TCL C7K / QM7K 55"-85" vs TCL V6C

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.

When it comes to HDR, the TCK V6C clearly shows that this is not its strong suit. A peak brightness of around 200 nits makes it difficult to speak of true HDR effects – the image simply remains too dark to extract details in bright scenes or convey the appropriate dynamics. Although the television formally supports many HDR formats, in practice it is not equipped for such demanding content. The lack of additional coatings that enhance colours, such as QLED or PFS LED, further limits the attractiveness of the image – in more spectacular productions, colours can appear washed out compared to more expensive models. Therefore, the V6C will primarily serve as a television for everyday viewing, YouTube or SDR content, rather than as equipment for cinematic experiences in high quality.

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…

We started our colour reproduction tests with the Filmmaker mode, which in theory should be the best choice straight out of the box. It certainly performs better than the Eco or Dynamic modes, which significantly alter the image and spoil its natural character. As you can see from the graphs, the factory calibration of the V6C is not ideal, although it's not a complete disaster either. The biggest issue turned out to be a deficiency in red – the television clearly "cools" the image, which is particularly noticeable on human faces, giving a "corpse skin" effect. This issue was the most bothersome in everyday viewing. Looking at the colour palette in HDR content, the shortcomings in red are also noticeable, and their source is the relatively narrow coverage of the colour space. Of course, every television can be calibrated, so we decided to check how the V6C would perform after such an adjustment.

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.

My dear friends – we haven’t had such a difficult "calibration battle" in years. The V6C turned out to be one of the most stubborn televisions we have encountered in the editorial office. The calibration attempts alone took us several man-hours and required considerable patience. We finally managed to slightly warm the skin tones, which made faces stop looking like they were pulled straight from a horror film, a complaint regarding the factory settings. Unfortunately, that's not the end of it – the television reacted to our white balance corrections in a completely unpredictable manner. Where we expected stabilisation of the image in a certain area, new errors appeared, and the Color Checker measurements showed deviations that could not be rationally explained. It is hard to determine whether the issue lay with the software or the design itself, but one thing is certain – the V6C put up exceptionally strong resistance. Ultimately, the calibration brought improvement, especially in SDR content, where the image became more pleasant and natural. However, it must be clearly stated that the design limitations remain. The television still flattens the image in HDR materials and has noticeable deficiencies in colour reproduction. This device is rather intended for everyday television watching or SDR materials than for cinematic viewing in the highest quality.

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.

When it comes to upscaling, the V6C does not bring anything groundbreaking to the table. Lower quality content is heavily sharpened, making the image look very unnatural, at times even artificial. This can be somewhat mitigated by lowering the sharpness level in the settings, but the effect is not spectacular. The image still remains far from ideal. The digital processing itself performs better. The function responsible for smoothing tonal transitions works quite effectively, especially at the medium setting, where the image does indeed appear smoother. Unfortunately, its operation is rather aggressive – it heavily interferes with the overall scene, causing the actors in the foreground to start looking like characters from super smooth soap operas. Therefore, we would rather not recommend using this option if a natural viewing experience is important to us.

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.

Motion smoothing and fluidity are areas where the V6C quickly reveals its limitations. It's a 60 Hz television, so it was difficult to expect miracles here. During dynamic sports scenes, the image is rather average. This is most noticeable in darker scenes, where clear trails and blurred "glows" follow moving objects, which can be quite distracting. This is definitely a weaker point of this design. Fortunately, there is also a small plus. The V6C is equipped with a motion smoother that works while watching films. Thanks to it, productions recorded at 24 frames per second, which includes practically all cinematic titles and series, can look smoother than they were actually recorded. Importantly, the intensity of the effect can be adjusted to personal preferences – from a slight smoothing to a full "soap opera effect".

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.

Although the V6C is not a television designed with avid gamers in mind, TCL has added a few features that might appeal to more casual users. It does not have a 120 Hz panel or HDMI 2.1 ports, but there is an ALLM mode that automatically switches the television to low-latency mode. Additionally, there is quite a practical Game Bar – a simple panel for previewing basic parameters, changing picture modes, or even activating a virtual crosshair on the screen. An interesting feature is the support for Dolby Vision Gaming, intended for Xbox Series S/X consoles – a nice addition, although in practice it does not offer as much as in more expensive models. However, the biggest issue remains the configuration of HDR. The HGiG function, responsible for adjusting the brightness and contrast of games to the capabilities of the panel, does not respond as we would expect – the image can be excessively dark or too flat. As a result, the better solution turns out to be simply playing in SDR mode, where the V6C performs stably and does not try to pretend to be a HDR television.