Sylvox Pool Series Full Sun Outdoor TV Review

Bright Picture, Imperfect Colors

The Sylvox Weatherproof Full Sun Outdoor TV is a 4K TV with a 60Hz refresh rate. It supports high dynamic range (HDR) content in HDR10. It doesn't support Dolby Vision. The TV has an ATSC tuner, but it is not ATSC 3.0.

We test TVs with a Klein K-80 colorimeter(Opens in a new window), a Murideo SIX-G signal generator(Opens in a new window), and Portrait Displays’ Calman software(Opens in a new window). When measuring the TV’s contrast, we ran into an odd hiccup. Like many TVs, the Sylvox has an ambient light sensor that can adjust the screen’s brightness based on the conditions around it. Unlike most TVs, the sensor cannot be disabled (which we recommend for almost all cases). To get the most accurate contrast results in our tests, we had to shine a bright light directly at the sensor to force the TV to boost its brightness. Without this direct light, even in a well-lit room, we measured a very low peak brightness of around 250 nits. This is important to keep in mind if you want to use the TV in the evening.

With the light sensor stimulated, the Sylvox TV showed a peak brightness of 1,121 nits, with little difference between a full-screen white field and an 18% white field. This didn’t vary much between an SDR and an HDR signal, either. Sylvox claims the TV can reach up to 1,500 nits, and this is reasonably close (anything over 1,000 nits is quite bright, and with the light sensor it’s certainly possible that the screen could be boosted closer to the claimed levels). Black levels are high, which is fairly standard for outdoor TVs; we measured 0.362cd/m^2 for a contrast ratio of 3,097:1. This is about in line with the SunBriteTV Veranda 3 (3,631:1 at 722 nits, thanks to its lower 0.199cd/m^2 black level). The much more expensive Terrace Full Sun TV gets both brighter (1,404 nits) and darker (0.17cd/m^2) for double the contrast ratio at 7,606:1.

The above charts show color levels in Movie mode with an SDR signal compared against Rec.709 broadcast standards, and with an HDR signal compared against DCI-P3 digital cinema standards. Even at the warmest color temperature setting, white levels appear overly cool. Whites and cyans are a bit more accurate in HDR, but oddly the primary colors are almost unchanged between the two signals. 

With our simulated daylight shining on the light sensor, BBC’s Planet Earth II looks bright and vivid. Greens and green-yellows from plants and blues and teals of water and sky are vibrant and natural, and fine textures like fur generally come through clearly. However, objects in shade can appear a bit muddy.

Poor weather prevented us from seeing how the TV’s screen handles glare from bright sunlight, but it deals with overhead indoor lights fairly well. Some glare can be seen, but it’s slightly diffused by the screen’s finish, which doesn’t make the picture look smeared or blurry. Off-angle viewing is strong, with little color desaturation or contrast shift.

The red of Deadpool’s costume in the opening, overcast scenes of Deadpool looks vivid, almost to the point of appearing a bit oversaturated. Later, in the burning lab fight, the flames look bright but somewhat homogenous, with yellows and oranges blending together rather than showing a variety of hues. Shadow details in this scene look a bit washed-out.