Sharp FQ8 vs TCL P89K / TCL P8K

The Sharp FQ8 achieves a maximum brightness of over 450 nits, which is commendable for its price range. While this level might not be groundbreaking, it places the television among the better-performing models in its class. At this brightness, the image appears vivid and detailed, and the HDR metadata functions effectively, offering a more immersive viewing experience compared to dimmer devices.

The television supports the advanced Dolby Vision HDR format, enhancing the depth and richness of the content. It also includes Dolby Vision IQ, which adjusts the image's brightness and colours based on ambient lighting. However, the implementation of this feature on the Sharp FQ8 is suboptimal, introducing artificial brightening and noticeable distortions. For this reason, it is advisable to disable Dolby Vision IQ for the most accurate picture quality.

With quantum dot technology, the television achieves a colour gamut coverage of approximately 94%, resulting in vibrant and realistic colours. This combination of features ensures the Sharp FQ8 delivers an engaging and detailed visual experience, even with some limitations.

The maximum brightness of the TCL P8K peaks at around 300 nits, although in real film scenes the television typically maintains closer to 250 nits. These are values that cannot be considered sufficient to achieve a true HDR effect – they are more aligned with a solid base for SDR content. Therefore, we won’t see spectacular flashes, bursts of light, or moments where the screen actually “blinds” as is the case with more expensive models. The image is consequently a bit flat, and the differences between light and shadow – more symbolic than realistic. Fortunately, TCL has a few aces up its sleeve that save the overall impression. One of these is the coverage of the DCI-P3 colour gamut at around 93-94%. Thanks to an additional QLED layer (PFS LED), colours gain depth and intensity, clearly surpassing standard LCD panels. As a result, while the typical “wow effect” associated with HDR brightness is lacking, the image itself can impress with its richness and vibrant tones, making the film scenes pulse with colour and not appear significantly washed out.

The Sharp FQ8 was evaluated for colour reproduction in its movie mode, which provides the best default settings for achieving realistic visuals. While it performs adequately, certain issues impact the overall image quality. Tests on HD content revealed significant white balance problems, with a marked dominance of red. This is evident in the colour graph, where the red line noticeably rises above the others, and in practical tests, such as a movie scene featuring a child, where the image appears overly warm and unnaturally red. Similar issues persist with 4K HDR content, where an excessive red tint detracts from the accuracy of colour reproduction, an important consideration for viewers prioritising faithful visuals.

For SDR contrast, the gamma graph displayed an unusual anomaly at the start, highlighting reproduction issues. The remainder of the gamma curve lies below the reference line, indicating suboptimal brightness and contrast levels for standard content. In 4K HDR, the EOTF curve also deviates significantly, suggesting inconsistencies in brightness reproduction. These fluctuations can result in less enjoyable viewing experiences for HDR content, particularly in scenes requiring precise light and dark balance.

In Filmmaker mode, the TCL P8K revealed certain imperfections in image reproduction from the start. We noticed that the TV had a tendency to slightly brighten scenes – its gamma was somewhat lowered, which made the image appear softly "washed out," lacking depth, as if the contrast had slipped out of control. This was most noticeable in HDR content, where the EOTF brightness curve clearly deviated from reference values. As a result, darker areas of the image looked too gloomy, and brighter ones did not always reach the correct level of luminance. The second noticeable issue was a slight blue overdrive – the TV stubbornly boosted this colour, causing some parts of the image, especially skin tones and reds, to have a slight purple tint. It is not a major flaw, but to a discerning eye – noticeable. Fortunately, most of these errors could be adjusted during calibration. You can see the results of this calibration in the charts and photos below.

After calibration, the Sharp FQ8 shows notable improvements in its performance for SDR content. The white balance has been significantly refined, with all lines approaching the reference line. While the lines are not perfectly straight, the results are impressive for a TV in this price range. This adjustment enhances the naturalness and accuracy of colours, contributing to a more enjoyable visual experience. However, the gamma chart still displays the peculiar jump at the start, though the remaining line now aligns much closer to the expected outcome.

For HDR content, the white balance also sees meaningful improvements compared to the pre-calibration state, although it doesn’t perform as well as in SDR mode. This refinement results in more consistent and visually appealing colours, despite some remaining imperfections. On the downside, the EOTF chart reveals limited progress in contrast due to the lack of control over dynamic tone mapping settings, which hampers uniform brightness representation in HDR.

Despite these limitations, the calibration significantly elevates the Sharp FQ8, particularly in SDR mode. The improved white balance and colour reproduction deliver a more natural and pleasant viewing experience. While HDR content still leaves room for improvement, the TV achieves a respectable level of performance, solidifying its position as a strong contender in its price range.

After calibration, the TCL P8K revealed a completely different side. It managed to achieve nearly perfect, even reference-level colour reproduction for both SDR and HDR content. The screen no longer had a tendency towards a cool tint, and the white balance was perfectly aligned. The gamma values for SDR materials finally look as they should – the image has the right depth and no longer appears washed out. The only concern that can still be raised about the P8K pertains to its "Chinese" traits, known from most TCL models. The TV still likes to manipulate saturation in HDR content in its own way – sometimes it gently boosts it, other times it smooths it out, making the effect not always fully predictable. Nevertheless, after calibration, the colours look stunning, and their accuracy is truly impressive. In most cases, measurement errors dropped below values of 1–2, which is a performance that much more expensive models would not be ashamed of.

The Sharp FQ8 performs adequately with its 10-bit colour reproduction feature, providing smooth transitions between grey shades in the light bulb photo. For optimal results, setting it to medium is recommended, as it avoids issues like grain smoothing or blurring key elements. The "low" setting also yields good results without introducing unwanted visual artefacts.

In terms of upscaling, the Sharp FQ8 TV handles video without overscan, making full use of the screen. The jagged edges of branches are noticeable, but the edges of trousers appear without any clear jaggedness, contributing positively to the overall image quality. Additionally, the TV's AI Super Resolution feature enhances clarity by artificially sharpening jagged elements, further improving the viewing experience.

The TCL P8K performs somewhat weaker when it comes to the fluidity of tonal transitions in lower quality materials. The television does offer a feature to smooth out unwanted bands, but its effectiveness leaves a lot to be desired. Even at the highest setting, it's hard to speak of a real improvement—at times, the effect is even opposite to what was intended, as the feature can introduce small artifacts and unnatural blurring on the screen.

On the other hand, the upscaling, which involves scaling the image to 4K resolution, looks definitely better. The P8K handles this task surprisingly well—HD content, and even SD, is enhanced in an aesthetically pleasing way without excessive loss of sharpness. There are indeed slight “hard” edges typical of this class of equipment, but this can be easily adjusted using the sharpness slider according to personal preferences. The final effect is more than satisfying, especially considering the price range this model is in.

The Sharp FQ8 features a 120 Hz panel, able to support playback at 144 Hz when connected to a PC, which should theoretically provide smooth motion rendering. The TV includes features designed to enhance film fluidity and reduce motion blur, crucial for more dynamic content. However, in the absence of Black Frame Insertion (BFI) technology, the panel's average response time leads to less-than-ideal results. This results in slight motion blur, which may be particularly noticeable when watching sports or during intense gaming sessions.

TCL P8K is one of the cheapest televisions offering a 144 Hz refresh rate, which in itself is a significant advantage in this price segment. Thanks to the fast panel, this model can confidently be recommended to both sports fans and gamers – the image is smooth, and the movements of the ball or dynamic actions look natural. However, this does not mean that the P8K is suitable only for sports. On the contrary – it can also maintain the right dynamics in movies without introducing an artificial 'theatrical' effect, as long as the settings are adjusted thoughtfully. The television is equipped with a motion smoother called 'Motion Clarity', which features two sliders: blur reduction and flicker reduction. The first is responsible for smoothing the image by generating additional frames, which increases fluidity but can cause a slight soap opera effect. The second, on the other hand, reduces flicker and improves sharpness in motion, although it may slightly dim the screen. Properly adjusting these two parameters allows for a truly good balance between natural motion and fluidity. The 60 Hz screen is good for dynamic content, though more discerning users will notice that it is not a top-tier panel in terms of motion clarity.

The Sharp FQ8 offers several features that cater to gamers, enhancing the overall gaming experience. Firstly, the television is equipped with HDMI 2.1, which brings several advantages. ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode) automatically switches the TV to a low-latency mode when a gaming device is detected. VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) helps reduce screen stuttering by adjusting the screen’s refresh rate to match the number of frames generated by the console or PC, providing smoother gameplay, especially in dynamic games. Additionally, the TV supports G-Sync, which synchronises the image with the graphics card, preventing stuttering and screen tearing.

Despite these advantages, the FQ8 has some limitations. The lack of support for HGiG (HDR Gaming Interest Group) means the TV does not optimise the dynamic range for HDR games. Furthermore, while Dolby Vision mode can improve picture quality in supported games, it suffers from very high input lag.

Although the TCL P8K is a budget television, it absolutely cannot be said that it is unsuitable for gaming. On the contrary – this screen can pleasantly surprise any gamer. On board, we find two HDMI 2.1 ports, which allow us to effortlessly send a 4K image at 120 Hz. If someone plays on PC, they will also be pleased to know that the television can operate even with a refresh rate of 240 Hz at a lower resolution – a small thing, but it’s appreciated. Additionally, there is a full set of gaming-specific features: automatic game mode, a Game Bar with quick parameter previews, VRR, HGiG, and support for Dolby Vision in games. All of this makes gaming on the P8K a truly enjoyable experience – the image is smooth, the response is quick, and the television works well with next-gen consoles. The TCL P8K shows that a cheap screen doesn't have to mean giving up on fun. Definitely not when it comes to gaming.