TCL MQLED85 / C765 vs Hisense E7NQ PRO

The television TCL MQLED85/C765 handles HDR well. In the tested movie scenes where the screen is covered with 100% brightness, the model achieves impressive results of around 1000 nits, providing intense and realistic rendering of HDR content. However, similar to contrast, the dimming algorithm may exhibit certain limitations. Despite a large number of Mini LED zones, the television does not always manage to "wow" the user with brightness in very challenging test scenes. For example, in the scene from the film "Life of Pi," where a bright moon appears against a dark background, and in another scene from "Sicario 2," where a very bright light effect is visible on a dark background, the television did not reach maximum intensity. For users expecting perfect HDR performance in such extreme cases, the TCL MQLED may be slightly disappointing. However, in terms of colours, the television stands out with very high coverage of the DCI P3 colour palette at 95%, which is an impressive result, comparable to much more expensive models. TCL MQLED85 / C765 offers support for various HDR formats, including Dolby Vision and HDR10+, which is significant for cinema image enthusiasts. Although this model achieves brightness over 1000 nits, TCL MQLED85 may struggle to reflect details in very high-contrast scenes. For better HDR quality control, C765 is equipped with a dynamic tone mapping option, making the image more realistic and natural depending on the content.

Based on the luminance chart, which indicates around 550 nits, it can be said that Hisense E7NQ PRO theoretically has the potential to somewhat "magically" enchant us with its image in HDR. While testing various scenes from films, we noticed that the television continually tries to balance maintaining appropriate brightness with preserving the deepest blacks possible. In favourable conditions – for instance, during a scene from “The Meg,” where the screen is flooded with bright light – this brightness can indeed impress us. In such moments, we feel that HDR actually adds that "something" to the image. Unfortunately, when more challenging shots appear on the screen with small, bright elements on a dark background, the situation looks significantly worse. The brightness then drops to 200-300 nits, which is decidedly too little to truly distinguish HDR from standard SDR.

It is clear that the television tries, but hardware limitations – mainly the limited number of local dimming zones – prevent it from fully spreading its wings. The final effect is therefore often quite uneven and just as mediocre as in the contrast tests. However, it deserves credit for its impressive coverage of the DCI-P3 colour gamut at 97%. Thanks to this, the television can display a truly wide range of colours, which, in suitable scenes, can give us at least a taste of the true HDR effect. It’s just a shame that the overall experience is not complemented by better control of brightness and contrast.

The television TCL MQLED85/C765 was tested in movie mode, which, although it seems to be the best setting from the manufacturer, is not without flaws. The colour reproduction in HD/SDR mode MQLED85 shows some shortcomings. In the analysis of white balance, there is a significant lack of blue, which can affect the overall image quality, especially in bright scenes where blue shades are crucial for natural representation. The overall shape of the image may then appear too warm. Regarding gamma contrast, the graph shows a large jump above the reference line of 2.4 at the beginning, which may suggest significant dimming of brightness in darker areas, leading to loss of detail in black. Then, for most of the time, the values lie below this line, which may lead to loss of detail in brighter parts of the image. Such a distribution can negatively impact perceived image quality, particularly when watching regular television in HD quality.

In the case of 4K HDR image quality of the TCL MQLED85/C765, there is a noticeable excess of red in the analysis of white balance. This excess can significantly affect the viewer's experience, leading to several significant effects. Firstly, an excessive amount of red can make other colours, such as green or blue, appear muted or unnatural. This distortion of colour balance can result in an overall impression of "over-saturation," which detracts from the naturalness and authenticity of the image. As for contrast, the EOTF (Electro-Optical Transfer Function) graph indicates that most values are above the reference line, suggesting an intense boost in brightness in bright areas of the image. However, there is an exception at the beginning of the graph, where the EOTF line is below the reference line, which can lead to excessive dimming of small light elements.

Users should be aware that despite using the best mode, which is movie mode, the television is not free from flaws in terms of image settings, so it is worth considering adjusting the settings to achieve better results.

When we took our copy of Hisense E7NQ PRO out of the box, we immediately began to check the available picture modes. Among them, the Filmmaker mode seemed the most promising, although it too was not without its flaws. With standard SDR content, we noticed a clear tendency for excessive red enhancement, which made the image unnaturally warm. This was particularly evident in the comparative photo attached below. Conversely, when we switched to HDR content, the situation went in the opposite direction. This time, blue was dominant, and red was scarce, resulting in a cool effect, at times almost "shop-like" — although not as drastic as in those modes that are actually intended for display in exhibitions. As a result, in our tests assessing colour reproduction, these disturbances in colour balance led to significant errors.

Additionally, the television had issues with reproducing brightness characteristics. At lower resolutions, it noticeably brightened the darkest elements of the image, and with HDR content, the brightness curve (eotf) simply wouldn't conform as it should. Initially, the television excessively darkened the smallest details, only to then overly brighten larger areas. Fortunately, the E7NQ PRO provides us with plenty of calibration tools, so knowing that there is potential within it, we decided to take matters into our own hands and try to adjust it to eliminate these problems.

After the professional calibration of the television TCL MQLED85/C765, its colour properties in movie mode have significantly improved, resulting in a much more satisfying visual experience. Both in SDR and HDR modes, the white balance shows no serious errors, and the graph appears much better harmonised. Users can now enjoy natural colour reproduction, which is crucial for obtaining an authentic experience when watching films. It is worth noting that in HDR content, there may be slight colour reproduction errors at the end of the graph, but these are much smaller than before calibration. As a result, characters and landscapes become more realistic, enhancing the depth of immersion in the story.

In terms of contrast, the gamma curve, responsible for HD quality, has been completely free of drops below the reference line, meaning better detail visibility in dark scenes. Nevertheless, there is still a slight boost at the beginning of the graph, which may affect the perception of bright elements. For HDR content, the EOTF curve also exhibits smaller errors, although certain issues with medium tone reproduction may still be noticeable. The EOTF curve measured on actual movie scenes still shows a significant brightness boost, making the image appear more intense but artificially brightened. This is a typical problem for TCL televisions, which may appeal to inexperienced viewers, but can be irritating for those more familiar with an ideal image.

What benefits does professional calibration bring for film enthusiasts? Thanks to it, viewing becomes even more realistic and immersive, and each scene can be fully experienced, preserving details and natural colours.

Thanks to the tools available in E7NQ PRO, we managed to extract quite a decent image from it, especially with lower quality content. After refining the white balance of the SDR materials, the colours look much more natural, and what we see on the screen seems closer to the vision that the manufacturer intended to present. Additionally, we improved the brightness characteristic (Gamma), which means the television is no longer prone to excessive brightening, and everything presents itself distinctly better than before our intervention.

We also managed to achieve some results with HDR materials, although it isn’t quite as rosy here. Indeed, the white balance has approached an acceptable level, but the problem lies elsewhere. It concerns the EOTF curve, which is the way the television manages brightness and tonal range of the image. At first glance, it might seem that the biggest issue only relates to mid-tones being overly brightened. However, after more detailed testing and enabling the filters for displaying the EOTF curve, it becomes apparent that the receiver tends to brighten the entire screen. This appears to be a limitation arising from the small number of local dimming zones and generally modest brightness management capabilities. Such hardware limitations are simply insurmountable. Despite this, after our calibration, the image is noticeably better than at the outset. One just needs to be aware that in terms of contrast and brightness management, this model has its limits, which even good calibration cannot fully overcome.

Let’s take another look at the tonal transitions in the TCL MQLED85/C765 television, but in the context of poorer image quality. Despite the presence of the "Gradual Smoothing" option, when set to "low," the effects are practically invisible, disappointing users expecting an improvement in image quality. On the other hand, the "high" setting produces minimal results, and worse still, it can blur significant details, negatively affecting the sharpness and clarity of the displayed image. However, in the context of image scaling, the television successfully displayed the image without overscan, meaning we do not lose any part of the view. The image looks rather decent, and details such as tree branches or the outlines of models do not exhibit significant jaggedness, which positively impacts the visual quality.

When it comes to the function of smoothing tonal transitions in lower quality materials, the "smooth and gradient image" feature in Hisense E7NQ PRO unfortunately does not impress. At the lowest setting, the change is hard to notice at all – it is rather a cosmetic improvement. Switching to "Medium" mode yields a noticeable effect, but it is still nothing special, and in the process, the television begins to excessively interfere with other elements of the image, which can look unnatural.

Moreover, image scaling is rather average. On the test screen, where a portrait of a model and text are displayed, slight jagged edges are visible, making the overall appearance less smooth and aesthetically pleasing than one would expect in this class of device. It's simply difficult to talk about truly effective improvement in the quality of lower resolution.

TCL MQLED85/C765 is equipped with a panel featuring a standard refresh rate of 120 Hz, with the capability to increase to 144 Hz when connected to a powerful computer. The television also offers a multi-level motion smoother, primarily aimed at users wishing to enhance motion fluidity in films. It allows for the adjustment of effect intensity on a scale from 0 to 10, enabling precise tuning of image smoothness to individual preferences. The response time of the panel is decent, but not perfect. We can observe blurring occurring behind both dark and medium objects.

Thanks to the use of a 144 Hz panel, E7NQ PRO performs excellently with nearly every type of content. Whether we are watching fast-paced matches, dynamic games or action films – the smoothness of motion leaves a good impression. When it comes to films, the manufacturer has equipped the television with two key tools: "motion blur reduction" and "judder reduction". Each of these functions can be adjusted on a scale from 1 to 10.

At lower values, the processing is subtle, barely noticeable, and gently smooths out motion without compromising the cinematic quality of the image. The higher we move up the scale, the more the television interferes with the presented material, smoothing out motion more intensely, and consequently – minimising any judders or micro-cuts. Conversely, the highest settings can resemble the so-called "soap opera effect", which makes the image appear excessively smooth, slightly losing its filmic atmosphere. However, with such a scale, we can find a happy medium, adjusting the smoothness of motion to our own preferences.

TCL MQLED85/C765 has received an impressive rating in the gaming features category, making it an excellent choice for gaming enthusiasts. The television supports all the latest technologies that significantly enhance the gaming experience. Among the key gaming features is ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode), which automatically switches the TV to low-latency mode, minimising response time and ensuring smooth gameplay. VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) functioning in the range of 48 to 144 Hz eliminates stuttering and screen tearing in dynamic game scenes. Additionally, the TV supports Dolby Vision Game Mode, which provides better image quality in games with exceptional colour depth and contrast. TCL MQLED85/C765 also features a decent if not the best implementation of HGiG (HDR Gaming Interest Group), optimising HDR game display; however, for TCL, it causes detail in whites to be brightened, resulting in some elements merging into a white blob - we can read more about this in the colour reproduction section. It supports various resolutions, such as 1080p@120Hz, 1440p@120Hz, and 4K@120Hz, allowing players to enjoy higher image quality and better fluidity. The Game Bar feature allows easy switching between game settings and quick parameter control, greatly simplifying the adjustment of the television to individual needs. With support for G-Sync and FreeSync technologies, users of NVIDIA and AMD graphics cards will be pleased with the refresh rate synchronisation capabilities, eliminating tearing and stuttering issues, thereby providing a smoother and more immersive gaming experience.

MQLED85/C765 is a television that combines advanced technologies and excellent support for gamers, making it the perfect choice for those who wish to maximise their gaming experiences.

If we sometimes enjoy turning on the console and immersing ourselves in the world of games for long hours, E7NQ PRO can make quite an impressive impact. Thanks to the 144 Hz refresh rate, gameplay is surprisingly smooth, and support for HDMI 2.1 and VRR ensures that the picture doesn't 'tear' even during the most dynamic actions. Additionally, there's ALLM, which automatically sets the lowest latency as soon as we switch to the console – so we don't have to fiddle with the options ourselves.

A major plus is also the ability to run games in Dolby Vision, making colours and contrast simply look better. Hisense has also added a clear 'gamebar', allowing us to constantly monitor the most important parameters and change settings without leaving the game. The only thing we might regret a bit is the lack of HGIG support. While it may not be a crucial element, it could matter to some gamers aiming for the most faithful representation of the creators' vision. Nevertheless, in practice, the E7NQ PRO performs excellently and provides truly enjoyable gaming experiences.