TCL C655 Pro vs TCL C8L / QM8L

In the HDR effect quality category, the television TCL 655 PRO shows decent capabilities, achieving 550 nits of peak brightness. This allows for enjoying HDR effects, which can be clearly seen in scenes such as the first one from the movie Life of Pi or the final shot from The Meg. However, the limited number of dimming zones causes some issues. While in bright scenes the television performs better than its lower model, in more demanding scenes, such as the second and fourth scenes from Sicario 2, it struggles more. The dimming algorithm aims for deep blacks, but at the cost of brightness – which at those moments can cause a drop in brightness of even half. In these more challenging scenes with small elements, it's hard to find any praise, and the HDR effect resembles SDR. Nevertheless, the coverage of the colour palette deserves recognition, which, like in the version without the PRO suffix, is at a very good level.

When it comes to HDR, the TCL C8L turns out to be a hellishly bright television – and I mean that literally. On a synthetic test pattern of 5%, our measuring equipment indicated a result exceeding 4500 nits. That's an almost cosmic result, considering that reference director's monitors, which we often refer to in our materials, usually operate around 4000 nits. Does this mean the C8L breaks barriers and climbs to the technological peak of Mini-LED? Not quite. Dry synthetic tests are one thing, and real film images are another. In real, varied scenes, the C8L hits around 1600 nits at its peak. That's still a very good result, ensuring a very high level of HDR dynamics, but it's clearly lower than what the manufacturer boasts in the specifications. The trouble begins with very small bursts of light – then the brightness can drastically drop to around 600 nits. The algorithm does everything it can to maintain deep blacks and minimise halo effect, but it does so at the cost of HDR impact. This is ideal evidence that laboratory test patterns rarely correlate with what we ultimately see on the screen.

Huge applause is due for colour reproduction, all thanks to the new generation of SQD (Super Quantum Dot) quantum dots. The coverage of the DCI-P3 palette reaches 97%, but the jaw-dropping measurements come from the notoriously demanding BT.2020 space. The C8L achieves an impressive 90% in this area, placing it alongside today’s top screens that feature RGB backlighting. Importantly, unlike some screens with Micro/Mini RGB backlighting, this effect is stable regardless of the scene being displayed. Of course, it’s important to remember that content mastered for such a wide gamut in films or series is still a rarity. However, the very fact that the panel has such a "reserve of colours" deserves huge admiration.

Each of our TV tests is conducted in movie mode, which usually offers the best colour reproduction. However, even this mode is not free from issues, as we noted in the TCL 655 PRO model.

In the case of HD content, the white balance clearly shifts towards red, and this effect becomes particularly noticeable in a scene from Star Wars, where the white elements of the scenery take on a pink hue. For 4K HDR material, the situation looks better, but there is a tendency to overly emphasise the colour blue. As a result, the image can give a sense of artificial sharpness, which proves to be uncomfortable for the eyes over a longer period. The brightness characteristics also leave much to be desired. The Gamma chart indicates serious difficulties with excessive brightening, making the overall presentation appear washed out. Additionally, the EOTF curve reveals significant problems with reproducing very small elements – they are overly dimmed, as we have detailed in the paragraph regarding HDR effects.

We tested the TCL C8L in the best factory mode available in the TV's menu for picture fidelity. I’m of course talking about Filmmaker Mode, which was introduced into this brand’s software relatively recently (a year ago in the K series). Thanks to it, the average user can get pretty good colour reproduction straight out of the box, although it’s certainly not perfectly tuned. Looking at the factory white balance of our unit, in both SDR and HDR content, there was a clear lack of the red component, which made the picture noticeably cooler and slightly shifted towards bluish‑green hues. The issue of brightness management is also ambiguous, as we mentioned earlier. While in SDR content the linearity of the gamma parameter is really good and consistently holds the reference value of 2.4, things are much worse in HDR. Tracking the EOTF curve clearly shows the TV’s brightness is considerably boosted across the range, which can make the final image overly bright and inconsistent with the creators’ intent, and that is in a mode that by definition should avoid this. Of course, like every unit in our lab, this one was also subjected to professional calibration, and you can find the results below.

After calibrating the TCL 655 PRO television, there is a noticeable improvement in white balance, where the tendency for the screen to be overly pink has been completely eliminated, which was previously noticeable in factory mode. The picture has taken on more natural tones, especially in white and bright elements, which positively affects the overall image perception. Regarding brightness characteristics, the Gamma chart has also improved – the screen is no longer excessively bright, which previously made the image appear washed out. Nevertheless, there are still some issues with the EOTF curve, which are difficult to eliminate due to the television's construction and its limited number of backlight zones. These limitations prevent achieving perfect results in this regard. However, despite this minor fault, the overall effect after calibration is truly outstanding, providing high picture quality and very good colour reproduction.

As you can see, the results of a professional calibration of the TCL C8L are genuinely promising, thanks to the extensive adjustment tools the manufacturer made available in the menu. Most importantly, we were able to fully correct the white balance, eliminating a lack of red so the image finally stopped drifting into unwanted, cool tones. After this step, errors in the ColorChecker test fell to near-reference values, regularly sitting below a Delta E threshold of 2, which is under the level noticeable to the human eye.

Since the test patterns look so perfect, you might ask: why then the lower final score in this category? The answer lies in the brightness management discussed earlier. Although the menu includes sliders that let you precisely straighten the EOTF curve on synthetic signals, when confronted with real film material (I recommend turning the EOTF filter on when watching films), it becomes clear that the TV in most scenarios still responds to HDR metadata in its own way. As a result, the image can be a touch too bright and not in line with the creators' intent, and it was precisely for this lack of repeatability with real-world films that we had to dock the C8L a few points.

The TCL 655 PRO television handles tonal transitions quite well in lower-quality material. The "Gradual Smoothing" feature at low settings effectively smooths tonal transitions, but this comes at the cost of losing some essential details, such as the texture of objects. On the plus side, it doesn't negatively affect film grain, which helps maintain a natural look to the image.

In the context of digital processing, the television adds artificial sharpness. This may appeal to users who prefer a bolder image. However, individuals who favour a softer, more subtle look may find this a drawback. Additionally, a downside is the image cropping due to overscan, which limits the field of view and cuts off the edges of the frame. This can be problematic in certain scenes - for example, news tickers.

This year the C8 series and the higher-end models have probably received the biggest and most eagerly awaited upgrade in TCL's history, and it's to do with digital image processing. The C8L is the entry-level model in the manufacturer's line-up to be fitted with the latest flagship MediaTek Pentonic 800 chipset (shown in the menu as MT9655). It is thanks to its processing power that the feature called "Gradual Smoothing" finally works the way it should. The algorithm effectively removes unwanted posterization (ugly tonal transitions / colour banding) from the picture, doing so intelligently enough that it does not degrade the sharpness of other details.

The processor also handles upscaling lower-resolution content to 4K very well. Although judging this element can be purely academic, because the differences between today's TVs in this class are very subtle. The most important point is that TCL finally has nothing to be ashamed of compared with the competition.

The TCL C655 PRO television is equipped with a 4K display with a refresh rate of 60 Hz, making it ideal for watching movies. Additionally, the "Flicker Reduction" feature allows for adjusting the smoothness of the picture, giving the user the choice between smoother motion and a cinematic, frame-by-frame effect. Furthermore, the television performs well with lower resolution content, such as Full HD and 2K, offering a refresh rate of 120 Hz, which will surely appeal to gamers who can enjoy a smoother image, albeit at the cost of lower resolution.

The TCL C8L is equipped with a fast panel with a native 144 Hz refresh rate. That spec will be most appreciated by demanding PC gamers, while most users, relying on consoles or TV broadcasts, will use a steady 120 Hz. And it is at 120 Hz that the motion-processing algorithms take care of image processing for films, series and sports. In the TV's menu you'll find a "Motion Clarity" option that lets you customise the motion smoothing to your preferences. The algorithms handle both cinematic productions at 24 or 30 frames per second and fast-paced sports broadcasts at 50 or 60 frames per second, maintaining the right level of smoothness.

The TCL C655 PRO TV offers an almost perfect set of features for gamers, supporting all key technologies that significantly enhance gameplay comfort. The ALLM feature automatically switches the TV to low-latency mode, improving responsiveness and minimising signal delay – particularly important in fast-paced titles. VRR synchronises the screen refresh rate with the frame rate generated by the console, eliminating screen tearing and ensuring smoother gameplay.

Support for Dolby Vision in game mode enables more detailed colour and contrast representation in games that support this format, while the Game Bar provides quick access to essential settings, such as response time and latency level. Unfortunately, the model does not support 4K resolution at 120 Hz, which may disappoint the most demanding gamers. However, for those willing to forgo 4K, support for Full HD and 2K at 120 Hz offers exceptionally smooth visuals, making it an attractive alternative for high refresh rate enthusiasts.

For gamers – especially for owners of powerful PCs and multiple consoles simultaneously – the TCL C8L is a true beast. This is the first model in this manufacturer's lineup that is equipped with four full HDMI 2.1 ports with a maximum bandwidth of 48 Gbps. This is directly due to the use of the new Pentonic 800 processor, which we've mentioned before. Additionally, the TV seamlessly supports practically every gaming feature. It has an automatic game mode (ALLM) that reduces latency to minimal levels, as well as full variable refresh rate (VRR) operating in an impressive range of up to 288 Hz. It also supports standards such as G-Sync and FreeSync from Nvidia and AMD. When it comes to image display standards, there are no compromises either: the C8L offers complete support for HDR formats in gaming, including gaming Dolby Vision and the HGiG profile. We can conveniently manage all these features from a very readable gamer bar (Game Bar), which we can customise according to our own preferences. From a purely gaming perspective, the C8L really has no flaws – well, maybe apart from the previously mentioned slight ghosting. But other than that? It’s a no-nonsense machine for gamers.