How I Turned This 98-inch Tv An Immersive Home Theater System (and It's Over Half Off)

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ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

TCL's 98-inch Class S5 Series TV is 1 of nan astir accessibly-priced TVs of its size.
Watching movies and TV shows connected specified a large show is arsenic adjacent to a theatre-like acquisition arsenic 1 tin get astatine home.
With specified a ample TV, mounting it up tin beryllium a struggle, particularly if you don't person a large capable console aliases wall space.

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TCL produces immoderate awesome TVs utilizing precocious show technologies, specifications, and optimizations to execute nan champion imaginable image quality. Yet sometimes, they put each that speech and say, "Hey, let's conscionable make a really large TV for nan liking of making a really large TV." And that's what this 98-inch set is each about.

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I've been surviving pinch nan 98-inch TCL S5 Series, and here's really nan acquisition has been.

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Setting up a 98-inch TV

The biggest situation this TV poses is fitting it successful your home. This point is gigantic; it's 85.7 inches wide, 49.1 inches tall, and nan feet are 68.5 inches apart. If you person a wall large capable to equine it on, past you're each set. However, if you don't, you mightiness find yourself scrambling to find an intermezo halfway ample capable to accommodate this behemoth.

TCL 98-inch S55 bid TV playing Oppenheimer astatine night

The second was me, by nan measurement -- I was nan 1 scrambling. My brothers helped maine unbox nan TV (which felt intolerable since our driblet ceilings stopped america from lifting nan lid consecutive up successful nan air), and aft we ripped done each nan Styrofoam and integrative wrap, we needed to fig retired a spot to group it up successful our comparatively mini surviving room.

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My first thought was to time off it connected nan ground, but who wants to look down to watch TV? Then we considered ditching our existent intermezo halfway and relocating our 65-inch LG TV to a area (again, connected nan ground), but that meant we'd person to rearrange our full surviving room.

So, we came up pinch a compromise: we group up 2 folding catering tables, pushed our sofa and loveseat against nan wall, and plopped nan 98-inch mammoth correct successful beforehand of our fireplace. Is it perfect? Not really, but it useful for nan liking of this review.

The astir immersive acquisition disposable (unless you find 1 bigger)

We weren't rather prepared for conscionable really large this TV is. Sure, I had a consciousness of really large it was earlier we plugged it in, but erstwhile that 98-inch surface lit up, we were each taken aback. Many group dream of having a movie theatre successful their location to bask their favourite cinema flicks and games. Buying a TV for illustration TCL's 98S550G will bring you arsenic adjacent to that reality arsenic possible.

Perhaps it's because we're sitting truthful adjacent to it, aliases possibly it's nan modulation from watching connected a 65-inch TV for truthful long, but immoderate nan reason, nan emotion of immersion you get from watching this 98-inch TV ne'er seems to slice away. Everything you tune into will consciousness much lifelike than you tin ideate -- that goes for movies for illustration "Oppenheimer" and "Spider-Man: No Way Home" to cablegram TV shows for illustration "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives."

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My only wish is that I had gotten to spot this year's Super Bowl connected it. That said, I tin already show this TV will beryllium nan cleanable fresh for anyone who uses multiview done nan NFL Sunday Ticket.

I mean it erstwhile I opportunity that your jaw tin driblet astatine immoderate infinitesimal while watching this TV. If you person a favourite movie aliases TV show, it simply makes it amended since it's just truthful big. It's easy to see, nary matter wherever you are successful nan room, and it ensures location isn't a bad spot successful nan house.

Ordinary specs, but coagulated image value nonetheless

Beyond its magnificent 98-inch size, nan remainder of nan 98S550G is reasonably basic, astatine slightest erstwhile compared to high-end TVs. It uses a QLED panel, which helps present brighter colors and amended contrast. I tin confidently opportunity it's 1 of nan champion LED TVs I've ever seen. However, you won't get nan aforesaid luxuries arsenic those recovered successful an OLED aliases Mini LED TV pinch section dimming, richer contrast, and accrued brightness.

On nan agleam side, since it uses a azygous ample backlight, you won't get immoderate ray haloing astir your content.

The TV features a 4K solution and supports refresh rates of up to 120Hz, a bully touch for gamers who want to bask silky-smooth gameplay connected nan panel. I will say, though, 4K connected a 98-inch sheet doesn't consciousness nan aforesaid arsenic it does connected a 65-inch panel; pixel density isn't astir arsenic precocious since they're scattered crossed a overmuch larger canvas, and if you get adjacent to nan TV, you tin decidedly spot individual pixels. It's not an rumor by immoderate means, but I recovered it absorbing nonetheless.

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The image value is decent overall. "Oppenheimer" looked awesome playing disconnected nan 4K HDR DVD I purchased, while 1080p upscaled cablegram shows weren't excessively shabby, either. You person plentifulness of options to power really everything looks successful nan settings menu, and erstwhile you've group it up, I highly urge turning disconnected mobility smoothing. On a 98-inch television, nan added frames often neglect to do astir contented justice.

With nan 98-inch S5, TCL made judge to see a batch of specs and features customers mightiness beryllium willing in, including HDR Ultra (consisting of Dolby Vision IQ, Open HDR, HDR10, HDR10+, and HLG), a dedicated Game Accelerator 240 for 240 VRR support, Dolby Atmos, AirPlay, Chromecast, sound adjunct integration, and moreover dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi. The instrumentality features 4 HDMI ports, arsenic good arsenic optical audio and Ethernet ports

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Its sound value is besides solid. At higher volumes, mids and highs tin commencement to screech, but nan built-in subwoofer helps anchor everything pinch a astonishing magnitude of bass, which tin beryllium tuned successful nan settings if you want much aliases little roar during your movies. I'd still opt for a dedicated sound system if you want a existent movie theatre setup, but my family and I were happy pinch what nan TV kicked out.

ZDNET's buying advice

At its price, it's difficult to disregard TCL's 98-inch Class S5 Series TV for long. If you person a spot successful your location wherever you tin fresh a TV of this size and magnitude -- and you don't mind dropping a cool $2,000 -- I tin spot this TV making a batch of consciousness for an immersive intermezo setup.

Granted, you won't get nan champion image value retired there, but it's important to retrieve that thing amended than what TCL gives you will tally you $5,000 to $10,000 -- possibly more.

In nan end, I had a batch of nosy reviewing this immense 98-inch TV, but I'm fresh to nonstop it back. For our home, it's a spot excessively intrusive and gets successful nan measurement much often than not. (Let's retrieve that it's blocking my full fireplace.) But if you person nan abstraction for it, portion of maine wants to show you to unreserved retired and drawback 1 while nan deal's happening.

I deliberation you'll emotion it, and your full family will beryllium hooked connected looking astatine it. And astatine nan extremity of nan day, isn't that what we're each aft erstwhile buying a caller TV?