Philips PUS7000 vs TCL C8L / QM8L

Unfortunately, the PUS7000 is not suitable for watching HDR content. The screen is simply too dark. A brightness level of 200 nits is insufficient to properly display such a format. Even if a HDR signal message appears on the screen, the image will resemble a standard SDR recording. Therefore, it is better to stick with the latter format to avoid errors in displaying bright scenes, as discussed below. The situation is not improved by the fact that this is a classic LCD model without additional layers enhancing colours, such as QLED or PFS. As a result, colours in HDR may appear washed out. Ultimately, this gives a worse effect than in the standard SDR format, which is simply better suited to the capabilities of this panel.

In terms of HDR, the TCL C8L turns out to be a hellishly bright television – quite literally. On a synthetic test pattern sized at 5%, our measurement equipment indicated a result exceeding 4500 nits. This is a truly astronomical result, considering that reference monitors used by directors, which we often refer to in our materials, typically operate around 4000 nits. Does this mean that the C8L breaks barriers and climbs to the technological peak of Mini-LED? Not quite. Dry synthetic tests are one thing, while real cinematic images are another. In real, varied scenes, the C8L peaks at around 1600 nits. This is still a very good result, ensuring a very high level of HDR dynamics, but it is also clearly lower than what the manufacturer boasts in the specifications. The problems begin with very small bursts of light – at that point, brightness can drastically drop to around 600 nits. The algorithm tries at all costs to maintain deep blacks and minimise the halo effect, but this comes at the expense of HDR impact. This is perfect evidence that laboratory test patterns rarely align with what we ultimately see on the screen.

However, huge praise is due for colour reproduction, thanks to the new generation of SQD (Super Quantum Dot) quantum dots. The DCI-P3 colour gamut coverage reaches 97%, but the truly jaw-dropping measurements come from the extremely demanding BT.2020 space. The C8L achieves an impressive 90% in this space, placing it alongside today's top screens equipped with RGB backlighting. Importantly, unlike some screens with Micro/Mini RGB backlighting, this effect is stable regardless of the scene displayed. Of course, it’s worth remembering that content mastered for such a wide gamut in films or series is still rare. However, the very fact that the panel has such a "colour reserve" deserves tremendous admiration.

We tested the television in movie mode, which theoretically should provide the best and most natural colours. And indeed, this mode is quite correct; however, after connecting the calibration equipment, its biggest flaw came to light. The PUS7000 has significant shortcomings in displaying red. Poorly tuned white balance and overly low saturation of this colour cause the image to appear too cool. As a result, one may get the impression that the displayed content is simply lacking in vibrant colours. The situation is worsened by the fact that both SDR and HDR content are excessively brightened. This is confirmed by the gamma curve and EOTF graphs, which show that the television displays the image brighter than it should. This causes scenes to lose their depth and may appear somewhat washed out. Fortunately, in the Philips menu, we find quite a few functions to improve these aspects, so we immediately proceeded to calibration to see what could be squeezed out of this screen.

We tested the TCL C8L in the best factory mode available in the TV’s menu for image fidelity. That’s of course Filmmaker Mode, which only arrived in this brand’s software relatively recently (a year ago in the "K" series). It allows the average user to achieve quite decent colour reproduction straight out of the box, though it is certainly not perfectly tuned. Looking at the unit’s out-of-the-box white balance — in both SDR and HDR material — the red component was clearly lacking, which made the image noticeably cooler and slightly shift towards blue‑green tints. The issue of brightness management also looks ambiguous, as we mentioned earlier. While the gamma linearity in SDR content is really good and stays steadily at the reference value of 2.4, the situation in HDR is much worse. Tracking the EOTF curve clearly shows the TV has a noticeably boosted brightness across the entire range, so the final image can be excessively bright and inconsistent with the creators’ intent, and this is in a mode that by definition should avoid that. Of course, as with every sample in our lab, we subjected this one to professional calibration, and you can find the results below.

After professional calibration, it is evident that the PUS7000 responds well to image adjustments. In this price range, this is not at all a given. The effects should be evaluated in two scenarios, depending on what content we plan to watch. SDR performs the best. After our adjustments, the picture looks really good. Most colour errors have fallen below level 3, which is the threshold at which distortions usually begin to be visible to the naked eye in measurements. Films, series, sports, and regular television look natural, without unpleasant deviations. If someone mainly watches classic channels or streams in HD quality, the difference after calibration will be noticeable immediately. However, it must be clearly stated that the PUS7000 is still not a television suited for reasonable HDR, and calibration changes very little in this regard. The reason lies in the hardware: the colours remain too unsaturated. The television lacks solutions to expand the colour gamut, such as PFS filters or a quantum dot layer, so the panel simply cannot display the intense colours required by HDR. This is most apparent in reds, which still look pale. This limitation cannot be bypassed with menu settings, as it stems from the design of the backlighting and the panel itself.

As you can see, the results of a professional calibration of the TCL C8L are truly promising, thanks to the comprehensive calibration controls the manufacturer has provided in the menu. Above all, we managed to fully correct the white balance, eliminating the red deficiency, so the image finally stopped drifting into unwanted cool tones. After that adjustment, the errors in the ColorChecker test fell to near-reference values, consistently sitting below a Delta E threshold of 2, i.e. below the visibility threshold for the human eye.

If test patterns look so perfect, you may ask us why the final score in this category is lower. The answer lies in the brightness management described earlier. Although the menu includes sliders that let you precisely straighten the EOTF curve on synthetic signals, when faced with real film material (I recommend enabling the EOTF filter when watching films), it becomes clear that the TV, in most scenarios, still responds to HDR metadata in its own way. As a result, the picture can be slightly over-bright and not faithful to the filmmakers' intent, and it is precisely for this lack of consistency with real films that we had to take a few points off the C8L's score.

The PUS7000 handles digital image processing quite well. The distortion reduction feature deserves praise, as it effectively smooths out unwanted tonal transitions even at low settings. However, it has a drawback: if applied too aggressively, it can introduce undesirable artifacts on the screen. Therefore, it would be a good idea to experiment with this setting to find a happy medium between a smooth image and detail clarity.

The upscaling, or enhancing the quality of lower-resolution materials to 4K, is adequate. The image after processing is very "soft," which is typical for nearly all Philips televisions. The edges are plastic and smooth, making the image look cohesive. If it feels too soft for someone, the sharpness slider in the menu can always be adjusted to achieve a more pronounced effect.

This year the C8 series and the higher-end models have probably received the biggest and most eagerly awaited upgrade in TCL’s history, and it concerns digital picture processing. The C8L is the entry-level model in the manufacturer's line-up that has been equipped with the latest flagship chip MediaTek Pentonic 800 (listed in the menu as MT9655). It is thanks to its computing power that the feature called "Gradual Smoothing" finally works as it should. The algorithm effectively removes unwanted posterization (ugly tonal transitions / colour banding) from the image, doing so intelligently enough that it does not degrade the sharpness of other details.

The processor also handles upscaling lower-resolution content to 4K very well. Although assessing this element can be largely academic, because the differences between today’s TVs in this class are very subtle. The most important takeaway is that TCL finally has nothing to be ashamed of compared with the competition.

In this respect, we actually have no good news. It might seem that the biggest downside is the lack of a 120 Hz panel, but in this price range, that is actually the norm, and it is hard to expect anything more. However, the worst part is that the television does not have any features to improve motion smoothness. There is a lack of any supporting systems, both in films and in sports. We must come to terms with the fact that the image on the PUS7000 is processed "raw". This means that during dynamic scenes or fast camera movements, the motion can appear choppy or unclear. We do not have the option to enable any smoothers that would reduce this effect.

The TCL C8L is equipped with a fast panel with a native refresh rate of 144 Hz. This specification will be most appreciated by demanding PC gamers, while most users, who rely on consoles or TV broadcasts, will make use of a stable 120 Hz. It is at 120 Hz that the motion-processing algorithms take care of image processing (in films, series and sports). In the TV menu you'll find a "Motion Clarity" tab that allows you to tailor the motion smoothing to your own preferences. The algorithms cope well with both cinematic productions at 24 or 30 frames per second and with fast-paced sports broadcasts at 50 or 60 frames per second, ensuring appropriate smoothness.

Although the PUS7000 is not marketed as a gaming television, it does not perform as poorly in this category as one might expect. While it is true that we won’t find support for 120 Hz refresh rates, which is understandable at this price point, the manufacturer has ensured several important features that genuinely enhance the gaming experience on consoles. The most important of these are the VRR and ALLM technologies. VRR is responsible for synchronising the screen with the number of frames generated by the console. This prevents the image from tearing and keeps it consistent even during sudden drops in frame rate while gaming. In contrast, ALLM is a solution that automatically switches the television to the lowest latency mode as soon as it detects a signal from the console. All these parameters are easily accessible thanks to the Game Bar feature. This is a special control panel for gamers that can be summoned on screen at any time. It allows for a quick preview of the current settings and connection status without interrupting gameplay, which is a very convenient solution.

For gamers – and especially for owners of powerful PCs and several consoles simultaneously – the TCL C8L is a true monster. It is the first model in this manufacturer's lineup to feature as many as four full HDMI 2.1 ports with a maximum bandwidth of 48 Gbps. This is directly attributable to the use of the new Pentonic 800 processor, which we discussed earlier. Additionally, the television seamlessly supports practically every gaming feature. We have an automatic game mode (ALLM) that reduces latency to minimal levels, and full frame synchronization (VRR) operating in an impressive range of up to 288 Hz. There's also talk of standards such as G-Sync or FreeSync from Nvidia and AMD. When it comes to display standards, there are no compromises either: the C8L offers complete support for HDR formats in games, including gaming Dolby Vision and the HGiG profile. We can conveniently manage all of these features from a very readable player bar (Game Bar), which we can personalise to our own preferences. From a purely gaming perspective, there's really nothing to fault the C8L on – well, maybe aside from the previously mentioned slight blurring. But other than that? It's a no-nonsense machine for gamers.