TCL P7K / P79K vs TCL P7L / P79L

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%.

The biggest limitation of the TCL P7L in HDR is simply brightness. The TV does not have much luminance headroom, so strong highlights, the sun or small light sources can't clearly 'pop' out of the picture. As a result, even well-produced HDR material looks fairly restrained and, in terms of dynamics, is closer to good SDR than to what brighter models show. That does not mean the P7L completely fails at HDR. The issue is primarily a lack of backlight power.

Looking at colours, the situation is a little better. The TV covers around 91% of the DCI-P3 gamut and about 68% of the wide BT.2020 colour space, so for this price class the colour range is quite respectable. TCL markets this model as QLED, although the nature of the solution used is closer to backlighting that uses a PFS phosphor than to a classic quantum-dot layer. What matters most to the viewer, however, is the effect: more saturated colours are on offer.

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.

In Film mode the TCL P7L performs quite respectably without major changes to the settings, particularly with ordinary SDR material. White balance is relatively even, though as brightness increases there is a slight rise in red and blue and a touch too little green. This does not, however, produce a strongly visible tint and most colours remain close to their reference points. The Colour Checker confirms this, with a large portion of errors falling below the level that should be particularly noticeable during normal viewing. We have more reservations about the gamma response. In the darkest parts of the image the TV runs it noticeably above the reference value, so some shadow detail can be a little too subdued. The characteristic then calms down and across much of the range it is close to the intended behaviour. As a result SDR generally looks natural, but in dark scenes the P7L can lose some subtlety.

In HDR the factory calibration is less precise. As brightness increases the excess of blue becomes more pronounced, which can make the image look cooler than it should. The number of larger colour deviations also grows, particularly in brighter hues. As for the EOTF curve itself, it is handled fairly conservatively, with the TV showing the image darker than the reference across much of the range. For such an inexpensive model, the factory Film mode settings are not bad.

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.

After calibration the TCL P7L can deliver a genuinely pleasant picture, especially with conventional SDR material. We managed to even out the white balance very well, and the gamma curve now tracks close to the target value of 2.4. This is also reflected in the colour measurements: most errors have fallen noticeably, and in everyday viewing it is hard to point to any obvious inaccuracies. Films, series, YouTube and ordinary broadcast TV therefore look more natural, without unnecessary warmth or a cool tint. For a model in this price bracket the SDR performance is really very good.

With HDR the situation becomes more complicated. Calibration helped improve the white balance and tidy up some deviations, but here the panel's limitations become increasingly apparent. The P7L has relatively low brightness and cannot maintain adequate luminance for more saturated colours, so some errors remain even after careful tuning. In other words, settings can improve the way the TV interprets the signal, but they cannot overcome its physical limits. That is why calibration makes most sense for this model primarily in SDR.

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.

In this respect the TCL P7L performs surprisingly well, especially for such an inexpensive TV. The banding-reduction feature, which in many budget models does little or nothing, actually manages to improve the picture here. It does not remove all banding entirely, but it can noticeably reduce posterisation and make more challenging gradients look more natural. At this price point that’s a genuinely pleasant surprise. Upscaling itself also performs well. Lower-resolution material is scaled correctly, without over-sharpening or adding artificial outlines around objects. Of course the P7L won’t turn a very poor source into a 4K-quality image, but for regular TV the result is simply solid. For a model in this class there is little to criticise.

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 TCL P7L uses a panel with a native 60 Hz refresh rate at 4K resolution, and that's how it should be regarded in everyday use. When watching films the TV mainly offers frame interpolation, so it can smooth motion and reduce the characteristic judder, but it does not deliver the fluidity typical of true 120 Hz panels.

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.

For such an inexpensive TV, the P7L has quite a lot to offer gamers. It has ALLM, VRR, Dolby Vision for gaming, and TCL also includes its Game Bar, which lets you quickly check the key information or change some settings without leaving the game. Not everything is perfect, though, because HGiG doesn’t work here as it should, but at this price point it’s hard to complain about the feature set. The most interesting part starts when you give up 4K. At that resolution the TV runs at up to 60 Hz, but at 1440p and 1080p it can display at 120 Hz. And that’s not just a line in the specs. In fast-paced games that support that frame rate you can really notice the improvement in smoothness, so if you value smoother motion more than maximum image detail, that mode can make a lot of sense. Of course, that doesn’t turn the P7L into a proper 120 Hz TV. Even so, those extra modes are exactly what make the P7L perform very well for gaming.