Sharp FQ8 vs TCL V6C

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.

When it comes to HDR, the TCK V6C clearly shows that it is not its strong suit. A peak brightness of around 200 nits makes it difficult to talk about true HDR effects – the picture simply remains too dark to bring out details in bright scenes or convey the appropriate dynamics. Although the television formally supports many HDR formats, it is not practically equipped for such demanding content. The lack of additional layers that enhance colors, such as QLED or PFS LED, further limits the appeal of the image – in more spectacular productions, the colours may seem washed out compared to more expensive models. Therefore, the V6C will primarily serve as a television for everyday viewing, YouTube, or SDR content, rather than as equipment for high-quality cinematic experiences.

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.

We started colour reproduction tests with the Filmmaker mode, which in theory should be the best choice straight out of the box. It certainly performs better than the Eco or Dynamic modes, which heavily interfere with the image and spoil its natural character. As you can see in the graphs, the factory tuning of the V6C is not ideal, although it's not a disaster either. The biggest issue turned out to be a lack of red – the TV clearly "cools" the image, which is especially noticeable on human faces, giving a "zombie skin" effect. This particular issue was the most bothersome during everyday viewing. Looking at the colour palette in HDR content, the shortcomings in red are also noticeable, and their source is the relatively narrow coverage of the colour space. Of course, every TV can be calibrated, so we decided to check how the V6C would perform after such an adjustment.

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.

My dear friends – we haven't faced such a difficult "calibration battle" in years. The V6C turned out to be one of the most stubborn TVs we've dealt with in the office. The calibration trials alone took us several hours of work and required a lot of patience. We finally managed to slightly warm up the skin tones, which made faces stop looking like they were pulled straight out of a horror film, a common issue with the factory settings. Unfortunately, that wasn't the end of it – the TV reacted to our adjustments in white balance in a completely unpredictable manner. Where we expected stability in the image in a certain area, new errors appeared, and Color Checker measurements showed deviations that couldn't be rationally explained. It's hard to say whether the fault lay with the software or the design itself, but one thing is certain – the V6C put up exceptionally strong resistance. Ultimately, the calibration brought improvement, especially in SDR content, where the image became more pleasing and natural. However, it must be clearly stated that the design limitations remain. The TV still flattens the image in HDR materials and has noticeable deficiencies in colour reproduction. This is equipment more suited for everyday TV watching or SDR content rather than for cinematic experiences in the highest quality.

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.

When it comes to upscaling, the V6C doesn't bring anything groundbreaking to the table. Lower quality content is heavily sharpened, making the image look quite unnatural, at times almost artificial. This can be somewhat alleviated by reducing the sharpness level in the settings, but the effect isn't spectacular. The image still falls short of perfection. The digital processing itself performs better. The function responsible for smoothing tonal transitions works quite effectively, especially at the medium setting, where the image truly appears smoother. Unfortunately, its operation is rather aggressive – it heavily interferes with the overall scene, causing actors in the foreground to start looking like characters from super smooth soap operas. Therefore, we would not recommend using this option if a natural viewing experience is important to us.

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.

Smoothing and motion fluidity are areas where the V6C quickly reveals its limitations. It's a 60 Hz TV, so it was hard to expect miracles here. In dynamic sports scenes, the image performs rather mediocrely. This is most noticeable in darker scenes, where distinct trails and blurred "halos" follow moving objects, which can be quite distracting. This is definitely a weaker point of this model. Fortunately, there is also a small plus. The V6C is equipped with a motion smoother that works while watching movies. Thanks to it, productions filmed at 24 frames per second, which is practically all cinema titles and series, can look smoother than they were actually recorded. Importantly, the intensity of the effect can be adjusted to personal preferences – from slight smoothing to the full "soap opera effect."

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.

Even though the V6C is not a TV designed with avid gamers in mind, TCL has included a few features that may appeal to more casual users. You'll not find a 120 Hz panel or HDMI 2.1 ports here, but there is an ALLM mode that automatically switches the TV into low latency mode. There's also a quite practical Game Bar – a simple panel allowing the preview of basic parameters, changing the picture mode, or even enabling a virtual crosshair on the screen. Another interesting feature is the support for Dolby Vision Gaming, intended for Xbox Series S/X consoles – a nice addition, although in practice it doesn’t offer as much as in more expensive models. However, the biggest issue remains the HDR configuration. The HGiG function, responsible for adjusting the brightness and contrast of games to the capabilities of the panel, doesn't respond as we would expect – the picture can be overly dark or too flattened. As a result, a better solution turns out to be simply playing in SDR mode, where the V6C operates steadily and doesn’t try to pretend to be an HDR TV.