Budget TVs have come a long way over the past 5-6 years. Before that, you got an AOSP UI, which wasn’t exactly as great as a TV OS. The TVs under 50K weren’t great value for money too, especially if you wanted to watch movies and play games due to their bleak HDR performance. All that has changed over the past few years. Today, we have the recently launched JVC AI Vision Series 55-inch QLED TV. It has a 4K panel, which supports HDR 10 and Dolby Atmos. It runs on the Google TV UI and is priced at Rs 35,999! But is this a good offering for the price?
Display Panel and Picture Quality
As the name suggests, the TV has a QLED panel. You can check out some of the key specs of the display below- Size: 55-inch (Available in 32, 40, 43, 50, 55, 65 and 75-inches)
- No Dimming Zone
- HDR 10 and HLG support, no Dolby Vision
- Dolby Atmos support
- VA panel
The advantage of the VA panel is that you get deeper blacks when compared to an IPS panel, but the downside is the narrower viewing angles. There are no dimming zones on the TV, so expect some blooming when consuming content in a dark room. If you switch on a small light in the room, it can help alleviate the blooming on the TV.
It should be noted that while the support for Dolby Atmos is nice, buyers will need to invest in a soundbar to experience it truly.
HDR and SDR Performance
We played a slew of content from streaming services in HDR 10, and the short answer is that the TV performance was decent. If this is your first HDR TV, you should enjoy some of the aspects. We played Top Gun: Maverick in HDR and saw the opening flight mission,which takes place at night and the end of the movie Dogfight, which is in the day. The visuals were crisp and good, and there was enough detail to enjoy the movie.
The same can be said for any movie mastered in HDR. Ready Player One is another good example of good colour reproduction in HDR. One thing to note is that the performance in HDR and SDR on the TV is quite similar, with SDR exhibiting slightly better colour fidelity and detail, and that is to be expected as to take advantage of HDR, the TV will need more features.
Speaking of the Picture Modes in HDR, I preferred either Standard or Cinema based on the content being consumed. If the cinema reset feels too dark, I recommend using the standard preset, switching the colour temperature to Warm (not warmer) and keeping Dynamic contrast “on”. These settings offered me the best experience on the TV, be it for SDR or HDR content.
Even 1080p and SDR content looked good on the TV, and the colour reproduction was decent. Here too, depending on the content, I changed the picture presets (Cinema for movies and Standard for everyday OTT content like news, sports, etc).
Gaming Performance
I played a bunch of games using a PS5 and Xbox Series X, and the results were interesting, to say the least. The TV supports 4K at 60Hz and has ALLM to reduce the latency. It supports HDR gaming, but does not support 120Hz mode.
I played games in both HDR and SDR on the PS5 and Xbox Series X, and except for Dirt 5 (a game mastered in HGiG), all the other games looked identical, be it in HDR or SDR. I Played the following games during my test on the consoles.
- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
- Dirt 5
- Astro Bot
- Gears 5
Dirt 5 is a great example of a game mastered in HDR. When I fired up the game, everything looked quite burnt. I had to go into the game settings and reduce all brightness elements to their lowest level to get the game’s visuals to look decent. Even during the race, the bright elements in the game looked “burnt”. However, switching the console to output in SDR, made a big difference by giving a good, bright experience without looking burnt. It gave me a better experience of racing in the day under the sun.
In all the other games mentioned above, the experience was largely similar in HDR and SDR. Be it the vibrant red and blue in Spiderman suits, which looked vibrant, and the combat felt smooth. Astrobot is an interesting example. The opening planet, which is this bright desert, looked slightly washed out, but the rest of the game was acceptable with its visuals.
Audio performance
The TV offers 60W of sound output, but the overall audio performance from the JVC TV is a tad underwhelming. It sounds tinny and lacks bass. While dialogues are clear and audible, it is the mixed audio during the high-octave action sequences in movies that suffers. For watching the news and everyday TV, the speakers get the job done as the vocals are clear. If watching movies or playing games is a priority for you, then I recommend investing in a soundbar to make the most of the TV.
UI
The JVC TV runs on the Google TV UI and is pretty smooth and responsive during my use. You have access to all popular OTT platforms, and they work well. You can also download apps like Plex if you have movies stored on a NAS and even download VLC on the TV to play content stored on a hard drive. The flexibility of Android in the Google TV UI gives it an edge over other Operating Systems available in the market.
The layout and visual representations of settings like picture and audio settings are convenient and easy to reach without delving deep into menus.
When talking about picture quality, I recommended consuming content in SDR instead of HDR. However, in the TV UI, there is no way to switch off HDR. So, to consume content in SDR, you will need to use an external device like a Fire TV Stick.
Connectivity options
The TV has three HDMI ports, one of which supports eARC to connect your soundbar. The TV also has two USB ports, an optical port and an ethernet port. In terms of wireless connectivity, it supports Bluetooth and dual-band Wi-Fi.
Remote control
The JVC TV has a plastic build and a good grip. It is a simple, compact remote control that only houses the essential controls, which I like. In addition to the power, settings and source, it has a dedicated button for voice controls and dedicated OTT hotkeys for Netflix, Prime Video and YouTube – all of which work quite well.
Build and design
Verdict
For about 35K, the JVC TV faces competition from brands like Black+Decker, VU, TCL, Acer, redmi and many more. Each of the brands mentioned offers competition in terms of picture quality, UI, audio and more, making it a tough choice for consumers. What the JVC has going for it is a good UI, decent picture quality, good build and ample connectivity options. Where it lacks is the sound output for mixed audio and underwhelming HDR performance. If you are looking for a budget TV for a second room in your house or for basic content consumption, then you can consider it.
Editor’s rating – 7/10
Pros
- Good SDR performance
- Good gaming experience in SDR
- Smooth UI
- Compact and easy-to-use remote control
Cons
- Audio output could be better
- Underwhelming HDR performance
