TCL S546 (LCD)

TCL S546 (50" LCD)

TCL S546 (LCD)

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BEST RATING
Overall Picture:
4.2
PICTURE QUALITY: Good7.4/10
MOVIES & TV: Good7.0/10
GAMING: Fair6.6/10
SPORTS: Fair6.3/10
CARTOONS & ANIMATION: Fair6.6/10
NEWS & TALK: Fair6.4/10
BRIGHT ROOM: Good7.2/10

The TCL S546 is a budget-friendly LCD TV with a 65-inch screen that provides good overall and dark room picture quality, making it suitable for movie enthusiasts who prefer to watch in lower light conditions. However, its performance in bright rooms is also rated as good, so it's versatile for various lighting settings. Gaming and sports content are fair, which means it may not be the best fit for those seeking the highest experience in fast-paced action, but it's capable for casual gaming and watching sports. The TV has a very good contrast ratio which enhances the depth of black levels, but its reflection handling is fair, indicating that it might struggle with glare in very bright rooms. Its speaker quality is described as poor, so you might want to consider a soundbar or external speaker system for better audio. Additionally, it has three HDMI ports and supports 4K at 60Hz, but it does not have great speakers included. It also has various HDR formats support including HDR10+ and Dolby Vision. Give Feedback

this description is based on the product variant with some specs. At the time of writing, the variant with some specs cost some dollars.








Evaluation

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Pros
  • Good for dark room viewing
  • Performs well in bright rooms
  • Very good SDR brightness
  • Good color volume
  • Very good input lag for gaming
Cons
  • Local dimming feature is limited
  • Fair HDR brightness
  • Narrow viewing angles
  • Struggles with reflections

Ratings by Category

Overall Picture:
4.2
The TCL S546 boasts excellent contrast and a very good SDR brightness which contribute to deep blacks and bright images in standard dynamic range content. Additionally, its very good color volume allows for rich and vibrant color representation across a wide range of brightness levels, although the colors out of the box may require adjustment for optimal accuracy.
Bright Room:
4.1
The TCL S546 is good for watching TV in a bright room because it has a very good SDR brightness, meaning it can produce bright images that maintain visibility even in well-lit environments. Additionally, its ability to handle reflections is fair, which helps reduce the impact of light sources that might otherwise distract from the viewing experience.
Movies & TV shows:
4.0
PerfectRec’s movies & cinematic TV score takes into account the most important TV features for cinematic content. Our score considers the following factors:color gamut, color volume, out-of-the-box color accuracy, local dimming and black uniformity. We also factor in gray uniformity and viewing angles to a lesser degree.
Gaming:
3.7
PerfectRec’s gaming score measures a TV's performance when it comes to playing video games. It is based on several factors that can significantly impact the quality of the gaming experience, including screen response time, input lag, and refresh rate. Screen response time is a critical factor that determines how quickly the TV can transition from one color to the next, while input lag measures the delay between the gaming console output and the TV display. Refresh rate refers to the number of times per second that the TV displays a new frame, which can impact the smoothness of the gaming experience. The gaming score also takes into account two other features: local dimming in gaming mode, which can enhance contrast and picture quality, and black frame insertion, which can reduce screen brightness and create a smoother gaming experience.
Cartoons & Animaton:
3.6
The TCL S546 has poor performance in reproducing colors out of the box, meaning that animations may not appear with the accurate colors intended by the creators. Although the TV has a good color gamut, its color volume is only very good, which can affect how vibrant and varied the colors in cartoons look on the screen.
News, Talk & Reality TV:
3.5
The TCL S546 performs well at upscaling lower resolution content, which is essential for standard definition news programming. However, its poor performance in colors out of the box means that it may not provide the most vibrant and accurate colors without calibration.
Sports:
3.4
The TCL S546's performance in sports watching is fair due to its limited viewing angles, which can affect the experience when watching from the side, and its motion processing capabilities are not optimal for fast-paced action. Additionally, the TV's handling of reflections is only fair, which means it might not perform best in very bright rooms.

Full Specs

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GENERAL

Price
$400
Brand
TCL
Release Date
August 1, 2021
Full name
50S546
Screen Size
50"
Screen Resolution
4K

TV FEATURES

Operating System
Android TV
Sound Quality Score
PerfectRec logo
5.9/10
NextGen Ready
No
HDMI Ports
3
Coax Ports
1

DISPLAY QUALITY SCORES

Picture Quality Score
PerfectRec logo
7.4/10
Bright Room Score
PerfectRec logo
7.2/10
Gaming Score
PerfectRec logo
6.7/10
Movies & TV Score
PerfectRec logo
7/10
Sports Score
PerfectRec logo
6.4/10

PHYSICAL

Dimensions w/o Stand (H x W x D)
25.5" x 43.8" x 3.1"
Dimensions with Stand (H x W)
27.3" x 43.8"
Weight without Stand
26.0 lbs
VESA Mount
200 x 200

DISPLAY

Color Depth
10 bit
Black Frame Insertion
Yes
Auto Low Latency Mode
Yes
Contrast
PerfectRec logo
8.2/10
Local Dimming
PerfectRec logo
5.7/10

SOUND

Speaker Setup
2.0
Speaker Power
16 W
Dolby Atmos
Yes
DTS:X
No

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Why trust us

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This information was produced and vetted by the PerfectRec TVs team. We are a product research and recommendation organization that meticulously reviews and evaluates the latest TV information and makes it digestible for you.

By the numbers

385
TVs evaluated
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Recommendations made
18,005
Consumer hours saved

About the TV team

Joe Golden, Ph.D

CEO and TVs Editor
Joe is an entrepreneur and lifelong electronics enthusiast with a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Michigan.

Jason Lew

Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Jason is a staff expert and software engineer that has been making laptop recommendations for 7 years and moderates one of the largest laptop subreddits.

Chandradeep Chowdhury

Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Chandradeep is a staff expert and software engineer and expert in televisions and monitors. He’s been making monitor recommendations for ten years.

Jaime Roldán

TVs Expert
Jaime is a Colombia-based TV expert. He is an electronics engineer with 8 years of experience in the telecom sector and has been making TV recommendations for 12 years.

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