Chinese electronics giant TCL, the world's third-largest TV maker, announced that its new 4K Ultra HD TVs powered by Roku are available in the US market starting Thursday.

The 4K UHD TV line, which was unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January, includes six models in 43-inch, 50-inch, 55-inch and 65-inch screen sizes.

All the models include a powerful quad-core processor and feature Ultra HD picture quality with more than 8 million pixels, around four times what the current 1080p set can display, which means increased clarity and picture detail. They also feature dual-band Wi-Fi and Ethernet for fast streaming performance.

Though 4K is considered the next mainstream TV technology, its bulky raw file size, four times larger than the regular HD content, poses a challenge to deliver 4k content to consumers.

But Chris Larson, vice-president of sales and marketing at TCL North America, said "the time is right" as 4K market has matured quickly over the last year with new standards set in place and 4K content creation increasing.

He said TCL had been working to make their products suit the tastes of American consumers, and what they cared the most about TV were content, cosmetics and ease of use.

The new TVs offer a 4K Spotlight Channel which features over 100 4K films as samples and a curated selection of 4K content from a variety of popular streaming channels, according to Chas Smith, senior vice-president and general manager at Roku TV and Players.

A 4K UHD category is also included within the Roku Channel Store, where streaming services, such as Amazon Video, Netflix and YouTube can be searched for 4K content.

The remote of the new P130 series models also feature a headphone jack for private listening, and voice search and Remote Finder, Smith said.

The four models of the P130 series range in price from $499 for 43-inch to $1099 for 65-inch. The other two added models of S-series sell at $599 for 55-inch and $999 for 65-inch.

Since the TCL Roku TV was launched in 2014, 1 million sets have been sold in the US, according to the company. The new 4K UHD models will go on sale in Mexico in the first half of this year, said Larson.

Amazon's online store is the main retail channel for TCL TVs, but since most consumers still go to traditional stores, the company has been working with retail stores like Walmart, Target and Costco, he said. Around 8,000 storefronts are expected to carry the TCL 4K TVs in the country, he added.

liazhu@chinadailyusa.com

(China Daily USA 03/24/2016 page2)