Philips OLED910 vs TCL C7L

OLED910 is simply an absurdly bright television for an OLED. All thanks to the new panel from LG Display, the Tandem RGB OLED, which Philips has branded as "META OLED". It is this panel that allows for over 2000 nits of brightness in films, which not long ago was completely unachievable in OLEDs. The way the television handles full-screen scenes flooded with bright light also deserves high praise. Usually, in OLEDs, brightness drops significantly, but here it remains at a great level – around 1400 nits. These values are almost reference-level, and combined with excellent colour reproduction at 99% DCI P3 and 82% BT.2020, it gives us an HDR effect that can confidently be called one of the best in the world.

TCL C7L is undoubtedly an extremely bright television. In synthetic tests on static patterns, it can achieve peak brightness of around 2800 nits. This is a phenomenal result, considering the price range it occupies. Unfortunately, tests with real movie scenes are not as spectacular as measurements of white squares. Brightness in real HDR footage drops in the C7L model to around 1200 nits. This is still a very good result, as this is the value at which the vast majority of contemporary films are mastered. However, when small, point-like elements appear on the screen, the brightness of these details drastically drops – even to around 400 nits – which somewhat diminishes the HDR effect. The television does this intentionally to maintain a better black level and to avoid a huge light bloom. This is somewhat explainable, but it also shows that Mini LED technology is not completely uncompromising in this regard. As for the HDR effect itself – alongside brightness, colours are of course key here. And these, thanks to the use of new, “super” quantum dots, are simply outstanding and among the best on the market. The television can achieve around 90% coverage of the ultra-wide colour gamut BT.2020 and 99% of the DCI-P3 gamut, easily matching the best RGB MINI-LED screens. Best of all, the C7L can maintain such high colour saturation regardless of the scene being displayed, which can often be problematic in competing RGB Mini-LED televisions.

Update 01/2026

After conducting a series of calibrations of the OLED910 model with our clients, we noticed that the measurement results differ from those obtained during the initial tests. The factory tuning of the film mode proves to be significantly better than our first tests indicated. The white balance is set very precisely, with only a minimal red dominance. The factory colour reproduction holds close to reference standards – average Delta E errors hover around 3-4, which is an excellent result for factory settings. However, there is some concern about how the television manages brightness. Analysis of the Gamma (SDR) and EOTF (HDR) graphs shows a tendency to excessively "pull" details from the shadows. In practice, this means that the image can appear too bright, resulting in a loss of black depth in favour of visible details that should remain hidden. Of course, this effect can be effectively corrected during professional calibration.

Unfortunately, when it comes to colour reproduction straight out of the box, in Filmmaker mode the OLED910 performs really poorly. The television excessively highlights the blue colour, and at times it looks almost like a store mode. This gives the impression that the manufacturer hasn’t quite tuned the device well. The result is that colours appear unnatural, and the overall effect resembles a somewhat exaggerated display setup in a market. HDR content presents much better, where apart from a slight loss of details in the blacks, there’s not much to complain about. The problem is that in everyday viewing, it’s actually SDR material that matters most – and on the OLED910 it simply looks poor and falls far short of what we would expect from a television of this class.

When it comes to out-of-the-box colours, a new feature in TCL TVs – including the C7L model – is the presence of a new picture mode called Filmmaker Mode. This is significant news, as such a mode was not previously available from this manufacturer. By design, as the name suggests, the picture in this setting is intended to be delivered with the full intent of the film's creator. After our tests, we can confirm that it is undeniably the best built-in mode in this TV if you value true-to-life colour reproduction straight out of the box. However, we certainly wouldn’t say it is perfect. Like most devices on the market, this C7L also had its factory faults. The white balance in Filmmaker Mode leaned towards a slightly greenish-yellow hue, mainly due to an excess of green component and a noticeable lack of blue. Of course, for the average viewer, this won’t be a drastic flaw, but if you value perfect whites, natural skin tones, and harnessing the full potential of these new "super" quantum dots from the structure, then the TV is begging for professional calibration.

Fortunately, it quickly turned out that it wasn't the panel causing the problems, but the way Philips factory-tuned the OLED910. After calibration, the television showcased its full potential, and only then could we see what the new panels from LG Display were truly capable of. We primarily corrected the white balance and brightness characteristics, successfully taming the excessive blue and giving the image a natural look. The final effect can be described as excellent. Errors on the Color Checker palette rarely exceeded a value of 3, which in practice means an image close to ideal and colours presented in line with the creators' intent. In SDR content, the effect was stunning, and in HDR, the improvement was even more noticeable – gradients became cleaner, and colours fuller and more accurate. After calibration, the OLED910 transformed from a disappointing television into equipment that can be confidently referred to as reference-grade in terms of colour accuracy.

After conducting a professional calibration, we were able to greatly improve the situation in the factory Filmmaker Mode. Following our adjustments, the errors in the ColorChecker test and across the entire wide colour gamut dropped below the threshold of human perception – that is, below a value of 3, which is indeed a very good result. The TCL C7L definitely benefits from such a treatment in terms of colour fidelity, and it's hard to deny that. However, the management of brightness in HDR content after calibration appears to be a bit worse. As I described earlier – even though we set this model up properly, when we turn on real film scenes on the television, it can manage its brightness in quite a peculiar way. It often brightens certain elements on the screen in a manner inconsistent with the creator's intent, which is visibly apparent on the EOTF graphs measured in specific films. Despite this flaw – or rather, this specific characteristic of the television – one cannot take away from it: after calibration, the C7L was able to reproduce the colours flawlessly.

The previously visible colour connections can be largely mitigated thanks to a feature called "distortion reduction." Similar to the OLED820, it’s best to set it to medium level, as it then provides quite decent results – smoothing unwanted tonal transitions while not taking away too many details from the image. Although at times the effect may be a bit too aggressive, in everyday viewing, this function can be considered useful.

When it comes to image scaling, the OLED910 performs really well. The test material with the model showcased a characteristic soft look typical of Philips – at times almost too soft – but at any moment this can be adjusted with the sharpness slider to tailor the image to your own preferences. It’s also a plus that the television has no issues with overscan, which still occurs in some competitors' models. It’s a minor detail, but it’s pleasing as it means that all content, even the oldest, is displayed as it should be.

This point could be called in a sense the Achilles' heel of the C7L model. Unfortunately, this television uses an older chipset from MediaTek – the Pentonic 700 – which has never been known for outstanding digital image processing. This is clearly visible in the functioning of the gradual smoothing feature, which is responsible for reducing jagged edges and removing digital noise. It simply works very poorly – when set to a low level, its effectiveness is practically none. The only small plus here is that the algorithm doesn't mess up anything else in the image and doesn't forcefully blur details. The upscaling, that is, the scaling of the image from lower resolutions to 4K, performs a bit better. It is simply adequate and does not stand out in any particular way against the competition. However, it cannot be denied that the C7L would greatly benefit in this aspect if the manufacturer decided to use the newer Pentonic 800 processor, which is now being found in an increasing number of competitive models.

OLED910 is a TV with a refresh rate of 144 Hz. It’s a bit of a shame that Philips didn’t opt for 165 Hz, as we know that the matrix used in it is capable of that. On the other hand, such a bonus will mainly benefit PC gamers, as for everyday use, the most important thing is the 120 Hz refresh rate, which is fully sufficient. Combined with the advantages of the OLED matrix – lightning-fast pixel response times and the absence of motion blur, the picture is impeccably sharp and fast, even in dynamic action scenes. The traditional motion smoother from Philips called “Motion Style” also deserves praise. We can easily adjust it to our own preferences: the “Smoothness” slider is for movies and allows you to choose between a more “framey,” cinematic character and a smooth, theatrical image. Meanwhile, the “Motion Blur Reduction” slider is intended for sports; here, it’s worth setting it to the maximum value so that the image is clear and sharp during very fast shots.

TCL C7L features a native 4K panel with a refresh rate of 144 Hz, which can even ramp up to 288 Hz at lower resolutions when using a PC. These are certainly very high and commendable figures on paper, but in everyday life, it's worth remembering that almost all dynamic content you display on this television will still revolve around a maximum of 120 Hz. To tame this dynamism, the TV menu includes a motion smoothing system called "Motion Clarity." It offers several predefined modes, including a user mode, which we highly recommend setting manually using our tried-and-true guides on our YouTube channel. You’ll find two key sliders available. The first one, "Motion Blur Reduction," is responsible for reducing blurring and improving sharpness in 60fps dynamic content, such as sports broadcasts. The second slider, "Flicker Reduction," allows for the addition of artificial frames in movies and shows recorded at cinematic 24 or 30 frames per second. This naturally allows for the complete elimination of the annoying stutter effect during camera movement shots.

The OLED910 is fantastic for gaming. It supports 144 Hz, so if someone has a powerful PC, they'll easily make the most of that potential. For consoles, the most important thing is still 120 Hz, and everything works smoothly here. It has VRR, an automatic game mode, and even Dolby Vision in games along with HGiG mode, so we pretty much get a full package of gaming features. Philips also added a Game Bar, which is like a quick menu that shows basic information and allows you to enable a few handy features. It might not look as modern as the competition, but it works and does its job. The only downside is the number of HDMI 2.1 ports. There are only two, which can be quite disappointing in this class of television. If someone connects two consoles and something extra to the eARC - like a soundbar (which doesn't really make sense in this model, but more on that in the sound section), they'll have to do a bit more figuring around. Other than that, though, the OLED910 has everything we expect from a gaming TV.

When it comes to gaming, the TCL C7L is simply an outstanding television for gamers. With the presence of two full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 ports at 48 Gbps, it provides access to all the key features that console and high-end PC owners require. We have a well-functioning ALLM mode with very low input lag and VRR frame synchronization, which operates within an impressive range from 48 to 288 Hz. Importantly, unlike some competitors, TCL has ensured a proper implementation of the console HDR10 HGIG profile and support for Dolby Vision in games. This is complemented by a very well-designed gamer panel, known as Game Bar, which even allows for editing its appearance and changing the theme to perfectly match the style of your console.

The only thing that can – and should – be critiqued here is the fact that the television only offers two full HDMI 2.1 ports, while the other two are older HDMI 2.0. This creates quite a significant logistical problem. Why? Because one of those fast ports also supports the eARC audio return channel. In practice, this means that if you connect a soundbar or home theatre system to the television, you’ll only have one available HDMI 2.1 port left. If you have two consoles or a console and a powerful computer at home, unfortunately, you’ll have to give something up or constantly juggle cables at the back of the unit while maintaining comfortable audio system control.