GoKawiilThe TCL 27R94 is one of the brightest monitors you can buy. To that, it adds high pixel density, saturated color and excellent gaming performance. Oh, and it’s a great value too.
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TCL is well known for its value-priced TVs, but I have yet to review one of its consumer-oriented monitors. I have come to learn that it offers a well-rounded line of 13 displays, ranging from 24 to 57 inches, including some impressive Mini-LED panels with high brightness and a lot of dimming zones.
I’m checking one out today: the 27R94. Though its name is short, the list of features and tech is long. It’s a 27-inch HVA panel with a full-array Mini-LED backlight rated at 1,600 nits and featuring 2,304 dimming zones, the most I’ve seen to date. It also has Quantum Dot color, 4K resolution, 165 Hz, Adaptive-Sync, and HDR. Value is included, too, with a street price of $550. Let’s take a look.
TCL 27R94 Specs
Swipe to scroll horizontally Panel Type / Backlight HVA / Mini LED Row 1 - Cell 0 Full Array Local Dimming (FALD) Row 2 - Cell 0 2,304 dimming zones Screen Size / Aspect Ratio 27 inches / 16:9 Max Resolution and Refresh Rate 3840x2160 @ 165 Hz Row 5 - Cell 0 FreeSync and G-Sync Compatible Native Color Depth and Gamut 10-bit (8-bit+FRC) / DCI-P3 Row 7 - Cell 0 HDR10, DisplayHDR 1400 Response Time (GTG) 1ms Brightness (mfr) 1,600 nits Contrast (mfr) 4,000:1 Speakers 2x 3w Video Inputs 1x DisplayPort 1.4 Row 13 - Cell 0 2x HDMI 2.1, 1x USB-C Audio 3.5mm headphone output USB 3.0 1x up, 2x down or None Power Consumption 43.6w, brightness @ 200 nits Panel Dimensions WxHxD w/base 25.2 x 16.9-20.6 x 11.5 inches (641 x 429-523 x 292mm) Panel Thickness 2.9 inches (73mm) Bezel Width Top/sides: 0.3 inch (8mm) Row 20 - Cell 0 Bottom: 0.47 inch (12mm) Weight 16.1 pounds (7.3kg) Warranty 3 years
The 27R94 starts with a panel type that is new to me. It’s labeled HVA (High-value VA), and it is a technology developed by TCL. The design goal is to provide the high contrast of VA with the off-axis image quality of IPS. I measured it at around 3,000:1 in my tests, which is comparable to the average VA monitor and three times the dynamic range of most IPS screens. And it does indeed have better viewing angles than any VA I’ve seen.
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A Quantum Dot film provides the wide color gamut, which I measured at nearly 100% of DCI-P3. That’s a bit less than other QD monitors I’ve tested, but a good bit more than those without the tech. The 27R94 has around 10% more coverage than average. I found decent accuracy, too, though there were some minor grayscale anomalies that I’ll tell you about on page four. Plenty of picture modes provide flexibility for a variety of gaming and workday scenarios, including a usable sRGB preset.
The 27R94’s biggest asset is its Mini LED backlight. I’ve grown accustomed to monitors with 1,152 dimming zones, but this one doubles that to 2,304. And there’s plenty of peak brightness to go with that. You can have over 600 nits peak for SDR content, and I saw more than 1,700 nits from a 25% window pattern in HDR mode. It’s brighter than any OLED I’m aware of, and with the local dimming turned on, you’ll get incredible contrast too.
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