TCL C655 / C69B (43" - 50") vs Samsung Q7F

The quality of the HDR effect on the TCL C69B / C655 television is quite average. A brightness level of 350 nits, while not the worst, still does not allow for a full enjoyment of the HDR effects that require higher luminance to showcase their power. Additionally, the television, despite using a quantum dot coating (QLED), offers average coverage of the wide DCI-P3 colour gamut at 91%, which may limit its colour richness in HDR content.

Unfortunately, the Samsung Q7F is not one of the bright televisions, which directly impacts the quality of HDR films. The peak brightness of the panel is only around 250 nits, which is definitely insufficient for claiming a true cinematic experience. In practice, the HDR content does not differ significantly from classic SDR, making it difficult to talk about any "wow effect" that usually accompanies us when watching such films. During testing of film scenes, the image simply looked dark, and the brightness almost always hovered around the aforementioned 250 nits. The worst performance came from shots with small, intensely glowing elements – the global dimming technique used reacted very aggressively in those cases, dimming the entire screen to maintain the black effect. However, it is worth noting the presence of a QLED coating that broadens the colour spectrum. For a budget QLED model, the Q7F performs quite decently here: the DCI-P3 colour gamut coverage is around 93%, and BT.2020 reaches 70%. This means that despite the low brightness, the colours can still look quite vivid and attractive.

Tested in film mode, the television TCL C69B / C655 unfortunately does not meet expectations regarding colour accuracy. Although the film mode suggests better representation, it has as much in common with film as nothing at all. There are numerous errors, particularly in the white balance – for both HD and 4K HDR content – where the dominance of blue is very apparent. For the viewer, this means that the image becomes unnaturally cool, affecting the overall perception of colours and the visual impression. The colour checker confirms these errors, showing that colours shift towards cooler shades.

When it comes to brightness characteristics and related contrast, gamma is very unstable for the material, making the image potentially slightly darker. The EOTF curve for the 4K material shows some errors, with significant deviations towards the end of the graph, which negatively affects the perception of darker parts of the image.

The reproduction of factory colours in the Samsung Q7F is definitely not one of its strong points. In Filmmaker mode, which theoretically should be closest to neutral, the white balance issue is immediately noticeable. There’s too much red on the screen, while blue is lacking. The effects are very easy to notice – white, instead of being neutral, takes on warm, almost slightly orange tones. In the long run, this makes the entire image appear a bit unnatural, while bright areas of the scene can seem unrealistic. The problems are even more evident in HDR content. The charts show that the TV has significant errors in the Color Checker palette, which results in visible inaccuracies in the real image. In practice, this means that colours are not presented as they should be. The Q7F also heavily manipulates brightness; darker elements are overly boosted, causing them to lose their cinematic feel, while bright parts can be dimmed. This makes the image seem flattened, and contrast, instead of helping to bring out details, only highlights its own limitations. In HDR materials, this is particularly frustrating because every detail matters. In scenes where a subtle play of light and shadow should be felt, the Q7F either overdoes the lighting or, conversely, suppresses elements that should attract the eye. This causes the image to lose its depth, and instead of cinematic realism, we have a rather simplified effect.

After calibration, the movie mode on the TCL C69B / C655 television improves in quality. The most significant enhancement can be seen in tonal reproduction, and the white balance presents itself much better – without major errors. We will no longer see the excessive dominance of cool shades. The gamma has also been improved, resulting in a more stable representation of brightness and contrast. However, due to limitations in the average colour palette of the television, Colour Checker tests for 4K materials did not achieve outstanding results. Despite these technological limitations, the image became more authentic, positively impacting the reception of film content.

After professional calibration, we managed to bring the Q7F to order – at least in terms of SDR content. The image in this mode looks really good: the white balance has been set correctly, the colours appear natural, and the errors in the colour palette have dropped to levels practically invisible to the eye. Gamma behaves exemplary, and the only minor flaw remains a slight lightening of smaller elements, which stems from the lack of local dimming. For everyday watching of television or films in standard quality, the Q7F performs surprisingly well.

It was significantly more challenging to tame HDR content. Despite adjusting the white balance, the television still heavily manipulates brightness, causing scenes to appear unnatural – what was meant to be subtly darker can sometimes be overly bright, and the bright parts of the image can occasionally be dimmed. The final effect is better than in factory settings, but it’s clear that the construction limitations of the Q7F do not allow for fully utilising the potential of HDR materials.

The "Gradual Smoothing" feature works very well on the TCL C69B TV and, surprisingly, does not remove desirable effects like film grain – unlike some solutions from other manufacturers. Unfortunately, when it comes to image scaling, it looks poor. The TV artificially sharpens the image, causing the edges of objects to appear quite jagged. This situation may appeal to some users who prefer a more "hard" look to the image, but it is not an ideal solution for those who value naturalness and fluidity of details.

Upscaling and digital image processing in the Q7F is a bit of a rollercoaster. On one hand, we have really nice upscaling – weaker sources look better than you might expect. The image becomes clearer, sharper, and even older films or free-to-air TV hold up well. Samsung has been strong in this area for years, and the Q7F confirms that. On the other hand… things start to get tricky. The TV has a problem with overscan – part of the image is simply cut off, and it doesn't look very elegant. Additionally, we were let down by a feature called "noise reduction," which should improve the smoothness of tonal transitions in weaker materials. In other Samsungs, it works relatively well, but here it practically makes no difference – the banding in gradients is still there. It's a bit of a shame because we expected more from a model that is aimed at users looking for a display for SDR content.

Television TCL C69B / C655 in its smallest variants offers decent, though not perfect, results in terms of motion smoothness. For movies, the television features a "Flicker Reduction" function, which allows for adjustment of motion smoothness on a scale from 1 to 10. Thanks to this option, we can tailor the image appearance to either a cinematic or more theatrical preference (with less or greater speed).

Motion blur and motion fluidity in the Q7F is probably the most budget-friendly aspect of this television. The 60 Hz panel makes the motion blur quite noticeable, especially in dynamic scenes, and it's rather hard to consider this model as equipment designed for watching sports or playing fast-paced games. In tests with the little green man, there was a long trail, similarly, the ball in a football match would leave behind streaks.

On the positive side, the presence of motion smoothing is worth noting. In films, it really makes a difference – especially since most materials are recorded in 24 frames. Here we can decide whether we prefer a more "cinematic" image, with a slight judder typically found in cinema, or a smoother, more “TV-like” one. This actually works quite well and helps improve the viewing comfort for series or movies.

The TCL C69B / C655 TV in its smallest variants offers a range of features dedicated to gamers, such as ALLM (Automatic Low Latency Mode), VRR (Variable Refresh Rate), Dolby Vision for gamers, and Game Bar. ALLM automatically switches the TV to low latency mode, improving responsiveness and minimising delays in control. VRR allows for synchronising the screen refresh rate with the frame rate generated by the console, eliminating screen tearing and providing smoother gameplay. Dolby Vision for gamers ensures better colour and contrast representation in games that support this format, resulting in better image quality. Meanwhile, the Game Bar provides quick access to game settings and monitors key parameters such as input lag.

However, the TV has certain limitations that may affect gaming comfort. The 60 Hz panel does not allow for displaying signals with a higher refresh rate, which can impact image smoothness in dynamic games. The lack of support for G-Sync technology for PCs can also be noticeable when gaming on a computer, especially in demanding, fast-paced titles.

The features for gamers on the Samsung Q7F is a topic that stirs up quite a few mixed emotions. On one hand – no reasonable person was expecting miracles here, after all, it’s a 60 Hz television and it was clear from the get-go that this wouldn’t be equipment to squeeze the maximum from a console or PC. On the other hand, since the manufacturer promised specific solutions in promotional materials, it is only natural that we wanted to see them in practice. At the start, it’s looking pretty good. The automatic game mode (ALLM) works, so there’s no need to manually fiddle with the settings; the console switches the TV to low latency mode by itself. Plus, we have the Game Bar, which looks impressive and allows you to check a few basic parameters without leaving the game. And this is where the good news ends.

The biggest problem with the Q7F is VRR, or rather its absence. Indeed, the appropriate icon appears in the menu, you can even see it in the Game Bar, but throughout the entire test, the function remained dead and could not be activated in any way. Even more disappointing is the matter of HGiG; this option was actually available in the beginning, but after a software update, it disappeared completely, which is just unprofessional. Therefore, the Q7F is only suitable for absolute basics. Sure, you can turn on the console, play calmer titles, and enjoy low input lag, but if someone is counting on more advanced features that the manufacturer promised, they will be disappointed. This is not a television one buys with gaming in mind, and it’s better to be aware of this before purchasing.