Sony Bravia 8 MK2 vs TCL C9K

Thanks to the new QD-OLED panel, the Sony Bravia 8 II can achieve astronomically high brightness levels of around 2000 nits, translating into nearly reference-quality for films and series recorded in HDR format. In test materials such as Life of Pi and Sicario 2, the effect is truly captivating – details in bright areas of the image remain perfectly visible, and night scenes enchant with depth and contrast. However, it is not perfect. Compared to its fiercest competitors, the Bravia 8 II shows a noticeable drop in brightness during full-screen, very bright scenes. When comparing maximum peak luminance with 100% white brightness in HDR mode, the Bravia 8 II appears even two or three times dimmer than LG G5 or Samsung S95F models. This was especially evident in a scene from the film The Meg – the screen became noticeably darker than in competing televisions. Despite this shortcoming, the results of the Bravia 8 II still place it among the top of the market. It deserves praise for its absolutely top-tier colour gamut coverage – nearly 100% DCI-P3 and close to 90% BT.2020. These parameters allow for fully extracting the potential of HDR content and providing experiences akin to those in a cinema within the comfort of home.

As we mentioned with black and contrast – the C9K makes a huge impression in synthetic tests. Our measurements showed that on a screen 10% filled with white, the television is capable of squeezing out... 4000 nits of brightness! It sounds cosmic, but – and here unfortunately the pattern repeats – the numbers say one thing, and practice another. In real film scenes, the situation looks different. In the best case, when the light effects occupy a large part of the image and the local dimming algorithm doesn't have to think too hard about what to do with thousands of zones – the result is really quite good. At that point, the C9K can reach about 1500 nits, which provides a pleasant, intense flash and can indeed make a positive impression.

The problem begins with smaller elements – such as stars in the sky, the moon, or individual reflections. That's when the proverbial cat comes out of the bag: the algorithms are not yet refined, and brightness drops even to 400–500 nits. This is a huge difference compared to the potential of 4000 nits that we saw in laboratory tests. Why does this happen? Most likely, the television tries to protect the black and minimise the halo effect around bright objects. Unfortunately, this comes at the cost of details – some of the intricate details simply disappear, and the scene loses its nature.

Straight out of the box, the Bravia 8 II performs quite well. In the best IMAX® Enhanced mode, the television is able to render colours in a pleasant and natural way, although “good” doesn’t mean “best in class” here. The white balance definitely needs adjustment – skin tones tend to lean towards slightly pink/cool hues, both in SDR and HDR materials. We also noticed that the characteristic of the EOTF curve reveals a certain tendency to brighten the darkest parts of the image. This is probably due to the manufacturer’s desire to highlight as many details as possible even in deep shadows. Is this a good approach? It’s hard to say definitively, but we know one thing – it is not an ideal solution.

For colour tests, we once again reached for the Filmmaker mode – a new feature in TCL televisions for 2025. And although the direction itself is a step in the right direction, the execution leaves much to be desired. The white balance in SDR content turned out to be too warm – there was an excess of red. Conversely, in HDR, it swung in the opposite direction: the image became excessively blue. The Colour Checker test revealed quite a few colour inaccuracies that were noticeable to the naked eye. An even bigger problem turned out to be what we mentioned above – managing brightness. Regardless of whether we were watching SDR or HDR content, the image had a tendency to blow out the entire scene, giving it an unnatural, almost grotesque character. Therefore, it is hard to call this a 'director’s mode' – because the director surely has never seen such an image.

After calibration, the excessive cooling of the image caused by an overly strong boost of the blue colour was mainly eliminated. The reds have become deeper, and skin tones have taken on a natural, healthy appearance. The actors, who previously seemed "cold," now look much livelier and more convincing on screen. However, one thing has not changed – the analysis of the EOTF curve still shows that the Bravia 8 II has a tendency to brighten the darkest areas of the image. It is difficult to determine whether this is a deliberate method used by the manufacturer or a result of the panel and software design. In practice, this means that scenes which the creators intended to leave in deep darkness can reveal more details than anticipated. Despite this, the image quality after calibration is clearly improved – warm, natural colours and realistic skin tones make viewing on the Bravia 8 II simply more pleasant to the eye.

After calibration, we finally managed to tame the white balance – and it immediately translated into a more natural image. Colours finally started to look as they should, and the overall presentation was incomparably better than with the factory settings. In other words – it’s worth taking a moment to improve this, as the gain is really significant. The gamma responsible for managing brightness was also brought under control in SDR content, and the effect was more than satisfactory. Unfortunately, when we switched on the HDR material, the situation quickly became complicated. No matter how we set the local dimming, the television had a tendency to do what it pleased with the image – either overexposing the whole picture or dimming the darkest parts too much. Just like we saw in the scene from the film Billy Lynn. Colour-wise, the improvement after calibration makes a great impression, but managing brightness in HDR remains the Achilles' heel of the C9K and constitutes a technological limitation.

Upscaling and digital image processing are a true showcase of the capabilities of the Bravia 8 II. Sony has long been regarded as a master in this field, and here it only reaffirms its reputation. The proprietary XR processor can extract nearly the maximum from lower-resolution materials – whether it's television or an old DVD film, the image appears clearer, with more detail and better depth. Of course, if we feed it exceptionally low-quality material (like our archival photo with the Model), it won't work wonders, but in everyday viewing, it's hard to find fault with it.

The gentle gradation feature also performs excellently. In the "Medium" setting, it effectively smooths tonal transitions, eliminating banding in coloured and grey gradients, while not destroying the film grain or fine details in the image. It is this balance between subtlety and effectiveness that keeps Sony televisions among the best on the market in this category.

The digital image processing in TCL C9K is rather mediocre. The tone transition smoothing feature is supposedly present, but activating it hardly makes any difference – colour banding is still visible, and it can inadvertently highlight elements we would prefer to hide, such as textures of objects. Fortunately, it does not remove film grain, but that's scant consolation considering the effects are still poor. Thus, it's hard to recommend using this option.

On the other hand, image scaling performs significantly better. Lower quality materials look quite decent – characters and backgrounds are represented clearly, although of course, with sources like 576p, the limitations of the physics cannot be disguised. Sometimes, there's characteristic aliasing of objects, but that's due to the source itself, not the algorithm. A plus for the fact that there are no overscan issues – the image is neither artificially cropped nor enlarged.

The smoothness of motion is practically a closed topic in the case of the Bravia 8 II. The OLED with a refresh rate of 120 Hz naturally provides a very clear, sharp image in dynamic scenes, so it's hard to complain about anything here. However, one of the best motion smoothing systems on the market truly deserves special praise. They allow precise adjustment of film smoothness to one’s own preferences – from gentle smoothing to almost a “theatrical” effect – without the risk of artificial jumps, tearing of the image, or annoying artifacts. This is one of those features that will be appreciated both during movie screenings and while watching sports.

Similar to the C8K, the C9K is also a really fast television – both figuratively and literally. On board, we have a 4K panel with a refresh rate of 144 Hz, and at lower resolutions, the panel can even ramp up to 288 Hz. Such speed translates into practice – while watching sports or playing games, the picture looks very smooth and clear. Additionally, in films, we get an extra motion smoothing feature called Motion Clarity, which allows you to adjust the smoothness to your own preferences – from the cinematic "stuttering" of frames to nearly theatrical smoothness.

Sony has really learnt its lessons from previous years and in the Bravia 8 II has prepared a package of features for gamers that is hard to describe in any other way than "almost perfect". We have everything you'd expect from equipment of this class – VRR, ALLM, Dolby Vision Gaming mode, HGiG, and even a handy Game Bar that allows you to quickly preview parameters and change settings without leaving the game. It's also worth noting how smoothly and seamlessly these features work – no delays, no strange stutters. You simply start the game, and everything looks as it should. Unfortunately, there are a few "buts". The manufacturer still only provides us with two full-bandwidth HDMI ports, so if someone has a console, PC, and another device such as a soundbar connected via eARC, it becomes a hassle of switching cables. It is also surprising that there is no support for 1440p resolution at 120 Hz – particularly important for Xbox gamers. Overall, however – this is one of those televisions that can easily be placed in the centre of a gaming lounge and enjoyed without significant compromises.

For gaming, the TCL C9K is a complete tool. Here we have two (out of four) HDMI 2.1 ports with full bandwidth of 48 Gbps, so all the key technologies work: VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) and ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode). Additionally, the manufacturer has included a really intuitive Game Bar, which allows you to quickly check the most important parameters and adjust settings without rummaging through the menu. Also worth noting is TCL's policy – the television does not shy away from any HDR formats, even in game mode. Whether it's HGiG or Dolby Vision for the Xbox Series S/X console – everything works as it should, giving the player a wide range of freedom.