LG UA75006LA (VA) vs TCL C69K / Q6C

The LG UA7500 with a VA panel holds brightness at around 350 nits, which does not make a significant impression by today's standards. It is hard to speak of a true HDR experience here – most content looks more like classic SDR with a slight attempt at boosting the highlights. The advantage is that regardless of the tested scene, the effect remained relatively stable. However, we noticed that in very extreme scenes with a lot of fine details, the television can gently dim the image to achieve better black levels, but this comes at the expense of visibility of bright effects. It is also worth noting that the UA7500 is not equipped with any additional technologies for expanding colours. It is neither a QLED panel nor PFS LED, which is why the coverage of the DCI-P3 colour gamut is only 80%, making many HDR films appear flat and not conveying the full diversity of colours.

In terms of brightness, TCL C69K / Q6C is a moderate model. In optimal film conditions, it shows its full potential, achieving a maximum of around 600 nits. In scenes with large, intense light sources, the HDR effect can be truly satisfying, providing a cinematic shimmer. However, it should be noted that when managing backlight zones, there are situations where parts of the image become dimmed, and sometimes they are barely visible. This suggests that there is still a lack of proper optimisation of the algorithms; however, considering the technical parameters in this price range, the design itself still presents very well.

The Filmmaker mode on the LG UA7500 performs better than one might expect from such a budget television, but let’s not get carried away with praise. The image is put together quite sensibly and does not irritate at first glance, however, its weaknesses quickly become apparent. This is most evident in scenes with bright points – background lamps or reflections of light on the skin are distinctly exaggerated. The faces of the characters often look unnatural, as if they have been 'overexposed'. Added to this is the default gamma characteristic, which brightens the smallest details and causes the image to lose subtlety in darker areas. Nevertheless, it is a fact that for its price range, the UA7500 in factory mode provides a fairly decent starting point. However, it is clear that without additional adjustment, it will not be possible to avoid these problems, which is why – as with other televisions – we decided to see what could be achieved after calibration.

The Filmmaker mode, which has made its debut in this year's TCL televisions (including the C69K / Q6C), is definitely the best choice "to start with." This is the mode we recommend for daily film and series viewings. Unfortunately, as is often the case, best does not mean perfect. In SDR material, the image proved to be too warm, with a pronounced red tint in the white balance. We had the opposite impression with HDR content – here the image became cooler than it should, due to an excess of blue. Additionally, there is the characteristic of brightness, which at times resulted in overexposure. In practice, this translated into quite noticeable errors in colour tests, which is difficult to accept in a mode branded as "from the creators."

The biggest improvement we noticed was when calibrating the mode intended for everyday SDR content. We managed to smooth out the white balance in an acceptable way and tackle the problem of excessive brightening of fine details due to the gamma curve. As a result, the image gained the consistency and naturalness that was missing in the factory settings. After such adjustments, we can confidently state that for everyday television content, programmes, or materials from YouTube, the LG UA7500 performs very well – especially after professional calibration. The situation is somewhat different for HDR content. Here, calibration allowed us to tame the white balance and slightly improve the brightness management; however, the limitations of the construction are immediately apparent. The lack of additional filters to widen the colour palette results in the most vivid colours appearing flat, and the image does not display the intensity we would expect from good HDR. So in SDR, the UA7500 performs quite well, but in HDR – despite corrections – it remains far behind, and this is a characteristic that one must accept when choosing this television.

Through white balance correction, we were able to significantly reduce the tendency of C69K / Q6C to distort colours, which yielded a very good final result. After calibration, the issue of excessive warming of scenes in SDR and excessive cooling of the image in HDR disappeared. However, it is worth analysing the brightness characteristics more closely. While in SDR content it is hard to have major objections – the image looks really good, especially in older films, TV programmes or on YouTube – it performs significantly worse in the case of HDR content. Analysis of the EOTF curve suggests that everything is fine, yet in practice (EOTF in films) the limitations of the design itself become apparent. This model has a tendency to excessively brighten small parts of the frame, only to overly dim the entire scene in other situations. The effect of calibration is therefore undeniable, and in terms of colour reproduction, C69K / Q6C gains a lot. Unfortunately, certain limitations arising from local dimming management simply cannot be bypassed.

LG UA7500 with a VA panel performed really well in this category. Image scaling from Full HD or even SD materials was surprisingly smooth. The picture looked smooth, edges were not overly jagged, and the television retained a considerable amount of detail, meaning that even older films did not lose their character. It particularly excelled with faces – there were no artificial contours or 'mask' effects, which often occur in cheaper models. The way the television handled tonal transitions in lower quality materials is also noteworthy. Thanks to digital processing, colours did not bleed into each other, and gradients appeared natural and smooth. There was no excessive smoothing of the image or loss of cinematic grain. This makes the UA7500 great for everyday content – from terrestrial television, through sports, to YouTube, where we often watch materials in various resolutions.

In terms of image scaling, TCL C69K / Q6C performs quite well. Lower quality content appears acceptable, and thanks to the lack of overscan issues, the image is displayed in full without any cropping. However, one should not expect miracles – very low-quality materials will not gain a second life here, as the image processor has its limitations.

Thin lines and details exhibit characteristic tearing, which reveals the absence of more advanced image enhancement algorithms. It is also a pity that the C69K / Q6C lacks a tone transition smoothing feature. As a result, in older films or video materials, banding of colours can be visible and may become distracting during prolonged viewing.

The LG UA7500 is a television with a 60 Hz panel, so it's difficult to expect much admiration in this category. It's more of a screen intended for everyday content or an evening film viewing rather than for following dynamic sporting events or playing action games. It's clear that the manufacturer targeted this model specifically at that group of consumers – and it performs correctly in that regard. We have the TruMotion feature available, which is a motion smoother. It's simple, with only one slider, but it can introduce a noticeable difference. At the lower settings, the image appears more raw and cinematic, whereas at higher values, the motion becomes smoother and more pleasing to the eye.

The use of a 144 Hz panel in TCL C69K / Q6C is a significant advantage in this price range. It represents an important step forward compared to its predecessor (C655 PRO), which only offered 60 Hz in 4K. The difference is particularly noticeable when watching sports or playing games – the ball, players, or dynamic action in games are displayed more clearly and without loss of detail. Another interesting feature is the panel's ability to work at 240 Hz (which the manufacturer does not officially mention) – we will return to this topic in relation to the PC gaming mode. TCL has also added a feature for movie fans: “Motion Clarity”. This allows users to adjust the picture to their preferences using two simple sliders. We can either keep the visible film frame or opt for very smooth, "

The LG UA7500 is a television that can be confidently recommended to "casual" gamers. It lacks a 120 Hz panel and HDMI 2.1 ports, so it cannot fully utilise the potential of modern consoles. However, the manufacturer has included several features that can enhance the gaming experience. Notably, the Game Bar stands out – a very well-designed panel where you can quickly preview and change the most important settings. From this interface, we have access to features like ALLM mode (automatic switching to game mode) and frame synchronization, which is VRR. The VRR range is limited – it works from 48 to 60 Hz – but the mere presence of this feature in such an affordable television makes a positive impression.

Additionally, it supports HGiG, which is the HDR calibration mode for gaming. It sounds good, but based on our testing experiences, we already know that for the UA7500, this option doesn't make much sense. The television doesn't handle HDR very well, so paradoxically, we achieved better results with this mode disabled. This is another indication that the UA7500 is more of a screen for occasional gamers who value simplicity and convenience rather than for those seeking the full experience from the latest consoles.

TCL C69K / Q6C is a television that can confidently be described as equipment created with gamers in mind. Here we have 4K at 144 Hz, VRR support, automatic game mode (ALLM), and Dolby Vision Gaming. Additionally, there is a practical Game Bar, which is a panel with the most important settings conveniently at hand – useful when we want to change something quickly during gameplay (e.g. screen aspect ratio: Yes, it can be done!). The wide range of VRR, reaching up to 240 Hz, is particularly noteworthy. However, this option is mainly for PC gamers who will operate below the native 4K resolution. In that case, the television can spread its wings and show additional smoothness, especially in fast-paced e-sports titles. For consoles, we stick to the classic limit of 120 Hz, but even so, the capabilities are truly extensive. The only downside is a slight ghosting that can occasionally be seen in dynamic scenes. Other than that, C69K / Q6C offers everything that gamers expect from a television.