Your TCL TV is about to get its biggest update yet – here's what's coming

TCL is pushing an update to some of its top TVs that will bring a new version of Android, as well as deliver a feature that will make for a more seamless watching experience.

TCL is rapidly gaining on Samsung and challenging the Korean giant's position as the number 1 global TV brand, and this latest move can only help that rise.

According to FlatPanelsHD, TCL is preparing for a firmware update that will move it's most recent TVs to Android 14, while also pushing HDMI 2.1 QMS – quick media switching.

Quick media switching is a technology that's designed to make the transition between different content types smoother when using devices connected via HDMI. Devices like media streamers often run their interface at 60Hz, but it's desirable to watch content at the frame rate it was meant to be, typically 24Hz.

This feature – usually called frame rate matching or similar – typically creates a black screen while there's a switch from one to the other, which doesn't make for a seamless watching experience. HDMI 2.1 QMS is designed to avoid that, but the TV and the source device both need to support it.

The new software version – called v590 – has attracted the attention on the TCL C805 owners thread at AV Forums, with the firmware originally surfacing on the TCL Android TV Discussion thread on Telegram.

What else is coming to TCL TVs?

That's not all that TCL is pushing: the new version is based on Android 14, although it's reported that there's no visual differences that users have been able to spot as yet.

Supported features include energy modes and picture-in-picture, although Google often pushes some feature support from its servers, rather than it solely being wrapped up in the Android version.

It's also reported that there's a new "super resolution" feature designed to boost the upscaling capabilities of the TVs and a new HDR conversion feature. Exactly what you get may depend on the TV model you have – and TCL is yet to share the official release notes for the new firmware.

The models in line for the update include the flagship TCL C8K – which we recently reviewed – and the QM8K model in the US. Many of the C models are included – C7K, C6K – and then the older C855, C845, C805 (as well as the US versions of those sets). The TCL NXTVision, its picture frame style TV, is included too.

For those who don't want to download and install firmware manually, head into the settings for your TV and check to see if there are any updates.