TCL has quality control issues. Flawed picture on like a quarter of all manufactured units it seems.
If you want the best for 4K gaming, and can afford more than $250-300, then you don’t need to know about 32”-49” TVs.
So that leaves you the mid level LCDs from Vizio, Samsung, and LG, and the high end LCDs from Samsung Vizio and Sony... and the OLEDs from LG:
Vizio model names look like “A85-B9”, first letter is series they go from worst to best as D, E, M, and P. The rules that set them apart only matter to 50 or 60 inches and above, like some D’s will be 720p, etc. D has a small number of local dimming zones, E adds HDR, M adds more (better) dimming zones “FALD” and maybe wide color gamut, and P adds I think Dolby Vizion more accurate color 240hz motion smoothing and in the biggest $2000 size “quantum pixels” like Samsung touts (just better saturated HDR color). The two numbers after the first letter are the screen size. The letter after the dash refers to the year , 2018’s have an F, 2017’s E, 2016’s D... the last number refers to the design of the set like black silver thin base wide base etc unimportant
E’s don’t cost that much more than D and give you HDR, and the 55” P series is only $750-ish right now at Best Buy and looks incredible. Worth the difference from the $550 D series and $650 E Series. Lesser models don’t do Dolby or true 120/240hz (so not so good for sports) and all Vizio are known for great by LCD standards contrast. 2017 models didn’t have TV antenna or cable inputs, 2018 brought them back. See if you can afford a P55-F# it’s probably the best TV set in the $600-800 range.
All LG LCD use IPS displays highly desired in PC monitors but at huge sizes. So they’re great for like college kids sharing an off campus house or a TV where more than two people are gonna be watching at once often (Super Bowl parties). The model names go like UK-6300 UJ-6100 and so on, J meant 2017, K 2018, and the other numbers well higher = better. Their mid tier LCDs in the $500-1000 range have poor contrast, lame smart TV features, weak HDR brightness and color richness though. Only good if you find a great deal.
Samsung TVs have incredible game mode low lag, and great gaming HDR performance if not movie performance. They block room lamp glare well, have lots of menu options for calibration and recognizing your devices properly. They have decent brightness, good contrast, and uniformity and little reported complaints about noise or lines or errors baked into the screen. They’re the safe bet. Super reputable brand, Vizio and TCL may do some things better but the Samsung will do the most overall. Their midrange ones go like MU6300 or NU7100 M was 2017 N is 2018, 7 would mean the 7 series U I think means Ultra HD. If there’s a Q instead of U it’s quantum pixel, so richer wide color gamut color. But those have a huge “Apple tax” making high end Samsung’s unreasonably expensive for what they offer. So if you can afford a $2000 TV try OLED, Sony or Vizio.
Sony has the best LCD in the $1000-1500 price range with the X900F TV. Superior HDR and brightness and color richness to the TCL the internet raves about and maybe the Vizio P I raved about.
LG OLED is jaw dropping if you can afford it but a huge burn in risk you have to baby it and be carful not to play Gran Turismo for 18 hours straight or leave CNN on overnight.
So I think best $500-800 TV is the Samsung NU7100 or NU7300 (curved), which has basic non-Dolby HDR, an even and bright picture, no flaws, handles 480p and 720p upscale well, and is terrific for games.
the best $800-1100 TV is Vizio P series for its rich deep colors and high refresh rate
the best $1100-1400 TV is the Sony X900F for its superior design and HDR brightness and pretty much all standards for HDTV besides the NVIDIA high frame rate stuff no one does and no console will for years to come that you simply can’t future proof for right now. Other than that it “only does everything”
If you can find an LG OLED for around $1500 it’s hard to beat, you just gotta baby it.
IN CONCLUSION TLDR
For a cheap TV it’s gotta have HDR10, low lag game mode, 4K, and fake 120hz black frame frame insertion to reduce motion blur.
For an expensive TV it has to have true 120hz (so playing every frame of a blue ray five times in a row 24fps concerted to 120 to maintain film smoothness without flicker and without jerky motion), Dolby Vision HDR, Full Array Local Dimming zones (on non OLED models), and 10bit color (aka wide color gamut).
