TCL P7K / P79K vs Samsung S85H

When turning to the assessment of HDR performance, we must be clear and without marketing embellishments: the P7K/P79K is not, and was never intended to be, a master in this field. The maximum peak brightness that this panel can generate hovers around a mere 300 nits. This represents a threshold, a kind of thin red line between what can be considered a barely satisfactory HDR signal and what is, in fact, not much different from standard dynamic range (SDR), unfortunately leaning towards the latter. Synthetic tests found brutal confirmation in reality – our measurements taken during movie screenings showed that luminance in key bright portions of the scenes rarely exceeded the ceiling of 200-250 nits. Thus, this is not a television that would allow content realised in a wide tonal range to spread its wings, and this must be openly admitted.

Unfortunately, the issue of colour reproduction is presented with equal restraint. Although the manufacturer positions this model within the "QLED" family, thanks to the use of a PFS LED filter, the results do not match the heightened expectations. The coverage of the wide DCI-P3 colour gamut reaches only 86%. In the context of the market, this is at best an average result, as most devices that employ additional layers to expand the colour spectrum easily achieve values at a minimum level of 90-92%.

Interestingly, the new WOLED SE panel has brought a slight improvement in brightness to the S85 series. In the same movie scenes last year's model stayed closer to around 700 nits, while the S85H can reach roughly 800 nits. This isn't a change that completely transforms HDR perception, but that extra brightness is noticeable, especially with pinpoint highlights, specular reflections and stronger special effects. Around 800 nits is already a very good result for an entry-level OLED and in most films it's enough for HDR to have the proper impact. Bright elements can stand out clearly against perfect black, and it's still that contrast that does most of the work. You do need to bear in mind a typical limitation of organic panel technology. When a very bright scene covers a large part of the screen, brightness can drop by almost half. That's the effect of the panel's protection mechanisms, which limit its power with large bright areas.

Colours

The S85H can deliver very pleasing, saturated colours and in most HDR films it looks really good in that respect. We measured around 95% DCI-P3 coverage, so the palette most commonly used in movies is reproduced to a very high degree. Skin tones, greens and stronger reds still have the right intensity, and in normal viewing it's hard to fault them. Only when you look wider at BT.2020 do the limitations of the new OLED SE panel become apparent. Coverage was about 70%, a little less than previous-generation WOLEDs and noticeably less than QD-OLED panels. In films this is not a big loss, because most productions rarely use such highly saturated colours. You're more likely to notice it in games, where creators often opt for more intense colours.

Every accurate assessment of image quality must begin with selection of the most optimal factory mode. In the case of the tested model P7K/P79K, the choice was made without hesitation for the "Film" mode. It is this mode that presents an image closest to the intentions of the creators, avoiding both the exaggerated brightness of the dynamic mode and the excessive dimming known from eco settings. And it must be admitted that, for a device in this price range, the factory calibration is surprisingly decent, although it has not escaped a few missteps. The most noticeable flaw turned out to be the not completely correctly set white balance. A slight dominance of the blue component gives the image a subtly cool, cold character, thus deviating from the exemplary neutrality that the director wanted to show us. The television performs much better in reproducing the greyscale in the standard dynamic range – the gamma curve is nearly exemplary. The only minor reservation could be made regarding the darkest parts of the image, where a slight deviation from the norm causes a loss of some detail in the shadows. The most serious challenge for the TCL software, however, was interpreting the HDR signal, as illustrated by the course of the EOTF curve. The television follows its own, quite free path here – the darkest details are disproportionately brightened, after which there is a noticeable slowdown in the increase of brightness for midtones. Fortunately, most of these imperfections are software-related issues that can be eliminated. With this thought in mind, we began the process of professional calibration.

For colour evaluation we naturally chose Filmmaker mode, and in SDR our S85H sample was very well set up from the factory. The largest deviation is in the white balance, where, as brightness rises, there is a slight lack of blue. In practice this means whites and greys have a subtly warmer tint than they should. However, this is not a major fault and during normal viewing it is unlikely to be very noticeable. Gamma also stays close to the reference value, so the image is neither overly bright nor unnecessarily dim. The S85H’s SDR picture quality is therefore very good straight out of the box. A few more imperfections appear in HDR. Here the white balance drifts more with increasing brightness, blue starts to dominate and the red component is clearly lacking. This also translates into larger errors for some colours. They do not yet amount to shifts that completely change the character of the image, but in direct comparison with a reference the difference is easier to spot. Overall, Filmmaker mode is a very good starting point before professional calibration.

The calibration process turned out to be spot on, particularly in the context of standard dynamic range (SDR) content. We successfully mitigated the television's tendency to emphasize cool tones, restoring the whiteness to its natural neutrality. Moreover, precise adjustments allowed us to correct a slight error in the gamma curve, ensuring that the darkest parts of the image regained their proper depth, without any trace of unnatural brightness. The effects are measurable and impressive – in the ColorChecker test, the overwhelming majority of colour reproduction errors fell below the perceptual threshold, achieving a deltaE value of under 2. This is a result that pricier models would not be ashamed of. Unfortunately, when it comes to HDR content, we encounter a barrier in the form of the inherent limitations of the panel itself. And although we managed to bring the colours into line, the software's characteristics mean that the television still adapts brightness in its own way, as evidenced by the persistent, non-standard EOTF curve. In summary, calibration adds immense value, but one must be aware that it cannot overcome certain physical barriers. The slightly elevated black level, due to the lack of local dimming, along with limited peak brightness, means that HDR content may not always be able to showcase its full potential. This is simply not the primary task of this display; its true strength, especially after professional tuning, lies in the viewing of SDR material.

Calibration yields very good results on the S85H. First and foremost, it was possible to set the white balance almost perfectly, which removes the slightly too warm character of the image that was previously visible in SDR. Colour reproduction itself also improves markedly, with most errors falling to a very low level and in everyday viewing it is hard to speak of any noticeable inaccuracies. You can also make significant improvements in HDR, although some issues remain due to the TV's inherent characteristics. The S85H does not always hold the brightness curve perfectly; the darkest parts are slightly lifted, and as you approach the panel's limits small deviations are visible in the brightest areas. Added to this is the limited coverage of the wider BT.2020 gamut, which of course cannot be overcome by any calibration. Despite this, the end result is very good and, after calibration, the S85H can produce a really well-tuned, natural image.

After a series of harsh evaluations, fortunately, the time comes for praise, and this is due to the TCL AiPQ image processor for its work in the field of digital processing and content scaling. It should be noted right away that we are not talking about the level known from flagship designs; however, in the price segment represented by the P7K/P79K, the results achieved are more than solid. The feature for smoothing tonal transitions performs particularly well, effectively eliminating posterisation, which are the characteristic bands often visible in highly compressed materials, for example, from the ChooseTV service. The algorithm adeptly removes unwanted gradients, which ultimately looks really good. The television also handles upscaling competently, which is the task of elevating low-resolution materials to 4K standard. The resulting image, although it may initially seem a bit too sharp, fortunately, is not a problem. The software allows for free adjustment of this parameter using a sharpness slider, making it easy to customise the final appearance to personal preferences.

Samsung has fitted the S85H with the same proprietary AI NQ4 Gen2 processor used in last year’s S85F and, in terms of digital image processing, it performs quite well. Upscaling is one of the model’s stronger points. Lower-resolution material is well sharpened, edges look natural, and the picture does not feel overly artificial. One caveat is a typical Samsung trait: at very low resolutions you cannot completely disable overscan, so the TV may slightly crop the left edge of the image. The "noise reduction" function also works very well, smoothing weaker tonal transitions. The processor can effectively remove posterisation and other imperfections visible in lower-quality material. However, you need to be careful with the strength of this function, because Samsung can be quite aggressive here. When it is activated, small image details, such as the texture of skin or clothing, can start to disappear along with the unwanted artefacts.

The issue of fluidity and sharpness of the image in motion is inextricably linked to a fundamental parameter of the matrix, and in the case of the TCL P7K/P79K, we are dealing with a panel with a native refresh rate of 60 Hz. This specification defines its capabilities from the outset and makes it difficult to unequivocally recommend it to enthusiasts of dynamic sports broadcasts. During fast camera movements, the image loses sharpness, and the panel also shows a slight tendency to smearing, which may be noticeable to more sensitive viewers. Fortunately, not everything in this aspect has been left to chance. The manufacturer has implemented a simple motion smoothing system, which is primarily used in film material recorded at 24 or 30 frames per second. Thanks to a dedicated slider, users can decide for themselves the final character of the motion – from maintaining a fully cinematic, slightly juddery image to achieving a very smooth, almost theatrical effect. It is a simple but effective tool that allows users to tailor the viewing experience to their own preferences.

The S85H uses an OLED panel, so it performs excellently for motion blur. Pixels respond virtually instantly, so moving objects do not leave the characteristic trailing seen on some LCD TVs. This is especially noticeable in sport and fast-paced games, where the picture remains very clean even during rapid motion. The panel itself runs at 120 Hz. That is more than sufficient for films, TV series, sport and console gaming. It is a pity Samsung did not include a higher refresh rate aimed at PC gamers, as more and more TVs now offer 144 or even 165 Hz at 4K. However, that does not affect motion handling in films or sport.

You also have a classic motion-smoothing feature with two settings, blur reduction and judder reduction. So you can decide whether films should retain their cinematic 24 frames per second or whether you prefer to smooth them a little. The S85H gives plenty of freedom here, and the interpolation works well and, with sensible settings, does not generate too many artefacts.

Although on paper the native 4K@60Hz panel might suggest that the TCL P7K/P79K is not a television tailored for gamers, the reality is surprisingly different. On the contrary, the manufacturer has ensured a rich package of features that make it a very friendly companion for next-generation consoles. Onboard, we find key technologies such as ALLM, which provides automatic switching to low latency mode, and VRR, or variable refresh rate, which eliminates screen tearing. The list is complemented by support for Dolby Vision Gaming and a simple yet functional Game Bar. However, the real and extremely pleasant surprise is something else. It turns out that the television easily supports a high refresh rate signal of 120 Hz but at lower resolutions – 1080p and 1440p. This is fantastic news for console owners, who know well how rarely games run in native 4K at a full 120 frames per second. The ability to choose between higher resolution and doubled smoothness is therefore an extremely sensible compromise.

In summary, although the P7K/P79K may not be the target screen for the most passionate tournament players, for the casual or occasional console user, it offers a package of options that is hard to find among many competitors at this price.

The Samsung S85H is very well prepared for gaming, essentially regardless of whether you connect a console or a PC. The manufacturer hasn't skimped on ports and all four HDMI ports support full HDMI 2.1. That means you can use 4K at 120 Hz, VRR and ALLM without worrying which input your console is plugged into. With multiple devices that matters a lot, because you don't have to choose between a console, a PC or a soundbar connected via eARC. The feature set itself is very comprehensive. The S85H supports VRR, FreeSync and automatic game mode switching, and Samsung also offers its extensive Game Bar where you can quickly check key signal parameters and change settings without leaving the game. The only notable omission is Dolby Vision, which will matter mainly to Xbox owners. This, incidentally, is typical of Samsung TVs. Game Motion Plus performs very well, and it's one of the features that have set Samsung TVs apart for years. It smooths motion in games running at 30 or 60 fps, but does so without as much increase in input lag as a conventional motion interpolator. In practice, with slower-paced games, racing titles or action games this can really improve the perceived motion, especially if you're sensitive to low frame rates.