TCL is making QD-OLED TVs to compete with Samsung and Sony

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TCL's 'one more thing' at CES is the announcement of a QD-OLED model

The 2022 TCL R655 hanging on a wall in a living room.
(Image credit: TCL)

TCL is going to throw its hat into the QD-OLED arena in 2023, according to a new press announcement released at CES 2023. 

While most of the release talks about the company's plan to roll out its six new Q-Series and S-Series, the very end of the press release says that TCL "plans to introduce QD-OLED into its TV lineup" later in 2023. Unfortunately, no exact price or release date were included with the announcement.

So how much later in 2023 remains to be determined, but it's something we'll be able to look forward to from TCL as the year rolls on.

Wait, where's the TCL 6-Series?

One big disappointment for us at this year's CES is the news that TCL won't continue on with the infamous 6-Series Mini-LED TV in 2023. Instead, it's going to divide the lineup into two camps, an S-Series and a Q-Series, that will replace the old 3-Series, 4-Series, 5-Series and 6-Series.

The new S-Series models are all about providing a smart TV experience at a lower price point. The S4 will be the cheapest 4K HDR TV in the lineup, while the S2 and S3 will offer affordable 720p and 1080p resolution screens, respectively.

The Q-Series is the approximate replacement for the 5-Series and 6-Series, though TCL promises that they'll be brighter and more colorful than their predecessors.

The TCL Q6 will be limited to 4K/60 fps; however it has a feature called Game Accelerator 120 that will allow you to play games at 120 fps with VRR. The next step up, the Q7, brings Dolby Vision IQ into the equation thanks to a built-in light sensor while supporting 240Hz gameplay via VRR.

The closest approximation to the 6-Series in 2023 will be the QM8. The only Mini-LED TV in the lineup, the QM8 will offer Wi-Fi 6 and a built-in soundbar. According to TCL, it'll have five times the amount of local dimming zones compared to the 2022 6-Series and twice the peak brightness. 

We'll obviously need to test all these TVs for ourselves before we can make any judgments, but we're eager to see them on the CES show floor. Who knows, if we're lucky, maybe we can even track down that QD-OLED somewhere...

Next: This is the TV I'm most excited for this year — and it's not from LG or Samsung.

Nick Pino
Nick Pino
Managing Editor, TV and AV

Nick Pino heads up the TV and AV verticals at Tom's Guide and covers everything from OLED TVs to the latest wireless headphones. He was formerly the Senior Editor, TV and AV at TechRadar (Tom's Guide's sister site) and has previously written for GamesRadar, Official Xbox Magazine, PC Gamer and other outlets over the last decade. Not sure which TV you should buy? Drop him an email or tweet him on Twitter and he can help you out.