LG QNED86A / QNED85A / QNED87A vs TCL C7L

Against the backdrop of contrast and black, the brightness of the QNED86A and the overall HDR effect performs much better. This is a television that can reach around 700 nits in the best conditions, so in terms of brightness alone, there is nothing to be ashamed of. As a result, scenes with strong lights, explosions, flashes, or bright parts of the landscape look clear and can make an impression. Interestingly, even in more challenging moments with small, contrasting elements on the screen, the television handles their backlighting well, and the details are quite visible. The problem resurfaces when there are a lot of dark tones. The lack of effective local dimming causes black to virtually disappear, and instead, we get a gray glow spreading across the entire screen. This kills the sense of depth and makes the image look flat, as if it lacks a cinematic quality. In bright animations or colorful family films, this won't be an issue because colors and bright light dominate there. But in horrors or productions set in darkness, these limitations are very palpable. As a consolation, it’s worth mentioning that the QNED86A is actually a QLED television with a PFS LED filter, which gives it very good coverage of wide color gamuts. Both the DCI-P3 palette and the wider BT.2020 perform really solid here. This ensures that colors in HDR films are saturated, vibrant, and have the right depth – even if the black itself disappoints, the colors can save the viewing experience and make the image look attractive.

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.

We primarily tested the QNED86A in Filmmaker mode, which is designed to provide the most accurate picture. Unfortunately, right out of the box, there were quite a few shortcomings. The most noticeable issue was the poorly adjusted white balance – there was a lack of blue, causing the overall image to lean slightly yellow, and at times, even orange. An even bigger problem turned out to be the way the television manages brightness. Due to its technical limitations – namely, local dimming that only works along the edges of the screen – the QNED86A tends to over-brighten entire scenes. This is where the flattening effect we mentioned earlier comes from. Instead of distinct depth and contrast, we get something akin to "boosted brightness," which can strain the eye over time.

When it comes to colors straight out of the box, a new feature in TCL televisions – including the C7L model – is the presence of a new picture mode called Filmmaker Mode. This is significant news, as such a mode was previously unavailable from this manufacturer. By design, as the name itself suggests, the image in this setting is intended to be presented with the full intent of the film's creator. After our tests, we can confirm that it is undoubtedly the best built-in mode on this television if you care about faithful color reproduction straight out of the box. However, we definitely wouldn't say that it is perfect. Like most devices on the market, this C7L also had its factory flaws. The white balance in Filmmaker Mode strayed into a slightly greenish-yellow hue, mainly due to an excess of green component and a noticeable lack of blue color. Of course, for the average viewer, this may not be a drastic flaw, but if you care about perfect whites, natural skin tones, and fully unlocking the potential of these new "super" quantum dots, this television is in need of professional calibration.

What was saved in the QNED86A6A is undoubtedly the colors. After calibration, the white balance was set with great precision, resulting in deviations on the Colour Checker palette mostly not exceeding the threshold of visibility for the human eye. In other words – the colors finally looked natural, without strange yellow or orange tones that previously ruined the experience. Unfortunately, even the best calibration cannot bypass design limitations. The already mentioned very modest number of local dimming zones and their unfortunate placement made the analysis of the EOTF curve in films still show clear over-brightening of scenes. The image tended to flatten, lacking cinematic depth. Fortunately, this effect is not as noticeable in older productions or SDR content. There, calibration really does its job and allows taming the QNED in such a way that the image can be pleasing. However, the specifics of this design – especially the contrast issues – cannot be entirely overcome.

After conducting a professional calibration, we managed to significantly improve the situation in the factory Filmmaker Mode. Following our adjustments, the errors in the ColorChecker test and across the entire wide color gamut dropped below the threshold of human perception – that is, below a value of 3, which is indeed a very good result. The TCL C7L definitely benefits from such an intervention in terms of color fidelity, and it's hard to dispute that. However, the management of brightness in HDR content post-calibration looks a bit worse. As I described earlier – even though we set up this model properly, when we turn on actual film scenes on the TV, it manages its brightness in a rather peculiar way. It often brightens certain elements on the screen contrary to the creator's intent, which is clearly visible in the EOTF graphs measured in specific films. Despite this defect – or rather a specific characteristic of this television – one cannot take away from it that after calibration, the C7L was able to reproduce the colors completely accurately.

If someone is worried about possible "steps" when connecting colors, there is a simple way in the QNED86A. Just turn on the feature called Smooth Gradation and set it to medium level. Then the TV really smooths out all those unwanted transitions – especially in older productions – and does it in such a way that the film grain doesn't disappear, nor do strange artifacts appear. In other words, you can use it without worry.

The upscaling itself also turns out quite well. Of course, there are no miracles here – with lower quality sources, you can observe characteristic jaggedness. Fortunately, there is a sharpness slider in the menu, and if someone prefers a more "softer" image, it can be quickly adjusted to their taste.

This point can be, in a sense, called the Achilles' heel of the C7L model. Unfortunately, this TV uses an older MediaTek chipset – the Pentonic 700 – which has never been known for exceptional digital image processing. This is clearly evident in the operation of the gradual smoothing feature, which is responsible for reducing jagged edges and removing digital noise. It simply works very poorly – after setting it to low, its effectiveness is practically nonexistent. The only small plus here is that the algorithm doesn't spoil anything additional in the image and doesn’t forcibly blur details. The upscaling, that is, scaling the image from lower resolutions to 4K, performs a bit better. It is simply adequate and doesn’t stand out in any particular way compared to the competition. However, it cannot be denied that the C7L would gain significantly in this aspect if the manufacturer decided to use the newer Pentonic 800 processor, which is now increasingly found in many competitive models.

The QNED86A is equipped with a 120 Hz refresh rate panel, so right from the start, it's safe to say that it's suitable for both sports and gaming. And indeed, this is true – the image looks smooth, and motion blur is not very noticeable. IPS panels have always had some issues with this, and you can sometimes notice slight blurring here as well, especially in very dynamic scenes, but it's not something that ruins watching a match or a fast-paced game. For movie and sports fans, LG has added the traditional TruMotion smoother. In the menu, we have two sliders – one for movies (De-Judder), the other for sports (De-Blur). The first adds missing frames and allows you to adjust the character of motion – from raw, cinematic to more fluid, "theatrical." The second enhances sharpness during dynamic actions, so it's worth turning it up a bit if you're watching a lot of sports.

TCL C7L features a native 4K panel with a refresh rate of 144 Hz, which can even ramp up to 288 Hz at lower resolutions when using a PC. These are, of course, very high values and commendable on paper, but in everyday life, it's worth remembering that nearly all dynamic content you display on this television will still be running around a maximum of 120 Hz. To harness this dynamics, we find a motion smoothing system in the TV's menu called “Motion Clarity.” It offers several predefined modes, including a user mode, which we definitely recommend setting manually using our tried-and-true guides on our YouTube channel. There we have two key sliders at our disposal. The first one, “Blur Reduction,” is responsible for reducing blurring and improving sharpness in dynamic 60fps materials, such as sports broadcasts. The second slider, “Flicker Reduction,” allows for the addition of artificial frames in movies and series recorded at cinematic 24 or 30 frames per second. This, of course, completely eliminates the irritating stutter effect during camera movement shots.

In terms of gaming, the LG QNED86A6A is a complete tool. It features four HDMI 2.1 ports with full bandwidth of 48 Gb/s, which means that whether you connect a PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, or a powerful PC – everything will work at full 4K 120 Hz with support for all features. This is a big plus, as some competitors still have only two such ports, which can be problematic with a larger number of devices. It also has VRR, or variable refresh rate, which eliminates screen tearing, and ALLM, which automatically activates game mode when the console is turned on. There’s also Dolby Vision Gaming and a proper implementation of the HGiG format, so titles supporting these formats look more vivid and detailed. Added to all of this is the Game Optimizer – a kind of control center for the gamer. From this level, you can view image parameters in real-time, quickly change modes, activate additional features, or adjust image settings to your preferences. The LG QNED86A6A essentially has everything one can expect from a modern gaming television.

When it comes to gaming, the TCL C7L is simply an outstanding television for gamers. With the presence of two full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 ports at 48 Gbps, we have access to all the key features that console owners and powerful PC users require. It offers a well-functioning ALLM mode with very low input lag and VRR frame synchronization that operates impressively from 48 up to 288 Hz. Importantly, unlike some competitors, TCL has ensured proper implementation of the console HDR10 HGIG profile and support for Dolby Vision in games. This is complemented by a well-designed gaming panel, the Game Bar, which even allows for customization of its appearance and theme to perfectly match the aesthetics of your console.

The only thing that can – and indeed must – be criticized here is the fact that the television offers only two full HDMI 2.1 ports, while the other two are older HDMI 2.0. This creates quite a significant logistical problem. Why? Because one of those fast ports also supports the eARC audio return channel. In practice, this means that if you connect a soundbar or home theater system to the television, you will only have one free HDMI 2.1 port left. If you have two consoles or a console and a powerful computer at home, unfortunately, you will have to give up something or constantly juggle the cables at the back of the unit while maintaining convenient audio system control.