Hisense U7KQ vs TCL C7L

Describing the HDR effect in the Hisense U7KQ 100-inch model is not straightforward and requires context. In bright scenes, the TV achieves over a thousand nits of brightness, delivering vivid and realistic images that meet expectations for this class of equipment. However, performance declines in darker scenes. In mixed shots, like those in Gemini Man, the TV maintains a brightness level of 700 nits, providing good quality. The issue arises in very dark scenes with small light sources, where the TV limits its capabilities to preserve black levels. This results in a lack of the "WOW" effect, making such frames feel less like true HDR.

TCL C7L is undoubtedly an extremely bright television. In synthetic tests on static images, it can achieve peak brightness levels of around 2800 nits. This is an absolutely phenomenal result, considering the price range it falls into. Unfortunately, the tests with real film scenes are not as spectacular as the measurements of white squares. The brightness in actual HDR shots drops to around 1200 nits in the C7L model. This is still a very good result, as the vast majority of contemporary films are mastered at such a value. However, when small, pinpoint elements appear on the screen, the brightness of those details drastically drops – even to about 400 nits – which diminishes the HDR effect somewhat. The television does this intentionally to maintain a better level of black and prevent a huge glare of light. This is somewhat explainable, but it also shows that Mini LED technology is not completely uncompromising in this regard. As for the HDR effect itself – alongside brightness, colors are obviously key here. And these, thanks to the use of new, "super" quantum dots, are simply outstanding and among the best on the market. The television can achieve around 90% coverage of the ultra-wide color gamut BT.2020 and 99% of the DCI-P3 gamut, easily matching the best RGB MINI-LED screens. Best of all, the C7L can maintain such high color saturation regardless of the scene being displayed, which is often problematic in competing RGB Mini-LED televisions.

The best factory mode we measured on the Hisense U7KQ was "Filmmaker." However, its performance still left room for improvement. Let's start with the gamma chart, which affects image depth and contrast. The orange line, which represents the REC.709 standard reference value, begins at 2.4. Looking at the white multi-point line that indicates the measured value, a noticeable drop to 2.0 indicates a decrease in contrast, making the image lack depth and resulting in a "milky" effect. Next, we checked the white balance, which, although minor, can drastically affect the overall image quality if poorly calibrated. Initially, the chart was fine, but red and blue began to dominate, giving all test materials an unpleasant tint. Fortunately, with the advanced colour management system (CMS) and 2- and 20-point grayscale adjustment tools, we managed to significantly improve SDR material performance, as reflected in low deltaE errors and well-calibrated gamma and white balance.

When it comes to colors straight out of the box, what's new in TCL TVs, including the C7L model, is the addition of a picture mode called Filmmaker Mode. That's significant because until now that mode wasn't available from this manufacturer at all. In theory, as the name suggests, the image in this setting is meant to represent the filmmaker's full intent. From our tests we can confirm that it's without a doubt the best built-in mode on this TV if you care about faithful color reproduction right out of the box. However, we wouldn't say it's perfect. Like most devices on the market, this C7L also had some factory issues. The white balance in Filmmaker Mode tended toward a slightly greenish-yellow tint, caused mainly by an excess of the green channel and a noticeable lack of blue. For the average viewer this won't be a drastic flaw, but if you care about perfect whites, natural skin tones, and getting the full potential out of the structure of these new "super" quantum dots, the TV really begs for professional calibration.

In SDR mode, after calibration, the Hisense 100U7KQ performs excellently. Regarding colour reproduction there is nothing to criticise – both pastel and highly saturated colours are displayed according to the Rec. 709 standard, ensuring the image looks natural and in line with the director's intent. Viewers can enjoy an authentic visual experience, with colours and tonal subtleties faithfully represented.

In HDR mode, however, there is a noticeable boost in bright tones. The TV attempts to enhance the image, which can lead to an artificial brightening. This phenomenon becomes more apparent in real scenes, where bright areas of the image may be excessively brightened. While colours in HDR are generally good, they are intentionally over-boosted by the manufacturer, which can affect their naturalness.

This approach to HDR may not appeal to everyone, particularly those who value authenticity and fidelity to the original colours. However, for those who prefer more dynamic and vivid images, the boost in bright tones can add extra brilliance and impact to scenes.

After a professional calibration we were able to greatly improve the out-of-the-box Filmmaker Mode. After our adjustments, errors in the ColorChecker test and across the wide color gamut fell below the threshold of human perception, that is below a value of 3, which is a very good result. The TCL C7L definitely benefits from this treatment in terms of color accuracy, and that's hard to argue with. A bit worse, however, is the issue of brightness management in HDR content after calibration. As I described earlier, even though we set this model up correctly, when you play real movie scenes on the TV it can manage its brightness in a rather peculiar way. It often brightens certain elements on the screen contrary to the creator's intent, which can be clearly seen on EOTF charts measured in particular films. Despite this flaw, or rather a specific quirk of this TV, you can't take away one thing: after calibration the C7L was able to reproduce colors accurately.

Although the Hisense 100U7KQ is equipped with a feature to reduce posterisation called "Smooth Gradation," we did not notice a significant effect from its operation. Material subjected to strong compression, such as YouTube videos, still showed uneven, cut-off tonal transitions, which did not look particularly favourable. While this is the fault of the material itself and not the television, it would be beneficial if there were a function to mask these problems, similar to screens from competing brands.

The image scaling, which is crucial when playing lower resolution content, is average. Details are not excessively blurry, and the image is not "smeared," but there is noticeable aliasing on the edges of objects, such as branches, and a halo effect around characters and text. While the television performs fairly well, there is still room for improvement, particularly in the context of displaying lower-quality material.

This point could, in a sense, be called the Achilles' heel of the C7L. Unfortunately, this TV uses an older MediaTek chipset, the Pentonic 700, which was never known for outstanding digital image processing. You can clearly see this in the operation of the gradual smoothing function, which is responsible for reducing jagged edges and removing digital noise. It simply performs very poorly; when set to low, its effectiveness is practically nonexistent. The only small plus is that the algorithm doesn't further degrade the image or forcefully blur details. Upscaling itself, meaning the scaling of lower-resolution content to 4K, performs a bit better. It's simply adequate and doesn't stand out compared with the competition. That said, there's no denying the C7L would gain a lot in this area if the manufacturer decided to use the newer Pentonic 800 processor, which is now appearing in an increasing number of competing models.

The Hisense 100U7KQ TV correctly receives a 4K signal up to 144 Hz, allowing for very smooth images in high resolution. When the resolution is reduced to Full HD, the TV can handle up to 240 Hz, but this signal can only be obtained from a PC. However, the use of this feature is limited by several factors.

Firstly, Full HD resolution on a large TV screen may feel insufficient, affecting image quality. Additionally, the panel's response time isn't fast enough to fully utilise the 240 Hz refresh rate. As a result, at such a high refresh rate, significant overdrive occurs, leading to noticeable motion blur and "ghosting" behind moving objects.

The motion smoothing feature, which works up to 120 Hz, is also worth noting. This is especially useful for sports and movies where motion fluidity is crucial. The TV provides stable operation of this feature, minimising generated artefacts. Motion fluidity can be adjusted using two sliders – one for smoothness in movies and another for reducing blur in sports content.

In summary, while the Hisense 100U7KQ TV offers impressive image refresh rates, the panel's response time and resolution may affect the overall benefits of these features. Nevertheless, the motion smoothing function enhances the viewing experience of dynamic content.

The TCL C7L uses a native 4K panel with a 144 Hz refresh rate, which, at lower resolutions when using a PC, can even reach up to 288 Hz. Those are obviously very high numbers and look impressive on paper, but in everyday use it's worth remembering that almost all dynamic content you play on this TV will still run at around a maximum of 120 Hz. To tame that motion, the TV's menu includes a motion smoothing system called "Motion Clarity." It offers several predefined modes, including a user mode that we strongly recommend setting manually using our tried-and-true guides on our YouTube channel. There are two key sliders available there. The first, "Blur Reduction," reduces smearing and improves sharpness in dynamic 60-fps material, such as sports broadcasts. The second slider, "Flicker Reduction," lets you add artificial frames to movies and TV series shot at cinematic 24 or 30 fps. This, of course, allows you to completely eliminate the annoying image judder during camera motion.

The Hisense U7KQ TV supports all the key features when using Xbox or PlayStation consoles, including high refresh rates, low input lag, and a game bar. Most of these features work well, providing a satisfying gaming experience.

However, VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) technology does not perform optimally. When activated, VRR disables the local dimming function, significantly reducing image quality. In VRR mode, the TV struggles with maintaining good contrast and high brightness in HDR, resulting in unsatisfactory image quality. As a result, VRR mode may be infrequently used by gamers due to these limitations.

Additionally, the TV does not support the HGIG (HDR Gaming Interest Group) mode, which optimises HDR image quality in games. Without this mode, tone mapping issues arise in the TV and the console, leading to lower-quality HDR games, which could affect the overall gaming experience.

In summary, while the Hisense U7KQ offers many features for gamers, certain key aspects, such as VRR performance and HGIG support, may not meet the expectations of more demanding users. Nonetheless, the TV supports most standard gaming functions, making it suitable for gamers.

When it comes to gaming, the TCL C7L is simply an outstanding TV for gamers. Thanks to two full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 ports at 48 Gbps, you get access to all the key features required by console owners and users of powerful PCs. It has a well-implemented ALLM mode with very low input lag and VRR frame-sync that works in an impressive range from 48 to 288 Hz. Importantly, unlike some competitors, TCL implemented the console HDR10 HGIG profile correctly and added support for Dolby Vision in games. Rounding out the package is a very well-designed player panel, the Game Bar, which even lets you edit its appearance and change the theme to perfectly match your console’s style. The only thing you can — and should — criticize is that the TV offers only two full HDMI 2.1 ports, while the other two are older HDMI 2.0. That creates a fairly significant logistical problem. Why? Because one of those fast ports also supports eARC (enhanced Audio Return Channel). In practice, that means if you connect a soundbar or a home theater system, you’ll only have one free HDMI 2.1 port left. If you have two consoles at home, or a console and a powerful PC, you’ll unfortunately have to give something up or constantly juggle cables at the back while trying to maintain convenient control of your audio system.