TCL C655 / C69B 98' vs TCL A400 PRO

The quality of the HDR effect on TCL C655 / C69B looks quite promising. The average value in the test charts is around 450 nits, which already allows one to feel the brilliance of light effects and better image dynamics. However, as previously mentioned, this effect can be somewhat dampened by slight differences in bright and dark shades due to the lack of local dimming technology. However, the coverage of the DCI-P3 colour gamut at 94% is commendable, and this is possible thanks to the use of a quantum dot (QLED) panel. As a result, the colours are vivid and well-reproduced when watching HDR content.

The TCL A400 Pro is a moderately bright TV. Its peak brightness reaches around 600 nits. That level already allows for a real HDR effect and in many films it does deliver a noticeably more appealing picture than in SDR. However, it’s not a level that dazzles by brightness alone. The A400 Pro is not one of those TVs that bombard the viewer with a powerful flash in every dramatic scene. The biggest limitation is visible with small bright elements on a dark background. Because of fairly aggressive zone control, the TV can significantly reduce their brightness, in extreme cases down to around 100 nits. That means small lights, sparks, stars or single highlights can be much less visible than they should be. It should be added, though, that this isn’t done without reason. The A400 Pro does this to keep black levels as deep as possible and to limit the halo effect around bright objects. It’s a deliberate compromise: the TV more often opts for deeper blacks rather than maximising point highlights. On the one hand this is understandable, especially given a limited number of dimming zones, but on the other you should be aware that the HDR effect won’t always be as strong as the peak brightness alone might suggest.

On the plus side, the colours are a strength. The PFS LED filter used here, marketed by the manufacturer as QLED, delivers suitably saturated colours. Our measurements showed about 94% coverage of the DCI-P3 gamut and around 74% of BT.2020, which is a solid result for this class.

The TCL C655 / C69B television offers a film mode that has been tested for colour reproduction quality. Although this mode is called film mode, unfortunately, it has quite a few issues that a director would definitely not want to see when filming their work. Starting with image analysis, it's worth examining the white balance – both in HD and 4K HDR content, the white balance has significant errors. In both cases, the red colour dominates, which makes the colours too warm, and the overall effect takes on a pink or yellow tint. The Colour Checker test confirms these errors – the colour samples veer into incorrect shades, which impacts the overall colour fidelity. A less significant issue is the brightness characteristic. However, it is also not free of flaws. 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 materials also shows considerable fluctuations – it is evident that the television struggles to maintain the appropriate brightness, but it does not always succeed effectively.

As usual, we carried out colour measurements in the best‑tuned picture mode, Filmmaker Mode, the one intended to be closest to the creators’ intentions. The A400 Pro, of course, also offers other picture modes, but in practice they show much larger colour errors and interfere more with the image character. So we won’t cover them in detail in this part of the review. How does the factory colour reproduction fare? In short: really very well. In fact, looking at our measurements, it’s excellent. Both the white balance and the luminance response were set surprisingly precisely. The errors were so small that during the measurements we genuinely rubbed our eyes in surprise. Such good factory settings don’t happen often, even in televisions running Filmmaker Mode. All the more reason to praise TCL, because the A400 Pro straight out of the box can produce an image very close to how the source material should look. The results were so good you could easily think someone had already given this unit extra attention and tried to calibrate it. Our one bit of nitpicking comes down to a single issue. In SDR material the image was slightly brighter than the reference for a dark room, because the factory gamma was set closer to 2.3 than 2.4. It’s not a large error and most viewers probably won’t even notice it. We should note, however, that we are talking about our specific test unit. There can always be some variation in factory colour between individual units, production batches or screen sizes. We do not assume every A400 Pro will look identical straight out of the box.

After calibrating the movie mode of the TCL C655 / C69B television, the white balance has been adjusted, and the colours look as they should – confirmed only by slight deviations in the Colour Checker test. The gamma is really accurate, which means the television shouldn’t have issues with brightness in low-resolution materials. Unfortunately, a similar EOTF characteristic is still visible, which is a natural phenomenon in televisions that do not have local dimming – it’s just difficult for them to "shine" brighter in a given part of the screen. Despite this construction limitation that cannot be bypassed, we recommend adjustments in the settings, as the overall colour presentation looks really very good.

Despite the outstanding factory tuning, we couldn't resist checking how the TCL A400 Pro would respond to professional calibration. With such a strong starting point, we were especially curious whether we could squeeze even more from this TV. And here we have to boast: we managed to bring our sample to absurdly low colour errors. Results below 1 are something you don't see every day, even on very good TVs. Such outcomes are more often associated with professional reference monitors than with a lifestyle TV for the living room. In terms of white balance and colour reproduction, the A400 Pro after calibration simply excelled. The only thing we can pick on after closer analysis concerns the brightness response. The TV can vary the luminance level depending on the content being displayed, and quite often the picture is a little darker than it should be according to the reference. This most likely stems from the way the Mini-LED backlight and the local dimming algorithms work in this model. That said, it doesn't ruin the overall impression, because in terms of colour precision the A400 Pro after calibration reached a level that was genuinely hard to expect.

The TCL C655 / C69B TV handles tonal transitions well in lower quality materials. The “Gradual Smoothing” function at its lowest setting effectively eliminates visible banding, but it also results in a loss of detail, for example, in the texture of objects. A plus is that it does not interfere with film grain, allowing the image to maintain a natural look.

In terms of digital processing, the TV adds a significant amount of artificial sharpness, which may appeal to those who prefer a vivid image. For those who prefer a more subtle rendering of details, this may be a drawback. Another downside is the quite aggressive overscan – the image is cropped, which leads to the loss of fragments at the edges and limits the field of view.

Digital image processing is unfortunately one of the weaker points of the TCL A400 Pro. That does not mean the TV performs badly, but it’s hard to call it anything clearly above standard. The upscaling itself is acceptable: edges are fairly well smoothed, the picture does not look overly sharp or “pixelated”, and lower-quality material can be watched without major discomfort. At the same time the overall image has a slightly soft character and you don’t see the kind of precision that the best image processors in more expensive TVs can offer.

Handling of tonal transitions caused by heavy compression is much worse. TCL equipped the A400 Pro with a “Gradual Smoothing” feature that in theory should reduce visible colour banding and artefacts in lower-quality material. In practice, however, its effectiveness is very limited. It does not improve tonal transitions in any noticeable way, and at higher settings it can further smooth image detail, giving it an artificial, slightly blurred character. For that reason we think it’s best to leave this feature off. The A400 Pro copes decently with basic image scaling, but if you often watch heavily compressed material with visible posterisation, this model will not be one of the best choices.

Unlike the smaller versions, the 98” model stands out with significantly better motion fluidity. Instead of the standard 60 Hz, this colossal screen is equipped with a full 144 Hz panel, which opens up entirely new possibilities – for both gamers and movie lovers. With its full motion smoother, the television delivers incredible image fluidity, eliminating ghosting and improving the comfort of watching dynamic scenes. It's worth noting that this technology operates across the full refresh rate range, meaning there's no need to compromise between fluidity and quality. Additionally, the "Flicker Reduction" feature allows you to adjust the fluidity to your own preferences – you can choose a more cinematic effect with visible frame rate or a maximally smooth image.

The TCL A400 Pro is equipped with a 144 Hz panel, but in practice we're most interested in how it performs at 120 Hz. That's the refresh rate most consoles, as well as many sports broadcasts and high-motion sources, are limited to today. In that range the TV performs quite well. Motion clarity is really good, especially after properly configuring the motion smoothing. The 'Motion Clarity' function improves smoothness. Its settings include two sliders that let you tailor the motion smoothing to your preferences, separately for low-frame-rate and high-frame-rate content. This allows you to achieve either a more cinematic look or a noticeably smoother image. If you don't want to fiddle with manual configuration, you can use built-in presets such as Low, Medium, High, Cinema or Nature.

The 98-inch TCL C655 / C69B is excellently equipped for gamers. Full-featured HDMI 2.1 ports and a 144 Hz panel allow for gaming in 4K at 120 Hz, providing the smoothness and responsiveness that will impress even the most demanding.

The TV supports variable refresh rate (VRR), eliminating screen tearing, while the automatic low latency mode (ALLM) ensures that gaming starts instantly, without the need for manual adjustment of settings. There is also support for Dolby Vision and HGiG, ensuring that the image quality in games is even better – details are sharp, colours are natural, and contrast is perfectly balanced.

Additionally, the TV offers a dedicated gaming panel that allows for quick adjustment of picture settings without the need to exit the game. It’s a device that meets practically all the requirements of the modern gamer.

In terms of gaming features the TCL A400 Pro performs brilliantly. The TV has practically everything you’d expect from a gaming TV today: support for 4K at high refresh rates, VRR, ALLM, correct implementation of HDR formats in games, including Dolby Vision, and HGiG. That means it works well with both next‑gen consoles and PCs. Another plus is the inclusion of a Game Bar, a dedicated panel with the most important settings for gamers. From it you can quickly check basic information about the signal, refresh rate or active features, and customise the appearance and behaviour of some settings to your preferences. It’s a solution that may not change picture quality by itself, but it greatly improves the convenience of using the TV while gaming. The only thing to criticise is the number of full HDMI 2.1 ports. The A400 Pro has only two such ports out of four, and one of them also serves as eARC. In practice this means that if you want to connect two next‑gen consoles and a soundbar you may run into some limitations. In that scenario you’ll need to either swap devices or use extra equipment, such as an AV receiver or a soundbar with HDMI inputs. Even so, it’s hard not to rate the A400 Pro very highly as a gaming TV. The gaming feature set here is genuinely powerful.