TCL C7K / QM7K 55"-85" vs TCL C7L

In terms of brightness, the models ranging from 55 to 85 inches in the C7K series are truly impressive. Under optimal testing conditions, the 65-inch screen exceeded 1200 nits, which in practice means that the brightest scenes can dazzle with almost cinematic brilliance. These are not just dry figures from measurements – during screenings, bright skies, explosions, or reflections of light on water looked incredibly striking, often giving the impression that the television exceeds its price range. This is particularly effective in scenes with large areas of illumination, where the screen fills with intense brightness – for instance, in sun-drenched shots or during dynamic action sequences. Viewers looking for strong HDR will definitely be satisfied.

However, scenes that require precise backlight control – with tiny points of light against a dark background – prove to be more challenging. Here, the C7K, despite having over a thousand zones, can still dim brightness to maintain deep blacks. The effect is that in films like Sicario 2 or LIFE of Pi, some details, such as a distant lighthouse or single reflections, may appear less distinct or blend into the surroundings. This is a compromise inherent in MiniLED technology – it provides excellent image depth and blacks at a level not offered by standard LCDs, but this comes at the cost of limited visibility of the tiniest lights.

TCL C7L is undoubtedly an extremely bright television. In synthetic tests on static patterns, it can achieve peak brightness of around 2800 nits. This is a phenomenal result, considering the price range it occupies. Unfortunately, tests with real movie scenes are not as spectacular as measurements of white squares. Brightness in real HDR footage drops in the C7L model to around 1200 nits. This is still a very good result, as this is the value at which the vast majority of contemporary films are mastered. However, when small, point-like elements appear on the screen, the brightness of these details drastically drops – even to around 400 nits – which somewhat diminishes the HDR effect. The television does this intentionally to maintain a better black level and to avoid a huge light bloom. This is somewhat explainable, but it also shows that Mini LED technology is not completely uncompromising in this regard. As for the HDR effect itself – alongside brightness, colours are of course key here. And these, thanks to the use of new, “super” quantum dots, are simply outstanding and among the best on the market. The television can achieve around 90% coverage of the ultra-wide colour gamut BT.2020 and 99% of the DCI-P3 gamut, easily matching the best RGB MINI-LED screens. Best of all, the C7L can maintain such high colour saturation regardless of the scene being displayed, which can often be problematic in competing RGB Mini-LED televisions.

The new feature in TCL TVs for 2025 is the long-awaited Filmmaker mode, which until now has been found in most competing brands. This is great news, as this mode is regarded as the one that best represents the original vision of the creators and is often recommended by enthusiasts of good picture quality. Unfortunately – as is often the case – the mere presence of it does not guarantee perfection. The Filmmaker mode in the TCL C7K is not without its flaws. One could critique the incorrect white balance, particularly the slight dominance of blue, which caused cool, slightly greyish skin tones. But that was not the biggest issue. The main complaint was the excessive brightness exposure, which is clearly visible on the gamma and EOTF graphs. The picture was simply too bright, at times even blown out, which affected not only the richness of the scenes but also the overall viewing experience. Some details were simply lost, and the whole image looked as if someone had overdone the brightness slider a bit. As always – we decided to see what could be squeezed out of this after calibration. And that’s where it started to get really interesting…

When it comes to out-of-the-box colours, a new feature in TCL TVs – including the C7L model – is the presence of a new picture mode called Filmmaker Mode. This is significant news, as such a mode was not previously available from this manufacturer. By design, as the name suggests, the picture in this setting is intended to be delivered with the full intent of the film's creator. After our tests, we can confirm that it is undeniably the best built-in mode in this TV if you value true-to-life colour reproduction straight out of the box. However, we certainly wouldn’t say it is perfect. Like most devices on the market, this C7L also had its factory faults. The white balance in Filmmaker Mode leaned towards a slightly greenish-yellow hue, mainly due to an excess of green component and a noticeable lack of blue. Of course, for the average viewer, this won’t be a drastic flaw, but if you value perfect whites, natural skin tones, and harnessing the full potential of these new "super" quantum dots from the structure, then the TV is begging for professional calibration.

After calibration, the TCL C7K put on a really good show, especially when it comes to SDR content. We managed to precisely tune the white balance, colour gamut, and brightness characteristics, resulting in colour errors on the ColorChecker palette dropping below a value of 2. For the uninitiated – this is an almost perfect score, meaning the image is very close to what the creators intended. Unfortunately, things didn’t look as good with 4K HDR content. While we managed to slightly calm down the white balance and correct its previous errors, it still shows that the TV has some "MiniLED traits," especially in brightness management. When we checked how the C7K handles the EOTF curve on actual movie scenes, rather than just synthetic test patterns, it turned out that the screen still has a tendency to slightly brighten the entire image. This affects the overall experience – blacks lose some depth, and the image becomes less contrasty than it should be. Despite these minor shortcomings in HDR content, the overall reception of materials – especially in SDR – is really very good. After calibration, the C7K can display an image that can successfully compete with much more expensive models. Good tuning of colours, natural skin tones, and pleasant brightness make movie sessions and everyday content viewing more than satisfying.

After conducting a professional calibration, we were able to greatly improve the situation in the factory Filmmaker Mode. Following our adjustments, the errors in the ColorChecker test and across the entire wide colour gamut dropped below the threshold of human perception – that is, below a value of 3, which is indeed a very good result. The TCL C7L definitely benefits from such a treatment in terms of colour fidelity, and it's hard to deny that. However, the management of brightness in HDR content after calibration appears to be a bit worse. As I described earlier – even though we set this model up properly, when we turn on real film scenes on the television, it can manage its brightness in quite a peculiar way. It often brightens certain elements on the screen in a manner inconsistent with the creator's intent, which is visibly apparent on the EOTF graphs measured in specific films. Despite this flaw – or rather, this specific characteristic of the television – one cannot take away from it: after calibration, the C7L was able to reproduce the colours flawlessly.

TCL C7K comes with a feature that, according to the manufacturer, aims to smooth out unwanted colour transitions – something like a rescue for less successful tonal changes. It's called "Gradual Smoothing" and... well, it sounds ambitious, but in practice, it works very poorly. Regardless of whether we set it to low or high, the difference is minimal. And worse still – the feature can cut out elements from the image that should remain. Fortunately, film grain is left untouched, so at least it doesn't smooth everything indiscriminately, but even so – it's best to just turn this option off.

When it comes to upscaling lower resolution content, it's already better. SD and HD materials look quite decent, although at times we felt that the image loses sharpness and becomes too soft – as if something had taken away its clarity. Fortunately, with very low sources (e.g. 576p), there was no overscan effect, meaning the image wasn't artificially cropped – everything fit on the screen as it should.

This point could be called in a sense the Achilles' heel of the C7L model. Unfortunately, this television uses an older chipset from MediaTek – the Pentonic 700 – which has never been known for outstanding digital image processing. This is clearly visible in the functioning of the gradual smoothing feature, which is responsible for reducing jagged edges and removing digital noise. It simply works very poorly – when set to a low level, its effectiveness is practically none. The only small plus here is that the algorithm doesn't mess up anything else in the image and doesn't forcefully blur details. The upscaling, that is, the scaling of the image from lower resolutions to 4K, performs a bit better. It is simply adequate and does not stand out in any particular way against the competition. However, it cannot be denied that the C7L would greatly benefit in this aspect if the manufacturer decided to use the newer Pentonic 800 processor, which is now being found in an increasing number of competitive models.

TCL C7K handles motion smoothness really well. The panel used in it offers a refresh rate of 144 Hz, which alone suggests that this TV is more than just a regular "60 Hz" panel. Moreover, if we connect the C7K to a computer and set the resolution to Full HD. But we will write more about this in the section for gamers and PC compatibility. Returning to everyday use – both sports and movies look very good here. Thanks to the quick panel and the well-functioning motion smoothening feature, the C7K is great for watching matches as well as for movie screenings. In the menu, we find two sliders – blur reduction and flicker reduction – that allow adjusting the smoothness effect to personal preferences. At lower settings, we get a more cinematic effect, with a slight judder. At higher settings – the image becomes more theatrical, smoothly even to excess. Whatever your taste, everyone can set it to their liking.

TCL C7L features a native 4K panel with a refresh rate of 144 Hz, which can even ramp up to 288 Hz at lower resolutions when using a PC. These are certainly very high and commendable figures on paper, but in everyday life, it's worth remembering that almost all dynamic content you display on this television will still revolve around a maximum of 120 Hz. To tame this dynamism, the TV menu includes a motion smoothing system called "Motion Clarity." It offers several predefined modes, including a user mode, which we highly recommend setting manually using our tried-and-true guides on our YouTube channel. You’ll find two key sliders available. The first one, "Motion Blur Reduction," is responsible for reducing blurring and improving sharpness in 60fps dynamic content, such as sports broadcasts. The second slider, "Flicker Reduction," allows for the addition of artificial frames in movies and shows recorded at cinematic 24 or 30 frames per second. This naturally allows for the complete elimination of the annoying stutter effect during camera movement shots.

TCL C7K is a TV that on paper looks like the dream gear for a gamer – and most importantly, it also holds up in practice. First, the good news: we have two HDMI 2.1 ports with full bandwidth, so we can easily connect both a console and a computer, making use of all their capabilities. The panel itself supports a refresh rate of 144 Hz, which gives a considerable advantage in fast-paced games. On top of that, it comes with a full suite of gaming features: VRR (variable refresh rate), ALLM (automatic low latency mode), and Dolby Vision support in games. There’s also an HGiG mode that provides an HDR effect aligned with the creators' intentions. GameBar, which is an information bar for gamers. It operates quickly, looks clear (like a Nintendo console👌), and displays what matters most: the current frame rate, VRR status, and even HDR parameters.

When it comes to gaming, the TCL C7L is simply an outstanding television for gamers. With the presence of two full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 ports at 48 Gbps, it provides access to all the key features that console and high-end PC owners require. We have a well-functioning ALLM mode with very low input lag and VRR frame synchronization, which operates within an impressive range from 48 to 288 Hz. Importantly, unlike some competitors, TCL has ensured a proper implementation of the console HDR10 HGIG profile and support for Dolby Vision in games. This is complemented by a very well-designed gamer panel, known as Game Bar, which even allows for editing its appearance and changing the theme to perfectly match the style of your console.

The only thing that can – and should – be critiqued here is the fact that the television only offers two full HDMI 2.1 ports, while the other two are older HDMI 2.0. This creates quite a significant logistical problem. Why? Because one of those fast ports also supports the eARC audio return channel. In practice, this means that if you connect a soundbar or home theatre system to the television, you’ll only have one available HDMI 2.1 port left. If you have two consoles or a console and a powerful computer at home, unfortunately, you’ll have to give something up or constantly juggle cables at the back of the unit while maintaining comfortable audio system control.