Maciej Koper
Can a television costing nearly 100 thousand złotys (25K $) have flaws? Thanks to the courtesy of one of our viewers and a client skalibrujtv.pl, we can answer this question for the first time – independently and reliably. Before you are the first measurements and impressions from using probably the most expensive television you can buy today at an ordinary electronics store. We are of course talking about the gigantic, 115-inch TCL X955.
This monstrous screen is not only about size, but also about powerful technology – the calibrated version we offer boasts an astonishing 20 thousand dimming zones! Sounds out of this world? You’re probably wondering if such a giant at that price has any flaws at all? Let’s find out!
Let's finally explore the possibilities of the TCL X955
Not long ago, when creating a ranking of the largest televisions, we could only speculate on what TCL X955 was capable of. Today, we finally know.
TCL X955 is one of the largest LCD TVs currently available – 115 inches, VA panel and Mini LED backlighting in an extreme version: over 20,000 dimming zones and a brightness reaching 5000 nits in Movie mode. It's so good that the 115-inch TCL X955 can generate such absurd brightness not just on marketing brochures! By comparison, the 65-inch C855 had "only" 1000 zones and 2400 nits. The difference between such TVs is gigantic – both in blacks, contrast, and details. It's a screen that can remind you of an OLED, but on the scale of a cinema projector!
Issues with Colour and Image Characteristics
SDR measurements before professional calibration
HDR Measurements Before Professional Calibration
Since we’re here, you’re probably wondering if such an expensive TV had any flaws right out of the box? After all, we’re talking about equipment worth as much as a new “budget” car from the dealership – one would expect a perfectly calibrated unit straight from the factory.
Unfortunately, the reality turned out to be… surprising.
What we encountered upon first startup was more concerning than impressive. For us – the testers – it’s downright absurd. How is it possible that a flagship model costing tens of thousands has such obvious problems with picture quality in the factory settings? The TCL X955 struggled the most with colour reproduction. In both SDR and HDR content, even in the theoretically “best” cinema mode, there was a strong dominance of blue. The errors in grey scale and colour reproduction could reach values exceeding DeltaE = 16 – let’s remember that differences above 2 are already noticeable to the naked eye. As a result, the picture quality resembled cheaper models from the lower tier rather than equipment from the top league.
Brightness and EOTF Curve – Power Show at the Expense of Quality
Gamma before calibration
The same can be said about the brightness characteristics and how the television managed its backlighting. At first glance, it was clear that TCL wanted to "show off" its power – it’s a pity that this came at the cost of the image's naturalness.
In both SDR and HDR materials, the image was clearly oversaturated. The gamma curves and EOTF, which should account for proper gradation of brightness and contrast, resembled a rollercoaster more than a stable reference line. You can imagine the effect for yourselves. Loss of detail in dark and bright areas and unnatural scene dynamics – all to make the image appear more "spectacular" at first glance.
Calibration X955 – Can such a screen be saved?
As you can probably guess, the client didn’t invite us over without reason – and we completely understand him. After the initial inspection, everything was clear: with such a picture, this TV simply could not remain as it came out of the box.
The technician who visited our client on-site (we send our warm regards to Krystian! 😉) brought along measurement equipment worth several thousand and got to work. It was time to see what could be squeezed out of this 115-inch behemoth when we start treating it seriously – like equipment from the premium segment, rather than as a showroom demonstration of brightness capabilities.
You can read about what exactly professional calibration is in the article below, which explains how it differs from store "optimisation" or popular pre-set settings found online. In many cases, such "treatments" not only fail to improve the picture but actually make it worse!
TCL 115X955 – SDR after calibration – this is how it should look!
Looking at the SDR materials after calibration, we can confidently say one thing – Krystian managed to squeeze practically everything out of this television. Take a look at these graphs! All the squares, lines, curves – they almost perfectly match the reference values.
The values for the grey scale do not exceed 0.4 ΔE, which means the differences are absolutely unnoticeable to the human eye. In the ColorChecker test, practically all the squares hit perfectly within their fields, and the gamma is nearly perfectly flat, ensuring perfect brightness reproduction across the entire tonal range.
Finally, the SDR image looks as it should – without distortions, without clipping, with full control over light and colour. This is exactly how we envisioned the premium class.
TCL 115X955 – HDR after calibration – nearly perfect, but Mini LED has its nature
With just as much, albeit not so unconditional, optimism, we can talk about how the TCL X955 handles HDR content after calibration. The picture is excellent – with enormous brightness (5000 nits!) and deep blacks. However, certain characteristic features of Mini LED technology are still noticeable.
Despite the impressive 20,000 dimming zones, the X955 can, in some scenes – especially with small, bright elements – tone down details a bit too much. A classic example is the star test, where the tiniest bright points can appear too dim. This is also visible on the EOTF curve, which drops below the reference line at the start of the graph – meaning the TV dims the darkest parts of the image more than it should.
Of course, the end result is infinitely higher quality than in factory settings, but it is worth remembering that even such an expensive and advanced Mini LED TV retains certain characteristics of its technology. And although these are not flaws, they are elements one simply has to learn to live with.
TCL 115X955 – A visual masterpiece that needs tuning
The TCL X955 is a truly phenomenal television. Its size, brightness, contrast, and image potential – especially after calibration – make a stunning impression. It's one of those screens that can provide cinematic experiences in your living room, outperforming projectors in brightness and black levels.
Unfortunately, it is not a piece of equipment without flaws. And just like many of you, we also don't understand how the manufacturer can release a television of this class with such poorly tuned picture quality straight out of the factory. Fortunately, there is a solution for this. If you want to squeeze the maximum potential out of your television – regardless of the model – feel free to head over to choose.tv. Proper calibration can make a difference greater than jumping between equipment classes. In the case of the X955 – it transformed it from an impressive giant into a visual masterpiece.
