Maciej Koper
Can a television that costs almost 100 thousand zlotys (25K $) have flaws? Thanks to one of our viewers and a client skalibrujtv.pl, we can answer this question for the first time – independently and reliably. Before you are the first measurements and impressions from using probably the most expensive television that can be bought today in an ordinary electronics store. We're talking, of course, about the gigantic 115-inch TCL X955.
This monstrous screen is not just about size, but also powerful technology – our calibrated version offers as many as 20 thousand dimming zones! Sounds out of this world? You’re probably wondering if such a giant for that price has any flaws at all? Let’s check it out!
Let's finally explore the possibilities of TCL X955
Not long ago, when creating a ranking of the largest televisions, we could only guess what the TCL X955 was capable of. Today we finally know.
TCL X955 is one of the largest available LCD televisions currently – 115 inches, VA matrix, and Mini LED backlighting in an extreme version: over 20,000 dimming zones and brightness reaching 5,000 nits in Movie mode. Believe it or not, the 115-inch TCL X955 is capable of generating such absurd brightness not just on marketing flyers! For comparison: the 65-inch C855 had "only" 1,000 zones and 2,400 nits. The difference between such televisions is gigantic – both in blacks, contrast, and details. It's a screen that can resemble an OLED, but on the scale of a cinema projector!
Issues with Color and Image Characteristics
SDR measurements before professional calibration
HDR measurements before professional calibration
Since we're already here, you're probably wondering if such an expensive TV had any flaws right out of the box? After all, we're talking about equipment worth as much as a new "budget" car from a dealership – one would expect a perfectly calibrated unit straight from the factory.
Unfortunately, the reality turned out to be... surprising.
What we encountered upon the first startup was more concerning than impressive. For us – the testers – it's downright absurd. How is it possible that a flagship model costing tens of thousands has such obvious image quality problems in factory settings? The biggest issues with the TCL X955 were with color reproduction. Both in SDR and HDR materials, even in the theoretically "best" movie mode, there was a strong dominance of blue. The errors in gray scale and color reproduction could reach values exceeding DeltaE = 16 – let's remember that differences above 2 are already noticeable to the naked eye. As a result, the image characteristic resembled cheaper models from the lower tier more than equipment from the top league.
Brightness and EOTF Curve – Power Show at the Expense of Quality
Gamma before calibration
EOTF before calibration
The same can be said about the brightness characteristics and how the TV managed its backlighting. At first glance, it was clear that TCL wanted to "show off" its power – it's just a pity that this came at the expense of the naturalness of the image.
Both in SDR and HDR content, the image was clearly oversaturated. The gamma curves and EOTF, which should account for proper gradation of brightness and contrast, resembled a roller coaster rather than a stable reference line. You can already imagine the effect. Loss of detail in dark and bright areas and unnatural scene dynamics – all so that the image would seem more "impressive" at first glance.
Calibration X955 – Can such a screen be saved?
As you can probably guess, the client didn't invite us over for no reason – and we understand him 100%. After the initial inspection, everything was clear: with such a picture, this TV simply couldn't stay the way it came out of the box.
The technician who visited our client on-site (a warm greeting to Krystian! 😉) brought along measurement equipment worth several thousand and got to work. It was time to check what could be squeezed out of this 115-inch colossus when we start treating it seriously – as premium equipment, not just as a showcase of brightness capabilities.
What exactly professional calibration is, you can read in the article below, which explains how it differs from store “optimization” or popular ready-made settings from the internet. In many cases, such “treatments” not only do not improve the picture but even worsen it!
TCL 115X955 – SDR after calibration – this is how it should look!
Looking at the SDR materials after calibration, we can confidently say one thing – Krystian managed to squeeze almost everything out of this television. Look at these graphs! All the squares, lines, curves – they almost perfectly align with the reference values.
The values for the grayscale do not exceed 0.4 ΔE, which means that the differences are absolutely imperceptible to the human eye. In the ColorChecker test, almost all the squares hit perfectly in their fields, and the gamma is almost perfectly flat, ensuring perfect reproduction of brightness across the entire tonal range.
Finally, the SDR image looks just as it should – without distortions, without clipping, with full control over light and color. This is exactly how we envisioned premium class.
TCL 115X955 – HDR after calibration – almost perfect, but Mini LED has its nature
With similarly great, though no longer so unconditional optimism, we can talk about how the TCL X955 performs with HDR content after calibration. The picture is outstanding – with enormous brightness (5000 nits!) and deep blacks. But some characteristic features of Mini LED technology are still visible.
Despite the impressive 20,000 dimming zones, the X955 can, in some scenes – especially with small, bright elements – dim details a bit too much. A classic example is the star test, where the smallest bright points can appear too weak. This is also evident on the EOTF curve, which drops below the reference line at the beginning of the graph – indicating that the TV darkens the darkest parts of the image more than it should.
Of course, the end result is incomparably higher quality than in factory settings, but it’s important to keep in mind that even such an expensive and advanced Mini LED TV retains certain characteristics of its technology. And while these are not shortcomings, they are elements that one simply has to learn to live with.
TCL 115X955 – A visual masterpiece that requires tuning
The TCL X955 is an absolutely phenomenal television. Its size, brightness, contrast, and image potential – especially after calibration – make a stunning impression. It's one of those screens that can provide cinematic experiences in your living room, surpassing projectors in brightness and blacks.
Unfortunately, it is not a device without flaws. Just like many of you, we also do not understand how the manufacturer can release a television of this class with such poorly tuned image settings straight out of the factory. Fortunately, there is a solution for that. If you want to get the maximum out of your television – regardless of the model – feel free to head to skalibrujtv.com. Proper calibration can make a difference greater than the leap between equipment classes. In the case of the X955 – it transformed it from an impressive giant into a visual masterpiece.
