Samsung Neo QLED QN90D / QN92D vs TCL C7L

During synthetic tests, Samsung QN92D displayed its incredible capabilities in terms of brightness. The graphs clearly indicate that the television can achieve an impressive 2000 nits, giving it a solid power base to compete with the best models on the market. Such a result places it at the forefront, especially in the context of displaying HDR content, where brightness plays a crucial role. However, what happens when we transfer the tests to real film scenes? Under favourable conditions, such as the first scene from the film Life of Pi or the last scene where the image is entirely flooded with light, Samsung QN92D can achieve nearly laboratory results, impressing with its brightness. The situation looks different, however, when small, bright objects appear on a dark background, as in the fourth scene from the film Sicario. In such cases, the television does not perform as well – brightness drops several times, and the maximum values under the best conditions are around 600 NITS. Similar to the case with contrast, these limitations arise from the use of an aggressive local dimming algorithm. This algorithm aims to reduce the 'halo' effect around bright objects on a dark background, but often at the expense of overall brightness. As a result, while the television excels in brightly lit scenes, its ability to display full brightness is limited when it comes to small, vivid elements.

The TCL C7L is, without doubt, an extremely bright TV. In synthetic tests using static test patterns it can reach peak brightness of around 2800 nits. That's a truly phenomenal result, given the price bracket it occupies. Unfortunately, measurements with real film scenes are not as spectacular as the white-square tests. Brightness in real HDR footage on the C7L falls to around 1200 nits. That's still very good, because the vast majority of modern films are graded to that level. However, when small, pinpoint elements appear on screen, the brightness of those details drops dramatically, even to around 400 nits, which reduces the HDR impact. The TV does this deliberately to preserve black levels and avoid excessive blooming. This is somewhat understandable, but it also shows that Mini LED technology is not completely without compromises in this respect. As for the HDR effect itself, alongside brightness the key factor is, of course, colour. Thanks to the use of new 'super' quantum dots, the colours are simply superb and among the best on the market. The TV is able to achieve very wide coverage of the BT.2020 and DCI-P3 colour gamuts, matching the best RGB Mini-LED screens with ease. Best of all, the C7L can maintain such high colour saturation regardless of the scene being displayed, which is often problematic in competing RGB Mini-LED TVs.

The best mode that consistently reproduces colours on the Samsung QN92D is, as it has been for years, the Filmmaker mode. Although it generally offers decent colour quality, it is not without significant issues. Let’s start with the analysis of images in HD/SDR quality. The biggest challenge here is white balance – the graphs show considerable instability, with a pronounced red dominance, making the image too warm. This distortion causes shades to be unnaturally shifted towards warmer tones, which can negatively affect the perception of materials with natural colours. The contrast, based on the gamma graph, although not the worst, remains far from ideal, impacting the overall image quality, especially in darker scenes.

This problem persists with 4K materials, such as series or movies of higher quality. In this case, the white balance also proves faulty, with noticeable deficiencies in blue and red colour, leading to tonal shifts. Tests using the Colour Checker tool confirm these issues – all colours tend to shift towards yellow tones, further distorting the natural appearance of the image. Although the Filmmaker mode is one of the best available modes for watching cinematic content, it still requires improvements, especially concerning colour accuracy and white balance.

When it comes to out-of-the-box colours, what's new in TCL TVs, including the C7L model, is the addition of a picture mode called Filmmaker Mode. This is significant because such a mode was not previously available from this manufacturer. As the name suggests, this setting is meant to present the picture with the filmmaker's full intent. After our tests we can confirm that it is, without doubt, the best built-in mode on this TV if you want faithful colour reproduction straight out of the box. However, we certainly wouldn't say it's perfect. Like most devices on the market, this C7L also had some factory calibration errors. The white balance in Filmmaker mode drifted towards a slightly greenish-yellow tint, caused mainly by an excess of the green component and a noticeable shortfall in blue. Of course, this won't be a major drawback for the average viewer, but if you care about perfect whites, natural skin tones and getting the full potential out of the structure of those new "super" quantum dots, the TV really needs professional calibration.

After calibration, the Filmmaker mode on the Samsung QN92D television shows significant improvement, particularly in terms of SDR content. The white balance has been greatly enhanced – the previous colour misalignment and dominance of red have been eliminated, resulting in a more natural colour reproduction. In terms of brightness, although the gamma chart did not require significant adjustments, it has been stabilised, which affects overall picture quality.

Regarding high-quality materials, the white balance has also improved in this case. However, it is important to note the contrast. The EOTF curve, which illustrates values in this area, initially seems correct. However, when we look at the details, the television struggles to maintain appropriate contrast in film materials. The EOTF curve reveals certain discrepancies, suggesting that despite advancements, there are still areas needing improvement in this aspect. The television still strives for excellence in contrast reproduction. One advantage of this television is colour saturation. Skin tones are rendered very well, and although some colours can be slightly oversaturated, the final effect looks truly appealing – the colours appear rich and vibrant.

Despite some shortcomings in contrast, after calibration, the Filmmaker mode on the Samsung QN92D offers excellent picture quality, with natural colour reproduction, making it a great choice for watching films.

After professional calibration we managed to greatly improve the situation in the factory Filmmaker Mode. After our corrections, the errors in the ColorChecker test and across the wide colour gamut fell below the threshold of human perception, that is below a value of 3, which is a very good result. The TCL C7L definitely benefits from such a procedure in terms of colour fidelity, and it's hard to deny. Brightness management for HDR content looks a little worse after calibration, though. As I described earlier, even though we set this model up correctly, when you play real film scenes the TV can handle its brightness in a rather peculiar way. It often brightens some elements on screen contrary to the creator's intent, which is clearly visible in the EOTF traces measured from specific films. Despite this defect, or rather a specific characteristic of the television, one thing you can't fault is that after calibration the C7L was able to reproduce colours accurately.

Let’s check how the Samsung QN92D television performs with tonal transitions in very poor quality materials. The noise reduction feature demonstrates good effectiveness, improving the smoothness of tonal transitions even in challenging conditions. However, it should be noted that, as with other Samsung televisions, the effectiveness of this feature may lead to the removal of desirable elements, such as film grain, which can sometimes affect the authenticity of the image.

Regarding digital processing, the Samsung QN92D television also performs excellently. During testing, the image was presented very well, with the model shown in a natural and correct manner. Details such as branches in the background were reproduced with great precision, highlighting the television's ability to enhance the quality of low-resolution materials.

This can be seen as, to some extent, the Achilles' heel of the C7L. Unfortunately, this TV uses the older MediaTek Pentonic 700 chip, which has never been famed for outstanding digital image processing. You can clearly see that in the behaviour of the progressive smoothing function, the feature responsible for reducing jagged edges and removing digital noise. It simply performs very poorly. When set to low, its effectiveness is almost non-existent. The only small plus is that the algorithm does not further spoil the picture or blur details unnecessarily. Upscaling, that is scaling lower-resolution content to 4K, performs slightly better. It is simply adequate and does not stand out against the competition. There is no denying that the C7L would benefit greatly in this regard if the manufacturer opted for the newer Pentonic 800 processor, which is now appearing in an increasing number of rival models.

The Samsung QN92D television is equipped with a 144 Hz panel; however, when watching content using the smoothness feature, the maximum refresh rate is 120 Hz. This means that both gamers and those who watch a lot of sports will be satisfied with the picture quality. It is also worth mentioning the available image enhancement options, such as the "blur and judder reduction" feature, which allows users to adjust the smoothness to individual preferences on a 10-point scale. Blur reduction is responsible for increasing the sharpness of quickly moving objects, while judder reduction smooths motion, eliminating the "stutter" effect. Thanks to these advanced settings, optimal visual experiences can be achieved, making the Samsung QN92D ideal for both dynamic scenes and intense gaming sessions.

In terms of motion blur, the television performs really well, and it is hard to find anything to criticise. The only comment we might have is a slight overshoot effect noticeable on dark backgrounds during our test with "Ufoludkiem". Nevertheless, with the advanced smoothness settings, the Samsung QN92D is perfect for both dynamic scenes and intense gaming sessions.

The TCL C7L uses a native 4K panel with a 144 Hz refresh rate, which at lower resolutions when connected to a PC can even reach up to 288 Hz. These are, of course, very high figures and impressive on paper, but bear in mind that almost all the dynamic content you’ll watch on this TV will still run at around a maximum of 120 Hz. To rein in that motion, the TV’s menu includes a motion-smoothing system called "Motion Clarity". It offers several preset modes, including a user mode that we strongly recommend you set manually using our tried-and-tested guides on our YouTube channel. There are two key sliders available. The first, "Blur Reduction", is responsible for cutting motion blur and improving sharpness in dynamic 60-fps material, such as sports broadcasts. The second slider, "Flicker Reduction", lets you add artificial frames to films and series shot in cinematic 24 or 30 frames per second. This, of course, can completely eliminate the irritating judder that appears during camera movement.

The Samsung QN92/QN90 television is an excellent choice for avid gamers, worthy of the highest recommendations. This model offers virtually all the features available on the market in terms of gaming, making gameplay even more exciting. One of its key features is the 120 Hz panel, which provides exceptional motion smoothness, vital during dynamic action games. The television also has low input lag, ensuring lightning-fast responses to player commands. Additionally, technologies such as VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) and ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode) adjust the refresh rate and automatically switch the television to game mode, enhancing the gaming experience even further. An additional advantage is the Xbox app, which allows playing favourite titles directly on the television, eliminating the need for a console. This is a typical feature of Samsung televisions, which makes them unique in the gaming world.

Auto Motion Plus Game is a feature that truly deserves praise for Samsung. It is a motion smoother that performs excellently in games, allowing for the perception of a higher frame rate – a 30 frames per second image looks like 45, and 60 Hz becomes close to 90 Hz. Importantly, this feature does not introduce significant lag (input lag does not exceed 25 ms), so it does not negatively affect gaming comfort, unlike many other motion smoothers available on the market. As a result, players can enjoy a significantly smoother image without compromising on responsiveness.

When it comes to gaming, the TCL C7L is simply an outstanding TV for players. Thanks to two HDMI 2.1 ports with full 48 Gbps bandwidth, you get access to all the key features required by console owners and powerful PC rigs. There’s a well-working ALLM mode with very low input lag and VRR frame synchronisation that operates over an impressive range from 48 to 288 Hz. Importantly, unlike some rivals, TCL has properly implemented the console HDR10 HGIG profile and supports Dolby Vision in games. The package is completed by a very well designed gamer panel, the Game Bar, which even lets you edit its appearance and change the theme so it perfectly matches the style of your console.

The only thing you can, and even should, criticise is that the TV offers only two full-spec HDMI 2.1 ports, while the other two are older HDMI 2.0. That creates quite a logistical problem. Why? Because one of the fast ports also handles the return audio channel eARC. In practice this means that if you connect a soundbar or home cinema system to the TV, you’ll be left with just one free HDMI 2.1 socket. If you have two consoles at home, or a console and a powerful PC, unfortunately you’ll have to give something up or keep juggling cables at the back of the case while trying to maintain convenient control of the audio system.