 50" for $1000, why don't they do me a favor and do a 30" 4K PC monitor for $300?
 
If they can do a 50" for $1000, why don't they do me a favor and do a 30" 4K PC monitor for $300?

Because 1000/50 is not equal to 300/30 ;)

Or how would you like a 4K watch with 2" screen and the price thus deduced to $20?
 
Yay, a 4K TV for less than a grand,awesome.
I for one don't care about what it uses to process that picture or LCD quality
 
Yay, a 4K TV for less than a grand,awesome.
I for one don't care about what it uses to process that picture or LCD quality


Ignorance is bliss, buddy, but if you get a 4K that's every inch as good as one below, you may change your mind ;)

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You know, that's great that technology is moving along. But even at that price, what's the point of having a 4k HDTV when there is NO media and content available for it?

It's better and cheaper than my five year old Samsung TV when I bought it? I can wait for technology to catch up to it.
 
Thanks for introducing a great price TCL. Please please drive the price down on the other HD displays!

And, those of you who say that there's no content... You're right! But think PC's with games, and Youtube 4K. There's stuff out there. Just not a mountain of it yet.
 
Its age old chicken and egg quandary. Media sources won't produce in a higher-density format until there is enough demand (read supporting devices). And manufacturers tend to avoid developing high-cost technology for no good reason (read nothing to play on it).

My prediction is that hardware supporting 4K will slowly continue to trickle down. Eventually you'll see a big network shove content out at 4K. Then you'll see a serious uptick in interest on both sides. That rate of development will help drive competitive pricing down.

But its not quite the same thing as switching from SD to HD. That was a huge difference, even at menial resolutions. But there is probably little point (my opnion) of 4K on anything less than a 50" (or maybe even 60" or larger). Case in point, I'm not sure I can tell the difference between 720 and 1080 on my 47" -- granted, it is an early gen model at a whopping 60 Hz.
 
Strictly speaking, there is 4K content, on youtube, and it is growing fast.

In fact, this is now my preferred format, as the quality is excellent, and make a big difference on my 30" screen. However, youtube fails to serve 4K content fast enough, so I usually pre-load it using 4K Video Downloader, which is very fast, and I recommend to everyone who wants to enjoy 4K videos from youtube and not sit and wait for them to load forever...
 
I do hope that this will bring the prices down because here in South Africa there's a 84 inch Sony going for about the same price as an Opel Corsa OPC or you could buy a Fiesta ST and still have change to fit options.

Anyone that's willing to spend that much on a TV needs to have his head checked.
 
No,they spend their stolen R200 million on security for their mansions.
 
Good, will help adoption of 4k take off hopefully. :)

And then movies will finally be released in 4k. Hopefully by 2020.

Though, 8k might just beat it to the bunch, fine by me, of course.
 
It is all very well having s high pixel count but with limited frame rates the experience is poor with fast moving images. HD looks fantastic with static images but with the BBC iPlayer fast action tends to pixelate.
 
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