TCL C9K vs Samsung QN90F / QN92F

As we mentioned regarding black levels and contrast – the C9K can make a huge impression in synthetic tests. Our measurements showed that on a screen 10% filled with white, the television can achieve... 4000 nits of brightness! It sounds out of this world, but – and here's where the pattern unfortunately repeats – the numbers say one thing, and the practical experience says another. In real movie scenes, the situation looks different. In the best-case scenario, when light effects occupy a large part of the image and the local dimming algorithm doesn't have to ponder too much about what to do with thousands of zones, the effect is really quite good. At that point, the C9K can hit around 1500 nits, which delivers a pleasant, intense burst and can indeed leave a positive impression.

The problem arises with smaller elements – such as stars in the sky, the moon, or individual reflections. That's when the proverbial cat comes out of the bag: the algorithms are not yet refined, and brightness drops to as low as 400–500 nits. That's a huge difference from the potential 4000 nits we saw in lab tests. Why does this happen? Most likely, the television is trying to protect the black levels in this way and minimize the halo effect around bright objects. Unfortunately, this comes at the expense of detail – some details simply vanish, and the scene loses its nature.

Samsung QN90F can really shine with brightness. In our measurements, it reached even over 2200 nits, which directly translates to the viewing experience. In practice, this means that when a very bright scene appears in a film – for example, a sunrise in The Meg – the screen looks as if natural light is actually shining on us. This isn't just a number from a table, but a real sense of image intensity! However, the TV can't always deliver its full power. With smaller details, such as spotlights or lamps, brightness drops to 500–700 nits. This is a deliberate decision by the algorithms – by doing this, the contrast between large and small elements is better controlled, and the image doesn't lose balance. Importantly, this is still a huge improvement compared to last year's QN90D, where similar details were almost invisible, shining at just 200 nits. Here, the HDR effect is much more cohesive and credible. The only downside is the colours. The coverage of the DCI-P3 spectrum has plateaued at 91%, which can be considered a rather average result in this price range.

For colour tests, we once again reached for the Filmmaker mode – a new feature in TCL televisions for 2025. While the direction is a step in the right way, the execution leaves a lot to be desired. The white balance in SDR content turned out to be too warm – there was an excess of red. On the other hand, in HDR, it swung in the opposite direction: the image became excessively blue. The Colour Checker test revealed quite a few colour inaccuracies that were noticeable to the naked eye. An even bigger problem turned out to be what we mentioned above – brightness management. Regardless of whether we were watching SDR or HDR content, the image tended to wash out the entire scene, giving it an unnatural, almost grotesque character. Therefore, it’s hard to call this a "director's mode" – because no director has ever seen such an image.

The colour reproduction in the QN90F was tested in Filmmaker mode and, as is usually the case with Samsung TVs, this mode proves to be the best starting point straight out of the box. However, this does not mean that we are dealing with an image free of flaws. The white balance in SDR and HDR content was surprisingly good – colours didn't drift in any direction and even in its factory settings it looked solid. However, a problem arose with the gamma and EOTF curves, which determine how the TV manages brightness. Here, the QN90F significantly brightened the entire image, causing the black levels and colours to lose their intensity, and the overall effect resembled that of an applied milky filter. Fortunately, Samsung, unlike many competitors in the miniLED world, provides users with plenty of tools to control settings that we won't find in other manufacturers, such as Chinese brands. Therefore, we decided to see if we could squeeze the full potential out of the QN90F because we know that such a high series is capable of much more.

After calibration, we finally managed to tame the white balance – and it immediately translated into a more natural image. Colours finally started to look as they should, and the overall presentation was incomparably better than on the factory settings. In other words – it’s worth taking a moment to improve this, as the gain is really significant. The gamma responsible for brightness management also managed to be brought into order in SDR content, and the effect was more than satisfactory. Unfortunately, when we turned on HDR materials, the situation quickly became complicated. No matter how we set the local dimming, the television had a tendency to do what it liked with the image – either it overexposed everything or darkened the darkest parts too much. Just like we saw in the scene from the movie Billy Lynn. Colour-wise, the improvement after calibration makes a great impression, but brightness management in HDR remains the Achilles' heel of the C9K and presents a certain technological limitation.

After our adjustment of the settings, the QN90F showed what it’s really capable of – and we have to admit, it’s one of the best images we’ve seen on a miniLED screen this year. As we mentioned earlier, the white balance wasn’t a big issue even in the factory settings, but it was only after gamma calibration that we were able to get close to reference values. The same goes for HDR content, where the EOTF curve post-adjustment presents mature and consistent results. Indeed, in some films, you can notice that the smallest elements of the image are slightly brightened, and with a limited number of local dimming zones, there's still a risk of halo effect. However, it’s important to remember that such phenomena are characteristic of all miniLED TVs and it’s difficult to expect miracles even from the QN90F. The most important thing is that after calibration, the television displays an image that confidently competes with many OLED screens available on the market in terms of expressing the director's vision.

Digital image processing on the TCL C9K is rather average. The smooth tone transition feature seems to be present, but activating it practically changes nothing – colour bands are still visible, and it can unintentionally highlight elements we’d rather keep hidden, such as object textures. Fortunately, it doesn’t remove film grain, but that’s poor consolation given that the effects are still meagre. It’s therefore hard to recommend using this option.

On the other hand, image scaling presents itself much better. Lower quality materials look quite decent – characters and backgrounds are rendered clearly, although of course, with sources like 576p, the laws of physics cannot be fooled. Occasionally, there’s characteristic edge distortion of objects, but that’s the fault of the source itself, not the algorithm. A plus for not having issues with overscan – the image isn't artificially cropped or enlarged.

QN90F handles upscaling very well. Materials in lower resolutions, even SD, are enhanced to a clear and sharp image, where a lot of background detail can be seen. This is a big advantage, as the TV makes older content or everyday television look significantly better than on most budget screens. However, the issue of overscan remains, which is the cropping of the screen edges that cannot be turned off on Samsungs. This can cause some subtitles on the screen to disappear or Auntie's face from the wedding on a VHS tape to be slightly cropped. 😉

The digital image processing also performs well. In the menu, we find a feature called "noise reduction," which can smooth tonal transitions and improve the viewing of lower quality materials, such as those from YouTube. In the medium setting, the effect is most beneficial – it doesn't heavily interfere with details while simultaneously eliminating the problem of "banding" in colours. However, it's worth noting that the feature can be quite aggressive and removes natural film grain in older movies, so it's best to use it sparingly.

Similar to the C8K, the C9K is also a really fast TV – both figuratively and literally. It features a 4K panel with a refresh rate of 144 Hz, and at lower resolutions, the panel can even ramp up to 288 Hz. Such speed translates into practice – while watching sports or playing games, the image looks very smooth and clear. Additionally, in movies, we get an extra motion smoother called Motion Clarity, which allows you to adjust the smoothness to your own preferences – from cinematic "judder" to almost theatrical smoothness.

QN90F has been equipped with a panel that has a maximum refresh rate of 165 Hz, and while this advantage will mainly be appreciated by PC gamers, it’s still worth highlighting. In movies or sports broadcasts, we are limited to the classic 120 Hz, but this is not a cause for concern. In practice, the additional motion smoother is more significant here. Thanks to the "Motion Clarity" setting, we can adjust the picture to our own preferences. The blur reduction option is responsible for fluidity and ghosting in sports. Meanwhile, the "judder reduction" function improves motion fluidity in productions recorded at 24 frames, namely films and series. If we set it high, the film looks smoother and more fluid than it was actually shot. Lower values, on the other hand, preserve its cinematic "rawness" with the visible film frame.

From a gaming perspective, the TCL C9K is a complete tool. It features two (out of four) full bandwidth 48 Gbps HDMI 2.1 ports, so all the key technologies work: VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) and ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode). Additionally, the manufacturer has included a really intuitive Game Bar that allows you to quickly check the most important parameters and adjust settings without fumbling through menus. Also, TCL's policy is a plus – the TV isn’t afraid of any HDR formats, even in game mode. Whether it's HGiG or Dolby Vision for the Xbox Series S/X console – everything works as it should, giving the player plenty of freedom.

QN90F has almost everything to become the perfect TV for gamers. Things like four HDMI ports, VRR, ALLM, or refresh rates reaching up to 165 Hz need no reminder. The Game Motion Plus mode deserves a big thumbs up, which is the proprietary motion smoothing technology for games. With it, you can add a few 'artificial' frames and make the image generated from the console look smoother than it should. This is a very unique solution in the world of TVs – competing systems usually do not offer this – and that's why Samsung has had a strong selling point among gamers for years, even despite the lack of support for the still niche Dolby Vision in games.

[UPDATE] We have updated our tests of Samsung TVs from the 2025 range due to the release of firmware version 1131, which restored the crucial HGiG feature for gamers.

So why do we refer to it as an 'almost' perfect screen? Unfortunately, just like in recent Samsung models, we've noticed a problem with the lack of HGiG functionality. This is a solution that allows the TV to leave control over tone mapping to the console, so that games look exactly as the creators intended. Worse still, this feature was previously present and disappeared after software updates. Instead of minor fixes, we got a step backward. It's a shame, because if it weren't for this lack, the QN90F could have been a truly ideal choice for gamers in the miniLED category.