TCL MQLED85 / C765 vs Samsung Neo QLED QN70F / QN74F / QN77F

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.

QN70F is a television that can positively surprise when it comes to brightness. In ideal testing conditions, it reaches even 800 nits, which – for this price range – is a really solid value. Of course, that’s a result from test patterns, so we decided to check how it performs in practice, on real films. Here, the television somewhat tempers its capabilities. In most of the tested scenes – e.g. in "The Meg" – the actual HDR brightness remained around 500 nits. That’s still a decent result, allowing you to enjoy HDR effects, although it’s far from perfection. On the other hand, we have a QLED screen with a quantum dot layer, which means very good colour reproduction capabilities. Colours are vivid and saturated. QN70F covers about 94% of the DCI-P3 colour space, and in the wider BT.2020 palette, it exceeds 75%, so in this respect, there’s 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.

We tested the QN70F in the best default picture mode, which is Filmmaker Mode. And it must be admitted that in this particular test unit, the factory settings performed quite well. The picture was calm, natural, and despite slight deviations – pleasant to watch. The biggest error was a slight dominance of red in the white balance, which caused a slight pinkish tint over the entire scene. However, it wasn't a glaring flaw – rather subtle and only noticeable when directly compared to a properly calibrated screen. A slightly bigger issue arose in the brightness characteristics. The TV tends to lower the brightness of parts of the image that should be displayed brighter. As a result, some details can appear slightly dimmed – they don't completely disappear, but they don't stand out as clearly as they should. Nonetheless, as for a TV in this range and in these settings – we consider the result a good starting point for further calibration.

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.

After calibration, the QN70F shows that it can offer a really high level of colour reproduction. It has managed to nearly perfectly balance the white point, and the values in the Color Checker test dropped below level 3 – that is, below the threshold at which the average eye can notice differences. The image looks natural, and the colours are faithfully reproduced, without excessive saturation or the coolness known from factory settings. It must be acknowledged that Samsung provides very extensive calibration options – not only for enthusiasts but also for professionals. The QN70F takes advantage of this potential and, after appropriate settings, can come close to significantly more expensive models in terms of colour accuracy. The only thing that could still be picked on is the brightness characteristic. There is still a tendency to brighten the smallest sections of the image – particularly those that should remain darker. However, this is a design feature of this model, not a calibration error. Despite this, the final result definitely deserves recognition.

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.

Samsung QN70F offers a distortion reduction feature that improves the smoothness of tonal transitions. In "Standard" mode, it works quite well – smoothing out problematic transitions without significantly interfering with the structure of the image. Film grain is partially removed, but details like texture and skin structure remain visible. "High" mode operates much more aggressively. The smoothing is stronger, but at the cost of a noticeable loss of detail. Therefore, in practice, we recommend sticking with the "Standard" setting or turning off this feature altogether. The improvement in gradation may be less spectacular, but the image retains more naturalness.

When it comes to upscaling low-quality content, the QN70F performs very well. Tests with lower resolution images went really well. Despite some slight aliasing of contours, everything looks clean and clear, even if the original content was very poor quality. It's just a pity that the television has an overscan issue that cannot be completely turned off. As a result, images with very low resolution may be slightly cropped, which is mainly noticeable on subtitles or the interface.

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.

The QN70F is a television with a refresh rate of 144 Hz, which in itself places it among the best when it comes to image smoothness. Whether we're watching fast-paced sports broadcasts or gaming on a console – the picture looks fantastic. There's no sense of stuttering, clipping, or the typical "judder" seen in lower-end models during fast motion. Samsung also allows you to adjust the smoothness to your own preferences. In the picture clarity settings, we find options such as motion blur reduction and judder reduction – each of which can be adjusted independently. This is especially useful when we are watching content with a lower frame rate and want to give it a smoother, more cinematic feel – or conversely, maintain the natural filmic "feel" of 24 frames.

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.

Samsung QN70F is a really solid choice for gamers. It features four HDMI 2.1 ports with full bandwidth of 48 Gbps, which means full support for gaming in 4K at 144 Hz refresh rate. Plus, it has all the basic features we expect today: automatic game mode (ALLM), variable refresh rate (VRR), and a very well-designed, intuitive Game Bar that displays information about the mode, resolution, and frame rate.

The Game Motion Plus feature is also worth noting, as it allows for the addition of artificial frames to games running at 60 fps or less. It works surprisingly well and improves gameplay smoothness in many titles—especially in those where consoles struggle to maintain a stable frame rate—without significant latency.

Unfortunately, there are some drawbacks. The lack of support for Dolby Vision mode is not surprising—it’s a standard for Samsung. However, the absence of the HGiG feature is far more disappointing. Worse still, it was removed in a software update, which might catch users who previously relied on it off guard. Without HGiG, one cannot manually set the maximum HDR brightness from the console, resulting in some games looking slightly overexposed—especially if the TV misinterprets the tonal range. Why Samsung, a brand that has set the standards for gaming features for years, decided to take such a step is hard to say. At the time of writing this review, the tested TV was running on software version 1110—and frankly, if you care about full support for gamers, it’s better to hold off on updates for now.