TCL C7K / QM7K 50" vs TCL V6C

TCL C7K is one of the brightest MiniLED televisions in its price range. Under the best test conditions, the screen was able to achieve over 1200 nits, resulting in impressive, and at times blindingly bright scenes. And most importantly – this is not just a theoretical measurement. In practice, the brightest parts of movies can shine with true cinematic grandeur. Home HDR cinema fans should be truly pleased.

The impression is especially great in scenes with large areas of brightness – white skies, explosions, sun reflections, or magical sunsets can surprise with the intensity of light that rarely appears in this price range.

However, things get a bit worse when more challenging scenarios appear on the screen, which have been described in terms of contrast – meaning images full of details, with small bright elements against a dark background. In such cases, the C7K often chooses to retain black at the expense of brightness. An example? Scenes from the movies Sicario 2 or Life of Pi, where small light sources (like a distant lantern) can be less visible, and details in the lights are simply dimmed or blend into the background.

For many viewers, this may be an acceptable compromise – as we achieve deep blacks and pleasant image texture. Nevertheless, it is worth being aware that the visibility of small details in bright areas is not the strongest suit of this model. It is simply a technological limitation that still exists – even with over 300 zones.

When it comes to HDR, the TCK V6C clearly shows that it is not its strong suit. Peak brightness around 200 nits makes it difficult to talk about true HDR effects – the image simply remains too dark to extract details in bright scenes or convey the appropriate dynamics. Although the TV formally supports many HDR formats, in practice it is not adapted for such demanding content. The lack of additional coatings that enhance colors, such as QLED or PFS LED, further limits the appeal of the image – in more spectacular productions, colors may seem washed out compared to more expensive models. Therefore, the V6C will primarily serve as a television for everyday TV, YouTube, or SDR materials, rather than as equipment for high-quality cinematic experiences.

A new feature in TCL televisions for 2025 is the long-awaited Filmmaker mode, which until now could be found in most competitive brands. This is great news because this mode is considered the truest to the original vision of the creators and is often recommended by enthusiasts of good image quality. Unfortunately – as is often the case – the mere presence of this feature does not guarantee perfection. The Filmmaker mode in the TCL C7K is not free of flaws. One could point out the incorrect white balance, particularly the slight dominance of blue, which caused cool, somewhat grayish skin tones. But that was not the biggest problem. The main complaint was excessive brightness exposure, which is clearly visible on the gamma and EOTF graphs. The image was simply too bright, at times even blown out, which affected not only the plasticity of the scenes but also the overall viewing experience. Some details simply got lost, and the whole image looked as if someone had overdone it with the brightness slider. As always – we decided to see what could be squeezed out of it after calibration. And this is where things got really interesting...

We started the color reproduction tests with the Filmmaker mode, which in theory should be the best choice right after taking the television out of the box. It certainly performs better than the Eco or Dynamic modes, which heavily interfere with the image and spoil its natural character. As you can see in the charts, the factory tuning of the V6C is not ideal, although it’s not a disaster either. The biggest problem turned out to be a lack of red – the television clearly "cools" the image, which is particularly noticeable on human faces, giving a "corpse skin" effect. This issue was the most bothersome in daily viewing. Looking at the color palette in HDR content, the deficiencies in red are also noticeable, and their source is the relatively narrow coverage of the color space. Of course, every television can be calibrated, so we decided to check how the V6C would perform after such an adjustment.

After calibration, the TCL C7K showed itself in a really good light, especially when it comes to SDR content. We managed to fine-tune the white balance, color gamut, and brightness characteristics so precisely that color errors on the ColorChecker palette dropped below a value of 2. For the uninitiated – this is an almost perfect result, meaning that the image is very close to what the creators intended. Unfortunately, it was less impressive with 4K HDR content. Although we managed to slightly calm the white balance and correct its earlier errors, it is still evident that the TV has certain "MiniLED traits," especially in managing brightness. When we checked how the C7K performed with the EOTF curve on real movie scenes rather than just synthetic test patterns, it turned out that the screen still has a tendency to slightly brighten the entire image. This affects the overall experience – the black loses some depth, and the image becomes less contrasty than it should be. Despite these minor shortcomings in HDR content, the overall reception of materials – especially in SDR – is really very good. After calibration, the C7K can display an image that can successfully compete with much more expensive models. Good color tuning, natural skin tones, and pleasant brightness make movie sessions and everyday content viewing more than satisfactory.

My dear friends – we haven't had such a difficult "calibration battle" in years. The V6C turned out to be one of the most stubborn TVs we've dealt with in the editorial office. The calibration trials alone took us several working hours and required a lot of patience. We finally managed to slightly warm up the skin tones, which made the faces stop looking like they were straight out of a horror film, a flaw in the factory settings. Unfortunately, that's not the end of it – the TV reacted to our adjustments in white balance in a completely unpredictable way. Where we expected image stabilization in a given area, new errors appeared, and the Color Checker measurements showed deviations that couldn't be rationally explained. It's hard to say whether the software or the construction itself was to blame, but one thing is certain – the V6C offered exceptionally strong resistance. In the end, the calibration brought improvement, especially in SDR content, where the image became more pleasant and natural. However, it must be clearly stated that the design limitations remained. The TV still flattens the image in HDR material and has significant deficiencies in color reproduction. This is equipment rather intended for everyday TV watching or SDR materials than for cinematic screenings in the highest quality.

The TCL C7K features a function that, according to the manufacturer, is supposed to smooth out unwanted color transitions – something like a rescue for less successful tonal shifts. It's called "Gradual Smoothing" and... well, it sounds ambitious, but in practice, it works very poorly. Regardless of whether we set it to low or high, the difference is minimal. What's worse – the function can remove elements from the image that should remain. Fortunately, film grain remains untouched, so at least it doesn't smooth everything indiscriminately, but still – it's better to just turn this option off.

As for scaling lower-resolution content, it's already better. SD and HD materials look quite decent, though sometimes we had the impression that the image loses sharpness and becomes too soft – as if something took away its clarity. Fortunately, at very low sources (e.g., 576p), there was no overscan effect, meaning the image was not artificially cropped – everything fit on the screen as it should.

When it comes to upscaling, the V6C does not bring anything groundbreaking. Lower quality content is heavily sharpened, making the image look very unnatural, sometimes even artificially. This can be partially mitigated by lowering the sharpness level in the settings, but the effect is not spectacular. The image still remains far from ideal. The digital processing itself performs better. The function responsible for smoothing tonal transitions works quite effectively, especially at the medium setting, where the image indeed appears smoother. Unfortunately, its operation is quite aggressive – it heavily interferes with the overall scene, causing the actors in the foreground to start looking like characters from super smooth telenovelas. Therefore, we would not recommend using this option if natural reception of the image is important to us.

TCL C7K handles motion smoothness really very well. The matrix used in it offers a refresh rate of 144 Hz, which already suggests that this TV is something more than just an ordinary "60 Hz" panel. Moreover – if we connect the C7K to a computer and set the resolution to Full HD. But we will write more about this in the paragraph about gamers and PC cooperation. Returning to everyday use – both sports and movies look very good here. Thanks to the fast panel and well-functioning motion smoother, the C7K is perfect for watching matches, but also for movie screenings. In the menu, we will find two sliders – blur reduction and flicker reduction – which allow us to adjust the motion smoothness effect to our own preferences. At lower settings, we get a more cinematic effect, with slight frame motion. At higher settings – the image becomes more theatrical, smooth to the point of exaggeration. Everyone can set it to their liking.

Motion smoothing and motion fluidity is an area where the V6C quickly reveals its limitations. It is a 60 Hz TV, so it was hard to expect miracles here. In dynamic sports scenes, the picture comes off rather average. This is most noticeable in darker scenes, where clear smears and blurry "halos" trail behind moving objects, which can be quite distracting. This is definitely a weaker point of this model. Fortunately, there is also a small plus. The V6C is equipped with motion interpolation, which works while watching movies. Thanks to it, productions recorded at 24 frames per second, meaning practically all cinematic titles as well as series, can look smoother than they were actually recorded. Importantly, the intensity of the effect can be adjusted to personal preferences – from slight smoothing to full "soap opera effect."

TCL C7K is a TV that looks like the dream equipment for gamers on paper – and most importantly, it also performs well in practice. First, the good news: we have two HDMI 2.1 ports with full bandwidth, so we can easily connect both a console and a computer, taking full advantage of their capabilities. The panel itself supports 144 Hz refresh rate, which provides a significant advantage in dynamic games. Additionally, it comes with a full package of gaming features: VRR (Variable Refresh Rate), ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode), and Dolby Vision support in games. There is also an HGiG mode, which allows for HDR effects that align with the creators' intentions. GameBar, which is an information bar for gamers. It operates quickly, looks clear (like a Nintendo console👌), and shows what’s most important: the current frame count, VRR status, and even HDR parameters.

Although the V6C is not a television designed with avid gamers in mind, TCL has included a few features that may appeal to more casual users. There is no 120 Hz panel or HDMI 2.1 ports, but there is an ALLM mode that automatically switches the TV to low-latency mode. Additionally, there is a quite practical Game Bar – a simple panel that allows you to view basic parameters, change the picture mode, or even enable a virtual crosshair on the screen. An interesting feature is also the support for Dolby Vision Gaming, intended for Xbox Series S/X consoles – a nice addition, though in practice it doesn't offer as much as in more expensive models. However, the biggest problem remains HDR configuration. The HGiG feature, which adjusts the brightness and contrast of games to the panel's capabilities, does not respond as we would expect – the image can end up being overly dark or too flat. As a result, a better solution turns out to be simply playing in SDR mode, where the V6C performs stably and does not try to pretend to be an HDR TV.