TCL C9K vs LG QNED80A6A (IPS)

As we mentioned with black and contrast – the C9K makes a huge impression in synthetic tests. Our measurements showed that on a screen 10% filled with white, the television is capable of squeezing out... 4000 nits of brightness! It sounds cosmic, but – and here unfortunately the pattern repeats – the numbers say one thing, and practice another. In real film scenes, the situation looks different. In the best case, when the light effects occupy a large part of the image and the local dimming algorithm doesn't have to think too hard about what to do with thousands of zones – the result is really quite good. At that point, the C9K can reach about 1500 nits, which provides a pleasant, intense flash and can indeed make a positive impression.

The problem begins with smaller elements – such as stars in the sky, the moon, or individual reflections. That's when the proverbial cat comes out of the bag: the algorithms are not yet refined, and brightness drops even to 400–500 nits. This is a huge difference compared to the potential of 4000 nits that we saw in laboratory tests. Why does this happen? Most likely, the television tries to protect the black and minimise the halo effect around bright objects. Unfortunately, this comes at the cost of details – some of the intricate details simply disappear, and the scene loses its nature.

When it comes to image dynamics and brightness, the QNED80A firmly stands its ground. It is not a “bright beast” – during our measurements, peak luminance oscillated between 350-400 nits. To put it plainly: these values won't allow HDR formats to fully spread their wings. So, do not expect that the glare of the sun or car headlights in films will blind you. However, this television has a powerful ace up its sleeve that salvages the overall picture impression – and that is the colours. LG's engineers have employed an advanced filtration system (technically most likely based on PFS phosphor, marketed as QNED/NanoCell), which does a fantastic job. Thanks to this, despite average brightness, the screen is capable of generating exceptionally saturated and pure hues. Our instruments showed coverage of the wide DCI-P3 cinema colour palette at a level of 93-94%. This is a result that outclasses most standard LCD televisions. In practice, this means that when watching 4K HDR content, the picture – although not very bright – is very plastic, vivid, and delights the eye with its depth of colours.

For colour tests, we once again reached for the Filmmaker mode – a new feature in TCL televisions for 2025. And although the direction itself is a step in the right direction, the execution leaves much to be desired. The white balance in SDR content turned out to be too warm – there was an excess of red. Conversely, in HDR, it swung in the opposite direction: the image became excessively blue. The Colour Checker test revealed quite a few colour inaccuracies that were noticeable to the naked eye. An even bigger problem turned out to be what we mentioned above – managing brightness. Regardless of whether we were watching SDR or HDR content, the image had a tendency to blow out the entire scene, giving it an unnatural, almost grotesque character. Therefore, it is hard to call this a 'director’s mode' – because the director surely has never seen such an image.

Here, regardless of whether you encounter the VA or IPS version, the situation is identical. LG engineers once again served us their vision of a "gaming look," which unfortunately has little to do with accuracy. When switched to console mode, the white balance automatically drifts towards very cold regions. The image is dominated by the colour blue, which makes it seem artificially sharpened, and the white is so aggressive that it appears burnt out. This creates an effect we associate with vibrant shop modes – everything is meant to shine and scream "I am digital." While some may appreciate this, we must say plainly: the image is not accurate. If you care about naturalness, we suggest you immediately check the settings and change the colour temperature to a warmer one.

After calibration, we finally managed to tame the white balance – and it immediately translated into a more natural image. Colours finally started to look as they should, and the overall presentation was incomparably better than with the factory settings. In other words – it’s worth taking a moment to improve this, as the gain is really significant. The gamma responsible for managing brightness was also brought under control in SDR content, and the effect was more than satisfactory. Unfortunately, when we switched on the HDR material, the situation quickly became complicated. No matter how we set the local dimming, the television had a tendency to do what it pleased with the image – either overexposing the whole picture or dimming the darkest parts too much. Just like we saw in the scene from the film Billy Lynn. Colour-wise, the improvement after calibration makes a great impression, but managing brightness in HDR remains the Achilles' heel of the C9K and constitutes a technological limitation.

After professional calibration, the QNED80A in the IPS version has changed unrecognisably, especially with "ordinary" content (SDR). We managed to eliminate the greenish tint and calm down the overly bright gamma. In classic television or older games, colour errors (DeltaE) have dropped below the threshold of perception (value < 2). The picture is now coherent, natural, and truly pleasing to the eye. The situation is somewhat more complicated in HDR mode. Although the colours are now in place, the television has a problem with perfectly controlling the brightness (EOTF curve). Due to the limitations of edge lighting and the rather meagre adjustment options provided by LG in this respect, the television's software at times "does what it wants," just to mask the imperfections of black and contrast. However, this is not a cause for concern – despite these technical limitations, the picture after calibration is a class better than what you saw out of the box.

The digital image processing in TCL C9K is rather mediocre. The tone transition smoothing feature is supposedly present, but activating it hardly makes any difference – colour banding is still visible, and it can inadvertently highlight elements we would prefer to hide, such as textures of objects. Fortunately, it does not remove film grain, but that's scant consolation considering the effects are still poor. Thus, it's hard to recommend using this option.

On the other hand, image scaling performs significantly better. Lower quality materials look quite decent – characters and backgrounds are represented clearly, although of course, with sources like 576p, the limitations of the physics cannot be disguised. Sometimes, there's characteristic aliasing of objects, but that's due to the source itself, not the algorithm. A plus for the fact that there are no overscan issues – the image is neither artificially cropped nor enlarged.

It often happens that cheap 4K TVs mercilessly expose the flaws of low-resolution materials. Here, it is different. The QNED80A is great equipment for watching content that is not perfect. The processor does a good job of upscaling the image, making even older recordings look quite decent on a 4K screen – they are consistent and free of digital noise. Interestingly, there is a gradation reduction feature available in the settings. It is very effective in combating the so-called banding in low bitrate materials. Of course, it should be approached with some caution. Due to the lower processing power of the chip (compared to the premium series), turning on this option can sometimes result in unwanted artifacts or blurriness. Despite this risk, we encourage experimentation, as in many cases this feature can save a poor-quality viewing experience.

Similar to the C8K, the C9K is also a really fast television – both figuratively and literally. On board, we have a 4K panel with a refresh rate of 144 Hz, and at lower resolutions, the panel can even ramp up to 288 Hz. Such speed translates into practice – while watching sports or playing games, the picture looks very smooth and clear. Additionally, in films, we get an extra motion smoothing feature called Motion Clarity, which allows you to adjust the smoothness to your own preferences – from the cinematic "stuttering" of frames to nearly theatrical smoothness.

In terms of motion reproduction, the QNED80A unfortunately has a tough time. The television is based on a display with a refresh rate of 60Hz, which is quite a disappointment for the QNED series in 2025. If you are looking for perfect sharpness during dynamic football matches, you may feel somewhat unsatisfied. A solution in this situation is the TruMotion system. It allows for artificial frame generation, which smooths out the image in films and series. In the menu, you will find a De-Judder slider – we recommend setting it to a value of 2, 3, or 4. This is the "golden mean" that improves fluidity without turning the film into a soap opera.

For gaming, the TCL C9K is a complete tool. Here we have two (out of four) HDMI 2.1 ports with full bandwidth of 48 Gbps, so all the key technologies work: VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) and ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode). Additionally, the manufacturer has included a really intuitive Game Bar, which allows you to quickly check the most important parameters and adjust settings without rummaging through the menu. Also worth noting is TCL's policy – the television does not shy away from any HDR formats, even in game mode. Whether it's HGiG or Dolby Vision for the Xbox Series S/X console – everything works as it should, giving the player a wide range of freedom.

In the gaming section, we won't be pulling the wool over your eyes – the QNED80A is not e-sports equipment. The lack of 120Hz signal support is a fact that must be accepted. However, LG's engineers have done everything possible to maximise the potential of this 60Hz panel, providing gamers with a set of desirable features. First and foremost, the television supports VRR (in the range of 48-60Hz) and ALLM. This means that the image is smooth, not choppy, and the television automatically switches to low-latency mode as soon as we pick up the controller. Accessing these options is incredibly simple thanks to the dedicated system overlay – Game Dashboard. It’s also worth appreciating the support for the HGiG format. This is a nod to owners of modern consoles. Although the screen does not support gaming Dolby Vision, HGiG ensures that the television 'understands' how to display games in HDR. As a result, we avoid the problem of blown-out clouds, which is unfortunately a plague on cheaper LCD televisions.