TCL C7K / QM7K vs Samsung Q7F

TCL C7K is one of the brightest MiniLED televisions in its price range. Under the best testing conditions, the screen managed to achieve over 1200 nits, resulting in impressive, at times almost blindingly bright scenes. And most importantly – this is not just a theory based on measurements. In practice, the brightest parts of films can shine with true cinematic grandeur. Fans of home HDR cinema should be truly satisfied.

The impression is excellent, especially in scenes with large areas of brightness – a white sky, explosions, sun reflections, or magical sunsets can surprise with an intensity of light that is rarely seen in this price range.

However, it gets a bit worse when more challenging scenarios appear on the screen, as described when discussing contrast – that is, images full of details, with small, bright elements on a dark background. In such cases, the C7K often decides to preserve black levels at the expense of brightness. An example? Scenes from the films Sicario 2 or Life of Pi, where small light sources (like a distant lantern) can become less visible, and details in the lights are simply dimmed or blend into the background.

For many viewers, this may be an acceptable compromise – as we achieve deep black levels and a pleasing plasticity of the image. Nevertheless, it is worth being aware that the visibility of small details in bright areas is not this model's strongest suit. It is simply a technological limitation that still exists – even with over 300 zones.

Unfortunately, the Samsung Q7F is not one of the brighter televisions, and this has a direct impact on the quality of HDR films. The peak brightness of the panel is just around 250 nits, which is definitely too low to speak of true cinematic experiences. In practice, the image in HDR content does not differ significantly from classic SDR, making it difficult to talk about any "wow effect" that usually accompanies us when watching such films. During tests of film scenes, the image simply looked dark, and the brightness almost always hovered around the aforementioned 250 nits. The worst performances were with shots that included small, intensely shining elements – the global dimming technique used reacted very aggressively in these cases, dimming the entire screen to maintain the effect of black. However, it is worth noting the presence of the QLED coating that expands the colour palette. For a budget QLED model, the Q7F performs quite decently here: the coverage of the DCI-P3 palette is about 93%, and BT.2020 reaches 70%. This means that, despite the low brightness, the colours can still look quite vivid and attractive.

A new feature in TCL televisions for 2025 is the long-awaited Filmmaker mode, which until now has been found in most competing brands. This is great news, as this mode is considered to be the truest to 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 this mode does not guarantee perfection. The Filmmaker mode in the TCL C7K is not without its flaws. There can be criticism of the incorrect white balance, particularly a slight dominance of blue, which resulted in cool, somewhat greyish skin tones. But that was not the biggest issue. The main complaint was the excessive brightness exposure, which is clearly visible on the gamma and EOTF graphs. The image was simply too bright, at times even blown out, which affected not only the texture of scenes but also the overall viewing experience. Some details were simply lost, and the entire image looked as if someone had slightly overcooked the brightness slider. As always, we decided to check what could be extracted from this after calibration. And that’s where it started to get really interesting…

The factory colour accuracy of the Samsung Q7F is certainly not one of its strong points. In Filmmaker mode, which theoretically should be the closest to neutral, the issue with white balance immediately stands out. There is too much red on the screen, while blue is lacking. The consequences of this are very easy to notice – white, instead of being neutral, takes on warm, almost slightly orange tones. In the long run, this makes the entire image look somewhat unnatural, and bright areas of the scene may seem unrealistic. The problems become even more evident in HDR content. The graphs show that the television has significant errors in the Color Checker palette, which translates to visible inaccuracies in the actual image. Practically, this means that the colours are not presented as they should be. The Q7F also heavily manipulates brightness; darker elements are overly boosted, losing their cinematic quality, while bright parts may appear dimmed. As a result, the image seems flattened, and contrast, instead of helping to bring out details, only highlights its own limitations. This is particularly frustrating in HDR material, where every detail matters. In scenes where there should be a subtle play of light and shadow, the Q7F either oversteps by brightening too much or conversely – suppresses elements that should draw the eye. This causes the image to lose its depth, and instead of cinematic realism, we have a rather simplified effect.

After calibration, the TCL C7K showcased 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 to the point that colour errors on the ColorChecker palette dropped below a value of 2. For the uninitiated – this is nearly a perfect result, which means that the image is very close to what the creators intended. Unfortunately, the situation was worse with 4K HDR content. Although we managed to gently stabilize the white balance and correct its previous errors, it was still evident that the television has certain "MiniLED traits," especially in brightness management. When we checked how the C7K handled the EOTF curve on actual film scenes, rather than just on synthetic test patterns, it turned out that the screen still tends to slightly brighten the entire image. This impacts the overall experience – blacks lose 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 can display an image that can compete successfully with much more expensive models. Good colour tuning, natural skin tones, and pleasant brightness make movie sessions and everyday viewing of content more than satisfactory.

After professional calibration, we managed to bring the Q7F into order – at least in terms of SDR content. The picture in this mode looks really good: the white balance has been set correctly, the colours appear natural, and errors in the colour palette have dropped to levels that are practically invisible to the eye. Gamma behaves exemplary, and the only minor drawback is a slight lightening of smaller elements, which results from the lack of local dimming. For everyday watching of television or films in standard quality, the Q7F performs surprisingly well.

It was significantly harder to tame HDR content. Despite adjusting the white balance, the television still heavily manipulates brightness, causing scenes to sometimes look unnatural – what should be subtly darker can be overly brightened, and bright areas of the picture can occasionally appear dimmed. The end result is better than in factory settings, but it is evident that the structural limitations of the Q7F do not allow for the full potential of HDR materials to be fully realised.

TCL C7K is equipped with a feature that, according to the manufacturer, is meant to smooth out unwanted colour transitions – a sort of rescue for less successful tonal shifts. It is called "Gradual Smoothing" and… well, it sounds ambitious, but in practice it works very poorly. Regardless of whether we set it to a low or high level, the difference is minimal. Worst of all, the feature can cut out elements from the picture that should be there. Fortunately, 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 is somewhat better. SD and HD materials look quite decent, although at times we had the impression that the image loses sharpness and becomes too soft – as if something took away its definition. Fortunately, with very low sources (e.g. 576p), there was no overscan effect, meaning the picture was not artificially cropped – everything fit on the screen as it should.

Upscaling and digital image processing on the Q7F is a bit of a sine wave. On one hand, we have really nice upscaling – weaker sources look better than one might expect. The image becomes clearer, sharper, and even older films or terrestrial television perform adequately. Samsung has been strong in this area for years, and the Q7F confirms that. On the other hand… there are some issues. The television has a problem with overscan – part of the image is simply cut off, and it doesn't look very elegant. Additionally, we were let down by a feature called "noise reduction", which should improve the smoothness of tonal transitions in weaker materials. In other Samsungs, it works relatively well, but here it makes practically no difference – the banding in gradients is still there. It's a bit of a shame, as one could have expected more from a model that is aimed at users looking for a display for SDR content.

The TCL C7K handles motion fluidity really very well. The matrix used in it offers a refresh rate of 144 Hz, which in itself suggests that this television is more than just a regular "60 Hz" panel. Furthermore – if we connect the C7K to a computer and set the resolution to Full HD. But we'll write more about this in the paragraph about gamers and PC collaboration. Returning to everyday use – both sports and films look very good here. Thanks to the fast panel and well-functioning motion smoothing, the C7K is great for watching matches, but also for movie screenings. In the menu, we find two sliders – motion blur reduction and flicker reduction – which allow us to adjust the fluidity effect to our own preferences. At lower settings, we get a more cinematic effect, with slight stuttering motion. At higher settings – the picture becomes more theatrical, fluid to the point of excess. Everyone has their own preferences – anyone can set it to their liking.

Ghosting and motion smoothness in the Q7F are probably the most budget-friendly elements of this television. The 60 Hz panel makes itself known, with noticeable ghosting, especially in dynamic scenes, and it's rather difficult to regard this model as equipment designed for watching sports or playing fast-paced games. In tests with the little green man, a long trail was left behind, similarly to how a ball in a football match would leave streaks.

On the plus side, the presence of motion smoothing must be acknowledged. In films, it actually makes a difference – especially since most material is recorded at 24 frames per second. Here we can decide whether we prefer a more "cinematic" image, with slight judder typical of cinema, or a smoother, more "television" approach. This part works quite well and helps to improve the viewing experience for series and films.

The TCL C7K is a television that on paper appears to be the dream equipment for gamers – and most importantly, it holds up in practice too. To start with good news: there are two full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 ports, so we can easily connect both a console and a computer, taking advantage of all their capabilities. The panel itself supports a refresh rate of 144 Hz, which gives a significant advantage in dynamic games. There is also a complete set of gaming features: VRR (variable refresh rate), ALLM (automatic low-latency mode), and support for Dolby Vision in games. There is also the HGiG mode, which allows for HDR effects consistent with the creators' intentions. GameBar, an information bar for gamers. It works quickly, looks clear (like a Nintendo console👌), and shows what matters most: the current frame rate, VRR status, and even HDR parameters.

Features for gamers in the Samsung Q7F is a topic that evokes quite a lot of mixed feelings. On the one hand – no sensible person expected miracles here, as it is after all a 60 Hz television and it was clear from the start that it would not be a device for squeezing the maximum out of a console or PC. On the other hand, since the manufacturer promised specific solutions in promotional materials, it is natural that we wanted to see them in practice. At the outset, it’s quite decent. The automatic game mode (ALLM) works, so there’s no need to manually fiddle with the settings; the console automatically switches the television to low-latency mode. Additionally, we have the Game Bar, which looks impressive and allows you to check a few basic parameters without leaving the game. And this is where the good news ends.

The biggest problem with the Q7F is VRR, or rather its absence. Yes, an appropriate icon appears in the menu, and you can even see it in the Game Bar, but throughout the entire test, the feature remained inactive and could not be enabled in any way. The situation with HGiG is even more painful; this option was indeed available at the beginning, but after a software update, it completely vanished, which is simply unprofessional. Therefore, the Q7F is only suited for the absolute basics. Of course, you can turn on the console, play some calmer titles, and enjoy low input lag, but if someone is counting on more advanced features that the manufacturer promised, they will be disappointed. This is not a television to buy with gaming in mind, and it's better to be aware of that before making a purchase.