TCL V6C vs TCL P7L / P79L

When it comes to HDR, the TCK V6C clearly shows that it is not its strong suit. A peak brightness of around 200 nits makes it difficult to talk about true HDR effects – the picture simply remains too dark to bring out details in bright scenes or convey the appropriate dynamics. Although the television formally supports many HDR formats, it is not practically equipped for such demanding content. The lack of additional layers that enhance colors, such as QLED or PFS LED, further limits the appeal of the image – in more spectacular productions, the colours may seem washed out compared to more expensive models. Therefore, the V6C will primarily serve as a television for everyday viewing, YouTube, or SDR content, rather than as equipment for high-quality cinematic experiences.

The biggest limitation of the TCL P7L in HDR is simply brightness. The TV doesn't have much luminance headroom, so strong highlights, sunlight or small light sources can't clearly "pop" out of the image. As a result, even well-produced HDR material looks fairly restrained and, in terms of dynamics, is closer to good SDR than to what brighter models show. That doesn't mean the P7L completely fails at HDR; the issue is mainly a lack of sufficient backlight power. Looking at colours, the situation is a bit better. The TV covers roughly 91% of the DCI‑P3 gamut and about 68% of the wide BT.2020 space, so for its price class the colour range is quite decent. TCL markets this model as QLED, although the nature of the solution used is closer to a PFS phosphor‑based backlight than a classic quantum dot layer. What matters most to the viewer is the effect: more saturated colours are on offer.

We started colour reproduction tests with the Filmmaker mode, which in theory should be the best choice straight out of the box. It certainly performs better than the Eco or Dynamic modes, which heavily interfere with the image and spoil its natural character. As you can see in the graphs, the factory tuning of the V6C is not ideal, although it's not a disaster either. The biggest issue turned out to be a lack of red – the TV clearly "cools" the image, which is especially noticeable on human faces, giving a "zombie skin" effect. This particular issue was the most bothersome during everyday viewing. Looking at the colour palette in HDR content, the shortcomings in red are also noticeable, and their source is the relatively narrow coverage of the colour space. Of course, every TV can be calibrated, so we decided to check how the V6C would perform after such an adjustment.

In Film mode the TCL P7L performs quite decently without major tweaks, especially with ordinary SDR material. The white balance is relatively even, although as brightness increases there’s a slight rise in red and blue and a bit too little green. That doesn’t create a strongly visible colour cast and most colours remain close to their reference points. The Colour Checker confirms this, with a large portion of errors falling below the level that should particularly bother during normal viewing. We have more remarks about the gamma response. In the darkest parts of the image the TV drives it noticeably above the reference, so some shadow detail may be a little too dim. The curve then settles and for much of the range it’s close to the intended targets. As a result SDR generally looks natural, but in dark scenes the P7L can lose some subtlety.

In HDR the factory setup is less precise. As brightness increases the excess blue becomes more pronounced, so the picture can look cooler than it should. The number of larger colour deviations also rises, especially in brighter colours. The EOTF curve itself is handled fairly conservatively, with the TV showing the image darker than the reference over much of the range. For such an inexpensive model, the factory Film mode settings are not bad.

My dear friends – we haven't faced such a difficult "calibration battle" in years. The V6C turned out to be one of the most stubborn TVs we've dealt with in the office. The calibration trials alone took us several hours of work and required a lot of patience. We finally managed to slightly warm up the skin tones, which made faces stop looking like they were pulled straight out of a horror film, a common issue with the factory settings. Unfortunately, that wasn't the end of it – the TV reacted to our adjustments in white balance in a completely unpredictable manner. Where we expected stability in the image in a certain area, new errors appeared, and Color Checker measurements showed deviations that couldn't be rationally explained. It's hard to say whether the fault lay with the software or the design itself, but one thing is certain – the V6C put up exceptionally strong resistance. Ultimately, the calibration brought improvement, especially in SDR content, where the image became more pleasing and natural. However, it must be clearly stated that the design limitations remain. The TV still flattens the image in HDR materials and has noticeable deficiencies in colour reproduction. This is equipment more suited for everyday TV watching or SDR content rather than for cinematic experiences in the highest quality.

After calibration the TCL P7L can produce a genuinely pleasant picture, especially with conventional SDR material. We managed to even out the white balance very well, and the gamma curve now tracks close to the target value of 2.4. This is also evident in the colour measurements, as most errors have fallen significantly and in everyday viewing it’s hard to notice any major inaccuracies. Films, series, YouTube and regular TV therefore look more natural, without unnecessary warmth or a cool tint. For a model at this price point the SDR result is really very good.

In HDR the situation becomes more complicated. Calibration improved the white balance and corrected some deviations, but here the panel’s limitations become increasingly apparent. The P7L has relatively limited brightness and can’t sustain appropriate luminance for more saturated colours, so some errors remain even after careful tuning. In other words, settings can improve how the TV interprets the signal, but you can’t overcome its physical capabilities. That’s why calibration is most worthwhile for SDR on this model.

When it comes to upscaling, the V6C doesn't bring anything groundbreaking to the table. Lower quality content is heavily sharpened, making the image look quite unnatural, at times almost artificial. This can be somewhat alleviated by reducing the sharpness level in the settings, but the effect isn't spectacular. The image still falls short of perfection. The digital processing itself performs better. The function responsible for smoothing tonal transitions works quite effectively, especially at the medium setting, where the image truly appears smoother. Unfortunately, its operation is rather aggressive – it heavily interferes with the overall scene, causing actors in the foreground to start looking like characters from super smooth soap operas. Therefore, we would not recommend using this option if a natural viewing experience is important to us.

In this respect the TCL P7L performs surprisingly well, especially for such an inexpensive TV. The banding reduction feature, which in many budget models does little or nothing, actually manages to improve the picture here. It doesn't remove all banding completely, but it can noticeably reduce posterisation and make trickier gradients look more natural. In this price segment that's a genuinely pleasant surprise.

The upscaling itself also looks good. Lower-resolution material is upscaled properly, without excessive sharpening or adding artificial edges around objects. Of course the P7L won't turn a very poor source into a 4K-quality picture, but for regular TV the result is simply solid. For a model at this price point there are few major complaints to make.

Smoothing and motion fluidity are areas where the V6C quickly reveals its limitations. It's a 60 Hz TV, so it was hard to expect miracles here. In dynamic sports scenes, the image performs rather mediocrely. This is most noticeable in darker scenes, where distinct trails and blurred "halos" follow moving objects, which can be quite distracting. This is definitely a weaker point of this model. Fortunately, there is also a small plus. The V6C is equipped with a motion smoother that works while watching movies. Thanks to it, productions filmed at 24 frames per second, which is practically all cinema titles and series, can look smoother than they were actually recorded. Importantly, the intensity of the effect can be adjusted to personal preferences – from slight smoothing to the full "soap opera effect."

TCL P7L uses a native 60 Hz panel at 4K resolution, and that's how it should be treated in everyday use. For movies the TV mainly offers frame interpolation, so it can smooth motion and reduce noticeable judder, but it doesn't deliver the smoothness typical of true 120 Hz panels.

Even though the V6C is not a TV designed with avid gamers in mind, TCL has included a few features that may appeal to more casual users. You'll not find a 120 Hz panel or HDMI 2.1 ports here, but there is an ALLM mode that automatically switches the TV into low latency mode. There's also a quite practical Game Bar – a simple panel allowing the preview of basic parameters, changing the picture mode, or even enabling a virtual crosshair on the screen. Another interesting feature is the support for Dolby Vision Gaming, intended for Xbox Series S/X consoles – a nice addition, although in practice it doesn’t offer as much as in more expensive models. However, the biggest issue remains the HDR configuration. The HGiG function, responsible for adjusting the brightness and contrast of games to the capabilities of the panel, doesn't respond as we would expect – the picture can be overly dark or too flattened. As a result, a better solution turns out to be simply playing in SDR mode, where the V6C operates steadily and doesn’t try to pretend to be an HDR TV.

For such an inexpensive TV, the P7L has quite a lot to offer gamers. It has ALLM, VRR and Dolby Vision in games, and TCL also includes its Game Bar, where you can quickly check key information or change some settings without leaving the game. Not everything is perfect, though, because HGiG doesn't work here as it should, but at this price point it's hard to complain much about the feature set. The most interesting part comes when you give up 4K. At that resolution the TV runs at up to 60 Hz, but at 1440p and 1080p it can already display at 120 Hz. And that's not just a spec-sheet curiosity. In fast-paced games that support that frame rate the difference in smoothness is genuinely noticeable, so if you care more about smoother motion than maximum image sharpness, that mode can make a lot of sense. Of course, that doesn't make the P7L a true 120 Hz TV. Still, it's precisely these extra modes that make the P7L perform really well for gaming.