TCL C8K vs LG OLED C5

TCL C8K is a really bright television. In synthetic conditions – that is, during tests with brightness charts – it was able to achieve even 3500 nits peak brightness in movie mode. That's an impressive result and brings the C8K close to the market leaders, at least when it comes to panel brightness. More importantly – these aren't just numbers on paper. In films with a lot of bright scenes, such as Life of Pi or The Meg, the brightness clearly exceeds 1000 nits, providing a true sense of HDR effect. The picture in those moments looks very dynamic, colors are saturated thanks to excellent coverage of the color palette, and the lights are – spot on and intense. Exactly how it should be.

However, this doesn’t mean that everything is perfect. Just like in contrast tests, here too, in more demanding scenes, compromises appear. In sequences with very fine light elements – such as stars in the night sky or reflections in dark rooms – the local dimming algorithm can… get confused. Instead of bringing those details up, the television sometimes decides to dim them significantly – down to around 300 nits – to maintain deep blacks. On one hand, this is quite a sensible approach (better deep black than a grey/navy blue screen), but on the other – there may be moments when certain elements of the picture become difficult to see or even disappear into darkness.

TEST UPDATE (20/08/2025): The brightness control algorithm in this model is quite problematic – attempting to calibrate the picture so that it doesn’t drastically overexpose the brightest scenes results in unnatural shifts: improvement in one part of the image results in deterioration in another. The television may achieve slightly higher readings in brightness measurements, but in practice, this comes with a heavily overexposed image that looks very unnatural!

For the record, we provide brightness values without this adjustment:

1. 1463 nits

2. 640 nits

3. 1368 nits

4. 468 nits

5. 1025 nits

LG C5 has finally done what we've been waiting for years in the C series – it exceeds 1000 nits of brightness! This is a significant change compared to previous models in the series and very important – because most HDR content on streaming platforms is created around such luminance today. The image finally has the right "glow," and details in the highlights look as they should even without the use of dynamic metadata. However, there are scenes where the C5, like most OLED TVs, has certain issues. Especially when the screen has to light up entirely. In our test sequences, like the bright scene from the movie The Meg, brightness noticeably drops. Don't get us wrong, this result is not bad; it’s more of a reminder that OLED technology still has its limitations. Year by year, they are getting smaller, but they still exist.

Now, what about the colours? They are very good. Although the C5 doesn't match OLEDs with QD-OLED or Tandem RGB panels, its coverage of the DCI-P3 gamut at 97% and 73% of BT.2020 will satisfy even the more demanding viewers. The colours are saturated, natural, and very consistent in HDR materials.

In the C8K, a new picture mode has appeared: Filmmaker Mode. This is something we've known for years from televisions of other brands – a mode designed to deliver the director's vision as faithfully as possible, without unnecessary image enhancements. Unfortunately, at TCL, it seems to still be in the "to be refined" stage. Right from the first glance, the screen appears too warm – the image veers into reds, which may not appeal to everyone. The white balance was markedly skewed – the screen looked distinctly warm, and the red colour dominated almost every scene. There was a lack of blue, which led to an unpleasant yellowing and distortion of the image. But that’s not all. Regardless of whether we were watching regular TV, YouTube, or HDR films – the television had a clear tendency to excessively brighten the image. In tests of gamma curves and EOTF, the lines strayed instead of adhering to the standard, resulting in an overly bright and less contrasting image. Additionally, in colour reproduction tests, significant deviations were noticeable – on the colour wheel, some points were actually "drifting away." It must be said plainly: Filmmaker Mode in the C8K, in its current form, is not very cinematic.

LG C5, like other TVs we tested, was checked in the best possible factory mode – which remains the Filmmaker Mode. And here we have good news: in SDR materials, LG has once again done a solid job. The white balance and colour reproduction right out of the box are at a very high level. Most errors – both in balance and in the Colour Checker test – did not exceed a ΔE value of 3, which is the threshold above which differences become visible to the naked eye. Such factory settings are what we'd like to see in many more TVs!

However, the situation is different for HDR content, which is what the C series was truly designed for. Here, the C5 performs weaker. An excessive amount of blue in the white balance causes the image to appear distinctly cooler – which affects things like unnaturally pale skin tones or somewhat shifted tonality of the entire scene. Fortunately, LG provides very precise calibration tools, and we – as always – made use of them.

After professional calibration, the TCL C8K has made a huge leap forward. In SDR content, the white balance has been almost perfectly set – the screen has finally stopped being too warm and has taken on a neutral character. The gamma curve, which is responsible for how brightness is represented, now looks very good – the image is more coherent and realistic. In HDR content, we also improved the white balance – within the limits of what the television itself allows. Unfortunately, the C8K still interprets brightness management a bit "in its own way." When we look at the EOTF chart in films, it’s clear that the television brightens entire scenes more than it should. Before calibration, this effect was quite bothersome – now the situation is much better, although it still falls a bit short of perfection. This, however, is a limitation of the device itself, which – despite our efforts – does not allow us to fully tame its nature.

We must honestly admit – in the case of the LG C5, it took very little to achieve an almost perfect image. After carrying out calibration, we managed to achieve compliance with reference screens at a level that impresses even compared to significantly more expensive models. The image after our adjustments looks exactly as filmmakers and series creators would want – with no colour distortion, natural depth, and subtle plasticity. LG has done a great job this year regarding factory settings and calibration potential. Hats off!

How does the TCL C8K handle lower quality materials? One could say: fairly well, though without much enthusiasm. The television offers a tonal transition enhancement feature designed to smooth out unwanted gradients. In practice, there's a slight improvement visible, but it's not at a level that eliminates all imperfections. The feature subtly softens harsh transitions, but it doesn't work miracles. Film grain isn't completely suppressed, and subtle banding on grey backgrounds can still be noticeable. But maybe that's for the best? – at least the image doesn't lose its texture or depth, as is often the case with televisions that overdo digital processing. When it comes to upscaling, which is enhancing picture quality from lower resolutions, the C8K performs quite well. The image is sharp, and details – though sometimes a bit softened – remain discernible. However, it's not on par with the best picture processors from the competition. On the plus side, there's no issues with overscan, which is the artificial cropping of the image that can still surprise in some models from other brands.

LG C5 handles lower quality materials exceptionally well. One of the main issues that older WOLEDs faced was posterisation – unwanted “steps” in colour transitions. The C5 utilises a system function that smooths these transitions, and it works surprisingly effectively. The banding effect is nearly completely eliminated, and the image gains consistency. Compared to last year's model, we feel that this function operates slightly weaker – but the good news is that it doesn't compromise the image structure. Film grain, textures, and details remain on the screen – nothing is forcefully smoothed out.

The C5 also excels at enhancing the quality of older recordings. Thanks to the α9 Gen6 (8th gen) processor, "scaling to 4K" is impressively solid. The image is clear, details are sharp, and the only minor drawback might be a slightly noticeable aliasing on some edges. However, there is no problem with overscan here – the image is not artificially cropped or shifted, which is a significant plus and still not a given.

If you're planning a weekend with the Champions League or a marathon of F1 racing – the TCL C8K won't let you down. The television is equipped with a 144 Hz panel, so it should inherently handle fast motion well. And indeed – it performs very well. The fluidity of motion is at a very good level here, and the "Motion Clarity" feature with two sliders (blur reduction and flicker reduction) allows you to easily adjust the effect to your own preferences. Want to slightly smooth things out – no worries. Prefer a cinematic look – no problem.

The LG C5 is equipped with a 144 Hz display, and this, combined with virtually zero response time of the OLED pixels, makes it one of the best screens for watching dynamic content. It doesn’t matter whether it’s sports, fast-paced games, or just action – the image is razor sharp.

And what about movies at 24 frames? LG has thought of that too. The built-in "TruMotion" smoother allows you to adjust the picture to your own preferences. The “de-judder” slider increases fluidity in films, while “de-blur” subtly reduces motion blur – although to be honest, it’s practically invisible here.

TCL C8K offers practically everything we could expect from a screen for gamers. It has variable refresh rate (VRR), automatic game mode (ALLM), Dolby Vision in games, and a well-functioning implementation of HGiG, which helps preserve the creators' intent in HDR titles. The TV also supports 120 Hz in lower resolutions without any problems, and it can even display a staggering 288 Hz in Full HD – a figure that will surely appeal to fans of dynamic shooters and sports games on PC.

On board, we also find the GameBar – a graphical interface that somewhat resembles an elongated Nintendo Switch console. Thanks to this, we gain quick access to information about the current game mode, frame count, HDR format, and other little details that really make life easier for the gamer. We obviously couldn’t resist and ran a couple of races in Forza Horizon on the C8K – and we must admit, it looked and worked really well.

However, there is a slight drawback – in such a fast and clearly gaming-oriented device, it's a bit unfortunate that the manufacturer opted for the implementation of only two HDMI 2.1 ports. For some users, who use several next-gen consoles and, for example, a soundbar with eARC, this could be a limitation that’s hard to overcome.

LG C5 is a TV designed with gamers in mind – and there's not a hint of exaggeration in that. It's hard to find anything to criticise here. We have a refresh rate of 144 Hz, full support for VRR, ALLM, and as many as four HDMI 2.1 ports with full bandwidth of 48 Gb/s. For those who have an Xbox, PS5, Nintendo, and a gaming PC in one room – no limitations, everything can be connected without any hassle.

Configuring HDR for gaming is also straightforward. The TV correctly supports the HGiG mode, which allows you to achieve an image that aligns with the creators' intentions. For those interested, there is also Dolby Vision in the Gaming version, although we still recommend HGiG as the most predictable and "clean" variant of HDR in games.

It also includes the Game Bar, which is a "command centre" for the gamer. Everything important, from VRR settings, picture modes, to frame rate information – is at our fingertips. The interface is simple and clear. It may look like something out of a space simulator, but it serves its purpose and just works; exactly as it should.

C5 is truly a complete package for any gamer.