TCL A300W NXTVision vs TCL C69K / Q6C

When it comes to brightness, the TCL A300W is definitely the darkest TV among all frame-style models, such as Samsung The Frame or Hisense CanvasTV – and unfortunately, this is immediately noticeable. In our measurements, the peak luminance reached only about 400 nits, and on test film screens, this value dropped to 350 nits. This is definitely too little to feel the true "magic" of bright HDR effects. As a consolation – the TV is equipped with a PFS LED coating (which is something like QLED), which provides very good coverage of a wide color palette, both DCI-P3 and BT.2020. Additionally, there is full support for all popular HDR formats – HDR10, HDR10+, HLG, and Dolby Vision – which somewhat compensates for the shortcomings in brightness and helps improve the overall perception of materials in this quality.

In terms of brightness, TCL C69K / Q6C is a moderate model. Under optimal movie conditions, it shows its full potential, reaching a maximum of around 600 nits. In scenes with large, intense light sources, the HDR effect can be truly satisfying, providing a cinematic sparkle. However, it should be noted that when managing the backlight zones, there are situations where some elements of the image become dimmed, and sometimes they are barely visible. This suggests that there is still a lack of proper optimization of algorithms, though considering the technical parameters in this price range, the construction still looks very good.

TCL A300 offers several picture modes, but without a doubt, the movie mode performs the best. Unfortunately, although it is the best choice among the available options, it is not free from errors. Both in HD and HDR content, the image has a noticeably too warm tint – leaning slightly towards pink, which is particularly noticeable in snowy scenes. Instead of pure white, we get a pinkish hue that spoils the natural perception of colors.

The brightness management doesn't perform well either. For older HD materials, the image often seems too dark – as confirmed by the inflated gamma value. Conversely, with HDR content, the effect is reversed – the image is overly brightened, which we observed in scenes from the movie Pan. This lack of consistency also affects color reproduction accuracy – a test with the ColorChecker showed that many samples deviate significantly from the reference values.

Fortunately, TCL allows manual adjustment of the settings, so we decided to check how the television would perform after our professional calibration. The effects of this correction are described below.

The Filmmaker mode, which has arrived in this year's TCL televisions (including the C69K / Q6C), is definitely the best choice "to start with." This is the mode we recommend for everyday viewing of movies and series. Unfortunately, as is often the case, best does not mean perfect. In SDR content, the image turned out to be too warm, with a strong red tint in the white balance. We had the opposite impression with HDR content – here the image became cooler than it should have, due to an excess of blue color. Additionally, the brightness characteristics sometimes resulted in overexposure. In practice, this translated to quite noticeable errors in color tests, which is hard to accept in a mode labeled as “by the creators.”

After our professional calibration, the TCL A300 literally got a new lease on life. The image is no longer too warm, and the colors finally look the way they should – which was confirmed by the ColorChecker test, where the color samples finally started hitting their marks, at least to some reasonable degree. It was also possible to partially correct the brightness management – the image is now more balanced and less "wobbly" between different types of content. Of course, certain limitations cannot be overcome – a slightly noticeable blooming effect still occurs, but that's a characteristic of the technology, not something that can be eliminated even after professional settings.

Generally: after calibration, the A300 looks significantly better and gains a completely new quality.

Through white balance adjustment, we were able to significantly reduce the tendency of C69K / Q6C to distort colors, which resulted in a very good final outcome. After calibration, the issue of excessive warmth in SDR scenes and overly cool images in HDR disappeared. However, it is worth closely analyzing brightness characteristics. While there are few complaints about SDR content - the image looks really good, especially in older movies, TV programs, or on YouTube - the situation is much worse with HDR content. Analysis of the EOTF curve suggests that everything is fine, but in practice (EOTF in films), the limitations of the design become apparent. This model tends to excessively brighten small parts of the frame, while in other situations it dims the entire scene too much. The effect of calibration is undeniable, and in terms of color accuracy, C69K / Q6C gains a lot. Unfortunately, certain limitations resulting from local dimming management simply cannot be overcome.

TCL A300 handles tonal transitions in high-quality films very well, but the question arises – how does it perform with weaker materials? The television is equipped with a tonal transition smoothing feature, but its effectiveness can be described in one word: "random." In one scene it may work and improve the gradation, and when turned off… the effect remains the same. There is a lack of consistency and predictability.

Image scaling is also not one of the A300's strong suits. In the test pattern, the main character actually looked better than on the raw signal, but with thin lines – like fonts or background details – there was noticeable jaggedness and aliasing. On the plus side, the television does not cut off the image and has no issues with overscan, but the overall quality of scaling is rather average.

In terms of image scaling, TCL C69K / Q6C performs quite well. Lower quality content is displayed acceptably, and thanks to the lack of overscan issues, the image is presented in full without any cropping. However, one shouldn't expect miracles – very low-quality materials won't gain a new life here, as the image processor has its limitations.

On thin lines and details, one can see characteristic jitter, indicating a lack of more advanced image enhancement algorithms. It's also a pity that the C69K / Q6C lacks the function for smoothing tonal transitions. As a result, in older movies or video materials, color banding can be noticeable and may become distracting during longer viewing sessions.

The TCL A300 is equipped with a 144 Hz panel, which should immediately satisfy practically everyone – both gamers and sports fans. The motion is smooth, and the picture is clear even in fast scenes. Additionally, the television offers a motion enhancement feature called "Motion," where we can find two sliders on a 10-point scale. These allow for adjusting the effect to personal preferences – from a classic, cinematic look with visible frames to a very smooth (though already unnatural) image reminiscent of a soap opera effect. Thanks to this, everyone can find a setting that suits them.

The use of a 144 Hz panel in TCL C69K / Q6C is a significant advantage in this price range. It represents an important step forward compared to its predecessor (C655 PRO), which only offered 60 Hz at 4K. The difference is particularly noticeable when watching sports or playing games – the ball, players, or dynamic action in games are displayed more clearly and without losing details. An interesting feature is also the ability of the panel to operate at 240 Hz (which the manufacturer does not officially mention) – we will return to this topic in relation to the PC gaming mode. TCL has also added a feature for movie fans: “Motion Clarity.” This allows users to adjust the picture to their preferences using two simple sliders. We can either keep the visible film frame or opt for very smooth, "

TCL A300 is a television designed not only to transport us to a digital art museum but also to a full-fledged gaming world. It offers practically everything you would expect from gear for gamers: two HDMI 2.1 ports with full bandwidth, 144 Hz refresh rate, VRR support, and ALLM.

The correct implementation of the HGIG mode is also a plus – something that competing Hisense sometimes struggles with. The television easily handles lower resolutions (e.g., Full HD) while maintaining high refresh rates, which will be appreciated by owners of older consoles or PCs.

In addition, there’s an attractive and clear GameBar that facilitates quick access to settings for gamers. The A300 is truly well-prepared for gaming at the highest level – it's just a shame that issues with motion blur slightly tarnish its overall image as a gaming device.

TCL C69K / Q6C is a television that can boldly be called equipment created with gamers in mind. Here we have 4K at 144 Hz, VRR support, automatic game mode (ALLM), and Dolby Vision Gaming. Additionally, there's a practical Game Bar, which is a panel with the most important settings right at hand – useful when we want to quickly change something during gameplay (e.g., aspect ratio: Yes, it’s possible!). The wide range of VRR, reaching up to 240 Hz, is noteworthy. This option is primarily for PC gamers who will lower the resolution below native 4K. In that case, the TV can spread its wings and show additional smoothness, especially in fast esports titles. For consoles, we stick to the classic limit of 120 Hz, but the possibilities are still quite broad. The only drawback is slight motion blur that can sometimes be seen in dynamic scenes. Other than that, C69K / Q6C offers everything gamers expect from a television.