Hisense U7KQ vs TCL C7K / QM7K

Describing the HDR effect in the hundred-inch model Hisense U7KQ is not straightforward and requires broader context. As can be observed, the results are highly varied, depending on the type of scene and the intensity of the bright effects the television is meant to reproduce. In bright scenes, the device achieves over a thousand nits of brightness, which translates to vivid and realistic images – these are exactly the effects we expect from equipment of this class. Unfortunately, the situation deteriorates in darker scenes. In mixed shots, such as those in the film "Gemini Man," the television still offers good brightness at a level of 700 nits, allowing for enjoyment of high-quality content. However, problems arise in very dark scenes, where small light sources play a central role. The television does not fully utilise its capabilities here to avoid degrading the black level in adjacent areas. As a result, there is no spectacular "WOW" effect, and such frames often do not seem as if they are being produced in HDR technology.

TCL C7K is one of the brightest MiniLED televisions in its price range. Under the best testing conditions, the screen managed to achieve over 1200 nits, resulting in impressive, at times almost blindingly bright scenes. And most importantly – this is not just a theory based on measurements. In practice, the brightest parts of films can shine with true cinematic grandeur. Fans of home HDR cinema should be truly satisfied.

The impression is excellent, especially in scenes with large areas of brightness – a white sky, explosions, sun reflections, or magical sunsets can surprise with an intensity of light that is rarely seen in this price range.

However, it gets a bit worse when more challenging scenarios appear on the screen, as described when discussing contrast – that is, images full of details, with small, bright elements on a dark background. In such cases, the C7K often decides to preserve black levels at the expense of brightness. An example? Scenes from the films Sicario 2 or Life of Pi, where small light sources (like a distant lantern) can become less visible, and details in the lights are simply dimmed or blend into the background.

For many viewers, this may be an acceptable compromise – as we achieve deep black levels and a pleasing plasticity of the image. Nevertheless, it is worth being aware that the visibility of small details in bright areas is not this model's strongest suit. It is simply a technological limitation that still exists – even with over 300 zones.

The best factory mode we measured was 'Filmmaker'. Despite this, its characteristics left a wide scope for comment. Let us take a look at the gamma chart, which is responsible for the depth and contrast of the image. First, we will pay attention to the orange line running through the middle of the chart, starting at point 2.4. This is the reference value of the REC.709 standard. Now, let us look at the measured value, which is marked by a white, connected multi-point. Such a significant drop in gamma to a value of 2.0 indicates a considerable decrease in contrast, resulting in an image lacking proper depth, and one could observe the so-called 'milk' effect. The next thing we tested was the white balance. Though unassuming, if poorly configured, it can alter the entire character of the image. At the beginning, the chart was progressing quite well, but as we went further, it began to be dominated by two colours: red and blue. Due to the current state of affairs, all the materials we used for testing had an unpleasant tint in those colours. However, thanks to rich calibration tools, such as an advanced colour management system (CMS) and 2- and 20-point grey scale adjustment, we were able to significantly improve the display's performance in SDR materials, as evidenced by low deltaE errors and very well-rendered gamma and white balance.

A new feature in TCL televisions for 2025 is the long-awaited Filmmaker mode, which until now has been found in most competing brands. This is great news, as this mode is considered to be the truest to the original vision of the creators and is often recommended by enthusiasts of good picture quality. Unfortunately, as is often the case, the mere presence of this mode does not guarantee perfection. The Filmmaker mode in the TCL C7K is not without its flaws. There can be criticism of the incorrect white balance, particularly a slight dominance of blue, which resulted in cool, somewhat greyish skin tones. But that was not the biggest issue. The main complaint was the excessive brightness exposure, which is clearly visible on the gamma and EOTF graphs. The image was simply too bright, at times even blown out, which affected not only the texture of scenes but also the overall viewing experience. Some details were simply lost, and the entire image looked as if someone had slightly overcooked the brightness slider. As always, we decided to check what could be extracted from this after calibration. And that’s where it started to get really interesting…

In SDR mode, after calibration, the television Hisense 100U7KQ looks excellent. There is nothing to fault in terms of colour reproduction - both pastel and strongly saturated hues are displayed according to the Rec. 709 standard. This ensures that the image looks natural and in line with the director's vision. As a result, viewers can enjoy an authentic visual experience, with colours and tonal subtleties faithfully rendered.

In HDR mode, however, there is a noticeable boost in bright tones. The television attempts to beautify the picture, which can lead to an artificial brightening. This phenomenon becomes even more evident in real scenes, where bright parts of the image may be excessively enhanced. Although the colours in HDR are generally good, they are intentionally boosted too much by the manufacturer, which can affect their naturalness.

This approach by the manufacturer to displaying images in HDR mode may not appeal to everyone, especially those who value authenticity and fidelity to original colours. However, for those who prefer more dynamic and vivid images, such an emphasis on bright tones can be an attractive solution, adding extra sparkle and impact to the scenes.

After calibration, the TCL C7K showcased itself in a really good light, especially when it comes to SDR content. We managed to precisely tune the white balance, colour gamut, and brightness characteristics to the point that colour errors on the ColorChecker palette dropped below a value of 2. For the uninitiated – this is nearly a perfect result, which means that the image is very close to what the creators intended. Unfortunately, the situation was worse with 4K HDR content. Although we managed to gently stabilize the white balance and correct its previous errors, it was still evident that the television has certain "MiniLED traits," especially in brightness management. When we checked how the C7K handled the EOTF curve on actual film scenes, rather than just on synthetic test patterns, it turned out that the screen still tends to slightly brighten the entire image. This impacts the overall experience – blacks lose some depth, and the image becomes less contrasty than it should be. Despite these minor shortcomings in HDR content, the overall reception of materials – especially in SDR – is truly very good. After calibration, the C7K can display an image that can compete successfully with much more expensive models. Good colour tuning, natural skin tones, and pleasant brightness make movie sessions and everyday viewing of content more than satisfactory.

Although the television is equipped with a feature for reducing posterisation called "Smooth Gradation," we did not notice a significant effect of its operation. Materials subjected to heavy compression, such as YouTube videos, still exhibited choppy, distinct tonal transitions, which did not look particularly favourable. While this is due to the material itself rather than the television, it would be good if there were a feature to mask these problems, similar to those found in displays from competing brands.

The image scaling, which is crucial when playing lower resolution content, is rated as average. Details are not overly blurred, and the image is not "smudged"; however, there is visible jaggedness on the edges of objects, such as branches, and a halo effect around figures and text. Although the television performs quite well, there is still room for improvement, especially in the context of displaying lower quality materials.

TCL C7K is equipped with a feature that, according to the manufacturer, is meant to smooth out unwanted colour transitions – a sort of rescue for less successful tonal shifts. It is called "Gradual Smoothing" and… well, it sounds ambitious, but in practice it works very poorly. Regardless of whether we set it to a low or high level, the difference is minimal. Worst of all, the feature can cut out elements from the picture that should be there. Fortunately, film grain remains untouched, so at least it doesn’t smooth everything indiscriminately, but still – it’s better to simply turn this option off.

When it comes to scaling lower resolution content, it is somewhat better. SD and HD materials look quite decent, although at times we had the impression that the image loses sharpness and becomes too soft – as if something took away its definition. Fortunately, with very low sources (e.g. 576p), there was no overscan effect, meaning the picture was not artificially cropped – everything fit on the screen as it should.

The television correctly accepts a 4K signal up to 144 Hz, allowing for very smooth images to be displayed in high resolution. When the resolution is limited to Full HD, the television is capable of handling even 240 Hz, but such a signal can only be obtained from a PC. Unfortunately, the use of this feature is limited by several factors.

First of all, the Full HD resolution on a large television screen may seem insufficient, which affects image quality. Furthermore, the response time of the panel in this model is not short enough to fully utilise the refresh rate of 240 Hz. As a result, at such a high refresh rate, significant overdrive occurs, causing noticeable smearing and so-called "ghosting" behind moving objects.

It is also worth noting the motion smoothing function in the television, which operates up to 120 Hz. This is especially useful when watching sports and films, where smooth motion is crucial. The television provides stable operation of this function, minimising the amount of generated artifacts. Motion smoothness can be adjusted using two sliders – one for film smoothness and the other for reducing smearing in sports content.

In summary, although the television Hisense U7KQ offers impressive capabilities in terms of image refresh rates, limitations related to the response time of the panel and appropriate resolution may impact the actual benefits of these features. Nevertheless, the motion smoothing function works very well, improving the experience of watching dynamic content.

The TCL C7K handles motion fluidity really very well. The matrix used in it offers a refresh rate of 144 Hz, which in itself suggests that this television is more than just a regular "60 Hz" panel. Furthermore – if we connect the C7K to a computer and set the resolution to Full HD. But we'll write more about this in the paragraph about gamers and PC collaboration. Returning to everyday use – both sports and films look very good here. Thanks to the fast panel and well-functioning motion smoothing, the C7K is great for watching matches, but also for movie screenings. In the menu, we find two sliders – motion blur reduction and flicker reduction – which allow us to adjust the fluidity effect to our own preferences. At lower settings, we get a more cinematic effect, with slight stuttering motion. At higher settings – the picture becomes more theatrical, fluid to the point of excess. Everyone has their own preferences – anyone can set it to their liking.

The Hisense U7KQ television supports all the key features for gamers that users of Xbox or PlayStation consoles may expect. These features include, among others, support for high refresh rates, low input lag, and a game bar. Generally speaking, most of these features work correctly, providing a satisfying gaming experience.

However, the VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) technology does not function optimally. When VRR is activated, the television disables the local dimming feature, which significantly reduces image quality. In VRR mode, there is a lack of good contrast and high brightness in HDR mode, resulting in unsatisfactory image quality. In practice, this means that the VRR mode may be rarely used by gamers due to these limitations.

Additionally, the television does not support the HGIG (HDR Gaming Interest Group) mode, which is designed to optimise HDR image quality in games. The absence of this mode leads to issues with double tone mapping – once in the television and once in the console. As a result, the quality of HDR games is lower, which may affect the overall gaming experience.

In summary, although the Hisense U7KQ offers many features for gamers, certain key aspects, such as the optimal functioning of VRR and support for HGIG, may not meet the expectations of more demanding users. Nonetheless, the television still provides good support for most standard gaming features, making it a suitable choice for a wide range of gamers.

The TCL C7K is a television that on paper appears to be the dream equipment for gamers – and most importantly, it holds up in practice too. To start with good news: there are two full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 ports, so we can easily connect both a console and a computer, taking advantage of all their capabilities. The panel itself supports a refresh rate of 144 Hz, which gives a significant advantage in dynamic games. There is also a complete set of gaming features: VRR (variable refresh rate), ALLM (automatic low-latency mode), and support for Dolby Vision in games. There is also the HGiG mode, which allows for HDR effects consistent with the creators' intentions. GameBar, an information bar for gamers. It works quickly, looks clear (like a Nintendo console👌), and shows what matters most: the current frame rate, VRR status, and even HDR parameters.