TCL C8L / QM8L vs TCL X11L

In terms of HDR, the TCL C8L turns out to be a hellishly bright television – quite literally. On a synthetic test pattern sized at 5%, our measurement equipment indicated a result exceeding 4500 nits. This is a truly astronomical result, considering that reference monitors used by directors, which we often refer to in our materials, typically operate around 4000 nits. Does this mean that the C8L breaks barriers and climbs to the technological peak of Mini-LED? Not quite. Dry synthetic tests are one thing, while real cinematic images are another. In real, varied scenes, the C8L peaks at around 1600 nits. This is still a very good result, ensuring a very high level of HDR dynamics, but it is also clearly lower than what the manufacturer boasts in the specifications. The problems begin with very small bursts of light – at that point, brightness can drastically drop to around 600 nits. The algorithm tries at all costs to maintain deep blacks and minimise the halo effect, but this comes at the expense of HDR impact. This is perfect evidence that laboratory test patterns rarely align with what we ultimately see on the screen.

However, huge praise is due for colour reproduction, thanks to the new generation of SQD (Super Quantum Dot) quantum dots. The DCI-P3 colour gamut coverage reaches 97%, but the truly jaw-dropping measurements come from the extremely demanding BT.2020 space. The C8L achieves an impressive 90% in this space, placing it alongside today's top screens equipped with RGB backlighting. Importantly, unlike some screens with Micro/Mini RGB backlighting, this effect is stable regardless of the scene displayed. Of course, it’s worth remembering that content mastered for such a wide gamut in films or series is still rare. However, the very fact that the panel has such a "colour reserve" deserves tremendous admiration.

Such a large number of zones did not only result in deep, inky blacks, but also in screen brightness. The X11L is an extremely bright television. Peak brightness can easily exceed 4,000 nits, and with the special "Boost" mode active it can, in specific conditions, even reach marketing figures around 9,000 to 10,000 nits. It is undoubtedly one of the brightest, if not the brightest, screens on the market. So how do these numbers relate to real film measurements? The results are very good, though of course far from the marketing claims. The brightness we measured in real film scenes was around 2,000 to 3,000 nits. That is an excellent result, given that the vast majority of content available is recorded and produced for those brightness levels, even the rare material mastered to 4,000 nits. But it also clearly shows that the figures the manufacturer touts do not always translate directly to the video material you have at home. The only "quirk" (if you can call it that) is that when very small, bright elements appear on screen, their brightness falls below 2,000 nits. The dimming algorithm does this deliberately to preserve deep blacks and minimise halo. This is entirely understandable, and the effect is still very impressive, but it also shows that even with such powerful hardware, Mini-LED technology has its limits and does not always work without compromise. In HDR itself, brightness is not the only thing that matters; colour saturation and the colours themselves do too. On the X11L these are very good thanks to the new Super QLED (SQD) quantum dots. The application of a new coating filter has delivered excellent results in covering the P3 colour gamut and the ultra-wide BT.2020. Although it does not reach the promised 100% of BT.2020, figures around 89 to 90% can be considered excellent. Colours are not far off those of RGB Mini-LED screens. We can even say they are more stable, due to a less demanding algorithm that RGB screens often struggle with.

We tested the TCL C8L in the best factory mode available in the TV’s menu for image fidelity. That’s of course Filmmaker Mode, which only arrived in this brand’s software relatively recently (a year ago in the "K" series). It allows the average user to achieve quite decent colour reproduction straight out of the box, though it is certainly not perfectly tuned. Looking at the unit’s out-of-the-box white balance — in both SDR and HDR material — the red component was clearly lacking, which made the image noticeably cooler and slightly shift towards blue‑green tints. The issue of brightness management also looks ambiguous, as we mentioned earlier. While the gamma linearity in SDR content is really good and stays steadily at the reference value of 2.4, the situation in HDR is much worse. Tracking the EOTF curve clearly shows the TV has a noticeably boosted brightness across the entire range, so the final image can be excessively bright and inconsistent with the creators’ intent, and this is in a mode that by definition should avoid that. Of course, as with every sample in our lab, we subjected this one to professional calibration, and you can find the results below.

Turning on what should theoretically be the best Filmmaker Mode, you expect a one-to-one image of what the director saw. On the X11L it's fairly good, but this mode has obvious faults, which our measurements immediately exposed. Let's start with SDR. Both the white balance and the gamma are simply misaligned. The whites contain too much blue and red, giving the screen a slight pink tint. That also affected the gamma, which instead of holding the cinematic 2.4 drifts closer to 2.2. What did that result in? The whole image is therefore more pushed and looks artificially brighter. The worst comes at the end, namely the HDR measurements. Apart from this slight white-balance shift, the X11L fails on the brightness-management curve, the so-called EOTF. What we saw in the measurements immediately explains what we noticed earlier in films. The image is unnaturally brightened because the curve is massively overshot above the reference. The TV simply blatantly lifts the dark parts of the picture to create a "wow" effect, completely ignoring the director's intent.

As you can see, the results of a professional calibration of the TCL C8L are truly promising, thanks to the comprehensive calibration controls the manufacturer has provided in the menu. Above all, we managed to fully correct the white balance, eliminating the red deficiency, so the image finally stopped drifting into unwanted cool tones. After that adjustment, the errors in the ColorChecker test fell to near-reference values, consistently sitting below a Delta E threshold of 2, i.e. below the visibility threshold for the human eye.

If test patterns look so perfect, you may ask us why the final score in this category is lower. The answer lies in the brightness management described earlier. Although the menu includes sliders that let you precisely straighten the EOTF curve on synthetic signals, when faced with real film material (I recommend enabling the EOTF filter when watching films), it becomes clear that the TV, in most scenarios, still responds to HDR metadata in its own way. As a result, the picture can be slightly over-bright and not faithful to the filmmakers' intent, and it is precisely for this lack of consistency with real films that we had to take a few points off the C8L's score.

After professional calibration we primarily managed to fully tame the SDR signal. Here the X11L responded perfectly to our adjustments. We were able to completely correct the white balance, remove that pink tint and set gamma to a stable 2.4. After that the picture finally became consistent with the director's vision, natural and free of artificial boosts. We also made minimal tweaks to HDR, but the TV's biggest flaw remained unchanged. It's of course about how the X11L manages its brightness and how much it overshoots the EOTF curve. Unfortunately, TCL provides virtually no tools to adjust this parameter. Even during professional calibration the software offers no way to rein in this curve, so the TV will always tend to brighten the image in HDR on its own.

This year the C8 series and the higher-end models have probably received the biggest and most eagerly awaited upgrade in TCL’s history, and it concerns digital picture processing. The C8L is the entry-level model in the manufacturer's line-up that has been equipped with the latest flagship chip MediaTek Pentonic 800 (listed in the menu as MT9655). It is thanks to its computing power that the feature called "Gradual Smoothing" finally works as it should. The algorithm effectively removes unwanted posterization (ugly tonal transitions / colour banding) from the image, doing so intelligently enough that it does not degrade the sharpness of other details.

The processor also handles upscaling lower-resolution content to 4K very well. Although assessing this element can be largely academic, because the differences between today’s TVs in this class are very subtle. The most important takeaway is that TCL finally has nothing to be ashamed of compared with the competition.

Much like the C8L model we tested earlier, TCL has delivered a substantial upgrade in its flagship X series. It's all thanks to the MediaTek Pentonic 800 processor used in this model. Thanks to it, features for smoothing tonal transitions and even upscaling content to higher resolutions finally look as they should. The biggest Achilles' heel of previous TCL models has at last been addressed. The processor handles digital processing superbly and, in this respect, the TV no longer lags behind flagship models from Korea or even the most refined ones from Japan.

The TCL C8L is equipped with a fast panel with a native refresh rate of 144 Hz. This specification will be most appreciated by demanding PC gamers, while most users, who rely on consoles or TV broadcasts, will make use of a stable 120 Hz. It is at 120 Hz that the motion-processing algorithms take care of image processing (in films, series and sports). In the TV menu you'll find a "Motion Clarity" tab that allows you to tailor the motion smoothing to your own preferences. The algorithms cope well with both cinematic productions at 24 or 30 frames per second and with fast-paced sports broadcasts at 50 or 60 frames per second, ensuring appropriate smoothness.

From a specification standpoint the X11L can impress, supporting refresh rates up to 144 Hz at 4K, and it can be pushed to as much as 288 Hz in Full HD. However, from a real-world usage perspective we were most interested in how the screen performs at 120 Hz. After all, that is the limit for today’s hardware, with current-generation consoles leading the way. How does that look in practice? Even though it uses a VA panel, the screen does not exhibit significant smearing. With very fast-moving objects you can notice a slight trailing, but it is subtle enough that it hardly stands out while gaming or watching sport. The motion smoothing feature called "Motion Clarity" is also very useful here, allowing you to adjust motion smoothness to your preference. Recommended settings can be found in the picture.

For gamers – and especially for owners of powerful PCs and several consoles simultaneously – the TCL C8L is a true monster. It is the first model in this manufacturer's lineup to feature as many as four full HDMI 2.1 ports with a maximum bandwidth of 48 Gbps. This is directly attributable to the use of the new Pentonic 800 processor, which we discussed earlier. Additionally, the television seamlessly supports practically every gaming feature. We have an automatic game mode (ALLM) that reduces latency to minimal levels, and full frame synchronization (VRR) operating in an impressive range of up to 288 Hz. There's also talk of standards such as G-Sync or FreeSync from Nvidia and AMD. When it comes to display standards, there are no compromises either: the C8L offers complete support for HDR formats in games, including gaming Dolby Vision and the HGiG profile. We can conveniently manage all of these features from a very readable player bar (Game Bar), which we can personalise to our own preferences. From a purely gaming perspective, there's really nothing to fault the C8L on – well, maybe aside from the previously mentioned slight blurring. But other than that? It's a no-nonsense machine for gamers.

For gamers the X11L is simply a superb screen. TCL has already accustomed us to the fact that it packs virtually every available feature into its products, and the flagship from the X series is no different. Thanks to the new processor, the X11L has as many as four HDMI 2.1 ports with full 48 Gbps bandwidth. Naturally, HDMI 2.1 brings a set of very useful features, such as Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM) and VRR frame synchronisation, covering the full refresh range up to 288 Hz. All these features can be conveniently controlled from the dedicated Game Bar. Interestingly, its appearance can be customised to your taste; there are three preset themes to choose from, directly referencing the Nintendo, PlayStation and Xbox consoles. And speaking of Xbox, the X11L also supports Dolby Vision Gaming without any issues.

When gaming in the standard HDR10 format, however, you need to bear in mind the specific tuning of the brightness curve, which can prove troublesome during initial setup. Although the TV supports HGiG, configuring everything via the PlayStation or Xbox system menu can be difficult. The screen’s algorithms tend to artificially brighten the test checkerboard pattern, making it really hard to hit the correct white clipping point by eye. For HDR10 to look correct, we suggest manually setting the console brightness in the console menu to around 2,500–3,000 nits.