TCL MQLED85 / C765 vs Philips PQS9011 / PQS9001 (The One 2026)

The television TCL MQLED85/C765 performs well in handling HDR. In the tested movie scenes, where the screen is at 100% brightness, the model achieves impressive results around 1000 nits, providing intense and realistic rendering of HDR content. However, similar to contrast, the dimming algorithm may show some limitations. Despite a large number of Mini LED zones, the television does not always manage to "wow" the user with brightness in very challenging test scenes. For instance, in the scene from the film "Life of Pi," where a bright moon appears against a dark background, and in another scene from "Sicario 2," where a very bright light effect is visible against a dark background, the television did not reach maximum intensity. For users expecting a perfect HDR effect in such extreme cases, the TCL MQLED may come up a bit short. However, in terms of colours, the television stands out with a very high coverage of the DCI P3 colour gamut at 95%, which is an impressive result comparable to much more expensive models. TCL MQLED85 / C765 offers support for various HDR formats, including Dolby Vision and HDR10+, which is crucial for cinema image fans. Although this model achieves brightness over 1000 nits, the TCL MQLED85 may struggle to reflect details in very high-contrast scenes. For better HDR quality control, the C765 is equipped with dynamic tone mapping, making the image more realistic and natural depending on the content.

The Philips PQS9000 is a moderately bright TV — in our HDR scenes it reached roughly 450 to just over 500 nits. That’s enough to notice a difference compared with SDR. Sun reflections, lamps or flares have a bit more punch than on basic TVs, whose brightness often tops out around 300 nits. It’s not, however, a level where bright elements look especially striking. The biggest limitation remains contrast. Without local dimming, brightening a bright object also lifts the black level around it. So there’s no clear separation between strong highlights and a dark background, and it’s that kind of pairing that really shows what HDR can do. The PQS9000 offers more than the cheapest models, but despite decent brightness the effect remains fairly basic.

Colours

Philips deserves praise for the colours. Although the manufacturer markets this model as QLED, it actually uses a PFS phosphor instead of quantum dots. The solution itself doesn’t prevent good results. On test patterns and in measurements of film scenes we recorded about 94% DCI-P3 coverage and 75% BT.2020. For this class of TV that’s really good. In practice this means the vast majority of colours used in HDR films and series will have appropriate saturation. Lush greens or intense reds aren’t a problem and add appeal to the picture. Limitations are easier to notice in some games and rarer content that use the most saturated shades of the wide BT.2020 gamut. In those situations, displays with wider colour coverage, such as SQD or RGB LED, can show more. At its price point the PQS9000 has nothing to be ashamed of.

The television TCL MQLED85/C765 was tested in movie mode, which, while seeming to be the best setting from the manufacturer, is not without its flaws. The colour reproduction in HD/SDR mode MQLED85 shows certain shortcomings. In the analysis of white balance, there is a significant lack of blue colour, which can affect the overall image quality, particularly in bright scenes where blue shades are crucial for natural representation. The overall image may then appear too warm. As for gamma contrast, the graph shows that there is a large jump above the reference line of level 2.4 at the beginning, which may suggest significant dimming of brightness in darker areas, leading to loss of detail in blacks. Then for most of the time, the values are below this line, which can lead to loss of detail in the brighter parts of the image. Such a distribution may negatively impact the perceived image quality, especially when watching regular TV in HD quality.

In the case of the 4K HDR image quality of the TCL MQLED85/C765 television, there is a noticeable excess of red colour in the analysis of white balance. This excess can significantly impact the viewer's experience, leading to several notable effects. First and foremost, an excessive amount of red can make other colours, such as green or blue, appear muted or unnatural. This distortion of colour balance can result in an overall impression of "oversaturation," which detracts from the image's naturalness and authenticity. In terms of contrast, the EOTF (Electro-Optical Transfer Function) graph indicates that most values are above the reference line, suggesting an intense boost in brightness in the bright areas of the image. However, the exception is the start of the graph, where the EOTF line is below the reference, which may lead to excessive dimming of small light elements.

Users should be aware that despite using the best mode, which is movie mode, the television is not free from flaws in the context of image settings, so it is worth considering adjusting the settings to achieve better results.

The factory picture settings for Movie mode on the PQS9000 unfortunately need tweaking. In SDR the biggest problem is an excess of red in the white balance, which makes whites, greys and skin tones too warm, in places even slightly pink. Gamma runs below the reference across most of the range. The TV therefore brightens midtones and highlights, making the image look flatter than it should.

In HDR the white balance itself performs significantly better. Apart from minor deviations the components sit close together, so there isn’t the same obvious tint as in SDR. The EOTF curve, however, shows a slight brightening of parts of the image, and the biggest issue appears when measuring the wide colour gamut. Many shades deviate substantially from the target, with errors reaching ΔE 8–9. The good gamut coverage we praised earlier therefore doesn’t mean the TV hits specific colours accurately. It can display a wide range of colours, but out of the box it doesn’t use that range very precisely.

After professional calibration of the television TCL MQLED85/C765, its colour properties in film mode have significantly improved, resulting in much more satisfying visual experiences. Both in SDR and HDR modes, the white balance shows no serious errors, and the graph appears to be much better harmonised. Users can now enjoy natural colour reproduction, which is crucial for achieving an authentic experience while watching films. It is worth noting that in HDR content, there may be minor colour reproduction errors at the end of the graph, but these are significantly smaller than before calibration. As a result, characters and landscapes become more realistic, enhancing the depth of immersion in the story.

Regarding contrast, the gamma curve, responsible for HD quality, has been completely free of drops below the reference line, which means better visibility of details in dark scenes. However, there is still a slight boost at the beginning of the graph, which may affect the perception of bright elements. For HDR content, the EOTF curve also shows fewer errors, although some issues with reproducing mid-tones may still be noticeable. The EOTF curve measured on real film scenes still shows a significant brightness boost, so the image may appear more intense but artificially brightened. This is a typical problem for TCL brand televisions, which may appeal to untrained viewers but can frustrate those more familiar with an ideal image.

What benefits does professional calibration bring to film enthusiasts? Thanks to it, viewing becomes even more realistic and immersive, allowing every scene to be experienced fully, preserving details and natural colours.

Calibration brought a big improvement, especially with SDR content. We managed to even out the white balance and remove the earlier colour cast, and the Color Checker measurements now look very good. Colours are much closer to what they should be on screen, so with regular TV or SDR movies we can be happy with the result. Unfortunately HDR spoils that a bit. On the one hand it's limited by the panel itself, because calibration won't improve contrast or replace local dimming. On the other hand there are colour errors we couldn't correct because the CMS settings, i.e. colour management, were greyed out and inactive. That loses Philips points with us. The white balance can be fine-tuned, but without access to wide gamut controls you can't as effectively sort out colours in HDR. It's a shame, because the SDR results show the potential is there, but we weren't allowed to fully make use of it everywhere.

We will now take another look at the tonal transitions on the TCL MQLED85/C765 TV, but in the context of lower image quality. Despite the presence of the "Gradual Smoothing" option, when set to "low", the effects are practically invisible, disappointing users who expect an improvement in image quality. On the other hand, the "high" setting yields minimal results, and worse still, it can blur important details, negatively impacting the sharpness and clarity of the displayed image. However, in the context of image scaling, the TV successfully displayed the image without overscan, meaning we do not lose any part of the view. The image looks quite decent, and details such as tree branches or the outlines of models do not show significant jaggedness, which positively affects the visual quality.

Digital image processing on the Philips PQS9000 performs well, although we have a few reservations. The "Distortion Reduction" function helps smooth tonal transitions in lower-quality sources, but it works rather unevenly. It can improve one part of the picture, only to, moments later and still within the same scene, lose its way and show banding between shades again. On the plus side, it doesn't strip away film grain or fine noise, so the image retains its texture. We found the "Medium" setting worked best and that's the one we recommend.

The upscaling to 4K itself is adequate, though the image is very soft. Edges are heavily smoothed, which may leave some viewers wanting more clarity. In that case, it's worth slightly increasing the sharpness in the TV menu, as this will help emphasise edges more. Don't overdo the sharpness slider, though, or you'll get artificial halos instead of an improvement.

TCL MQLED85/C765 is equipped with a standard refresh rate panel of 120 Hz, with the possibility of increasing it to 144 Hz when connected to a powerful computer. The television also offers a multi-level motion smoother, which is mainly aimed at users wanting to improve the fluidity of motion in films. It allows for adjusting the intensity of the effect on a scale from 0 to 10, enabling precise tailoring of the image smoothness to individual preferences. The response time of the panel is decent, but not perfect. We can observe motion blur occurring behind both dark and medium objects.

In terms of motion handling the Philips PQS9000 performs exceptionally well for an LCD TV. It's not just about the 144 Hz refresh rate, but above all how quickly the panel itself responds. At 120 Hz you can hardly see the typical trailing smears behind moving objects. What's particularly pleasing is that this also applies to darker backgrounds, where many VA panels clearly struggle. Here motion remains clear, and in this respect Philips has pleasantly surprised us.

The "Motion Styles" feature is used to adjust how motion is displayed. It includes two sliders: "Smoothness" and "Blur Reduction", allowing you to tailor the effect to the material you're watching and your personal preferences. Our suggested settings are shown in the photo. Treat them as a starting point and see which level of smoothing suits you best.

TCL MQLED85/C765 has achieved an impressive rating in the gaming features category, making it an excellent choice for gaming enthusiasts. The television supports all the latest technologies that significantly enhance the gaming experience. Among the key gaming features is ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode), allowing the TV to automatically switch to low latency mode, minimising response time and ensuring smooth gameplay. VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) supported from 48 to 144 Hz eliminates stuttering and screen tearing in dynamic game scenes. Additionally, the TV supports the Dolby Vision Game Mode, which provides better image quality in games with exceptional depth of colour and contrast. TCL MQLED85/C765 also features a decent but not the best implementation of HGiG (HDR Gaming Interest Group), optimising the display of HDR games, however, in the case of TCL, it causes bright details to wash out, resulting in some elements merging into a white blob - more on this can be read in the colour reproduction section. It supports various resolutions such as 1080p@120Hz, 1440p@120Hz, and 4K@120Hz, allowing gamers to enjoy higher image quality and better fluidity. The Game Bar feature allows for easy switching between game settings and quick control of parameters, which significantly simplifies adjusting the TV to individual needs. With support for G-Sync and FreeSync technologies, users of NVIDIA and AMD graphics cards will be pleased with the refresh rate synchronisation capabilities, eliminating tearing and stuttering issues, ensuring smoother and more immersive gameplay.

MQLED85/C765 is a television that combines advanced technologies and excellent support for gamers, making it the ideal choice for those looking to maximise their gaming experiences.

Features for gamers

In terms of gaming features the Philips PQS9000 has a lot to offer. Four HDMI 2.1 ports let you connect multiple devices without having to choose which one gets the full capabilities. Consoles can use 120 Hz at Full HD, 1440p and 4K, and a PC can also run 144 Hz at 4K or 240 Hz if you drop to Full HD. There's also VRR, which matches the refresh rate to the frame rate and prevents screen tearing. Its range runs from 48 to 240 Hz, with the upper limit applying to Full HD mode.

It also includes ALLM, so the TV switches itself into game mode, and a properly working HGiG, which is handy when setting HDR on the console. There's a Game Bar for quick access to settings and signal information. The list even includes Dolby Vision gaming, but it's hard to enjoy because of very high input lag. Apart from that caveat, the feature set is really solid.