TCL C8L / QM8L vs SONY Bravia 9 II XR95M2

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.

The real showcase for the new backlight architecture and Sony’s processor is HDR reproduction. At the official launch the Sony engineers said (not officially 😉) that the Bravia 9 II’s brightness should be almost identical to their professional director’s monitor BVM-HX3110, priced at astronomical sums. Our lab tests confirmed they weren’t empty promises. In synthetic measurements on the L20 test pattern the TV easily exceeded 4000 nits of peak brightness. More importantly, these impressive results translate directly to real film scenes. In most of the demanding shots we tested the screen consistently held brightness around 2500 to 3000 nits. Whether the light was small and pinpoint or flooded almost the entire screen, the HDR effect was incredibly intense.

Colours

Colour is another key pillar of RGB Mini LED technology (Sony’s True RGB implementation). For testing this type of panel we’ve permanently added a new research section to check how TVs handle colour in real-world conditions. Traditional synthetic-chart tests are no longer enough to determine real gamut coverage. From now on we also measure colour saturation directly in selected film scenes by overlaying measurement points. So how do the colours perform?

In synthetic tests the Bravia 9 II posts excellent results. For the popular DCI-P3 space used for HDR, colour-gamut coverage was almost 98%, while for the extremely wide and demanding BT.2020 space our measurements showed nearly 90%. However, in real-world, varied scenes those values drop by a few percentage points. This is directly due to the nature of zoned RGB backlighting. When differently coloured elements or bright white points appear next to each other, light from adjacent zones begins to mix slightly, producing a whitish backlight. This, of course, affects colour saturation, slightly reducing it. It shows that despite Sony’s brilliant algorithm controlling the RGB diodes, that number of zones is too small to eliminate the effect completely.

Is this a reason to complain? Of course not. The Bravia 9 II’s final colour coverage is the same as that of a very good QLED TV, and it’s important to remember: the vast majority of films and TV shows distributed in HDR use the DCI-P3 gamut. In that standard Sony easily maintains very high colour saturation, regardless of the scene.

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.

Contrary to expectations and high hopes, the Bravia 9 II we tested straight out of the box showed some issues with its factory calibration. Looking at the white balance charts, you can see it isn’t perfect. In SDR content it mainly lacked the red component, so the picture leaned toward cooler, bluish tones. By contrast, white balance in HDR looked much better in that respect. So where do the visible errors in image reproduction come from? They stem from an unexpected tuning of the gamma and the EOTF curve. In both cases the Bravia 9 II straight from the factory showed a clear deviation from reference standards.

In SDR content the gamma was significantly too high, at times running very close to 2.8 instead of the reference 2.4. In practice this meant the image was artificially dark and appeared washed out of colour, with details in dark areas (the shadows) completely lost. The opposite was true in HDR material, where brightness reproduction is handled by the EOTF curve. That curve was pushed too high above the correct value, which resulted in the picture being artificially brightened across most luminance ranges. As with every TV we test, we also subjected this unit to professional calibration. You can see the results and how we managed to correct those factory errors below.

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.

Fortunately, with professional calibration, most of the factory shortcomings of the Bravia 9 II can be effectively eliminated. We managed to precisely correct primarily the white balance and the gamma and EOTF curves. After those adjustments, in everyday use and during movie sessions the TV looks vastly better. The image gained proper dimensionality, the cool tint to the whites disappeared, and shadow details that had previously been lost due to excessively high gamma finally became clearly visible. Although we ultimately assess colour accuracy as very good, as specialists we must point out one fairly serious design flaw in this model. The Bravia 9 II could look even better if it weren't for the complete lack of an advanced colour management system in the TV's menu.

While a basic white balance correction can be carried out here without issue, the settings lack options for adjusting specific colours. We tried to tackle this from every angle, both using the traditional method from the remote and with dedicated calibration software for Bravia TVs. Unfortunately, that function has been entirely locked. We suspect this may stem from the specifics of the new RGB architecture, which imposes these limitations. It's a real shame, because without it you can't fine-tune colour reproduction to perfection. The inaccurate red, for example, still stands out. Let's hope Sony will fix this shortcoming over time via an update.

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.

Digital processing and upscaling have long been Sony's forte, and after testing the Bravia 9 II we can confidently say that nothing has changed in this area. Sony remain at the top of the market. Their proprietary XR image processor, which in this model works together with the main MediaTek Pentonic 1000 chip, deserves the highest praise. That combination delivers excellent results. Upscaling lower-resolution content is extremely effective and precise.

However, what earns the most praise in the XR processor's performance is its tonal transition smoothing function. The system can reduce posterisation in heavily compressed material to practically zero. Crucially, the algorithm does this in a very intelligent way. It removes only the irritating digital 'steps' in gradients (banding), but does not blur fine texture detail or create an artificial, 'plastic' look lacking film grain. The image remains sharp, natural and cinematic.

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.

In the specifications for the Sony Bravia 9 II you won't find dizzyingly high screen refresh rates above 120 Hz, which some more demanding PC gamers might see as a drawback. However, in everyday use — whether during film sessions, playing console games or watching sport — it's really hard to criticise the motion smoothness. The VA panel used here does exhibit some slight, natural smearing typical of this panel type, but the excellent Motionflow smoothing algorithms come to the rescue. The system menu includes sliders for blur reduction and smoothing that let you precisely tune the motion characteristics to your own preferences.

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.

Aside from the fairly serious design oversight of limiting the platform to just two full HDMI 2.1 ports, the Bravia 9 II offers almost all the key gaming features available on the market. Sony has already accustomed us to such a rich feature set in its previous designs. The list of supported technologies here is extensive. It includes automatic low-latency mode (ALLM), variable refresh rate (VRR), as well as a fully compliant implementation of the HGIG standard and Dolby Vision tailored specifically for gamers.