TCL has announced its second generation of 8K Mini-LED TVs. The TCL X92 and X92 Pro TVs will both go on sale in the U.K. early next year, with the former available in 65-inch and 75-inches and the latter coming with an 85-inch display.
The TCL X92 TVs feature 8K resolution and upscaling, Mini-LED, Quantum Dot panels and support for HDR10+, Dolby Vision IQ, regular Dolby Vision and advanced gaming features.
The Mini-LED panels are the big draw, made up of thousands of miniaturised LED backlights. Because they’re so small, many more of them can be squeezed onto the panel, which means superior local dimming control and more accurate, realistic pictures on the screen.
The TCL X92 Pro (left) goes a step further, boasting the OD Zero Mini-LED technology that was first seen on last year’s 8K Mini-LED model. The “OD” stands for optical distance, and the “Zero” means what it says it means. In other words, there is a negligible 0mm distance between the diffuser and the backlight plates, a technique that results in punchier images, TCL explained.
In addition to the larger and slightly superior display, the X92 Pro model comes with a powerful 5.1.2-channel 160W Onkyo Dolby Atmos soundbar that can be detached, whereas the smaller X92 models come with 2.1 Onkyo speakers. Both models support Dolby Atmos.
Each of the X92 models support 8K upscaling powered by TCL’s AIPQ video engine, come with HDMI 2.1 slots. There’s a handy Game Master mode too for those who want an advanced gaming experience with variable refresh rate, auto low-latency mode and AMD FreeSync.
Another nice touch is the “magic camera” accessory that enables users to make video calls with the TV via Google Duo.
TCL said the U.K. versions of the X92 TVs will be powered by Android TV, which is interesting because the sleeker Google TV alternative is being used in Australia and in Europe. Presumably that’s due to some kind of licensing issue.
As mentioned already, the TVs will go on sale in the U.K. early next year, though there’s no concrete launch date yet. They will however go on sale in the “coming days” in Australia, Saudi Arabia and some European nations.
The TCL X92 and X92 Pro will compete with 8K Mini-LED models sold by Samsung and Sony, as well as LG Electronics 8K OLED TV.
