Samsung S85F (WOLED) vs TCL C7L

For most of the time, let's say in 90% of film scenes, viewers won't see practically any difference between the S85F versions. When small but very strong light points appear on the screen – a lantern in a dark alley, a gunshot, the sun breaking through the clouds – this WOLED panel (like the smaller S85F) performs wonderfully. Our measurements showed peak brightness at around 750 nits. We can confidently state: this is an excellent result that guarantees fantastic HDR effects. The problem arises in a very specific, uncomfortable situation for any OLED. We're talking about the moment when the entire screen has to shine at full power brightly. Examples include a slide with a white background, a ski jump scene, or our test sequences (5) from the movie The Meg. And here, unfortunately, the results diverge quite significantly to the detriment of the WOLED panel variant. Our measurement equipment was able to measure a maximum of about 250 to 300 nits of brightness in such conditions. Just to be clear: the same model on a QD-OLED panel in the same test is almost twice as bright. The second issue: colors. And here we also have to be honest – QD-OLED has a design advantage. Why? It’s simple. QD-OLED creates colors from three components (red, green, and blue) and does not need an additional white subpixel. The WOLED panel we are testing uses this white subpixel mainly to boost overall brightness. The effect is that QD-OLED is able to show a slightly wider color palette, and the colors are a bit "cleaner." But let’s be clear: it’s not that the colors on this WOLED panel are bad! On the contrary, they are actually very good. Coverage of the DCI-P3 film palette at 97% and 71% for the wider BT.2020 palette is still a high standard. We just have to honestly admit that this few percent advantage in color coverage is on the side of QD-OLED technology and may be noticeable in very specific moments.

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.

When it comes to factory color reproduction, our test sample in SDR mode suffered from a slight deficiency in red and yellow color. This resulted in a subtle yellowish tint visible in the shades of white. However, this is not the biggest problem with the S85F. Similar to the QD-OLED panel variant, the biggest issue with this model is the way it presents HDR content. When we look at the EOTF curve graph, it is easy to see that the television has quite significant problems with overly brightening the image. This causes the final picture in many scenes to become very unnatural.

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.

After calibrating in Filmmaker mode, we managed to eliminate most of the unwanted effects. In SDR content, the television performs exemplary, and its color reproduction errors do not exceed a value of 2, which is an excellent result. A bit worse, although still very good, are the HDR quality contents. While we were able to eliminate a significant unnaturalness in the image caused by too high a positioning of the EOTF curve, the most discerning observers may notice that it is not perfectly aligned. It runs slightly below the reference curve, which would suggest that the S85F has slight issues showing all the details in the image. We must point out right away that it is highly unlikely that an average viewer would notice any shortcomings in the image. The final effect after calibration is rated as exemplary.

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.

The processing of tonal transitions (gradients) in the S85F is at a high level. The television effectively handles posterization (the "stepping" effect of colors), even with heavily compressed materials, such as from streaming services. However, using this feature requires making a certain compromise. We noticed that the noise reduction algorithm is quite aggressive – even at the lowest setting, it can eliminate natural film grain, which for many viewers is part of the film's aesthetics. The "Standard" setting seems to be the golden mean, not causing visible loss of important details, so we can recommend it. However, we advise against using the "High" level, which removes not only noise but also desired details, such as texture or structure of objects on the screen.

The scaling (upscaling) process of lower resolution content works very well in the S85F. The image is sharp and clear. The only minor imperfection we observed is occasional, slight aliasing on the edges. The television also still exhibits characteristics typical of this manufacturer, such as active "overscan" (slight magnification of the image). This should be kept in mind, especially when watching older materials, as it may result in a minimal cropping of the original frame.

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 S85F is a model with impressive speed. The use of a 120 Hz OLED panel ensures that dynamic scenes, both in games and during sports broadcasts, meet expectations: smoothly, sharply, and without loss of clarity. A key role here is played by the instantaneous pixel response time, which is a natural advantage of OLED technology. Transitions between frames are instantaneous, and the image remains clear even during the fastest camera movements. Moving objects, like a ball on the field or a car in a chase scene, are clear and devoid of the characteristic motion blur typical of LCD panels (the so-called "tail").

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.

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.