TCL C655 Pro vs Samsung OLED S95H (S99H) (QD-OLED)

In the HDR effect quality category, the television TCL 655 PRO demonstrates decent capabilities, achieving a peak brightness of 550 nits. This allows for enjoyment of the HDR effects, which is particularly evident in scenes such as the first from the film Life of Pi or the last frame from The Meg. Nevertheless, the limited number of dimming zones causes some issues. While in bright scenes the television performs better than its lower model, in more demanding scenes, such as the second and fourth scenes from Sicario 2, it struggles. The dimming algorithm aims to achieve deep blacks, but at the cost of brightness – resulting in a drop in brightness of even half during those moments. In these more challenging scenes with small elements, it is hard to find any praise, and the HDR effect resembles more of an SDR. Regardless, the colour gamut coverage deserves commendation, which, like in the version without the PRO suffix, is at a very good level.

When it comes to brightness alone, the S99H is an astronomically bright TV. Its peak brightness in film scenes can exceed 2800 nits. Whatever the scene, you can count on powerful HDR effects that are almost blinding, exactly what you expect from a top-tier screen. It is the nature of OLED panels that they cannot sustain the same extreme brightness in very bright, full‑screen frames as they can with small highlights, but the results are still excellent. In a bright scene from the film The Meg, the sun still exceeded 2200 nits. That means the S99H managed to sustain higher brightness than most Mini LED displays on the market. In terms of brightness, the S99H is currently the best OLED TV we have tested.

Colour gamut coverage

The S99H also handles colour extremely well, which is a direct result of the QD-OLED panel used here. Whether the test scenarios were synthetic test patterns or measurements taken with film material playing in the background, the results remained at a very high level. The S99H easily covers almost 100% of the DCI-P3 gamut, and for the more demanding BT.2020 colour space it reaches nearly 90%. That is absolute top-tier performance. These results match what we have seen in the new SQD-Mini-LED screens, and in real film scenes even outperform RGB Mini LED displays.

Each of our television tests is conducted in film mode, which usually offers the best colour reproduction. Nonetheless, even this mode is not free from issues, as we noted in the model TCL 655 PRO.

In the case of HD content, the white balance distinctly shifts towards red, and this effect becomes particularly noticeable in a scene from Star Wars, where the white elements of the scenery take on a pink hue. For 4K HDR material, the situation is better, but there is a noticeable tendency to excessively emphasise the colour blue. As a result, the picture may appear artificially sharp, which proves to be uncomfortable for the eye over a longer period. The brightness characteristics also leave much to be desired. The Gamma graph indicates serious difficulties with excessive brightening, causing the overall presentation to appear washed out. Additionally, the EOTF curve reveals significant problems with reproducing very small elements – they are overly dimmed, as we detailed in the paragraph concerning HDR effects.

Samsung offers a whole host of picture modes and features, but as usual we recommend choosing Filmmaker Mode, especially if you want the most faithful rendering of the filmmakers' intent. Out of the box the TV is tuned very well, although it has minor shortcomings. These are mainly a slight drift in the white balance in SDR content and a slightly low gamma. As a result, in darker viewing conditions the picture can be a little too bright compared with the reference gamma of 2.4, which is the standard for watching films with the lights off. These are, of course, minor points, because overall colour reproduction remains at a very good level and the errors in the ColorChecker measurements are not large. However, we know that with a screen of the S99H's class you can, and arguably should, expect even more, which is why we carried out a professional calibration.

After calibrating the television TCL 655 PRO, a noticeable improvement in white balance is evident, where the tendency for the screen to have an excessive pink hue has been completely eliminated, which was previously visible in the factory mode. The image has taken on more natural tones, especially in white and light elements, positively affecting the overall perception of the picture. Regarding brightness characteristics, the Gamma chart has also improved – the screen is no longer overly bright, which previously made the image appear washed out. However, there are still some issues with the EOTF curve, which are difficult to eliminate due to the design of the television and its limited number of backlight zones. These limitations prevent achieving perfect results in this regard. Nevertheless, despite this minor flaw, the overall effect after calibration is truly outstanding, providing high picture quality and very good colour reproduction.

After professional calibration, FILMMAKER mode looks practically perfect. Because Samsung offers a rich set of advanced calibration features, we were able to fine-tune the colours to an almost perfect level. Above all, we managed to even out the white balance and the gamma curve, which resulted in noticeably improved contrast and proper image modelling. In this tuned picture profile there really isn't a single thing to criticise or call a flaw. After calibration, the S99H can deliver an essentially reference-quality image.

The TCL 655 PRO television performs quite well with tonal transitions in lower quality materials. The "Gradual Smoothing" function at a low setting effectively smooths out tonal transitions, but this comes at the expense of losing some important details, such as the texture of objects. One positive aspect is that it does not negatively affect film grain, which helps maintain the natural appearance of the image.

In the context of digital processing, the television adds artificial sharpness. This may appeal to users who prefer a more vivid image. However, those who like a softer, subtler look may find this a drawback. Additionally, a downside is the cropping of the image due to overscan, which limits the field of view and trims the edges of the frame. This can be problematic in certain scenes - for example, news tickers.

The proprietary Samsung NQ4 Gen3 processor is responsible for upscaling and digital image processing. It handles upscaling lower-resolution material to 4K very well. The picture is clear without looking artificial or overly sharp. The only rather specific drawback appears with very old material recorded at 480p or below. In such cases the TV can slightly crop the edges of the picture.

The processor also copes quite well with artefacts visible in lower bit-rate material, for example heavily compressed YouTube videos. The noise reduction function effectively smooths the image and reduces posterisation, but it operates quite aggressively. It can remove not only unwanted artefacts but also some fine detail, and even natural film grain. Wanting to preserve the source material as faithfully as possible, we decided not to use it. However, if someone prefers a clean, as-smooth-as-possible picture over retaining every detail, it may prove useful.

The TCL C655 PRO television is equipped with a 4K panel with a refresh rate of 60 Hz, making it best suited for watching films. Additionally, the "Flicker Reduction" feature allows users to adjust the smoothness of the image, giving them the choice between a smoother motion and a cinematic, frame-by-frame effect. Moreover, the television performs well with lower resolution materials, such as Full HD and 2K, offering a refresh rate of 120 Hz, which will certainly appeal to gamers who can enjoy a smoother picture at the expense of lower resolution.

Another major advantage of organic OLED panels is their excellent motion handling. Thanks to the pixels' virtually instantaneous response time, the Samsung S99H exhibits virtually no motion blur. Fast-moving objects do not produce visible halos or trailing outlines, so the television performs very well for both watching sport and gaming. One characteristic of OLED screens compared with LCDs, however, is the way they render low-frame-rate material. With very slow camera movement the image can appear noticeably more 'choppy'. This can, however, be fairly effectively mitigated using a frame-interpolation system. Samsung lets you adjust judder reduction and blur reduction separately, so it's easy to find a compromise between smoother motion and preserving the cinematic character of the content.

The TCL C655 PRO television offers an almost perfect set of features for gamers, supporting all the key technologies that significantly enhance the gaming experience. The ALLM feature automatically switches the television to low latency mode, resulting in improved responsiveness and minimal signal delay – particularly important in dynamic titles. VRR synchronises the screen refresh rate with the number of frames generated by the console, eliminating screen tearing and thus guaranteeing smoother gameplay.

Support for Dolby Vision in gaming mode allows for more detailed colour and contrast reproduction in games that support this format, while the Game Bar provides quick access to essential settings such as response time and latency level. Unfortunately, the model does not support 4K resolution at 120 Hz, which may disappoint the most demanding gamers. However, for those willing to forgo 4K, support for Full HD and 2K at 120 Hz delivers exceptionally smooth visuals, presenting an attractive alternative for enthusiasts of higher refresh rates.

The Samsung S99H is also a great TV for gamers. It offers almost every possible and useful feature... well, except for the obvious lack of Dolby Vision for the Xbox console. It's equipped with four full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 ports that offer the full 48 Gbps. This lets you use VRR frame-rate synchronization and the automatic game mode (ALLM) without any problems. This year Samsung also has no issues properly supporting HGiG, so HDR setup on a console is quick and straightforward. Samsung's TVs are also known for interesting extras. In the Game Bar menu you'll find options to add an on-screen crosshair, enlarge the minimap or change the displayed image's aspect ratio (PC).

Particularly noteworthy is Samsung's Game Motion Plus feature. It's Samsung's proprietary motion-smoothing system that uses interpolation to increase smoothness in games. Input lag then rises to around 40 to 50 ms (depending on the strength of the setting), which is an excellent result compared with the competition. The system makes gameplay noticeably smoother. So if someone has their eye on a demanding game (e.g. GTA 6 😉) that runs on a console at only 30 frames per second, the S99H can display it much more smoothly than competing models.