TCL C8L / QM8L vs TCL X11L

In terms of HDR, the TCL C8L turns out to be a hellishly bright television – and I mean literally. On a synthetic chart of 5%, our measuring equipment indicated a result exceeding 4500 nits. This is a result that is downright cosmic, considering that reference director monitors, which we often refer to in our materials, typically operate around 4000 nits. Does this mean that the C8L breaks barriers and climbs to the technological peak of Mini-LED? Not exactly. Dry synthetic tests are one thing, and real movie images are another. In real, varied scenes, the C8L achieves a peak of around 1600 nits. This is still a very good result, ensuring a very high level of HDR dynamics, but also clearly lower than what the manufacturer boasts in the specifications. The trouble starts with very small flashes of light – then brightness can drastically drop to around 600 nits. The algorithm tries at all costs to maintain deep black and minimize halo effect, but it does so at the expense of HDR impact. This is perfect evidence that laboratory charts rarely correspond to what we ultimately see on the screen.

Huge applause is due for color reproduction, all thanks to the new generation of SQD (Super Quantum Dot) quantum dots. The coverage of the DCI-P3 palette reaches 97%, but the true jaw-dropper is the measurement of the extremely demanding BT.2020 space. The C8L achieves as much as 90% in it, placing it alongside today's top screens that boast RGB backlighting. Importantly, unlike some screens with Micro/Mini RGB backlighting, this effect is stable regardless of the scene displayed. Of course, one must remember that content mastered for such a wide gamut in films or series is still a rarity. However, the mere fact that the panel has such a "color reserve" deserves immense admiration.

Such a large number of zones translated not only into deep, inky blacks but also into the panel’s brightness. The X11L is an extremely bright TV. Peak brightness can easily exceed 4000 nits, and with the special "Boost" mode enabled, under specific conditions that brightness can even hover around the marketing figures of 9000–10,000 nits. This is undoubtedly one of the brightest, if not the brightest, screens on the market. But how do those numbers translate to real-world movie measurements? The results are very good, though of course far from the marketing promises. Our measured brightness in actual movie scenes hovered around 2000–3000 nits. That’s an outstanding result, considering that the vast majority of content is produced to those brightness levels, including the rarer material mastered to 4000 nits. But it also shows that the numbers the manufacturer brags about don’t always translate directly to the video content available at home. The only "quirk" (if you can call it that) is that when very small, bright elements appear on the screen, their brightness drops below 2000 nits. The dimming algorithm does this deliberately to preserve deep blacks and minimize halo. This is entirely understandable and the effect remains very strong, but it also demonstrates that even with such powerful hardware, Mini-LED technology has its limits and does not always work without compromise. In HDR, brightness isn’t the only thing that matters; color saturation and color accuracy do as well. On the X11L these are very good thanks to the new Super QLED quantum dots (SQD). The addition of a newly applied filter delivered excellent coverage of the P3 color gamut and the ultra-wide BT.2020. Although it doesn’t reach the advertised 100% of BT.2020, values around 89–90% can be called excellent. Colors are not far off those of RGB Mini-LED panels. We can even say they’re more stable because they use a less demanding algorithm than the one RGB screens often have to deal with.

We tested the TCL C8L in the best factory picture mode available in this TV’s menu for image fidelity. That, of course, is Filmmaker Mode, which appeared in this brand’s software relatively recently (a year ago in the "K" series). Thanks to it, an average user can get a pretty good color reproduction straight out of the box, although it is certainly not a perfectly tuned mode. Looking at the factory white balance of our unit, both in SDR and HDR material, the red component was clearly lacking, which made the image noticeably cooler and caused a slight shift toward bluish-green tints. The issue of brightness management is also ambiguous, as we mentioned earlier. While for SDR content the gamma linearity is actually correct and holds steadily at the reference value of 2.4, in HDR things look much worse. Tracking the EOTF curve clearly shows the TV has a significantly boosted brightness across the range, which can make the final image overly bright and inconsistent with the creators’ intent, and that in a mode that by definition should avoid that. Of course, like every sample in our lab, this one also underwent professional calibration, and its results are shown below.

When you enable the supposedly best Filmmaker Mode, you expect a one-to-one image of what the director saw. On the X11L it's pretty good, but the mode has obvious flaws that our measurements immediately exposed. Let's start with SDR. Both the white balance and the gamma are simply misaligned here. The whites have too much blue and red, giving a faint pink tint. That also hurt the gamma, which instead of holding the cinematic 2.4 runs closer to 2.2. What did that result in? The whole image ends up pushed and artificially brightened. The worst is saved for last: the HDR measurements. Apart from that slight white balance drift, the X11L fails on the brightness management curve called the EOTF. What we saw in the measurements instantly explains what we noticed earlier in the films. The image is unnaturally bright because the curve is massively overshot above the reference. The TV simply and ruthlessly lifts the dark parts of the image to create a "wow" effect, completely ignoring the director's intent.

As you can see, the results of a professional calibration of the TCL C8L are really promising, thanks to the extensive adjustment tools the manufacturer put at our disposal in the menu. Above all, we were able to completely correct the white balance — we eliminated the red deficiency, so the image finally stopped drifting toward unwanted cool tones. After that adjustment, errors in the ColorChecker test fell to near-reference levels, regularly landing below a Delta E of 2, which is below the threshold of human perception.

If the test patterns look this perfect, you might ask: why then the lower final score in this category? The answer lies in the brightness management discussed earlier. Although the menu includes sliders that let you precisely straighten the EOTF curve on synthetic signals, when confronted with actual movie material (I recommend enabling the EOTF filter when watching movies), you can see that in most scenarios the TV still reacts to HDR metadata its own way. As a result, the picture can be slightly over-brightened and not faithful to the creators' intent, and it was precisely this lack of consistency with real films that cost the C8L a few points.

After a professional calibration we were above all able to fully tame the SDR signal. The X11L responded perfectly to our adjustments. We were able to completely straighten the white balance, eliminate that pink tint, and set gamma to a stable 2.4. After that treatment the picture finally became consistent with the director’s intent, natural and free of artificial boosts. For HDR we also managed to make minor corrections, but the TV’s biggest flaw remained unchanged. I’m talking, of course, about how the X11L manages its brightness and how badly it overshoots the EOTF curve. Unfortunately, TCL provides virtually no tools to manipulate this parameter. Even during professional calibration the software offers no way to tame that curve, so the TV will always tend to brighten the image in HDR.

This year the C8 series and higher models received probably the biggest and most anticipated upgrade in TCL’s history, and it specifically concerns digital image processing. The C8L is the lowest-end model in the manufacturer's lineup to be equipped with the latest flagship chip, the MediaTek Pentonic 800 (listed in the menu as MT9655). Thanks to its processing power, the feature called "Gradual Smoothing" finally works as it should. The algorithm effectively eliminates unwanted posterization (ugly tonal transitions/color banding), doing so intelligently enough that it does not degrade the sharpness of other details.

The processor also handles upscaling lower-resolution content to 4K very well. Although evaluating this element can be mostly academic, because the differences between today's TVs in this class are very subtle. The most important takeaway is that TCL finally has nothing to be ashamed of compared to the competition.

Like in the C8L model we tested earlier, TCL has delivered a substantial upgrade in its flagship X series in this area. It's all thanks to the MediaTek Pentonic 800 processor used in this model. Thanks to it, features that smooth tonal transitions or even upscale content to higher resolutions finally look the way they should. The biggest Achilles' heel of previous TCL models has finally been addressed. The processor excels at digital processing, and in this respect the TV no longer lags behind flagship models from Korea or even the most refined ones from Japan.

The TCL C8L is equipped with a fast panel that has a native 144 Hz refresh rate. That spec will be most appreciated by demanding PC gamers, while most users, who rely on consoles or TV broadcasts, will use a steady 120 Hz. It is at 120 Hz that motion processing algorithms handle image rendering for movies, series, and sports. In the TV’s menu you’ll find a "Motion Clarity" option that lets you adjust the motion smoothing to your preferences. The algorithms handle cinematic material at 24 or 30 frames per second (fps) as well as dynamic sports broadcasts at 50 or 60 fps, maintaining appropriate smoothness.

In terms of specs, the X11L can impress: it supports refresh rates up to 144 Hz at 4K, and at Full HD it can be pushed to 288 Hz. But from a real-world perspective, we were most interested in how the screen handles 120 Hz. After all, modern hardware is limited to that rate, led by current-generation consoles. How does it perform in practice? Although it uses a VA panel, the screen doesn't exhibit heavy ghosting. With very fast-moving objects you can notice a slight smear, but it's subtle enough that it doesn't stand out when gaming or watching sports. The motion smoothing feature called "Motion Clarity" is also very helpful; it lets you adjust motion smoothness to your liking. Recommended settings are shown in the photo.

For gamers – especially for those with powerful PCs and several consoles at the same time – the TCL C8L is a true beast. It’s the first model in the manufacturer’s lineup equipped with four full HDMI 2.1 ports with a maximum bandwidth of 48 Gbps. This is directly thanks to the new Pentonic 800 processor we wrote about earlier. Additionally, the TV seamlessly supports virtually every gaming feature. It has an automatic game mode (ALLM) that reduces latency to minimal levels and full frame synchronization (VRR) operating in an impressive range of up to 288 Hz. We’re also talking about standards like G-Sync or FreeSync from Nvidia and AMD. When it comes to image display standards, there are also no compromises: the C8L offers complete support for HDR formats in games, including gaming Dolby Vision and the HGiG profile. All of these features can be conveniently managed from a very readable game bar (Game Bar), which we can customize according to our preferences. From a purely gaming perspective, there really isn’t anything to complain about in the C8L – well, maybe aside from the previously mentioned slight ghosting. But other than that? It’s an unflawed machine for gamers.

For gamers the X11L is simply a superb screen. TCL has already gotten us used to the fact that its products deliver practically every feature available on the market, and it's exactly the same with the flagship from the X series. Thanks to the new processor, the X11L offers four HDMI 2.1 ports with the full 48 Gbps bandwidth. Naturally, the 2.1 standard brings a set of extremely useful options, such as Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM) and VRR frame synchronization, working across the full refresh range up to 288 Hz. All of these features can be conveniently controlled from a dedicated Game Bar. Interestingly, its appearance can be customized to your taste, with three ready-made themes referencing Nintendo, PlayStation, and Xbox consoles. And speaking of Xbox: Dolby Vision Gaming also works on the X11L without any problems.

When gaming in the standard HDR10 format, however, you should be aware of the specific tuning of the brightness curve, which can cause problems during initial setup. Although the TV supports HGiG, configuring everything through the PlayStation or Xbox system menus can be tricky. The screen's algorithms tend to artificially brighten the test checkerboard pattern, making it really hard to hit the correct white clipping point by eye. For HDR10 content to look right, we recommend manually setting the brightness in the console menu to around 2500–3000 nits.