Bought this TV last week, https://www.bestbuy.com/site/tcl-65-class-5-series-qled-4k-uhd-smart-roku-tv/6423898.p?skuId=6423898

First issue: The 4K HDR on Fox Sports looks like butt. Like I'm watching a game through a cheap pair of sunglasses. The 4K broadcast on ESPN looks incredible. Anyone else have this issue? I checked a couple of TV's, samsungs, but still running off Roku sticks and they seem to have the same issue.


Second issue: I still don't have the colors 100% dialed in, think reds and yellows are still a little hot for me, but the expert settings to fine tune everything are only accessible within the Roku app. The Roku app errors out every time I try to access that feature. Support was unable to resolve and took a bunch of information and said they'd get back to me. Ridiculous to have picture calibration options only available within an app.

I bought TCL because this board seems to highly recommend them. But right now I'm debating on keeping this one or taking it back to get a Samsung or LG that will have fewer features, but maybe fewer headaches as well.

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First issue: The 4K HDR on Fox Sports looks like butt. Like I'm watching a game through a cheap pair of sunglasses. The 4K broadcast on ESPN looks incredible. Anyone else have this issue? I checked a couple of TV's, samsungs, but still running off Roku sticks and they seem to have the same issue.

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Can't speak of your other issues but a lot of people complaining of this - and I've noticed it on all the 4K Fox CFB broadcasts on YoutubeTV. There have been a few 4k soccer games, don't recall what channel, that have looked nice and vibrant so think it's a Fox CFB thing.

I have an LG CX OLED (last years model) and a Samsung QLED that is around 2-3 years old. I'd recommend both over the TCL if you were thinking about taking it back. I had a TCL in my kids TV area for a while and it was a nice budget TV with Roku... but it doesn't compare at all to the other two brands.

The LG CX in particular looks fantastic and it supports Dolby Vision (which Samsung does not). You can get pretty good deals on them since they are now the "old" model. Even the non 4K sports broadcasts look really good on the LG.

This seems to be a common issue with Fox based on another thread over the weekend. Everyone was having this issue as was I. I have a brand new LG C1 OLED which is considered top of the line for the current two weeks that TV's hold that title and I had same issue with Fox. It was dark vs a more vibrant ESPN picture.

I have a TCL 4K, Samsung QLED 8K and JVC 4K projector. All have same issue with 4K signal on Dish which was the fox channel this weekend.

When watching the 4K channel, the colors were off and vibrant red of OSU looked like a dull orange/red. My wife asked if it was TU to give perspective. The brightness was also really dim.

When I switched to the regular fox channel in 1080p, the colors were correct. I looked for settings on all devices and none had different settings for a 4K signal vs a 1080p signal (all were by source). Figured it couldn't be a device issue since it span 3 different ones.

From what I've read, it specifically has to do with Fox's HDR signal. Using the Fox Sports app on my TCL, it looked miserable with the 4K + HDR.

I switched to the Fox Sports app on my Apple TV, and the 4K signal (no HDR) looked bright, clear, etc.

I wish there was a way to turn off HDR on specific apps on the built-in Roku OS.

irock2513 said:

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From what I've read, it specifically has to do with Fox's HDR signal. Using the Fox Sports app on my TCL, it looked miserable with the 4K + HDR.

I switched to the Fox Sports app on my Apple TV, and the 4K signal (no HDR) looked bright, clear, etc.

I wish there was a way to turn off HDR on specific apps on the built-in Roku OS.

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There used to be. How old is your TV? Access the "secret menu" and see if you can turn off the hdr. Newer models do not have this option.

It sucks, but I'm glad that it's not just me experiencing this.

Seems like streaming services are having a hard time getting HDR 4k working correctly. I have one tv and ended up trying a Roku 4K Ultra and a Chromecast 4k on the one TV with YouTube TV 4k. The Roku was washed out, way too bright, and had reds looking orange. The Chromecast was over saturated, over colored, and darks were getting crushed. I ended up sticking with the Chromecast after I turned the gamma down to 1.8, colors to 40, and worked the contrast a bit.

The Roku needed the gamma at 2.4, but I just couldn't get it to look as good with all kinds of tweaks.

Last week the audio was seconds behind. This week the video was weird. Hopefully next week they work the kinks out.

Perhaps it is useful to have an old crappy TV!

I wasted my free YouTube tv trial bullet on that same "sunglasses butt" filter you got. Oh well. My 1080 antenna looked fine so I switched back.

Edit to add: anybody know if the cbs game of the week will be 4K? Do I need to find another PayPal account and try a new free trial for it?

I mean... there are reasons why the LG and Samsungs have the price tag they do, and it's not simply the name brand. They are superior in many ways, though I'm not in on all the technical jargon of TVs to really get into it.

I assume it's similar to audio, and especially with guitar amps. Some people rave about cheap guitar amps and how great they are. Why would you spend money on the other brands or boutique? For me personally, i can hear the slight nuances between boutique, point to point wired amps, and the mass produced less expensive ones. Whether it's the technology, the superior components, or whatever it is.

I use that example to say, maybe your eyes are picking up on the true color differences between the cheap TVs and the superior ones. Are some people okay with those differences to save $1,000? Of course. Can some people watch the cheaper ones and never even notice the differences? Of course.

Just my two cents.

irock2513 said:

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From what I've read, it specifically has to do with Fox's HDR signal. Using the Fox Sports app on my TCL, it looked miserable with the 4K + HDR.

I switched to the Fox Sports app on my Apple TV, and the 4K signal (no HDR) looked bright, clear, etc.

I wish there was a way to turn off HDR on specific apps on the built-in Roku OS.

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I think the Fox Sports broadcasts look a little darker vs the others. I don't know if it is the camera equipment, or the settings that they choose to use.

I tuned into the TAMU Colorado game in 4K and my CX initially showed a very dark broadcast. However, it lightened up a tad but was still that FOX specific dark-ish hue.

DallasTeleAg said:

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I mean... there are reasons why the LG and Samsungs have the price tag they do, and it's not simply the name brand. They are superior in many ways, though I'm not in on all the technical jargon of TVs to really get into it.

I assume it's similar to audio, and especially with guitar amps. Some people rave about cheap guitar amps and how great they are. Why would you spend money on the other brands or boutique? For me personally, i can hear the slight nuances between boutique, point to point wired amps, and the mass produced less expensive ones. Whether it's the technology, the superior components, or whatever it is.

I use that example to say, maybe your eyes are picking up on the true color differences between the cheap TVs and the superior ones. Are some people okay with those differences to save $1,000? Of course. Can some people watch the cheaper ones and never even notice the differences? Of course.

Just my two cents.

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It's Fox. I have the best LG OLED you can get according to most orgs that rank this stuff. My picture was significantly darker on Fox compared to other 4K broadcasts. It was as if there was one of those computer monitor black filters over the screen.

ESPN was wholly different experience.

I have a 75" QLED Q8 and having issues with the native youtubeTV app when trying to stream their 4K content. Tons of pixelation on the left half of the screen every 20 seconds and it freezes for 15-20 seconds. I have a ticket in w/ YTTV to see if they can find a fix. I don't have this issue with my TCL on the back porch or in the garage. Curious if other Samsung owners have had issues.

CrawfordAg said:

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I have a 75" QLED Q8 and having issues with the native youtubeTV app when trying to stream their 4K content. Tons of pixelation on the left half of the screen every 20 seconds and it freezes for 15-20 seconds. I have a ticket in w/ YTTV to see if they can find a fix. I don't have this issue with my TCL on the back porch or in the garage. Curious if other Samsung owners have had issues.

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I'll check my Samsung when I get a chance. Mines a slightly older 4K LCD though.

This is what I got for the MLB cornfield game in 4K, same with Olympics and new 4K college football content. Thinking its a Samsung/YTTV codec issue. Shouldn't be a bandwidth issue as I am getting 8-900 down right now.

TCL was good to replace my tv. I had to contact them and take some photos but they walked me through what to do. Sent me the same tv at no cost… and the original fixes itself not long after, that was luck.

When the backlight eventually craps out remember to ask about it here. It's an easy fix so long as you're comfortable getting a couple of large suction cups and removing the LCD to get at the failed LED strips.