TCL C655 Pro vs Haier Q80FUX

In the HDR effect quality category, the TCL 655 PRO television shows decent capabilities, achieving 550 nits of peak brightness. This allows for enjoyment of HDR effects, which is clearly visible in scenes such as the first from the movie Life of Pi or the last frame from The Meg. However, the limited number of dimming zones causes some problems. While in bright scenes the television performs better than its lower model, in more demanding scenes, such as the second and fourth scenes from Sicario 2, it struggles. The dimming algorithm aims for deep blacks, but at the cost of brightness – which in these moments leads to a decrease in brightness by as much as half. In these more challenging scenes with small elements, it is hard to find any praise, and the HDR effect resembles rather SDR. Nonetheless, the coverage of the color palette deserves commendation, which, like in the version without the PRO suffix, is at a very good level.

Alright, let's move on to the topic that generates so much discussion, namely the capabilities of the TV in HDR mode. Let's make it clear right away: the Haier Q80FUX is certainly not a brightness demon. The panel of this receiver can generate about 350 nits at peak, which in today’s reality is an absolute minimum to even talk about the presence of extended HDR tonal dynamic range. On the plus side, this power is at least stable – regardless of the test pattern or movie scene we used, the measurements invariably oscillated around 300-350 nits. These are therefore at best adequate results, definitely far from the stunning showcase of capabilities that we know from more expensive models. Fortunately, there is one aspect in which the Q80FUX makes up for these shortcomings and does so abundantly. After all, we are talking about a QLED TV (or more precisely, PFS LED), which means that thanks to the quantum dot filter applied to the matrix, it can generate really juicy, vibrant colors. These are not empty promises – a DCI-P3 color gamut coverage reaching nearly 95% is an impressive result that directly translates into very pleasant, saturated colors for the eye.

Each of our TV tests is conducted in movie mode, which usually offers the best color reproduction. Nevertheless, even this mode is not free from problems, as we noted with the TCL 655 PRO model.

In the case of HD content, the white balance clearly shifts towards red, and this effect becomes particularly noticeable in a scene from Star Wars, where the white elements of the scenery take on a pink hue. For 4K HDR material, the situation looks better, but there is a tendency to excessively enhance the blue color. As a result, the image can appear artificially sharp, which proves to be uncomfortable for the eye over a longer period. The brightness characteristic also leaves much to be desired. The Gamma chart indicates serious difficulties with excessive brightening, causing the overall presentation to look washed out. Additionally, the EOTF curve reveals significant issues with the reproduction of very small elements - they are excessively dimmed, as we detailed in the paragraph regarding HDR effects.

Factory settings for film mode are rarely perfect, but in the case of the Q80FUX, we encountered a noticeable imbalance. In SDR content, the image was definitely too warm, which resulted from an excessive amount of red in the white balance, giving it a slightly sepia tone. Contrarily, in HDR materials, the television fell into the other extreme—the excess of blue created an unnatural, cold effect. However, it wasn’t the whimsical white balance that was the biggest problem with this TV. The real culprit, responsible for the previously described issues, was hidden deeper. It turned out that the Q80FUX had completely misaligned gamma values and, crucially for HDR, a poorly managed EOTF curve. It was these erroneous factory settings that caused notorious clipping of the brightest parts of the image, applying that characteristic milky filter over them. Thus, we found the source of the problem. This state of affairs led to overall, significant color errors that were easy to catch even for an untrained eye. Like every television we tested, we decided to calibrate this model as well, and you can find the results of those adjustments in the next paragraph.

After calibrating the TCL 655 PRO television, a noticeable improvement in white balance can be observed, having completely eliminated the tendency for the screen to have an excessive pink hue, which was previously visible in factory mode. The image has taken on more natural tones, especially in white and bright elements, positively affecting the overall perception of the picture. As for brightness characteristics, the Gamma chart has also improved – the screen is no longer excessively bright, which previously made the image look washed out. Nevertheless, there are still some issues with the EOTF curve that are difficult to eliminate due to the design of the television and its limited number of dimming zones. These limitations prevent achieving ideal results in this regard. However, despite this minor flaw, the overall effect after calibration is truly outstanding, providing high image quality and very good color reproduction.

The results of our calibration efforts must, unfortunately, be considered twofold. Overall, the image is indisputably better than before the corrections, but the biggest winner of this process turned out to be SDR content. It is here, after clarifying the gamma and white balance graphs, that we obtained results that can confidently be called very good. After the setup, the Q80FUX truly shines in standard dynamics, showing only slight errors in the most challenging skin tone reproductions. Unfortunately, the weakest link still remains HDR content. And here lies the paradox: even though we managed to calibrate the white balance almost to perfection, the overall color errors still remain at a fairly high level. The reason is that the television still interprets the static HDR10 metadata "in its own way," stubbornly enforcing that unfortunate washed-out image effect, which inevitably leads to significant distortions. Although we successfully eliminated the factory excess of blue color, due to this electronic interference, the screen can still tend to fall into somewhat too cold tones. This television just has it this way.

The TCL 655 PRO television handles tonal transitions in lower-quality materials quite well. The "Gradual Smoothing" feature at a low setting effectively smooths out tonal transitions; however, this comes at the cost of losing some important details, such as the texture of objects. A positive aspect is that it does not negatively affect film grain, which helps maintain the natural look of the image.

In the context of digital processing, the television adds artificial sharpness. This may appeal to users who prefer a more vivid image. However, those who favor a softer, subtler look may find this to be a drawback. Additionally, a downside is the image cropping due to overscan, which limits the field of view and trims the edges of the frame. This can be problematic in certain scenes - e.g., news tickers.

If there is one area where Haier clearly shows that it has quite a bit to catch up on compared to the market leaders, it is digital image processing. The upscaling, well... is just okay. And that's about all that can be said about it. It does what it is supposed to do: it ensures that lower resolution signals don't scare you with harsh pixelation on the screen and don't look like an overly enlarged postage stamp. However, it is far from the finesse and "intelligent" sharpening that more experienced players in this market have developed over the years. The biggest drawback of the Q80FUX software, however, is the almost complete lack of additional "cleaning" and smoothing functions for the image. The receiver does not offer any noise reduction or gradient enhancement mechanisms. This means that with older or more heavily compressed materials, we simply have to accept that any imperfections in tonal transitions or color blending, which we mentioned earlier, will constantly accompany us during the viewing.

The TCL C655 PRO TV is equipped with a 4K panel with a refresh rate of 60 Hz, making it ideal for watching movies. Additionally, the "Flicker Reduction" feature allows users to adjust the fluidity of the image, giving them the choice between smoother motion or a cinematic, choppy effect. Moreover, the TV handles lower resolution content well, such as Full HD and 2K, offering a refresh rate of 120 Hz, which will certainly appeal to gamers who can enjoy smoother images, albeit at the cost of lower resolution.

The issue of motion fluidity and blurring is largely predetermined by the use of a 60Hz panel, which naturally makes it difficult to recommend this receiver to enthusiasts of very dynamic content. Fortunately, in the Q80FUX, we find a few options (though, as we will see shortly, actually only one) designed to improve the experience with older film productions. There is a "De-Judder" slider available, which indeed affects the smoothness of the image and allows us to adjust it to our preferences: from raw, cinematic frame rates to a more theatrical, smoothed presentation. However, a genuine surprise awaits us right next to it in the menu. There is also a second slider, supposedly dedicated to eliminating blur – this is a feature we usually encounter in 120Hz panels, aimed at combating motion blur in sports. However, as expected, recalling memories from testing the K85F model, here too this slider is merely a facade. Moving it does absolutely nothing to the image and it simply looks like an oversight by the product engineers who left a non-functional option in the software for this type of panel.

The TCL C655 PRO television offers an almost perfect set of features for gamers, supporting all key technologies that significantly improve the gaming experience. The ALLM feature automatically switches the television to low latency mode, resulting in better responsiveness and minimized signal delays – particularly important in dynamic titles. VRR synchronizes the screen refresh rate with the number of frames generated by the console, eliminating screen tearing and thus guaranteeing smoother gameplay.

Support for Dolby Vision in game mode allows for more detailed color and contrast reproduction in games that support this format, while the Game Bar provides quick access to important settings such as response time or latency level. Unfortunately, this model does not support 4K resolution at 120 Hz, which may disappoint the most demanding gamers. However, for those who can forgo 4K, support for Full HD and 2K at 120 Hz offers exceptionally smooth visuals, making it an attractive alternative for enthusiasts of higher refresh rates.

Stepping into the gaming territory, the Haier Q80FUX proves to be quite a decent companion for the "casual gamer." On board, we find today’s highly desired features like VRR (variable refresh rate) and ALLM (automatic low latency mode). However, the biggest surprise is something else. Although we are not dealing with a 4K@120Hz panel, the TV can accept and display a 120Hz signal at a lower resolution (Full HD). This is a very useful feature, allowing the conscious switch of the console to a lower resolution mode in exchange for significantly higher fluidity, which is a perfectly acceptable compromise in the gaming world.

We won’t particularly complain about the lack of extras like the "Game Bar," as it’s just a nice addition. The most concerning issues arise when we enter the world of HDR in games. Due to the fact that the TV constantly adapts the signal "in its own way," setting the brightness on the console according to the HGIG standard is nearly impossible to accomplish as per the instructions. Worse still, in the Dolby Vision mode for games, the input lag rises to about 50 ms, which is a high enough value that essentially makes this mode unusable. However, generally, we wouldn’t recommend gaming on this TV in HDR mode, so these aren’t such serious shortcomings. The most pleasing aspect is the presence of 120Hz in Full HD, which makes the Q80FUX quite a nice TV for the occasional gamer.