When comparing VIZIO P-Series 65" (P65-E1) vs TCL R617 65" (65R617), the Slant community recommends VIZIO P-Series 65" (P65-E1) for most people. In the question“What are the best TVs?” VIZIO P-Series 65" (P65-E1) is ranked 20th while TCL R617 65" (65R617) is ranked 128th. The most important reason people chose VIZIO P-Series 65" (P65-E1) is:
The P65-E1 performs extremely well for HDR content thanks to its black levels, high native contrast ratio (4675:1, up to twice of that at 9271:1 with local dimming), and wide color gamut — all three of which are essential to HDR.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Great for movies and HDR content
The P65-E1 performs extremely well for HDR content thanks to its black levels, high native contrast ratio (4675:1, up to twice of that at 9271:1 with local dimming), and wide color gamut — all three of which are essential to HDR.
Pro Can be remote-controlled from smartphones/tablets
The P65-E1 runs on Vizio’s SmartCast OS, which has a remote app for iOS & Android capable of controlling the TV.
Pro Supports both HDR10 and Dolby Vision
There are two different formats for HDR — HDR10 and Dolby Vision. Some TVs support only HDR10 and can't play Dolby Vision content. The P65-E1 supports both HDR10 and Dolby Vision, giving it the ability to play any HDR content in 2017.
Pro Does not suffer from image retention
Unlike the OLED panels in this price range, the P65-E1 has a VA panel and thus it does not suffer from image retention issues.
Pro Interface is ads-free
The user interface of modern smart TVs can include some advertisements similar to those on the internet or in a mobile app. The P65-E1 does not include any.
Pro Dark scenes looks great
The P65-E1 can handle dark scenes very well thanks to its high native contrast levels, which clocks in at 4675:1 native, and it can go up to double of that at 9271:1 with local dimming enabled. This, along with good black levels and uniformity, gives the TV the ability to achieve great representations of dark scenes beyond most expectations.
Pro Suitable for watching sports & gaming
The P65-E1 is versatile enough to be used for sports & gaming — its handling of motion blur is fantastic at ~11ms, and the input lag is only ~16ms which makes it good for gaming where input lag matters (but it is not suitable for HDR gaming because of the ~45ms of input lag for HDR content).
Pro Great at handling motion
The P65-E1 is great at handling motion with very fast response time (~11ms). It will have no issues with displaying fast-moving objects — they will look smooth without any blur or lag.
Pro Decent color representation
The P65-E1 does a decent job with color accuracy — the colors are accurate out of the box and there is no calibration required, although it would benefit from some adjustments to the white balance. Color calibration is recommended to get the most out of this TV, but not necessary if you find it alright.
Pro Excellent black levels and uniformity
The black levels of a TV affects the viewer’s perception of other colors next to it. If the black levels are not deep enough and doesn’t remain uniform across the screen, the overall picture quality will look “flat” without much depth. The P65-E1 handles this well with only <0.8% deviation (across the entire screen) from what a pure black screen should be — this results in a significant gain in its native contrast levels, thereby increasing the picture quality.
Pro Decent color reproduction
The color gamut of a TV refers to the range of colors the display can reproduce — the wider the color gamut, the more colors it can display, and the better the overall picture quality will be. This is extremely important for HDR content because it requires a much wider color gamut than SDR content. This TV has a wide color gamut and have no issues with accurately reproducing the colors necessary for true HDR, although its color gamut is not as wide as other TVs in this price range (e.g. the Sony X900E).
Pro Great picture quality
The picture quality is great on the P65-E1. It has one of the highest contrast ratios in an LED TV when local dimming is enabled (9271:1), giving it the ability to produce very deep and uniform blacks. The brightness level for HDR is decent enough at ~450 nits to fight glare in bright environments without much picture quality degradation.
Pro Local dimming is superb
Local dimming is the TV's ability to dim areas of the screen for deeper black levels and better contrast — they are separated into different dimming zones, where each zone can be individually dimmed as needed. The local dimming on the P65-E1 is by far one of the best in LED TVs of 2017 (only beaten by the Sony X940E). It is capable of doubling the contrast levels from 4675:1 to 9271:1.
Pro Decent performance in bright environments
The P65-E1’s panel has a semi-gloss finish for diffusing the light across the screen evenly to decrease intensity. This, along with its ability to get quite bright (practically, it peaks at ~450 nits for HDR and can maintain this level of brightness), means that this TV is decent at handling reflections and performs okay in bright environments.
Pro Great picture quality
Regarding the overall picture quality, the TCL R617 performs on par with the noticeably pricier high-end TVs. In its price range, the TV offers exceptional performance no matter if it is placed in a dark or bright environment.
It can reproduce a wide range of bright and vibrant colors as well as some truly inky blacks because of its wide color gamut, high color accuracy, excellent gamma tracking, high native contrast ratio, and stellar peak brightness.
Colors pop and look realistic thanks to the low average color error dE of 2.33, which is noticeably below the color error margin that can be spotted by a human eye. Also, colors don't look flat due to the TV's near perfect gamma tracking. The colors look very bright thanks to the TV's high overall peak brightness that is measured at more than 700 nits. No other TV in this price range can get that bright.
Dark scenes look profound thanks to the high native contrast ratio and excellent uniformity of its blacks. The TV's native contrast ratio is measured at around 6000:1, which is significantly above what its competitors offer.
Pro Good for console gaming
Thanks to its low input lag and 4K 4:4:4 support, 65R617 is a good option for console gaming.
Pro Works well in a bright room
With this TV you will not have problems associated with reflections and glare even in fairly bright environments thanks to the TV's amazing brightness and semi-gloss screen finish that helps it to diffuse reflections fairly well.
The TV's peak brightness measures at around 700 nits, which is far above what the other TVs in this price range offer.
Cons
Con Lacks TV tuner
The P65-E1, along with several of VIZIO’s latest TV lineups, does not have a TV tuner built-in. If you plan to watch local over-the-air broadcasts, you will need to purchase a TV tuner separately.
Con Bad sound quality
The sound quality of the P65-E1's built-in speakers is bad — it can't get very loud and the frequencies are not very well-balanced. There is also noticeable distortion at all volumes that gets worse with higher volumes. An external audio setup — such as a soundbar — is highly recommended in order to get the most out of this TV.
Con Interface can be sluggish and slow
The interface of VIZIO’s SmartCast OS can sometimes be sluggish; some users have reported experiencing choppy animations, frame drops when browsing through the menu, and slow response to input/selection.
Con Poor viewing angles
The picture quality on the P65-E1 suffers from some degradation when viewing from an angle, as typical of a VA panel. It is worth noting that this con does not apply to the 55" version of the VIZIO P-Series as it has an IPS panel whereas the rest has a VA panel.
Con Poor viewing angles
To enjoy the exceptional picture quality of this TV, you need to sit right in front of it as the overall picture quality of the R617 decreases drastically when viewed from an angle. Black levels start to degrade once the vertical viewing angle gets higher than 11 degrees.
Though, this is a widespread issue for the VA TVs.