- Matching (Score) |
- Our verdict |
- Competing TVs |
- TV appearance |
- Where to buy |
- Contrast and black detail |
- HDR effect quality |
- Factory color reproduction |
- Color reproduction after calibration |
- Smoothness of tonal transitions |
- Image scaling and smoothness of tonal transitions |
- Blur and motion smoothness |
- Console compatibility and gaming features |
- Input lag |
- Compatibility with PC |
- Viewing angles |
- Daytime performance |
- TV features |
- Apps |
- Playing files from USB |
- Sound |
- Panel details
TCL A400 PRO Review
Available screen sizes:
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Panel type: LCD VA Refresh rate: 144Hz Brand: TCL Resolution: 3840x2160 System: Google TV Model year: 2026
Artistic TVs are now a separate category of devices. Samsung has its The Frame, Hisense is developing the Canvas TV, and TCL is entering the competition with the A400 Pro. At first glance the idea is similar: the TV should not only display images but also serve as a piece of interior decoration. The TCL A400 Pro does not turn that concept upside down. Its greatest strength lies elsewhere. For the first time in this kind of design we get a full Mini-LED backlight positioned directly behind the panel. That's a significant novelty in the lifestyle TV segment, because until now similar models have often prioritised appearance at the expense of picture quality. Will Mini-LED actually take this type of device to a whole new level? Has TCL found a way to create a 'picture on the wall' that not only looks good but also performs well for watching movies, TV series and sport? We'll answer those questions in this review.
TCL A400 PRO - Our verdict
7.1
Overall rating
TCL A400 Pro is one of the most interesting lifestyle TVs we've tested so far. And not because it turns the whole idea of the "TV as a picture" upside down. In that respect it does roughly what the competition does: it should look good, blend into the interior and not be just another black slab in the living room. Its real strength lies elsewhere: in picture quality. This is the first TV of this kind that actually gives us an image built on solid blacks and high contrast. Full Mini-LED backlighting combined with a VA panel means the A400 Pro can show a depth that has simply been missing from lifestyle TVs until now. Of course it's not Mini-LED that you'd put shoulder to shoulder with the best LCDs on the market, but in its "picture" category the A400 Pro does something really important: it proves that an art TV doesn't have to mean a big compromise in picture quality. Importantly, it doesn't stop at blacks and contrast. The A400 Pro has very good colours, supports Dolby Vision and runs on Google TV, so in everyday use it is simply a convenient, full-featured TV for films, series and streaming. On top of that there are very strong gaming capabilities, so it easily finds a place with a console or PC. And I think it's this versatility that's its biggest surprise. It looks like a lifestyle TV, but it doesn't force you to give up the functions you expect from a regular TV.
The biggest reservations, paradoxically, are not about the picture itself. Sure, the number of local dimming zones could be greater and the upscaling doesn't stand out from the usual. But given the character of this model, what bothers us more are decisions connected with the concept of a picture on the wall. The lack of a slim mount in the box is a strange move, because that is exactly the type of installation that should be standard here. In addition, the wood-effect bezels are permanently attached, so they don't offer the same freedom of personalisation as on other models of this type. And because the casing is thicker, the A400 Pro doesn't always deliver as flat and subtle an effect as you might expect from a TV in this category.
And that's the biggest paradox of the TCL A400 Pro. In terms of image it may be one of the strongest lifestyle TVs on the market, but at the same time it loses a little where such a product should charm the most. Still, the balance is very positive. If the design decisions mentioned earlier don't bother you, the A400 Pro makes a lot of sense. It's a TV for people who want something nicer than a classic television but don't want to pay for looks with a major compromise in picture quality. That's why the TCL A400 Pro is one of the most interesting models in its category.
Advantages
Good blacks and contrast thanks to Mini-LED and a VA panel
Very good picture quality for a lifestyle TV
Rich colours thanks to the PFS/QLED filter
Supports Dolby Vision and HDR10+
Excellent factory colour tuning on the review unit
144 Hz panel and very low input lag
Outstanding feature set for gamers
Excellent compatibility with PCs
Matte finish effectively reduces reflections
Google TV with a large selection of apps
Extensive digital art gallery
"Lifestyle" design
Disadvantages
Slim mount not included
Bezels are fixed
Average digital image processing
Visible VA panel smearing
Average viewing angles
Only two full HDMI 2.1 ports
Sound is fairly flat
Note: No Mini-LED in the 32- and 43-inch versions
Movies and series in UHD quality6.6
Classic TV, YouTube6.9
Sports broadcasts (TV and apps)6.6
Gaming on console8.4
TV as a computer monitor8.9
Watching in bright light5.7
Utility functions7.2
Apps9.6
Sound quality6.6
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TCL A400 PRO - Competing TVs in this price range
TCL A400 PRO - TV appearance
HDMI inputs: 2 x HDMI 2.0, 2 x HDMI 2.1 (48Gbps) Outputs: Toslink (Optical audio), eARC (HDMI), ARC (HDMI) Network Interfaces: Wi-Fi 2.4GHz, Wi-Fi 5GHz, Ethernet (LAN) 100Mbps
Build quality: Good
Stand type: Legs
Bezel color: Changeable Frame
Stand: Height adjustment, Base adjustment
Flat design: Yes
Accessories: Stand
As befits a lifestyle television, the TCL A400 Pro looks very good. The most distinctive element is of course the bezels, which, like on other models of this type, are meant to give the device a more "picture-like" character. Unlike conventional TVs they are not ultra-thin or maximally discreet. On the contrary, they are clearly defined and designed to resemble the frame of a painting hanging on the wall. It is worth clarifying straight away that on the A400 Pro the wood-effect bezels are a permanent element, not interchangeable covers the user can swap to match the interior. On the one hand that is a pity, because greater personalisation would be welcome on a TV like this. On the other hand, you have to admit that from the front it looks really good. The TV genuinely feels less like typical consumer electronics and more like a piece of interior décor. Especially when it is mounted on the wall and viewed straight on. Viewed straight on, because a compromise becomes visible from the side. Due to the use of Mini-LED backlighting the television is thicker than typical lifestyle designs, and an extra black trim means it does not pass as a classic picture from every angle. That is, of course, justified by the effort to improve picture quality, but you should be aware it comes at the cost of a perfectly "framed" look. A fairly big downside is the lack of a dedicated wall mount in the box. For an ordinary TV that might not be a major issue, but this is a model that is intended to look like a picture on the wall. It is all the more surprising that TCL includes standard feet rather than a bracket that would let you hang the screen as close to the wall as possible—especially since the housing has dedicated holes for one. In our view such a mount would suit the device much better. The feet are of course practical, but on a TV like this they feel more like an emergency add-on than the intended solution.
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TCL A400 PRO - Contrast and black detail
7.7/10
Local dimming function: Yes, number of zones: 180 (10 x 18)
Result
131,100:1
Result
33,750:1
Result
17,350:1
Result
15,000:1
Result
5,900:1
Visibility of details in the lights:
Moving on to the image quality tests, it’s immediately clear that the biggest change compared with typical lifestyle TVs is what the TCL A400 Pro brings to blacks and contrast. This is all thanks to full-fledged Mini-LED backlighting placed directly behind the panel. That allows the TV to locally dim selected parts of the image and not be limited solely to the panel’s native contrast. In the 65-inch sample we tested, we counted 180 dimming zones. That’s not an impressive number compared with conventional Mini-LED TVs, where there can be many more zones, but for a lifestyle TV it’s already a very big step forward. Especially since competitors often either lack advanced local dimming or use much simpler edge-lit backlighting.
In practice this delivers very good results. In simpler scenes where bright elements are clearly separated from a dark background, the A400 Pro can effectively dim the black areas and show genuinely deep blacks. It’s one of those things that immediately sets it apart from many conventional "picture-first" TVs. Of course, that doesn’t mean TCL completely avoids the limitations of Mini-LED LCD technology. 180 zones is still relatively few, so in more complex scenes, for example with small bright elements on a dark background, a halo effect can appear. It also happens that blacks in those conditions take on a more navy-purple tint, because the TV cannot dim the background with the same precision as OLEDs. Despite these limitations, we think the A400 Pro brings a significant breath of fresh air to this category. For a lifestyle TV that’s primarily meant to look good on the wall, the black level and contrast are a very strong selling point.
NOTE. It’s worth noting that the number of local dimming zones depends on the screen diagonal. Larger variants should have more zones, but because the number of zones increases with panel size, we don’t expect major differences in black level and contrast between the Mini-LED versions. The exception is the 32- and 43-inch models, in which TCL did not apply local dimming. These are much simpler LCD designs, so our review does not directly apply to those diagonals, and the prices given in the review should be treated as indicative only.
Number of dimming zones in the TCL A400 Pro
Screen size | Backlight type | Number of local dimming zones |
32" | PFS LED | None |
43" | PFS LED | None |
55" | QD Mini-LED | 112 zones |
65" | QD Mini-LED | 180 zones |
75" | QD Mini-LED | 240 zones |
85" | QD Mini-LED | 264 zones |
98" | QD Mini-LED | 448 zones |
Halo effect and black detail visibility:
TCL A400 PRO - HDR effect quality
4/10
Supported formats: HDR10, HDR10+, Dolby Vision, Dolby Vision IQ, HLG
Luminance measurements in HDR:
Result
439 nit
Result
111 nit
Result
296 nit
Result
74 nit
Result
543 nit
The TCL A400 Pro is a moderately bright TV. Its peak brightness reaches around 600 nits. That level already allows for a real HDR effect and in many films it does deliver a noticeably more appealing picture than in SDR. However, it’s not a level that dazzles by brightness alone. The A400 Pro is not one of those TVs that bombard the viewer with a powerful flash in every dramatic scene. The biggest limitation is visible with small bright elements on a dark background. Because of fairly aggressive zone control, the TV can significantly reduce their brightness, in extreme cases down to around 100 nits. That means small lights, sparks, stars or single highlights can be much less visible than they should be. It should be added, though, that this isn’t done without reason. The A400 Pro does this to keep black levels as deep as possible and to limit the halo effect around bright objects. It’s a deliberate compromise: the TV more often opts for deeper blacks rather than maximising point highlights. On the one hand this is understandable, especially given a limited number of dimming zones, but on the other you should be aware that the HDR effect won’t always be as strong as the peak brightness alone might suggest.
On the plus side, the colours are a strength. The PFS LED filter used here, marketed by the manufacturer as QLED, delivers suitably saturated colours. Our measurements showed about 94% coverage of the DCI-P3 gamut and around 74% of BT.2020, which is a solid result for this class.
BT.2020 color gamut coverage and primary color luminance
| Data set | BT.2020 [%] | P3 [%] | R [%] | G [%] | B [%] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Synthetic patterns | 73.6 | 94.2 | 57.1 | 64.7 | 66.6 |
| Film measurements | 73.7 | 94.2 | 53.0 | 60.1 | 62.2 |
Arithmetic means of BT.2020 and P3 gamut coverage and the luminance of the primary colors (red, green, blue) as a % of target.
Scene from the movie “Pan” (about 2800 nits)
Scene from the movie “Billy Lynn” (about 1100 nits)
Looking at the A400 Pro's modest brightness capabilities, you might assume it wouldn't take an ambitious approach to HDR. That's why we were pleasantly surprised by what we saw in practice. With less demanding material the TV performs really well. The image is slightly boosted, but not in a way that completely alters its character. On the contrary, the overall fidelity to the creators' intent is surprisingly good, especially given TCL's tendency to brighten the image slightly. Things look a bit worse with HDR content mastered to 4000 nits. There the A400 Pro starts to struggle more with the brightest parts of the picture. Highlights can be a little soft, and some of the brightest details can merge into a single blotch. That's not surprising for this class of brightness, but it's worth mentioning, because in more demanding films (for example on Blu-ray) the HDR effect won't always be rendered with full precision. Fortunately, TCL has a very sensible solution in the form of the "Priority Detail" feature, which handles dynamic tone mapping. And we have to admit it does a really good job. Once activated the TV noticeably recovers detail from the brightest parts of the image, so clouds, light reflections and very bright parts of a scene look clearer. For the A400 Pro's capabilities, this is a surprisingly effective tool. It genuinely improves the viewing of demanding HDR material and we definitely recommend turning this feature on.
HDR luminance chart:
You can really see how much the aforementioned dynamic tone mapping feature contributes. With it switched on, the differences between HDR10 material with static metadata and the same material in Dolby Vision turn out to be surprisingly small. In practice it was hard to find clear discrepancies in how the brightest parts of the picture were rendered, which shows that TCL does a very good job of recovering detail even without dynamic metadata.
That doesn’t change the fact that Dolby Vision still holds a very practical advantage. It’s a dynamic format, so the TV receives information about brightness and tone mapping not just for the whole film but for individual scenes. That makes it easier to preserve highlight detail and avoid clipping in more demanding material. And since Dolby Vision is currently the most popular dynamic HDR format on streaming services, its inclusion in the A400 Pro is a big plus.
Static HDR10
Dynamic: Dolby Vision
Factory color reproduction
8/10
As usual, we carried out colour measurements in the best‑tuned picture mode, Filmmaker Mode, the one intended to be closest to the creators’ intentions. The A400 Pro, of course, also offers other picture modes, but in practice they show much larger colour errors and interfere more with the image character. So we won’t cover them in detail in this part of the review. How does the factory colour reproduction fare? In short: really very well. In fact, looking at our measurements, it’s excellent. Both the white balance and the luminance response were set surprisingly precisely. The errors were so small that during the measurements we genuinely rubbed our eyes in surprise. Such good factory settings don’t happen often, even in televisions running Filmmaker Mode. All the more reason to praise TCL, because the A400 Pro straight out of the box can produce an image very close to how the source material should look. The results were so good you could easily think someone had already given this unit extra attention and tried to calibrate it. Our one bit of nitpicking comes down to a single issue. In SDR material the image was slightly brighter than the reference for a dark room, because the factory gamma was set closer to 2.3 than 2.4. It’s not a large error and most viewers probably won’t even notice it. We should note, however, that we are talking about our specific test unit. There can always be some variation in factory colour between individual units, production batches or screen sizes. We do not assume every A400 Pro will look identical straight out of the box.
Color reproduction after calibration
8.2/10
Despite the outstanding factory tuning, we couldn't resist checking how the TCL A400 Pro would respond to professional calibration. With such a strong starting point, we were especially curious whether we could squeeze even more from this TV. And here we have to boast: we managed to bring our sample to absurdly low colour errors. Results below 1 are something you don't see every day, even on very good TVs. Such outcomes are more often associated with professional reference monitors than with a lifestyle TV for the living room. In terms of white balance and colour reproduction, the A400 Pro after calibration simply excelled. The only thing we can pick on after closer analysis concerns the brightness response. The TV can vary the luminance level depending on the content being displayed, and quite often the picture is a little darker than it should be according to the reference. This most likely stems from the way the Mini-LED backlight and the local dimming algorithms work in this model. That said, it doesn't ruin the overall impression, because in terms of colour precision the A400 Pro after calibration reached a level that was genuinely hard to expect.
TCL A400 PRO - Smoothness of tonal transitions
9/10
The TCL A400 Pro handles tonal transitions very well. Tonal gradation in most content is smooth, and any imperfections only appear in extreme cases, mainly on subtle grey transitions. It's worth noting that the vast majority of TVs struggle with scenes like these. What's also very good news is the lack of gradation issues in Dolby Vision. The A400 Pro did not introduce extra banding or visible artefacts in that format, which lately you can't take for granted. That's another factor that positively affects the viewing of films and TV series in HDR.
Image scaling and smoothness of tonal transitions
5.5/10
Smooth transition function
Image without overscan on the SD signal
Digital image processing is unfortunately one of the weaker points of the TCL A400 Pro. That does not mean the TV performs badly, but it’s hard to call it anything clearly above standard. The upscaling itself is acceptable: edges are fairly well smoothed, the picture does not look overly sharp or “pixelated”, and lower-quality material can be watched without major discomfort. At the same time the overall image has a slightly soft character and you don’t see the kind of precision that the best image processors in more expensive TVs can offer.
Handling of tonal transitions caused by heavy compression is much worse. TCL equipped the A400 Pro with a “Gradual Smoothing” feature that in theory should reduce visible colour banding and artefacts in lower-quality material. In practice, however, its effectiveness is very limited. It does not improve tonal transitions in any noticeable way, and at higher settings it can further smooth image detail, giving it an artificial, slightly blurred character. For that reason we think it’s best to leave this feature off. The A400 Pro copes decently with basic image scaling, but if you often watch heavily compressed material with visible posterisation, this model will not be one of the best choices.
TCL A400 PRO - Blur and motion smoothness
7.1/10
Maximum refresh rate of the panel: 144Hz
Film motion smoothing option: Yes
Blur reduction option: Yes
BFI function 60Hz: Yes, 120Hz (double contours)
BFI function 120Hz: Yes, 240Hz (double contours)
Brightness drop with BFI: 25%
The TCL A400 Pro is equipped with a 144 Hz panel, but in practice we're most interested in how it performs at 120 Hz. That's the refresh rate most consoles, as well as many sports broadcasts and high-motion sources, are limited to today. In that range the TV performs quite well. Motion clarity is really good, especially after properly configuring the motion smoothing. The 'Motion Clarity' function improves smoothness. Its settings include two sliders that let you tailor the motion smoothing to your preferences, separately for low-frame-rate and high-frame-rate content. This allows you to achieve either a more cinematic look or a noticeably smoother image. If you don't want to fiddle with manual configuration, you can use built-in presets such as Low, Medium, High, Cinema or Nature.
Blur (native resolution, maximum refresh rate):
Blur (BFI function enabled):
Blur (4K@144Hz):
Motion smoothness itself is good, but ghosting is more of an issue. Because the A400 Pro uses a VA panel with relatively slow pixel response times, it can leave a visible trail behind moving objects. This is most apparent on darker backgrounds, where the smearing becomes more noticeable. The UFO test showed this well: a distinct halo trailed the test "UFO", and it couldn't be completely eliminated by the television's settings.
TCL A400 PRO - Console compatibility and gaming features
9.8/10
- ALLM:
Yes
- VRR:
Yes
- VRR range:
48 - 288Hz
- Dolby Vision Game Mode:
Yes
- Correct implementation of HGIG:
Yes
- 1080p@120Hz:
Yes
- 1440p@120Hz:
Yes
- 4K@120Hz:
Yes
- Game bar:
Yes
In terms of gaming features the TCL A400 Pro performs brilliantly. The TV has practically everything you’d expect from a gaming TV today: support for 4K at high refresh rates, VRR, ALLM, correct implementation of HDR formats in games, including Dolby Vision, and HGiG. That means it works well with both next‑gen consoles and PCs. Another plus is the inclusion of a Game Bar, a dedicated panel with the most important settings for gamers. From it you can quickly check basic information about the signal, refresh rate or active features, and customise the appearance and behaviour of some settings to your preferences. It’s a solution that may not change picture quality by itself, but it greatly improves the convenience of using the TV while gaming. The only thing to criticise is the number of full HDMI 2.1 ports. The A400 Pro has only two such ports out of four, and one of them also serves as eARC. In practice this means that if you want to connect two next‑gen consoles and a soundbar you may run into some limitations. In that scenario you’ll need to either swap devices or use extra equipment, such as an AV receiver or a soundbar with HDMI inputs. Even so, it’s hard not to rate the A400 Pro very highly as a gaming TV. The gaming feature set here is genuinely powerful.
TCL A400 PRO - Input lag
9.8/10
Input lag on the TCL A400 Pro is very low. With a 120 Hz signal we measured about 11 ms, and about 15 ms at 60 Hz. These aren’t as low as the few milliseconds seen on some OLEDs, but in practice it doesn’t make much difference. The lag is small enough that controls remain quick, responsive and entirely comfortable both on a console and when connected to a computer.
| SDR | HDR | Dolby Vision |
|---|---|---|
| 1080p60: 14 ms | 2160p60: 14 ms | 2160p60 DV: 14 ms |
| 1080p120: 11 ms | 2160p120: 11 ms | 2160p120 DV: 11 ms |
| 2160p60: 14 ms | ||
| 2160p120: 11 ms |
TCL A400 PRO - Compatibility with PC
8.9/10
Chroma 444 (max. resolution and refresh rate): Yes
Font clarity: Very Good
Readability of dark text and shapes: Very Good
Input lag in PC mode (4K, max. refresh rate): 11ms
Matrix subpixel arrangement: RGB
Max refresh rate: 144Hz
G-Sync: Yes
TCL A400 Pro also performs quite well as a large PC monitor. Helping with that is, of course, the full suite of gaming features: VRR, FreeSync, G-Sync compatibility, a refresh rate of up to 144 Hz and very low input lag. If someone wants to connect a PC and play from the couch or at a desk, the TV is perfectly suited to that. Importantly, it also handles regular computer work well. At 120 Hz fonts are very clear, so browsing, working with documents or using the system doesn't strain the eyes. It looks a bit worse after switching to 144 Hz. Horizontal parts of letters become slightly darker. However, that's not something that seriously affects everyday use. Overall, text readability is very good.
TCL A400 PRO - Viewing angles
3.9/10
Brightness drop at an angle of 45 degrees: 79%
Viewing angles are not the strongest suit of the TCL A400 Pro. This is mainly due to the use of a VA panel, which brings advantages like better contrast but naturally performs worse when viewed at an angle. Just move further off the screen's axis and you'll notice a drop in brightness and colour saturation. So it's not on the level we're used to from IPS/ADS panels, and even less so compared with OLED screens, which in this respect still remain out of reach for conventional LCDs. The A400 Pro is simply best viewed as straight on as possible. That's when its picture looks its best.
TCL A400 PRO - Daytime performance
5.7/10
Panel finish: Matte
Reflection suppression: Very Good
Black levels during daytime: Poor
TCL A400 Pro does quite well in a bright living room. The biggest help is the matte screen finish, which very effectively mutes reflections and means you don't have to battle every window or lamp reflecting off the panel during the day. Add a decent SDR brightness of around 600 nits, so in terms of daytime image visibility it's really good. You should remember, though, that the matte coating has its price. In a brightly lit room the picture can lose a bit of depth, and colours don't look as punchy as they do in the evening. Reflections are much less visible, but at the same time colour saturation clearly drops. It's still a good TV for a bright living room; it just performs best when viewing comfort is the priority rather than the most eye-catching picture.
Panel brightness
TCL A400 PRO: 460 cd/m2
TCL A400 PRO - TV features
7.2/10
System: Google TV
System performance: Good
- HDMI inputs: 2 x HDMI 2.0, 2 x HDMI 2.1 48Gbps
- Outputs: Toslink (Optical audio), eARC (HDMI), ARC (HDMI)
- Network Interfaces: Wi-Fi 2.4GHz, Wi-Fi 5GHz, Ethernet (LAN) 100Mbps
- TV reception: DVB-T, DVB-T2, DVB-S, DVB-S2, DVB-C
Classic features:
Recording to USB (terrestrial TV): No - Recording programming: No
- Picture in Picture (PiP): No
- RF remote control (no need to aim): RF
- Backlit remote control: No
- Teletext: No
- Audio only mode: Yes
- Bluetooth headphones support: Yes
- Simultaneous Bluetooth headphones & TV audio: Yes
Smart features:
- AirPlay: Yes
- Screen mirroring (Windows Miracast): Yes
- Voice search: Yes
- Voice search in native language: Yes
- Ability to connect a keyboard and mouse: Yes
Google TV
TCL A400 Pro runs on Google TV, so in terms of Smart TV we get a very solid package. All the most important apps are there: YouTube, Netflix, Disney+, Max, Prime Video, Apple TV and the rest of the services you’d expect today. It also includes Chromecast, voice search and Google Assistant. The system itself runs smoothly and is convenient, although, as with Google TV, the home screen can be heavily filled with recommendations and promoted content. Some will like that, others might find it a bit annoying. Functionally, however, it’s hard to seriously fault it.
Digital art gallery
The most interesting part starts with the digital gallery, because this is what is meant to set the A400 Pro apart from ordinary TVs. TCL provides access to over 80 artworks that can be displayed when the screen isn’t being used to watch movies or series. That way the TV doesn’t have to hang on the wall as a black slab but can actually look like a painting. An ambient light sensor, which adjusts the screen to the room’s conditions, helps with this. And here’s some good news compared with the older NXT Vision A300: the annoying brightness issue in art mode has been improved in the A400 Pro. Gallery settings are now separate from normal viewing, so you can set a lower brightness for artworks without disturbing the settings for films or TV. It may seem like a small detail, but in practice it’s very important, because it helps the screen look more like an artwork and less like a glowing TV. TCL also adds the option to create your own images using artificial intelligence. The maker talks about over 100,000 available pieces and variants, so there’s plenty to choose from. You can stick with the ready-made gallery or pick something more in line with your own taste and room decor.
Traditional features
The traditional TV features are much less exciting. The A400 Pro doesn’t stand out here. You get standard broadcast TV, a channel guide and basic options, but no major extras that would change the way you use conventional TV.
Sound connection options
HDMI audio:
Other audio outputs:
- Toslink: Yes
Wireless audio:
- Bluetooth: Yes
Supported audio formats (external HDMI eARC audio):
- Dolby Digital Plus 7.1: Yes
- Dolby True HD 7.1: Yes
- Dolby Atmos in Dolby Digital Plus (JOC): Yes
- Dolby Atmos in Dolby True HD: Yes
- DTS:X in DTS-HD MA: No
- DTS-HD Master Audio: No
Senior accessibility
- Numeric keyboard on TV: No
- Font size adjustment: Yes
- Audio description: Yes
TCL A400 PRO - Apps
9.6/10
TCL A400 PRO - Playing files from USB
9.5/10
| Maximum photo resolution: | Supported photo formats: |
|---|---|
| 4 Mpix | JPEG |
| 6 Mpix | HEIC |
| 8 Mpix | PNG |
| 10 Mpix | GIF |
| 12 Mpix | WebP |
| 16 Mpix | TIFF |
| 20 Mpix | BMP |
| 24 Mpix | SVG |
| 28 Mpix | |
| 32 Mpix |
Playing files from USB is one of the strong points of the TCL A400 Pro. The built-in player performs very well and can easily be counted among the best. It handles popular video, audio and photo formats without any trouble, so in most cases you just need to plug in a USB stick or external drive and play the content. That's good news, because you don't have to install third-party players straight away. The A400 Pro natively supports a really wide range of files and in our testing it had no major problems playing them.
TCL A400 PRO - Sound
6.6/10
83dB
Maximum volume
Supported codecs (TV speakers)
Dolby Digital Plus 7.1
Dolby True HD 7.1
Dolby Atmos in Dolby Digital Plus (JOC)
Dolby Atmos in Dolby True HD
DTS:X in DTS-HD MA
DTS-HD Master Audio
Sound on the TCL A400 Pro is fairly average. The most important bit of good news is that the TV can play loudly. It easily reaches around 83 dB, so volume itself isn’t much of an issue. It’s also a plus that it supports formats such as Dolby Atmos and the increasingly rare DTS in TVs. But that’s about where the praise ends. The standard 2.0 speaker setup has its limits and it’s hard to squeeze much more out of it. What’s mainly lacking is bass and a sense of space. The sound is fine for regular TV or YouTube, but with films, series and especially music it quickly becomes too flat. For that reason we would definitely recommend buying at least a simple soundbar or a traditional home cinema system. Especially since the TV itself supports Dolby Atmos and DTS, it practically begs to be connected to external speakers that will actually use those capabilities.
Sound Quality Test:
Acoustic Measurements
83dBC (Max)
75dBC
TCL A400 PRO - Panel details
Software version during testing: V8-0012T01-LF1V643.003175
Image processor: MT 5896, 2.5 GB RAM
Panel uniformity and thermal imaging:
Backlight Type: Mini-LED PFS LED
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