LG QNED80A6A (VA) vs TCL C6KS / C69KS / Q6CS

Let's talk now about how this TV shines. If you expect dazzling light effects, we need to cool your enthusiasm. The LG QNED80A is a moderately bright television. Our measurements in most movie scenes indicated values around 350-400 nits. That's not enough to speak of a full, cinematic HDR experience and the sense of that famous "high dynamic range" that flagship products offer. However, brightness is not everything. Although the QNED80A is not a "light monster," it makes up for it in another key category: colors. Here, the PFS technology comes into play, which LG marketers hide under the name QNED/NanoCell. Thanks to this process, the TV offers a significantly wider color palette than classic LCD designs. In our tests, the coverage of the cinematic DCI-P3 palette reached a solid 93-94%. What does this mean for you? That even at lower brightness, when watching movies in HDR, the colors will be vivid, deep, and properly saturated. The image is not washed out but lush, which is a significant advantage in this price range.

And how does the issue of HDR look? Here the C6KS performs quite well and – as is becoming a recurring theme in this review – identically to the C6K model. The maximum brightness generated by this television is around 600 nits. In bright scenes, this translates to a really solid, cinematic effect, and generally, the video materials look good here. However, one must remember the specifics of the dimming algorithm in this model. When very small, bright points (e.g., stars) appear against a dark background, the television can dim them quite significantly. The goal is simple: to eliminate blooming and maintain the best possible black levels. It’s a reasonable compromise. Most viewers will definitely appreciate deep, “true black” more than additional micro-details that could cause grayness on the screen. Such is the nature of local dimming technology in this price range, and one must be aware of it. It’s also worth noting that the TCL C69KS (C6KS) has an additional PFS coating, which is marketed under the tagline of QLED technology. Thanks to this, the colors are saturated and vibrant – our measurements showed that the coverage of a wide color gamut reaches 92% here.

It might seem that since the QNED80A is one model, it should offer the same picture regardless of the version. However, practice shows something completely different. Analyzing the variant with a VA panel in the best factory setting – that is, in Filmmaker Mode – we noticed a specific characteristic. This TV “out of the box” serves us a picture with a clear dominance of red and a deficiency of blue. The overall image is very warm, almost hot. Many users might describe this as a “too cinematic” image, approaching sepia. Additionally, there's the issue of the gamma curve – the TV tends to slightly, artificially brighten scenes (the gamma is too low), causing the picture to lose some of its plasticity. The good news is that these are not flaws of the panel, but merely of the software. As always in our tests, we carried out a professional calibration, which completely eliminated these shortcomings, restoring the natural white balance and correct saturation.

Unlike the more expensive C6K model, the tested C6KS does not have an option labeled Filmmaker Mode in the menu. Is this a reason to cry? Absolutely not. Our tests have shown that in practice, in terms of color reproduction, the absence of this specific label makes virtually no difference. The best available Film/Cinema mode here offers nearly identical picture characteristics to the aforementioned Filmmaker mode in the more expensive model. So we get a very similar image, just under a different name. So if you were wondering whether paying extra for the C6K gives you better colors – the answer is: no, in both cases the base is the same and requires slight adjustments.

Was it worth spending time on calibration? Definitely yes. We managed to tame the initially too warm white balance and, most importantly, correct the gamma curve. The TV stopped artificially brightening scenes, which added depth to the image. The biggest improvement is visible in SDR content, meaning when watching regular television, YouTube, or in games without HDR. Here, the QNED80A shows its class – color reproduction errors (DeltaE) dropped below a value of 2. In technical terms, this means that the errors are practically unnoticeable to the human eye. The image in everyday use has simply become very attractive, natural, and correct. The difficulties begin with HDR content. Even though we managed to improve the white balance, the EOTF curve graph (responsible for brightness at various levels) shows that the TV still "interprets" the image in its own way. This is due to the nature of the edge-lit local dimming used and the fact that LG gives the calibrator a very limited range of control over this parameter. In short: the TV struggles to hide its hardware shortcomings, sometimes ignoring our commands. Nevertheless, the final image is much more accurate and pleasant to the eye than in factory settings, even if it still falls short of studio ideal.

Thanks to the white balance adjustment, the tendency of the C69KS to distort colors has been effectively reduced, leading to a very good final effect. After calibration, we won't see excessive warmth in SDR scenes or overly cool tones in HDR. However, it's worth noting the brightness characteristic. In SDR content, there are hardly any objections – the image looks very good, especially in older films, television programs, or materials from YouTube. It is much more difficult to evaluate the performance of the television in HDR. Analysis of the EOTF curve suggests correct behavior, but its practical variant shows certain limitations. The C69KS can overly brighten the smallest elements of the frame, while at other times it can dim the entire scene. Calibration has therefore brought clear benefits in terms of color reproduction, but certain limitations arising from the operation of local dimming and the way it is controlled by the C69KS cannot be avoided, as we also saw in the C6K test.

In this category, the QNED80A proves to be a real "dark horse." It's a fantastic, affordable television for those who often watch lower quality materials – for example, from traditional cable TV. The processor used here handles upscaling exceptionally well, meaning it enhances low resolution to native 4K. The image after processing is natural, smooth, and most importantly – not overly jagged or artificially sharpened. In the menu, we also find a dedicated option for smoothing tonal transitions in low-quality material. This feature works really effectively, eliminating the annoying "banding" of colors in heavily compressed video. However, we must remain vigilant. Remember that we are not dealing with a top-tier processor known from flagship OLED models. In more challenging scenes, the system may struggle and introduce minor artifacts or distortions. Nevertheless, it's definitely worth giving this feature a chance, as in most cases, the improvement in quality is noticeable to the naked eye.

C69KS handles upscaling quite well. The tested 576p material looks surprisingly decent – a significant amount of detail is preserved, and the algorithm adds a subtle "rounding" effect to sharp edges, making the image appear more cohesive. However, the smoothing of tonal transitions is lacking. The television practically cannot improve them, leaving the image in a somewhat raw state. With older materials, this can be simply exhausting, as the lack of additional processing highlights all imperfections.

We move on to a matter that may be decisive for many. Unfortunately, here we must point out the biggest "Achilles' heel" of the QNED80A model. This TV is equipped with a panel that has a native refresh rate of 60Hz. There's no point in hiding it – at this price, we expected more because we know that Chinese manufacturers can offer 120Hz screens for similar money. Due to this parameter, dynamic scenes in sports or fast-paced games are not the strong suit of this screen. Fortunately, LG has equipped the TV with a proven smoothing system called TruMotion. It works quite well with film material (24 frames). We suggest playing around with the De-Judder slider – from our experience, setting it in the range of 2-4 provides the best compromise: motion becomes smoother while still looking natural, without the artificial "TV theater" effect.

C69KS offers a simplified motion improvement panel in movies, allowing you to adjust the intensity of the effect using a slider. This makes it easy to match the smoothness to your own preferences. The possibility of using higher refresh rates is also a plus – even though the panel operates natively at 4K at 60 Hz, lowering the resolution to 1440p allows you to enable 120 and 144 Hz modes, both on consoles and PC. This sounds like great news, but in practice, the image at these settings suffers from significant motion blur. The effect is noticeable enough that the overall experience feels simply mediocre and loses its appeal in everyday use.

Since we have established that the QNED80A is a 60Hz panel television, we must say it directly: we will not be playing here at 120 frames per second in any resolution. Does this disqualify the device in the eyes of gamers? Not necessarily, especially for "casual" gamers. LG has decided to sweeten this technical limitation by packing in quite a few useful features. We have support for VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) ranging from 48-60Hz and an automatic game mode ALLM, which quickly reduces input lag upon detecting a console. We manage all of this through a very convenient, purple Game Optimizer menu (Player Panel), which has already become LG's trademark. The manufacturer deserves big credit for consistency regarding HDR. Although the television does not support Dolby Vision in games on Xbox consoles, LG adds a well-implemented HGiG standard. Thanks to this, even on a moderately bright screen, HDR gaming is clear, and details in shadows and highlights are accurately reproduced, rather than "cut off."

If we overlook the smearing and lack of native 4K at 120 Hz, the C69KS impresses with how well it performs during gaming. We get everything you can expect from a gaming television: variable refresh rate (VRR), automatic switching to game mode (ALLM), Dolby Vision Gaming mode, and a reasonably functioning HGiG. The TV can also operate at 120 and even 144 Hz at lower resolutions, allowing for smoother gameplay on console or PC. Additionally, there is a clear Game Bar that lets you quickly glance at key settings during gaming. As a result — despite a few limitations — the C69KS can be a truly successful screen for gamers.