Hisense U7KQ vs TCL X11L

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.

Such a large number of zones translated not only into deep, inky blacks but also into the panel’s brightness. The X11L is an extremely bright TV. Peak brightness can easily exceed 4000 nits, and with the special "Boost" mode enabled, under specific conditions that brightness can even hover around the marketing figures of 9000–10,000 nits. This is undoubtedly one of the brightest, if not the brightest, screens on the market. But how do those numbers translate to real-world movie measurements? The results are very good, though of course far from the marketing promises. Our measured brightness in actual movie scenes hovered around 2000–3000 nits. That’s an outstanding result, considering that the vast majority of content is produced to those brightness levels, including the rarer material mastered to 4000 nits. But it also shows that the numbers the manufacturer brags about don’t always translate directly to the video content available at home. The only "quirk" (if you can call it that) is that when very small, bright elements appear on the screen, their brightness drops below 2000 nits. The dimming algorithm does this deliberately to preserve deep blacks and minimize halo. This is entirely understandable and the effect remains very strong, but it also demonstrates that even with such powerful hardware, Mini-LED technology has its limits and does not always work without compromise. In HDR, brightness isn’t the only thing that matters; color saturation and color accuracy do as well. On the X11L these are very good thanks to the new Super QLED quantum dots (SQD). The addition of a newly applied filter delivered excellent coverage of the P3 color gamut and the ultra-wide BT.2020. Although it doesn’t reach the advertised 100% of BT.2020, values around 89–90% can be called excellent. Colors are not far off those of RGB Mini-LED panels. We can even say they’re more stable because they use a less demanding algorithm than the one RGB screens often have to deal with.

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 you enable the supposedly best Filmmaker Mode, you expect a one-to-one image of what the director saw. On the X11L it's pretty good, but the mode has obvious flaws that our measurements immediately exposed. Let's start with SDR. Both the white balance and the gamma are simply misaligned here. The whites have too much blue and red, giving a faint pink tint. That also hurt the gamma, which instead of holding the cinematic 2.4 runs closer to 2.2. What did that result in? The whole image ends up pushed and artificially brightened. The worst is saved for last: the HDR measurements. Apart from that slight white balance drift, the X11L fails on the brightness management curve called the EOTF. What we saw in the measurements instantly explains what we noticed earlier in the films. The image is unnaturally bright because the curve is massively overshot above the reference. The TV simply and ruthlessly lifts the dark parts of the image to create a "wow" effect, completely ignoring the director's intent.

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 above all able to fully tame the SDR signal. The X11L responded perfectly to our adjustments. We were able to completely straighten the white balance, eliminate that pink tint, and set gamma to a stable 2.4. After that treatment the picture finally became consistent with the director’s intent, natural and free of artificial boosts. For HDR we also managed to make minor corrections, but the TV’s biggest flaw remained unchanged. I’m talking, of course, about how the X11L manages its brightness and how badly it overshoots the EOTF curve. Unfortunately, TCL provides virtually no tools to manipulate this parameter. Even during professional calibration the software offers no way to tame that curve, so the TV will always tend to brighten the image in HDR.

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.

Like in the C8L model we tested earlier, TCL has delivered a substantial upgrade in its flagship X series in this area. It's all thanks to the MediaTek Pentonic 800 processor used in this model. Thanks to it, features that smooth tonal transitions or even upscale content to higher resolutions finally look the way they should. The biggest Achilles' heel of previous TCL models has finally been addressed. The processor excels at digital processing, and in this respect the TV no longer lags behind flagship models from Korea or even the most refined ones from Japan.

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.

In terms of specs, the X11L can impress: it supports refresh rates up to 144 Hz at 4K, and at Full HD it can be pushed to 288 Hz. But from a real-world perspective, we were most interested in how the screen handles 120 Hz. After all, modern hardware is limited to that rate, led by current-generation consoles. How does it perform in practice? Although it uses a VA panel, the screen doesn't exhibit heavy ghosting. With very fast-moving objects you can notice a slight smear, but it's subtle enough that it doesn't stand out when gaming or watching sports. The motion smoothing feature called "Motion Clarity" is also very helpful; it lets you adjust motion smoothness to your liking. Recommended settings are shown in the photo.

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.

For gamers the X11L is simply a superb screen. TCL has already gotten us used to the fact that its products deliver practically every feature available on the market, and it's exactly the same with the flagship from the X series. Thanks to the new processor, the X11L offers four HDMI 2.1 ports with the full 48 Gbps bandwidth. Naturally, the 2.1 standard brings a set of extremely useful options, such as Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM) and VRR frame synchronization, working across the full refresh range up to 288 Hz. All of these features can be conveniently controlled from a dedicated Game Bar. Interestingly, its appearance can be customized to your taste, with three ready-made themes referencing Nintendo, PlayStation, and Xbox consoles. And speaking of Xbox: Dolby Vision Gaming also works on the X11L without any problems.

When gaming in the standard HDR10 format, however, you should be aware of the specific tuning of the brightness curve, which can cause problems during initial setup. Although the TV supports HGiG, configuring everything through the PlayStation or Xbox system menus can be tricky. The screen's algorithms tend to artificially brighten the test checkerboard pattern, making it really hard to hit the correct white clipping point by eye. For HDR10 content to look right, we recommend manually setting the brightness in the console menu to around 2500–3000 nits.