The 98-inch market accounts for nearly half, and TCL's bold technology covers ultra-large screens

In January this year, at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, the United States, televisions once again became the protagonists. Mainstream TV manufacturers from all over the world, such as Samsung, TCL, and LG, gathered together to showcase their latest products. These products vary in appearance and technology, but all embody some similar characteristics: larger screens, higher brightness, and better quality.

As the opening ceremony of the electronics industry, CES not only brings the latest products with top specifications, but also provides an excellent window for the outside world to peek into the development trends of the industry. As the giants compete with each other, our future entertainment methods are being quietly defined.

Is television really useless?

Since the rise of mobile phones and the mobile network industry, the "TV is useless" theory has been heard. However, since the outbreak of the epidemic, the surge in demand for watching movies at home has refuted this statement. What is more noteworthy is that the function of TV is not limited to "watching".

The recent "Liu Genghong phenomenon" is a good example. In addition to the "Liu Genghong boys/girls" who checked in one after another, many netizens also brought their families to dance to "Compendium of Materia Medica" and "Dragon Fist". Although Liu Genghong's popularity started with Douyin, it is not convenient to do aerobics with a mobile phone in one hand, let alone get the family together. Therefore, it is not difficult to see that a large TV is indispensable in many check-in videos on the Internet.

Games have also become an important use case for TVs. According to statistics from Aowei Cloud Network, in the first quarter of this year, the retail share of TVs that support a 120Hz refresh rate rose by 4%, standing out in the overall relatively sluggish TV market. With the recurrence of the epidemic and the increase in people's time at home, the combination of the two trillion-dollar markets of "games" and "TV" may generate more vitality. To this end, many manufacturers have added features such as game modes and cloud gaming zones to their TVs.

There are two major trends behind this. The first is the strong demand for large-size TVs. Whether it is watching movies or playing games or having fun with the family, the larger the screen, the stronger the sense of immersion and participation. According to statistics, China's large-size TV sales rose against the trend in 2021, with the retail volume of 65-inch and above products accounting for 34.5%, an increase of 9.5%; global shipments of 80-inch and above panels accounted for 2.1%, also achieving a slight increase.

The second is the importance of TV software capabilities. Whether it is installing TV apps, casting screens or switching usage modes, the TV system is needed as a basis. In addition to enabling the TV to achieve richer functions, software capabilities also play a vital role in improving picture quality and fixing errors. Therefore, we can see that many TV manufacturers have made software capabilities a focus of their efforts, and some brands have also launched sub-brands for system and network services.

It can be seen that television still has many irreplaceable advantages, and the industry has greater potential waiting to be tapped. Therefore, developing new technologies and maintaining and maximizing their market share have become common challenges faced by TV brands.

The new layout of TV's "volume king"  

In recent years, the TV industry has been very "volume": the size has increased from 65 to nearly 100, the resolution has increased from 4K to 8K, the refresh rate has increased from 60Hz to 144Hz, and new technologies such as OLED and Mini LED have been launched one after another. It is in the healthy competition among manufacturers that consumers' entertainment experience has been continuously upgraded.

TCL can be called the "volume king" of the TV industry. In recent years, it has never stopped optimizing in terms of size, display technology, appearance and software optimization.

In the field of 98-inch large-screen TVs, TCL is the undisputed king. In August last year, TCL released two giant-screen smart screens, 98Q6E and 98X9C, and achieved a sales share of 27.02% in the 98-inch and above TV market during the peak sales season from June to October. Entering this year, TCL's performance is even more brilliant. According to statistics released by CMM, as of the end of March, TCL's sales share in the domestic 98-inch market reached 49.57%, almost occupying half of the market.

It can be said that the performance of TCL's 98-inch product array can be called "champion at debut", but it is far from enough to avoid "peak at debut". Therefore, on April 20, TCL continued its efforts and released its sixth 98-inch giant screen: TCL 98 T7E.

TVs are all moving towards larger sizes, which means that a large screen alone is not enough. TCL has previously consciously created selling points for TVs other than size, so we can see that in products such as the 98Q6E and 98X9C, which focus on private theaters, TCL has worked with Onkyo to create high-quality audio. And in the 98T7E, which focuses on gaming functions, TCL has set its sights on the rigid demand of gamers: refresh rate.

There are many TV products on the market that advertise 120Hz or even higher refresh rates, but many of them use "soft high refresh" - scanning by combining two rows of pixels into one row. Although this seems to increase the refresh rate, it sacrifices 50% of the resolution. In other words, this "high refresh" that sacrifices picture quality is a fake high refresh.

The TCL T7E series is equipped with a customized MT9652 PLUS chip, which supports 144Hz signal decoding processing in hardware, and combined with ALLM automatic low latency technology and VRR dynamic refresh rate, it has become a TV product that truly supports 4K 144Hz. In the context that some 4K 144Hz gaming monitors are now sold for 20,000 to 30,000 yuan, the TCL 98T7E, priced at 15,999 yuan, is definitely the gaming TV with the highest quality-price ratio.

So far, TCL has become the first brand in the industry to have six 98-inch giant screen smart screens: the top-end 98X9C Pro has the strongest comprehensive quality, and at the same time embodies TCL's exploration of cutting-edge QD-Mini LED technology. 98X9C also has quantum dot Pro technology and IMAX professional certification, and is an excellent choice for those who pursue high-end home theater experience. 98Q6E also has an excellent audio-visual experience and stronger expandability, suitable for users with high requirements for the comprehensive quality of TVs. The latest 98T7E has the strongest quality-price ratio and the leading true 144Hz refresh rate among 4K TVs, making it the best choice for gamers.

It can be said that TCL's layout in the 98-inch giant-screen TV field has once again taken the lead in the industry.

Bringing unlimited possibilities to giant screen TV

After the continuous release of high-quality giant screen smart TV products, TCL has attracted more attention and discussion online. After the release of the T7E series, many netizens said, "There is one more choice for high-performance and high-definition TVs," "This large screen and this refresh rate are very easy to use," and "The price of 15,999 is attractive." However, some netizens also expressed concerns, such as when the TV will be delivered and how to fit this huge TV into their homes.

Under the current severe global epidemic situation, ensuring production capacity has become a common problem faced by all manufacturers. TCL has been actively deploying the upstream industrial chain since 2007, and the total investment has exceeded 200 billion yuan. Early layout and high investment have brought invaluable autonomy: TCL, which has multiple 8.5-generation and 11-generation production lines, can not only promote the large size of screens, but also guarantee production capacity and supply to the greatest extent in special periods, while taking into account price and quality. Recently, many of Huawei's newly released TV products have used TCL Huaxing's screens.

In response to the problem of the difficulty of getting 98-inch giant screen smart screens into homes, TCL chose to solve it from the source. Large TVs are difficult to get into homes largely because of the heavy packaging, but in order to protect the TV, packaging is necessary. For this reason, TCL used relatively thick glass and the industry's leading full-screen design when developing the 98-inch giant screen smart screen series. In this way, TCL greatly reduced the redundancy of TV size and improved the strength of the TV. As long as the packaging is removed and appropriate protective measures are taken, TCL's 98-inch giant screen smart screen can enter 96% of residential elevators.

In addition, the thoughtful after-sales service and timely system updates have made TCL's 98-inch giant screen smart screen series gain an excellent reputation among users.

In August last year, TCL released its ultra-large screen strategy and plans to increase the penetration rate of TCL's ultra-large panels above 75 inches to more than 30% in the next three years. To achieve this, advanced core technology is naturally indispensable. As one of the few companies in the world that has integrated the entire industry chain from screen manufacturing, modules, complete machines to terminals, TCL's performance in the field of 98-inch giant screen smart screens has proved their ability and determination. I believe that with the continuous advancement of technology, TCL will bring more possibilities to the giant screen TV industry.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.