TCL C7K / QM7K 55"-85" vs SHARP JP7765E

In terms of brightness, the models ranging from 55 to 85 inches in the C7K series are truly impressive. Under the best testing conditions, the 65-inch screen reached over 1200 nits, which in practice means that the brightest scenes can shine with almost cinematic brilliance. These are not just dry numbers from measurements – during viewings, the white skies, explosions or reflections of light on water looked extraordinarily striking, often giving the impression that the television exceeded its price class. This is particularly effective in scenes with large areas of brightness, where the screen is filled with intense light – such as in sunlit shots or during dynamic action sequences. Viewers seeking strong HDR will definitely be satisfied.

However, scenes that require precise control of the backlighting – with small points of light on a dark background – prove to be more challenging. Here, the C7K, despite having over a thousand zones, still dims the brightness to maintain deep blacks. The effect is that in films like Sicario 2 or Life of Pi, some details, like a distant lantern or single reflections, can be less distinct or blend into the surroundings. This is a compromise inherent in MiniLED technology – it provides excellent image depth and blacks at a level that ordinary LCDs do not offer, but this comes at the cost of limited visibility of the finest lights.

So how does the brightness of the Sharp JP7 fare in the most demanding titles? Honestly, at first, we were quite surprised. The television is capable of achieving over 1000 nits of brightness, which is an outstanding and rare result for a device costing just under 2000 PLN (for 55 inches). Watching bright, full-screen scenes, one might feel they are dealing with really good equipment. Unfortunately, though, we have to return to the problem we mentioned earlier regarding local dimming management. When small bright areas appear on a dark background (as in the test scenes from the films Life of Pi or Sicario 2), it is evident how poorly the JP7 handles zones. The television dims them almost to the maximum, crushing the entire HDR effect, which in such moments resembles a flat SDR image (less than 200 nits). This instability means that in demanding, contrast-heavy films, the image on the JP7 unfortunately loses its appeal.

As a consolation, it is worth noting that the panel has the potential for good colour display. It features a PFS (phosphor) filter, which allows for a solid 94% coverage of the DCI-P3 palette. The manufacturer calls its product a “QLED,” even though it is primarily based on the aforementioned PFS filter. Given the recent market battles of manufacturers over what may or may not be called QLED, we leave the question of the correctness of this naming to your assessment. However, it remains a fact that the potential for reproducing saturated colours in this panel is simply good.

A new feature in TCL televisions for 2025 is the long-awaited Filmmaker mode, which until now could be found in most competing brands. This is great news, as this mode is considered the one that most accurately represents the original vision of the creators and is often recommended by enthusiasts of good picture quality. Unfortunately – as is often the case – the mere presence of it does not guarantee perfection. The Filmmaker mode in the TCL C7K is not without its flaws. One can point out the incorrect white balance, particularly the slight dominance of blue, which resulted in cool, somewhat greyish skin tones. But that was not the biggest issue. The main complaint was excessive brightness exposure, which was clearly visible on gamma and EOTF charts. The image was simply too bright, at times even overexposed, which affected not only the texture of the scenes but also the overall viewing experience. Some details were simply lost, and the entire image looked like someone had slightly overdone the brightness slider. As always, we decided to see what could be squeezed out of it after calibration. And that’s where it started to get really interesting…

When it comes to out-of-the-box colours, the Sharp JP7 was tested in Film mode, which traditionally offers the most consistent image compared to the yellowed “Eco” mode or the glaring blue of the “Dynamic” mode. Although this is the best choice among the available settings, the results are still far from ideal. The white balance clearly lacked red and blue components, causing many scenes to take on an unnatural greenish tint. Another issue was the gamma – during full-screen scenes, the television provides excessive brightness, which completely diminishes its cinematic character. All of this resulted in colour reproduction errors, especially in shades of grey, which exceeded a value of Delta E 10. For reference: errors above 2-3 are already visible to the human eye, so we are dealing with a significant distortion of reality here.

In HDR mode, the situation is reversed, but not any better. Here, the blue colour dominates the white balance, which gives the image an unnatural, almost “retail” sharpness, reminiscent of aggressive demonstration modes. Furthermore, measurements of the EOTF curve emphasise the retail character of the image. The graph clearly shows that the television generates an image significantly brighter than the standards predict, resulting in an artificially boosted and unrealistic final effect. The Sharp JP7 is evidently trying to appear stronger than it actually is, but it does so at the cost of fidelity to the content.

After calibration, the TCL C7K presented itself in a really good light, especially when it comes to SDR content. We managed to precisely tune the white balance, colour gamut, and brightness characteristics so that the colour errors on the ColorChecker palette fell below a value of 2. For the uninitiated – this is nearly a perfect result, indicating that the image closely resembles what the creators intended. Unfortunately, it looked worse with 4K HDR content. While we slightly managed to calm the white balance and correct its previous errors, it still shows that the TV has some “MiniLED traits”, particularly in brightness management. When we checked how the C7K copes with the EOTF curve on real film scenes, rather than just synthetic test patterns, it turned out that the screen still tends to slightly brighten the entire image. This affects the overall impression – the black loses some depth, and the image becomes less contrasty than it should be. Despite these minor shortcomings in HDR content, the overall reception of materials – especially in SDR – is truly very good. After calibration, the C7K is capable of displaying an image that can successfully compete with much more expensive models. Good colour tuning, natural skin tones, and pleasant brightness ensure that movie sessions and everyday content viewing are more than satisfactory.

We subjected the JP7 to our standard calibration procedure and really... the television gained a new lease of life thanks to it, particularly with SDR content (YouTube, classic television, series, or older films). As a result of our precise adjustment of the white balance and stabilisation of the gamma, colour errors fell to a value of below 3. This is a level at which the human eye has difficulty detecting distortions. In this scenario, the Sharp JP7 delivers an image with truly excellent colour precision, which is a significant advantage in this price class. However, content with HDR turned out to be much more problematic. Here, despite our efforts and interventions in the settings, the television simply would not cooperate. In the JP7 menu, we don't find any option that would allow for real control over brightness management (EOTF). Although a significant portion of the colour errors was reduced, the image still remained unnaturally oversaturated. It's a bit of a shame, as the potential of the mini-LED backlit panel is great, but the software presents a clear barrier here.

The conclusion is simple: when watching less demanding content (SDR) on the JP7, you can expect an image that is more than satisfactory, but in HDR, you must come to terms with a certain degree of "artificiality" that cannot be circumvented even with professional equipment.

The TCL C7K features a function that, according to the manufacturer, is designed to smooth out unwanted colour transitions – a sort of rescue for less successful tonal shifts. It's called "Gradual Smoothing" and... well, it sounds ambitious, but in practice, it works very poorly. Regardless of whether we set it to low or high, the difference is minimal. What's worse, the function can cut out elements from the image that should remain. Fortunately, the film grain remains untouched, so at least it doesn't smooth everything indiscriminately, but still – it's better to simply turn this option off.

When it comes to scaling lower resolution content, it’s much better. SD and HD materials look quite decent, although at times we had the impression that the image was losing sharpness and becoming too soft – as if something was detracting from its clarity. Fortunately, with very low sources (e.g. 576p), there was no overscan effect, meaning the image was not artificially cropped – everything fit on the screen as it should.

In the case of lower quality materials and how the Sharp JP7 handles them, the situation is ambiguous. Let's start with the upscaling itself – here we have no major objections. The process of scaling the image to a higher resolution is correct; the picture remains readable and sharp, without the overscan effect, meaning no cropped edges. Of course, it is not at the level of top models, and at times one can notice slight jaggedness on the contours, but in this price range, the effect is fully acceptable.

However, the actual digital image processing performs significantly worse, which, apart from the upscaling, effectively does not exist. In the JP7 menu, we will not find any option that would effectively smooth out unwanted tonal transitions or reduce noise in the image. As a result, the signal reaches the panel in a very raw form, which, with heavily compressed materials (e.g. from YouTube), leads to visible posterisation. Either it is a flaw in the software or a very strange design decision, because in earlier Sharp models this function was available and, crucially, worked with noticeable effect. Here, we are left to deal with whatever the source provides us, without any digital support from the image processor.

The TCL C7K handles motion smoothness really very well. The matrix used in it offers a refresh rate of 144 Hz, which in itself suggests that this television is something more than a regular "60 Hz" panel. What's more – if we connect the C7K to a computer and set the resolution to Full HD. But we will write more about this in the section for gamers and cooperation with PCs. Returning to everyday use – both sports and films look very good here. Thanks to the fast panel and well-functioning motion smoother, the C7K is great for watching matches, as well as for film screenings. In the menu, we find two sliders – blur reduction and flicker reduction – which allow you to adjust the smoothness effect to your own preferences. At lower settings, we get a more cinematic effect, with a slight choppy motion. At higher settings – the image becomes more theatrical, overly smooth. Everyone can set it to their liking.

The motion fluidity on the Sharp JP7 is quite mediocre, and the reason is simple: the television uses a 60Hz panel. This instantly makes it difficult to recommend for watching sports or serious gaming, where higher refresh rates are already the standard. The only real plus is the presence of a smoothness feature, which we can control in films using a slider called De-judder. Lower settings provide a more raw, "cinematic" (framey) image, while higher settings add artificial smoothness. We suggest setting it somewhere in the middle of the scale, that is in the range of 3-5 – this is the best compromise to avoid the soap opera effect while also eliminating the tiring stuttering of the image. Interestingly, in the menu, we also find a "motion blur removal" slider, which usually indicates the presence of a 120Hz panel. However, with the JP7, it does not enhance the image at all and serves rather as a dummy – it is meant to look good in the settings, but technically it has no right to operate on this panel.

The TCL C7K is a television that on paper appears to be the dream equipment for gamers – and most importantly, it also holds up in practice. To start with the good news: there are two full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 ports, so we can easily connect both a console and a computer, making full use of their capabilities. The panel itself supports a refresh rate of 144 Hz, which provides a significant advantage in fast-paced games. Additionally, it comes with a complete set of gaming features: VRR (Variable Refresh Rate), ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode), and support for Dolby Vision in games. There is also an HGiG mode that allows for an HDR effect in line with the creators' intentions. GameBar, which is an information bar for gamers. It works quickly, looks clear (like a Nintendo console👌), and shows the most important information: the current frame rate, VRR status, and even HDR parameters.

As we mentioned earlier, the 60Hz panel is not a feature that will attract gamers to the Sharp JP7. Perhaps for the casual player, whose console still generates most titles at 60 frames per second, there might be something interesting? When it comes to specific additions, we find here:

• ALLM Mode: Automatically switches the television to low latency game mode (input lag).

• Game Menu: Which is hard to call a full-fledged “Game Bar,” as the functionality here is minimal. Aside from enabling ALLM, there’s only a game-specific motion smoother which we recommend avoiding as it introduces very noticeable artifacts and worsens responsiveness.

• Dolby Vision Gaming: For Microsoft consoles.

Unfortunately, the list of shortcomings is significantly longer and more painful than the positives. The biggest disappointment is the lack of support for 120Hz, even when reducing the resolution to Full HD. The presence of 120Hz would allow for performance modes to be activated in many games on PS5 or Xbox Series X. Another shortcoming is VRR, which means that during frame drops, we are exposed to screen tearing. The lack of proper implementation of the HGiG standard is also very problematic. This results in the fact that during HDR calibration in the console menu, it is very easy to "overshoot" the brightness settings. As a result, instead of clear details in the highlights, we end up with an unnaturally over-bright image with cut-off details. Sharp JP7 is a proposition solely for very casual gamers.