TCL C7L vs Samsung OLED S95H (S99H) (QD-OLED)

The TCL C7L is without doubt an extremely bright TV. In synthetic tests with static patterns it can reach peak brightness of around 2800 nits. That's a phenomenal result, given the price bracket it occupies. Unfortunately, tests with real film scenes aren't as spectacular as measurements using white squares. Brightness in real HDR shots falls in the C7L to around 1200 nits. That's still very good, because the vast majority of modern films are mastered to about that level. However, when small, pinpoint elements appear on screen, the brightness of those details drops drastically, even to roughly 400 nits, which somewhat weakens the HDR effect. The TV does this deliberately to preserve deeper black levels and to avoid a large halo of light. That's understandable to an extent, but it also shows that Mini LED technology is not without compromises in this area. As for the HDR experience itself, alongside brightness the key factor is of course colour. And thanks to the use of new 'super' quantum dots, the colours are simply outstanding and among the best on the market. The TV can achieve very wide coverage of the BT.2020 and DCI-P3 colour gamuts, matching the best RGB Mini-LED displays with ease. Best of all, the C7L can maintain such high colour saturation regardless of the scene shown, which is often a problem for competing RGB Mini-LED TVs.

When it comes to pure brightness, the S99H is an astronomically bright TV. Its peak brightness in film scenes can exceed 2,800 nits. Whatever the scene, you can expect powerful HDR effects that are almost blinding, which is exactly what we want from a top‑tier display. By nature, an OLED panel can't maintain that extreme brightness in very bright, full‑screen frames the way it can with small bright highlights, but the results are still excellent. In a bright scene from The Meg the sun still exceeded 2,200 nits. That means the S99H was able to hold a higher brightness than most Mini LED screens on the market. In terms of brightness the S99H is currently the best OLED TV we've tested.

Colour gamut coverage

The S99H also handles colours exceptionally well, thanks directly to the QD‑OLED panel used here. Whether the test used synthetic test patterns or measurements with film material in the background, the results remained very high. The S99H easily covers almost 100% of the DCI‑P3 gamut, and in the most demanding space, BT.2020 it reaches nearly 90%. That's absolute top‑tier performance. These results match what we saw in the new SQD‑Mini‑LED displays, and in real film scenes they even surpass RGB Mini LED displays.

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.

Samsung offers a whole host of picture modes and features, but we traditionally recommend choosing FILMMAKER mode, especially if you want the most faithful rendering of the creators' intent. Out of the box the TV is tuned very well, though it has minor flaws. These are mainly a slight deviation in white balance in SDR content and a slightly low gamma. As a result, the picture in a dark room can be a little too bright compared with the reference value of 2.4, which is the standard for watching films with the lights off. These are, of course, small issues, because overall colour reproduction remains very good and the errors in ColorChecker measurements are not large. However, we know that for a screen of the S99H's calibre you can and should expect even more, so we subjected it to professional calibration.

After a professional calibration we managed to greatly improve performance in the out-of-the-box Filmmaker Mode. After our adjustments the errors in the ColorChecker test and across the wide colour gamut dropped below the threshold of human perception, that is below a value of 3, which is a very good result. The TCL C7L clearly benefits from such treatment in terms of colour fidelity and it's hard to argue otherwise. A bit worse, however, is brightness management with HDR content after calibration. As I described earlier, even though we set this model up correctly, when you play real film scenes on the television it can handle its brightness in a rather peculiar way. It often brightens certain elements on screen contrary to the filmmaker's intent, which is clearly visible on the EOTF curves measured in specific films. Despite this defect, or rather a specific characteristic of this television, one thing is undeniable: after calibration the C7L was able to reproduce colours accurately.

After professional calibration, FILMMAKER mode looks practically perfect. Because Samsung offers a rich set of advanced calibration controls, we were able to tune the colours to an almost perfect level. Above all, we managed to even out the white balance and the gamma curve, which resulted in noticeably improved contrast and correct image modelling. In a profile prepared like this there really isn't a single thing to pick apart or call a fault. After calibration, the S99H can deliver an essentially reference-quality picture.

This could, in a sense, be called the Achilles' heel of the C7L. Unfortunately, this TV uses an older MediaTek chipset, the Pentonic 700, which has never been known for exceptional image processing. You can see that clearly in the operation of the progressive smoothing function, which is responsible for reducing jagged edges and removing digital noise. It simply performs very poorly — set to low, its effectiveness is practically nil. The only small plus is that the algorithm doesn't introduce extra artefacts or unnecessarily blur fine detail. Upscaling, that is scaling lower-resolution sources up to 4K, fares a little better. It's simply adequate and nothing special compared with the competition. It's hard to deny that the C7L would benefit greatly in this area if the manufacturer opted for the newer Pentonic 800 processor, which is now appearing in an increasing number of rival models.

Upscaling and digital image processing are handled by Samsung's proprietary NQ4 Gen3 processor. It copes very well with scaling lower-resolution content to 4K. The picture is clear without looking artificial or overly sharp. The only fairly specific drawback appears with very old material recorded at 480p or lower. In such cases the TV can slightly crop the edges of the image.

The processor also does a decent job with artefacts visible in low-bitrate material, for example in heavily compressed YouTube videos. The noise reduction function effectively smooths the picture and reduces posterisation, but it works quite aggressively. It can remove not only unwanted artefacts but also some fine detail, and even natural film grain. We, wanting to preserve maximum fidelity to the source material, chose not to use it. However, if someone values a clean, as-smooth-as-possible image more than keeping every detail, it may prove useful.

TCL C7L uses a native 4K panel with a 144 Hz refresh rate, which at lower resolutions when used with a PC can even reach 288 Hz. These are, of course, very high figures and look good on paper, but in everyday use it's worth remembering that almost all dynamic content you play on this TV will still run at around a maximum of 120 Hz. To tame that motion, the TV's menu includes a motion smoothing system called "Motion Clarity". It offers several preset modes, including a user mode that we strongly recommend you set manually using our tried-and-tested guides on our YouTube channel. You get two key sliders there. The first, "Blur Reduction", reduces smearing and improves sharpness in dynamic 60 fps material, such as live sports broadcasts. The second slider, "Flicker Reduction", lets you add artificial frames to films and series shot at cinematic 24 or 30 frames per second. That, of course, completely gets rid of the annoying judder during camera-move shots.

Another major advantage of organic panels is very good motion handling. Thanks to the pixels' near-instant response time, the Samsung S99H shows virtually no smearing. Fast-moving objects don't produce visible halos or trailing artefacts, so the TV performs very well for both sport and gaming. One quirk of OLED screens compared with LCD is the way they render low-frame-rate material. With very slow camera movement the picture can appear noticeably more juddery. This can be quite effectively mitigated using frame interpolation. Samsung lets you adjust judder reduction and motion blur reduction separately, so it's easy to find a compromise between a smoother picture and preserving the cinematic feel of the content.

When it comes to gaming, the TCL C7L is simply an outstanding TV for players. With two full‑bandwidth HDMI 2.1 ports at 48 Gbps, you get access to all the key features required by console owners and high‑end PCs. It offers a well‑working ALLM mode with very low input lag and VRR frame sync that operates across an impressive 48 to 288 Hz range. Importantly, unlike some rivals, TCL has implemented the console HDR10 HGIG profile correctly and supports Dolby Vision in games. The package is rounded off by a very well designed player panel, the Game Bar, which even lets you edit its appearance and change the theme so it perfectly matches the look of your console.

The only thing you can — and should — criticise is that the TV only provides two full HDMI 2.1 ports, while the other two are older HDMI 2.0. That creates quite a practical problem, because one of those fast ports also handles the eARC (enhanced Audio Return Channel). In practice, that means if you connect a soundbar or home theatre system to the TV, you’ll be left with only one free HDMI 2.1 input. If you have two consoles or a console and a powerful PC at home, you’ll unfortunately have to give something up or keep swapping cables at the back if you want convenient control of your audio system.

Samsung S99H is also a top TV for gamers. It offers almost every possible and useful feature... well, perhaps except the obvious lack of Dolby Vision for the Xbox console. It’s equipped with four full-fledged HDMI 2.1 ports with the full 48 Gbps bandwidth. That makes it easy to use frame-rate synchronization VRR or automatic low-latency mode (ALLM). This year Samsung also has no issues with proper HGiG support, so HDR setup on a console is quick and free of unnecessary complications. Samsung is also known for interesting extras in its TVs. In the Game Bar menu you’ll find options to add an on-screen crosshair, enlarge the minimap, or change the aspect ratio of the displayed image (PC).

Particularly noteworthy is Samsung’s feature: Game Motion Plus. It’s Samsung’s proprietary motion-smoothing system that uses interpolation to boost smoothness in games. Input lag then rises to around 40 to 50 ms (depending on the strength of the setting), which, compared with the competition, is an excellent result. The system makes gameplay noticeably smoother. So if someone has their eye on a demanding game (e.g. GTA 6 😉) that runs on a console at only 30 fps, the S99H can display it much more smoothly than competing models.