TCL C6K vs LG OLED G6 (G64LW, G66LS)

TCL C6K is a moderately bright television that can showcase its full capabilities in the best movie conditions – the maximum brightness is around 600 nits. In scenes with large, intense light sources, the HDR effect can be truly satisfying, providing a sense of cinematic sparkle. However, it's important to remember that with local dimming management, there are situations where some elements become dimmed, and sometimes even barely visible. It is clear that there is a lack of proper optimization of the algorithms, although looking at the technical parameters in this price range, the build quality performs very well.

The LG G6 is currently one of the brightest OLEDs on the market. Its peak brightness reaches nearly 2500 nits and, best of all, this translates directly to real movie scenes. The TV flawlessly extracts details in the bright areas of the image. And this is regardless of whether we are talking about very small points in the form of stars in the sky or slightly larger elements on the screen. Naturally, with full-screen, uniformly white scenes, the brightness of the G6 drops due to the panel protection system (ABL). However, in real, varied movie shots, this value still hovers around an impressive 2000 nits, which can be considered a remarkable result. The coverage of the color palette also deserves praise. The new 2nd generation Tandem OLED panel has brought about only a cosmetic change, but still an improvement. The coverage of the DCI-P3 color space reaches nearly 99.5%, while the ultra-wide BT.2020 is around 84%. These are very good results, although it's important to remember one thing: at extremely high brightness levels, the volume of colors will be lower than in QD-OLED panels from Samsung Display due to the use of white sub-pixels (WOLED). However, in everyday content and most films, capturing this difference will be very difficult.

This year's TCL televisions have introduced the Filmmaker mode, and it must be said that it is definitely the best choice right out of the box. This is the mode we recommend for everyday viewing of movies and series. Unfortunately, as is often the case, the best does not mean perfect. In the case of SDR content, the image was too warm, as the red was quite prominent in the white balance. On the other hand, with HDR content, we had the opposite impression – the image became cooler than it should have been, due to an excess of blue. There is also the brightness characteristic, which at times led to overexposure. In practice, these issues combined resulted in quite noticeable errors in colour tests, which are hard to accept in a mode advertised as “by the creators”.

We tested the LG G6 in the best factory mode for colour fidelity, which is FILMMAKER MODE. In the case of our test unit, this mode was reasonably well tuned straight out of the box. In SDR content, the only issue we noticed was the white balance, which leaned towards warmer tones. This made the image occasionally appear slightly yellowish, but overall, it wasn't a significant problem. The G6 performed a bit worse in HDR content. There, the white balance showed too much blue component. This caused the image to veer towards cooler shades, resulting in quite noticeable errors. As can be seen on our ColorChecker chart, the colours shifted towards these cooler registers. Nevertheless, considering the factory settings, the television presented a perfectly decent level. However, we know that OLED screens – particularly those from LG – respond exceptionally well to professional calibration, so we immediately proceeded to do just that.

Thanks to the white balance adjustment, we were able to significantly reduce the C6K's tendency to distort colours, which resulted in a very good end result. After calibration, we won't observe the effect of excessive warming of scenes in SDR or overly cooling the image in HDR. However, it is worth taking a closer look at the brightness characteristics. In SDR content, it's hard to have major objections – the picture looks really good, especially in older movies, TV shows, or material from YouTube. It performs significantly worse with HDR content. An analysis of the EOTF curve suggests that everything is fine, but in practice (EOTF in movies), the limitations of the construction become apparent. The television tends to excessively brighten the smallest fragments of the frame, and in other situations, it can overly dim the entire scene. The effect of calibration is therefore noticeable, and regarding colourimetry, the C6K has really gained a lot, but certain limitations resulting from local dimming and actually from its management by the C6K simply cannot be overlooked.

After completing a professional calibration, we gained complete control over the panel, and we managed to align all parameters to nearly zero. We were able to tune the white balance perfectly, which removed the factory's cool and warm tints from the screen. The effects are visibly clear in the ColorChecker test – the average colour reproduction errors dropped below the critical value of 1-2. And what does this mean? PERFECT colours, without any distortion! However, as a reviewer’s duty, we must point out how the LG G6 arbitrarily manipulates brightness, which is due to the EOTF curve's behavior. When we look at the standard synthetic graph, it might seem that the line is quite straight. However, the situation changes when we turn on the measurement filter, which shows how the television interprets brightness in actual, moving film scenes (EOTF in MOVIES). Then, it is clear as day that some of the smallest fragments on the screen are slightly overly brightened by the algorithm. Of course, for the average viewer, such a deviation will practically go unnoticed, but in the test of such an expensive screen, it’s worth noting – especially since we are talking about a model that has huge aspirations for the title of the best television of the year.

TCL C6K performs quite well in terms of upscaling. Lower quality materials appear acceptable, and the absence of overscan issues means the image is displayed in full, without cropping. However, one cannot expect miracles – very low quality content won't come to life here, as the image processor has its limitations. On thin lines or details, there is characteristic tearing visible, which indicates a lack of advanced image enhancement algorithms. It is also a shame that the C6K lacks the function of smoothing tonal transitions – in older films or video materials, colour banding can be noticeable and may be distracting during longer viewing sessions.

No matter what one might say about the G6's issues with near-black signal, it must be fairly acknowledged that it handles heavily compressed material and lower resolution content extremely well. All unwanted, ugly tonal transitions are effectively reduced here by the "Smooth Gradation" feature. At the "Low" setting, the algorithm works flawlessly – effectively masking the artifacts resulting from strong compression without destroying the sharpness and details in the frame. Higher levels of this feature do further smooth the image, but they start to blur the real texture elements of the objects, so we recommend keeping this slider at a low level. As for the actual upscaling to 4K, the processor does an excellent job – edge sharpness and detail reconstruction are at the highest level, and in this respect, the G6 is on par with the global leaders.

TCL C6K uses a 144 Hz panel, which is a significant advantage in this price range. It's an important step forward in comparison to the previous model C655 PRO, which only offered 60 Hz in 4K. The difference is especially noticeable when watching sports or playing games – the ball, players, or fast action in the game are displayed more clearly and without losing detail. An interesting fact is the panel's ability to operate at 240 Hz, which the manufacturer doesn't mention in official materials. We will return to this topic when discussing the PC gaming mode.

TCL has also added a feature for movie watchers: "Motion Clarity," which allows users to adjust the image according to their preferences with two simple sliders. You can either keep the visible film frame or opt for a very smooth, almost theatrical effect. This way, everyone can find settings that match their taste.

The LG G6 is an OLED television, so in the category of motion fluidity, it traditionally deserves the highest marks. The TV supports very high refresh rates of up to 165 Hz in 4K resolution, but most importantly – there are absolutely no signs of blurring on the screen. The response time of the matrix is virtually instant, ensuring that dynamic images remain perfectly sharp.

The TCL C6K is a television that can confidently be called equipment designed for gamers. We have 4K at 144 Hz, VRR support, an automatic gaming mode (ALLM), and Dolby Vision Gaming. On top of that, there's a practical Game Bar, which is a panel with the most important settings handy – useful when we want to quickly change something during gameplay (e.g. screen ratio: Yes, you can!). Notably, it has a wide range of VRR, reaching up to 240 Hz. However, this option is mainly for PC gamers who drop below the native 4K resolution. In that case, the television can spread its wings and show additional smoothness, especially in fast e-sport titles. For consoles, we stick with the classic limit of 120 Hz, but the possibilities are still quite broad. The only slight drawback is some minor motion blur that can occasionally be seen in dynamic scenes. Other than that, the C6K offers everything gamers expect from a television.

The LG G6 is a true beast for gamers and one of the best-equipped TVs on the market in this regard. The manufacturer didn't compromise and equipped this model with four full HDMI 2.1 ports with a maximum bandwidth of 48 Gbps. This means that no matter which port you plug in your PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, or powerful PC, you'll get the absolute maximum performance out of them.

The TV supports a full suite of gaming technologies: from VRR (Variable Refresh Rate), to AMD FreeSync Premium Pro, and Nvidia G-Sync Compatible. Let's add to that a remarkably low, almost imperceptible input lag and an excellently functioning game panel (Game Optimizer), which allows you to constantly monitor signal parameters. Gaming on this screen, with the perfect black of OLED and powerful refresh rates, is pure pleasure.