TCL C7L vs SONY Bravia 9 II XR95M2

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.

The real showcase of the new backlight architecture and Sony’s processor is the reproduction of HDR content. At the official launch engineers at Sony said (not officially 😉) that the Bravia 9 II’s brightness would be almost identical to the capabilities of their professional director’s monitor BVM-HX3110, which is priced at astronomical sums. Our lab tests confirmed these were not empty promises. During synthetic measurements on the L20 test pattern the TV easily exceeded the 4000 nits peak brightness barrier. More importantly, these remarkable results translate directly to real movie scenes. In most of the demanding shots we tested the screen easily maintained brightness around 2500–3000 nits. Regardless of the scene, whether the light was small and pinpoint or flooded nearly the entire screen, the HDR effect was incredibly intense.

Colors

Color is another key pillar of RGB Mini LED technology (True RGB as implemented by Sony). Specifically for testing these kinds of screens we added a permanent new testing section to see how TVs handle colors in real-world conditions. Traditional synthetic test patterns are no longer enough to confirm real color-gamut coverage. From now on we also measure color saturation directly in selected movie scenes by overlaying measurement points. So how do the colors perform?

In synthetic tests the Bravia 9 II posts excellent results. For the popular DCI-P3 color space for HDR the color-gamut coverage was almost 98%, while for the very wide, demanding BT.2020 space the instrument indicated nearly 90%. However, in real, varied scenes these values drop by a few percent. This is directly due to the nature of zone-based RGB backlighting. When differently colored elements or bright white highlights appear side by side, light from the zones starts to mix slightly, creating a white backlight. This of course affects color saturation, slightly reducing it. This shows that despite Sony’s brilliant RGB LED control algorithm, the number of zones is still too small to eliminate this effect entirely.

Is this a reason to complain? Of course not. The Bravia 9 II’s color coverage ultimately matches that of a very good QLED TV, and it’s important to remember: the vast majority of HDR movies and series are distributed in the DCI-P3 gamut. In that standard Sony easily maintains very high color saturation, regardless of the scene.

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.

Contrary to appearances and high expectations, the Bravia 9 II we tested showed some issues with its factory tuning straight out of the box. Looking at the white balance charts, you can see it is not perfect. In SDR content the red component was primarily lacking, causing the picture to shift toward cooler, bluish tones. In HDR the white balance in this respect looked much better. So where do the visible errors in image reproduction come from? They result from unexpected tuning of the gamma and the EOTF curve. In both cases the Bravia 9 II straight from the factory showed a clear deviation from reference standards.

In SDR content the gamma was definitely too high; at its most extreme it hovered very close to 2.8 instead of the reference 2.4. In practice this meant the image was artificially darkened and appeared washed-out, with details in dark areas (shadows) completely disappearing. The opposite occurred with HDR material, where brightness reproduction is handled by the EOTF curve. That curve was pushed too far above the correct value, resulting in the image being artificially brightened across most luminance ranges. As with every TV we test, we subjected this unit to professional calibration. You can see the results and how we managed to correct these factory errors below.

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.

Fortunately, with professional calibration, most of the Bravia 9 II's factory missteps can be effectively eliminated. We were able to precisely correct, above all, the white balance and the gamma curve and EOTF. After these adjustments, in everyday use and during movie sessions the TV looks much better. The image gained proper depth, the cool tint in the whites disappeared, and shadow details that had previously been lost due to too-high gamma finally became clearly visible. Although we ultimately rate color accuracy as very good, as specialists we must point out one fairly serious design flaw in this model. The Bravia 9 II could look even better if not for the complete lack of an advanced color management system in the TV's menu.

While basic white balance correction can be performed here without issue, the settings lack options for adjusting specific colors. We tried to tackle this in every possible way: both the traditional method using the remote and via dedicated calibration software for Bravia TVs. Unfortunately, that function has been completely locked. We suspect this may stem from the specifics of the new RGB architecture, which imposes its own limitations. It's a real shame, because without it you can't refine color reproduction to perfection. The inaccurate red still stands out, for example. One can only hope Sony will fix this shortcoming over time with an update.

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.

Digital processing and upscaling have long been Sony’s signature strength, and after testing the Bravia 9 II we can confidently say nothing has changed on the market in that respect. Sony is still at the forefront. Their proprietary XR image processor, which in this model works with the main MediaTek Pentonic 1000 chip, deserves the highest praise. That combination delivers excellent results. The upscaling of lower-resolution content is extremely effective and precise.

However, what most deserves praise in the XR processor’s performance is the tonal transition smoothing feature. The system can reduce posterization in heavily compressed material to virtually zero. Crucially, the algorithm does this in a very intelligent way. It removes only the annoying digital "steps" in gradients without blurring fine texture details or creating an artificial, "plastic" look that lacks film grain. The image remains sharp, natural, and cinematic.

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.

The Sony Bravia 9 II's specifications don't list staggering refresh rates above 120 Hz, which some more demanding PC gamers may view as a drawback. However, in everyday use, during movie sessions, playing console games, or watching sports, it's really hard to find any complaints about motion smoothness. The VA-type panel used here does show some slight, inherent smearing typical for this panel type, but excellent Motionflow motion smoothing algorithms come to the rescue. In the system menu you'll find sliders for blur reduction and smoothing that let you precisely tailor the motion characteristics to your preferences.

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.

Apart from a fairly serious design oversight, limiting the platform to just two full HDMI 2.1 ports, the Bravia 9 II offers almost all key gaming features available on the market. Sony has already accustomed us to such a rich package in its previous models. The list of supported technologies is very long. It includes automatic low-latency mode (ALLM), variable refresh rate (VRR), as well as a proper implementation of the HGIG standard and the Dolby Vision format specifically designed for gamers.