TCL C655 Pro vs TCL C7L

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.

TCL C7L is undoubtedly an extremely bright television. In synthetic tests on static images, it can achieve peak brightness of around 2800 nits. This is an exceptionally phenomenal result, considering the price range it occupies. Unfortunately, tests of real film scenes are not quite as spectacular as measurements of white squares. Brightness in actual HDR shots drops to around 1200 nits in the C7L model. This is still a very good result, as this is the value to which the vast majority of contemporary films are mastered. However, when small, point-like elements appear on the screen, the brightness of these details drastically decreases – even down to around 400 nits – which diminishes the HDR effect somewhat. The television does this deliberately to maintain a better level of black and to avoid a giant light bloom. This is somewhat explainable, but it also shows that Mini LED technology is not entirely uncompromising in this regard. As for the HDR effect itself – alongside brightness, colours are of course key here. And those, thanks to the use of new "super" quantum dots, are simply outstanding and among the best on the market. The television can achieve about 90% coverage of the ultra-wide BT.2020 colour gamut and 99% of the DCI-P3 gamut, easily matching the best RGB MINI-LED screens. Best of all, the C7L can maintain such a high saturation of colours regardless of the scene being displayed, which often poses a challenge for competing RGB Mini-LED televisions.

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.

When it comes to colours straight out of the box, a new feature in TCL televisions – including the C7L model – is the presence of a new picture mode called Filmmaker Mode. This is significant news, as such a mode was not available from this manufacturer before. By design, as indicated by the name itself, the image in this setting is meant to be presented with the full intention of the film's creator. After our tests, we can confirm that it is undoubtedly the best built-in mode on this television if you care about faithful colour reproduction straight out of the box. However, we certainly wouldn't say it is perfect. Like most devices on the market, this C7L also had its factory flaws. The white balance in Filmmaker Mode tended to shift towards a slightly greenish-yellow hue, primarily caused by an excess of green and a clear deficiency of blue. Of course, for the average viewer, this won't be a drastic flaw, but if you care about perfect whites, natural skin tones, and unlocking the full potential of those new "super" quantum dots, then the television is crying out for 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 conducting a professional calibration, we were able to significantly improve the situation in the factory mode Filmmaker Mode. Following our adjustments, errors in the ColorChecker test and across the entire wide colour gamut fell below the threshold of human perception – that is, below a value of 3, which is truly an excellent result. The TCL C7L definitely benefits from such an operation in terms of colour fidelity, and this is difficult to dispute. However, the management of brightness in HDR content post-calibration does not look as good. As I described earlier – even though we set up this model appropriately, when we turn on real film scenes on the television, it manages its brightness in quite a peculiar way. It often highlights certain elements on the screen contrary to the creator's intention, which can be clearly seen in the EOTF graphs measured in specific films. Despite this defect – or rather the specific trait of this television – one cannot deny that after calibration, the C7L was able to reproduce colours completely accurately.

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.

This point could be called, in a sense, the Achilles' heel of the C7L model. Unfortunately, this television uses an older chipset from MediaTek – the Pentonic 700 – which has never been known for outstanding digital picture processing. This is clearly visible in the performance of the smoothing function, which is responsible for reducing jagged edges and removing digital noise. It simply works very poorly – when set to a low level, its effectiveness is practically nonexistent. A small credit should perhaps be given here for the fact that the algorithm does not additionally ruin the picture or blur details forcibly. The upscaling, which is the scaling of the image from lower resolutions to 4K, fares a bit better. It is simply adequate and does not stand out in any particular way against the competition. However, it cannot be denied that the C7L would greatly benefit in this aspect if the manufacturer decided to use the newer Pentonic 800 processor, which is now found in an increasing number of competing models.

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.

TCL C7L features a native 4K panel with a refresh rate of 144 Hz, which at lower resolutions – when using a PC – can even ramp up to 288 Hz. These are, of course, very high values and commendable on paper, but in everyday life, it is worth remembering that almost all dynamic content you display on this television will still rotate around a maximum of 120 Hz. To tame this dynamism, the television's menu includes a motion smoothing system called "Motion Clarity." It offers several predefined modes, including a user mode, which we definitely recommend setting manually using our tried-and-tested guides on our YouTube channel. There, we have two key sliders at our disposal. The first one, "Motion Blur Reduction," is responsible for reducing blurring and improving sharpness in dynamic 60-frame materials, such as sports broadcasts. Meanwhile, the second slider, "Flicker Reduction," allows for the addition of artificial frames in films and series recorded at cinematic 24 or 30 frames per second. This certainly eliminates the irritating stutter in images during camera movement shots.

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.

When it comes to gaming, the TCL C7L is simply an outstanding television for gamers. With the presence of two full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 ports at 48 Gbps, it provides access to all the key features that console and high-end PC owners require. It has a well-functioning ALLM mode with very low input lag and VRR frame synchronization that operates in an impressive range from 48 up to 288 Hz. Importantly, unlike some competitors, TCL has ensured a proper implementation of the console HDR10 HGIG profile and support for Dolby Vision in games. This is complemented by a very well-designed player panel, known as the Game Bar, which even allows you to customise its appearance and change the theme to perfectly match the style of your console.

The only thing that can – and indeed should – be critiqued here is the fact that the television offers only two full HDMI 2.1 ports, while the other two are older HDMI 2.0. This creates quite a significant logistical problem. Why? Because one of those fast ports also supports the eARC audio return channel. In practice, this means that if you connect a soundbar or home cinema system to the television, you will only have one free HDMI 2.1 port left. If you have two consoles or a console and a powerful computer at home, unfortunately, you'll have to give something up or frequently juggle cables at the back of the unit while maintaining convenient control over your audio system.