Do you need a new TV?  Are you buying a new TV and want to ensure the best picture quality for your price range?  Check out the instructions below.

TCL has released instructions for users to test their TV for picture blooming.  Picture blooming, also known as the halo effect, can negatively affect the picture quality you experience.

Blooming occurs when light from a bright section of the TV screen bleeds into adjacent dark areas, creating a hazy glow and blurring details in the movie that should be enjoyed with sharp, crisp edges.

Patrick Chen, Product Training Specialist at TCL Electronics Australia, says the best way to tell whether your TV has blooming is to check scenes with “chessboards or checkerboard patterns, movie end credits, and entirely solid-colour videos on YouTube or Google.” 

The edges of the black and white squares on the chessboard should look “super crisp”; if not, your TV panel may have a quality issue.

The end credits may also show motion blurring, which can translate to poor image quality when viewing fast-moving scenes or sports.  If the text is sharp though, your TV is passing the “fluid motion handling” section of the test.

A solid red, green, or blue video from YouTube can also show colour issues in your picture uniformity and may help determine your panel’s quality.  Newer TVs, such as Mini-LED TVs, are designed to prevent this by delivering light only where it is intended.

You should be testing your TV regularly, and it doesn’t have to be overly detailed.  Stick on a chessboard picture and some solid videos from YouTube and look closely for any of the issues raised above.  

If you are heading out to buy a new TV, make a point ot ask the salesperson about the TV’s local dimming zones and peak brightness.  These are two factors that can cause blooming.  You should also ask the salesperson to run the above tests on the TV so you can see the panel quality for yourself while in-store. 

Most newer TVs from reputable brands offer high-quality panels, and you don’t need the more expensive TV to be sure you’re getting a quality panel.  Check the panels and ask what differs between models to be sure you are getting the best bang for your buck.

For shoppers looking to skip the guesswork altogether, TCL’s flagship X11L SQD-Mini LED TV, C8L SQD-Mini LED TV, and C7L SQD-Mini LED TV are designed to minimise blooming from the very beginning. The X11L, for example, features up to 20,736 precise dimming zones to virtually eliminate light bleed and deliver true deep blacks.

If you’re in the market for a new TV, be sure to check it out in-store and test for potential blooming using the methods above.