How I optimized the cheapest 98-inch TV available to look and sound incredible (and it’s $1,500 off)

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This TV, a member of TCL’s lower-end S5 series, is currently on sale for $1,500 off its normal price of $2,999, bringing the cost down to $1,999. TCL was kind enough to let me know about this deal in an email a few weeks ago, and I was wildly intrigued, to say the least. “A 98-inch TV for less than $2,500?” I thought to myself. That seemed impossible.

I’ve been living with the 98-inch TCL S5 Series, and here’s how the experience has been.

Setting up a 98-inch TV

The biggest challenge this TV poses is fitting it in your home. This thing is gigantic; it’s 85.7 inches wide, 49.1 inches tall, and the feet are 68.5 inches apart. If you have a wall big enough to mount it on, then you’re all set. But if you don’t, you might be scrambling to find an entertainment center big enough to accommodate this behemoth.

Beyond its magnificent 98-inch size, the rest of the 98S550G is pretty basic, at least when it comes to high-end TVs. It uses a QLED panel which helps deliver brighter colors and better contrast, and I can confidently say it’s one of the best LED TVs I’ve ever seen. However, you won’t get the same luxuries as something like an OLED or Mini LED TV with local dimming, richer contrast, and increased brightness. On the bright side, you won’t get any light haloing around your content since it uses one huge backlight.

The TV has a 4K resolution and supports refresh rates up to 120Hz, which is a nice touch for any gamers who want to enjoy silky-smooth gameplay on the panel. I will say though, 4K on a 98-inch panel doesn’t feel the same as it does on a 65-inch panel; pixel density isn’t nearly as high since they’re scattered across a much larger canvas, and if you get close to the TV, you can definitely see individual pixels. It’s not an issue by any means, but I found it interesting nonetheless.

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The picture quality is decent overall. “Oppenheimer” looked great playing off the 4K HDR DVD I purchased, while 1080p upscaled cable shows weren’t too shabby, either. You have plenty of options to control how everything looks in the settings menu, and once you set it up, I’d highly advise turning off motion smoothing. On 98 inches of television, the added frames does not do most content justice.