Philips OLED820 vs TCL C6KS / C69KS / Q6CS

When it comes to HDR quality, the Philips OLED820 uses the same class of WOLED panel found in its biggest rivals – the LG C5 and Samsung S90F. This means we can expect really solid results. This year, mid-range OLED panels can exceed the threshold of a thousand nits, and the tested model reaches around 1300 nits in some films. This is an outstanding result, allowing the director's vision to be conveyed with immense precision, as this is the brightness range in which contemporary productions are mastered. Of course, there are situations where even the OLED820 has to compromise. Full-screen scenes filled with white, like those in the film The Meg, can drop brightness to 400–500 nits, which clearly weakens the effect. This is a characteristic of OLED technology that has yet to be fully eliminated. Despite this limitation, it is hard not to appreciate the HDR in this model – high luminance and a wide DCI-P3 colour gamut coverage of 99% make the image simply look fantastic.

And what about HDR? Here, the C6KS performs quite well and – as has become a recurring theme of this review – identically to the C6K model. The maximum brightness generated by this television is around 600 nits. In bright scenes, this translates to a really solid, cinematic effect, and generally, the video materials look good here. However, one must keep in mind the specifics of the dimming algorithm in this model. When very small, bright points (e.g., stars) appear against a dark background, the television can dim them quite significantly. The goal is simple: to eliminate blooming and maintain the best possible blacks. This is quite a reasonable compromise. Most viewers will definitely appreciate deep, "true black" more than additional micro-details, the display of which could cause the screen to appear greyed out. This is the nature of local dimming technology in this price range, and one must be aware of it. It is also worth noting that the TCL C69KS (C6KS) has an additional PFS coating, which is marketed under the slogan of QLED technology. Thanks to this, the colours are saturated and vibrant – our measurements showed that the coverage of a wide colour gamut reaches as much as 92% here.

The colour reproduction in the factory settings really surprised us, and positively so. The Philips OLED820, switched to Filmmaker mode, immediately showed that it was quite well tuned in terms of colour. The white balance was relatively accurate, though there was a slight deficiency in the blue hue, which occasionally gave the image a slightly yellowish tint. However, this is not a flaw that particularly detracts from everyday viewing. A bigger issue arose with the brightness characteristics. The gamma curve clearly deviated from the ideal, with the line below the expected values, causing the image to be excessively brightened, and the colours looked as if they were covered with a light milky filter. This effect was also noticeable in tests using the Colour Checker pattern, where more pronounced errors appeared.

Unlike the more expensive C6K model, the tested C6KS does not have an option in the menu labelled as Filmmaker Mode. Is this a reason to cry? Absolutely not. Our tests have shown that in practice, in terms of colour reproduction, the lack of this specific label makes virtually no difference. The best available Film/Cinema mode here offers an almost identical picture characteristic to the aforementioned Filmmaker in the more expensive model. So we get a very similar image, just under a different name. Therefore, if you were wondering whether paying extra for the C6K gives you better colours – the answer is no, in both cases the base is the same and requires slight adjustments.

After calibration, both the Filmmaker mode and the gaming mode gained a lot. A slight adjustment of the white balance and an improvement in brightness characteristics produced excellent results in SDR content – the image looked almost perfect, natural, and very close to reference. In the case of HDR materials, the situation was similar, the colours were presented wonderfully, and it was hard to find anything to criticise. However, we noticed a certain feature, which we already pointed out when comparing scenes from the film Billy Lynn. The analysis of the EOTF curve showed that the television has a slight tendency to dim details in the blacks, so the darkest parts are not always displayed exactly as intended by the director. Nevertheless, the effect after calibration is stunning, and the OLED820 is emerging as one of the more interesting screens in its class. It just needs a little pampering, and there really is nothing to worry about.

Thanks to the white balance adjustment, the C69KS's tendency to distort colours has been effectively limited, resulting in a very good final effect. After calibration, we will no longer see excessive warming of scenes in SDR or overly cool tones in HDR. However, it is worth noting the brightness characteristics. In SDR content, it is hard to have any objections – the image looks very good, especially in older films, television programmes, or materials from YouTube. It is significantly more challenging to evaluate the television's performance in HDR. Analysis of the EOTF curve suggests correct behaviour, but its practical variant reveals certain limitations. The C69KS can overly brighten the smallest elements of the frame, while at other times, it can dim the entire scene. Thus, calibration brought clear benefits in terms of colour quality, but certain limitations resulting from the local dimming operation and the way it is controlled by the C69KS cannot be overlooked, as we also saw in the C6K test.

Fortunately, the earlier effects of the mentioned posterisation can be quite effectively mitigated. The "distortion reduction" function set to a medium level deals with unwanted colour banding, improving the smoothness of tonal transitions. It does happen that it works a bit too aggressively and also smooths out some details – such as minor skin imperfections of the actors – but nevertheless, it can be considered worth using without substantial compromises. The upscaling in the OLED820 also performs quite well. The test image with the model is exceptionally soft, sometimes even too much so, although this can be rectified by slightly boosting the sharpness in the picture menu – this is really a matter of individual preference. The absence of overscan issues with very low-resolution content is also commendable, meaning we don't have to worry that the image will be unnecessarily cropped.

The C69KS handles upscaling quite well. The tested 576p material looks surprisingly decent – a considerable amount of detail is retained, and the algorithm adds a slight "rounding" effect to sharp edges, making the image appear more cohesive. The performance in smoothing tonal transitions is less impressive. The television practically cannot improve them, leaving the image in a rather raw state. With older material, this can be quite tiring, as the lack of additional processing highlights any imperfections.

The fluidity of motion is an area where OLEDs always shine, and the Philips OLED820 confirms this rule. The panel itself offers a refresh rate of 144 Hz, which primarily benefits PC gamers, but even with standard television sources or consoles, where it operates at 120 Hz, the motion is fast, sharp and simultaneously smooth, without signs of blurring. This is thanks to the remarkable response time between pixels, which maintains image clarity in every dynamic scene. The manufacturer has also added its own smoother called "Motion Style". In the menu, we find two sliders – the first, responsible for fluidity, allows adjustments to the number of artificially added frames in films. This way, we can choose a raw, cinematic character with a distinctly visible film frame or a more theatrical image with smooth motion. The second slider is for motion blur reduction, particularly useful in sports broadcasts. Here, we definitely recommend setting it to the maximum value, as the effect is truly excellent.

C69KS offers a simplified motion enhancement panel in films, allowing the adjustment of effect intensity with a slider. This makes it easy to match fluidity to personal preferences. The ability to use higher refresh rates is also a plus – although the panel operates natively at 4K at 60 Hz, lowering the resolution to 1440p enables 120 and 144 Hz modes, both on consoles and PC. This sounds like great news, however, in practice, the image at these settings exhibits significant motion blur. The effect is so pronounced that the overall presentation appears merely average and loses its appeal for everyday use.

The Philips OLED820 is one of the most complete televisions for gamers. On board, we find practically everything one could expect: two HDMI 2.1 ports with full bandwidth of 48 Gbps (it's a shame there aren't four), variable refresh rate VRR, automatic game mode ALLM, support for Dolby Vision in games, and a good implementation of the HGiG mode. The television handles lower resolutions at 120 Hz with ease, so one can count on considerable flexibility when choosing different picture modes on the console. Philips also includes a Game Bar – a panel that allows changing picture modes, adding a crosshair, or previewing parameters. Although it looks rather clunky and is less polished than that of the competition, it does its job. In practice, therefore, the OLED820, in addition to a full set of four HDMI 2.1 ports, offers nearly everything a gamer could need.

If we overlook the smudging and lack of native 4K at 120 Hz, the C69KS impresses with how well it performs during gaming. We get everything one can expect from a gaming television: variable refresh rate (VRR), automatic switching to game mode (ALLM), Dolby Vision Gaming mode, and a well-functioning HGiG. The television can also operate at 120 and even 144 Hz at lower resolutions, allowing for smoother gameplay on a console or PC. Additionally, there is a clear Game Bar that lets you quickly glance at key settings while gaming. As a result — despite a few limitations — the C69KS can be a really successful screen for gamers.