TCL C655 / C69B (55"-85") vs Hisense U7S Pro

Overall, the quality of the HDR effect in TCL C655 / C69B looks quite promising. The average value in the test patterns is around 450 nits, which already allows you to feel the light effects and better image dynamics. However, as mentioned earlier, this effect may be somewhat subdued by slight differences in bright and dark shades, resulting from the lack of local dimming technology. However, the DCI-P3 colour gamut coverage of 94% deserves high praise, and this is possible due to the use of a quantum dot (QLED) panel. This makes the colours vibrant and well-reproduced when watching HDR content.

Let's start with the fact that the U7S Pro is an impressively bright TV. In calibrated mode our test equipment recorded a staggering 2200 nits of peak brightness. That's an excellent result, especially given that this model is positioned more as a mid-range set.

As we know, peak brightness on test patterns is one thing, and real film scenes are another. Unfortunately, in real-world footage the backlight output drops noticeably. In the most demanding moments the TV can still exceed 1000 nits, which is still a great result and sits well within the HDR mastering standards for most films, but the real challenge comes from aggressively tuned local dimming algorithms. Because of them, small bright details, like stars or the moon in a night sky, are noticeably dimmed. The TV seems determined to preserve deep blacks, which is understandable, but sadly this comes at the expense of dynamic range and the overall HDR punch.

Colour reproduction is worth praising. The new U7S Pro is a QLED design that provides very wide colour gamut coverage. Unlike last year's model (U7Q Pro), this year's variant is a genuine QLED rather than a solution based on a PFS filter. As a result, colour saturation has clearly increased, and coverage of the demanding BT.2020 colour space has exceeded 81%.

The TCL C655 / C69B television offers a film mode that has been tested for colour reproduction quality. Although this mode is called film mode, it unfortunately has quite a few errors that the director would certainly not want to see when filming their work. Starting with image analysis, it's worth looking at the white balance – both in HD content and 4K HDR, the white balance has significant issues. In both cases, the red colour dominates, resulting in colours that are too warm, with an overall pink or yellow tint. This can be seen in the image below from the film "Star Wars." The Colour Checker test confirms these errors – the colour samples stray into incorrect shades, affecting the overall colour fidelity. The brightness characteristics are a lesser issue. However, they are not without flaws either. The gamma chart shows a strong spike at the beginning, which can cause the image to be overly bright, and the EOTF curve responsible for brightness in 4K HDR content also has significant fluctuations – it's evident how the television tries to maintain appropriate brightness, but it doesn't always succeed effectively.

We tested the U7S Pro, as we always do, in the best factory-tuned picture mode, Filmmaker Mode. The displayed colours can be judged in two ways. The most disappointing was the profile intended for SDR viewing, i.e. classic TV, YouTube and other less demanding content. The image there had a distinct yellow cast, which proved to be a direct result of an incorrectly set white balance. As our charts show, this involved a huge deficiency of the blue component, which drastically affected the overall colour temperature. You can see this clearly on the ColorChecker charts and on the colour palette graphs themselves, where most samples drifted towards yellow. Fortunately, the factory HDR mode performed much better; there the colour errors hovered around a Delta E of 3, which is a really solid result.

After calibrating the movie mode of the television TCL C655 / C69B , the white balance has been adjusted, and the colours look as they should – which is confirmed by only slight deviations in the Colour Checker test. The gamma is really good, which ensures that the television shouldn't have any issues with brightness in low-resolution material. Unfortunately, a similar EOTF characteristic is still noticeable, which is a natural occurrence in televisions that do not have local dimming – they simply struggle to "shine" brighter in a given part of the screen. Despite this design limitation, which cannot be bypassed, we recommend making adjustments in the settings, as the overall colour presentation looks really very good.

We do know, however, that the company Hisense is capable of much more – as previous generations have proven – which is why we simply couldn’t leave the factory flaws of the U7S Pro model unaddressed in everyday content. As always in such cases, we had the television undergo professional calibration. The conclusions? This process brought about a colossal change. After manually adjusting the white balance and compensating for deficiencies in the blue component, the annoying yellow tint disappeared as if by magic. White became naturally clean, and skin tones gained the proper, healthy hue. Importantly, the calibration not only tamed the capricious SDR mode but also maximised the potential of the panel, reducing average colour reproduction errors to values nearly imperceptible to the human eye. The only thing we need to criticise after the whole process is the very nature of the Mini-LED backlighting and its specific interaction with the HDR signal. The aggressively tuned local dimming algorithms significantly interfere with the EOTF brightness curve. As a result, the backlighting doesn’t always work perfectly with the creator’s intent – depending on the scene being watched, the curve can noticeably run either above or below the reference, occasionally disrupting the ideal dynamic of HDR images.

Television TCL C655 / C69B handles tonal transitions in low-quality materials fairly well. The "Gradual Smoothing" feature on low settings effectively smooths out tonal transitions, but it also blurs important details, such as the texture of objects. A positive aspect is that it does not negatively affect film grain, which helps to maintain the natural look of the image. In terms of digital processing, the television adds artificial sharpness, which some users who prefer a sharper image might appreciate. However, for those who prefer a softer look, this may be a drawback. Another downside is that the image has been significantly cropped due to the so-called overscan, which reduces the field of view and cuts off the edges of the image.

The digital processing of lower-quality signals is at a very high level here, and that's all thanks to the MediaTek Pentonic 800 processor used in the U7S Pro. The upscaling itself also performs well, meaning the TV's ability to upscale lower-resolution signals to 4K is impressive. We didn't notice any unnatural, overly sharp contours on the screen, and our test image of the model simply looked attractive.

The television C655 / C69B is equipped with a 4K@60 Hz panel, which means it's best suited for watching movies and less dynamic content. It also features a "Flicker Reduction" function, allowing users to adjust the smoothness of the image – they can choose whether they prefer smoother motion or a more cinematic, frame-like effect. The television can also adapt to lower resolutions, such as Full HD and 2K at 120 Hz, which will surely please gamers by offering a smoother image at the cost of resolution. It’s worth noting that this feature is available in sizes starting from 55"+. Additionally, the largest variant, 98", is equipped with a 144Hz panel with full motion smoothing.

The Hisense U7S Pro uses a panel with a maximum refresh rate of 165 Hz at 4K, and in gaming mode it can even hit 330 Hz at Full HD. However, it's worth remembering that these top figures don't mean much in everyday use, because most content still runs at a maximum of 120 Hz (for example when playing on a console). Even so, the TV handles motion quite well and performs respectably for an LCD design.

There isn't much to fault when it comes to smoothness. In the menu you'll find a motion smoothing feature called "Motion Enhancement", which hides two sliders: blur reduction and judder reduction. They let you manually tune the smoothing, which works well for both films and sport, effectively improving the raw TV signal.

The TCL C655 / C69B TV offers an almost perfect set of features for gamers, supporting all the key technologies. It has an ALLM feature that automatically switches the TV to low latency mode, significantly improving responsiveness and minimising signal lag, which is especially important during dynamic gameplay. The VRR feature allows synchronisation of the screen refresh rate with the number of frames generated by the console, eliminating screen tearing and providing smoother gameplay.

The TV also supports Dolby Vision in gaming mode, ensuring better colour and contrast reproduction in games that support this format, and the Game Bar enables quick access to gameplay-related settings, such as response time, latency level, and other parameters. Unfortunately, the C655 / C69B does not support 4K resolution at 120 Hz (the 98" variant is the exception), which may be disappointing for more demanding gamers seeking the ultimate smoothness in high-resolution games. However, if we can forgo 4K, the TV offers support for Full HD and 2K at 120 Hz, providing a smoother image and serving as a great alternative for those who prefer higher refresh rates at the expense of resolution.

If you're planning to connect a console or PC to the U7S Pro, you'll be more than pleased – this TV is great gear for gamers. Hisense hasn't held back, featuring 4 HDMI 2.1 ports with full bandwidth of 48 Gbps. So you don't have to juggle cables, as each port will handle the full suite of features. We have an automatic game mode (ALLM) and VRR, which operates over a wide range from 48 Hz to a whopping 330 Hz. Of course, that 330 Hz is currently just a gimmick for owners of powerful PCs, as consoles will cap at 120 Hz, but it's good to have that headroom for the future. The Game Bar also works really well when gaming. It's a handy menu bar for gamers, where you can quickly change the picture mode, turn on a crosshair in the middle of the screen, and even switch the display aspect ratio to ultra-wide, which PC simulation fans will appreciate. The only downside worth noting is the incorrect implementation of the HGiG format in games. The issue is that the TV ignores instructions from the console regarding the image generated in HDR10 and constantly butts in, trying to "enhance" the image in its own way. This makes proper HDR configuration in the console menu (where brightness is set on the logo/checkerboard) a bit more challenging.