TCL C9K vs LG QNED80A6A (IPS)

As we mentioned with black and contrast – the C9K can make a huge impression in synthetic tests. Our measurements showed that on a screen 10% filled with white, the television is capable of squeezing out… 4000 nits of brightness! It sounds astronomical, but – and here, unfortunately, the pattern repeats – the numbers say one thing, and practice says another. In real movie scenes, the situation looks different. At best, when the light effects occupy a large part of the image and the local dimming algorithm does not have to think too hard about what to do with thousands of zones – the effect is really good. At that point, the C9K can reach around 1500 nits, which provides a pleasant, intense flash and can indeed make a positive impression.

The problem starts with smaller elements – such as stars in the sky, the moon, or single reflections. That’s when the proverbial cat comes out of the bag: the algorithms are not yet refined, and brightness drops to even 400–500 nits. That’s a huge difference compared to the potential 4000 nits we saw in laboratory tests. Why does this happen? Most likely, the television is trying to protect the blacks in this way and minimize the halo effect around bright objects. Unfortunately, this comes at the cost of details – some details simply vanish, and the scene loses its nature.

When it comes to image dynamics and brightness, the QNED80A has its feet firmly on the ground. It is not a "light beast" – during our measurements, peak brightness oscillated around 350-400 nits. To put it plainly: these are values that will not allow HDR formats to fully spread their wings. So don’t expect the glare of the sun or car headlights in movies to blind you. However, this TV has a powerful ace up its sleeve that saves the overall view of the image – it is the colors. LG engineers have implemented an advanced filtration system here (technically likely based on a PFS phosphor, marketed as QNED/NanoCell), which does a fantastic job. Thanks to it, despite the average brightness, the screen can generate exceptionally saturated and pure colors. Our instruments showed coverage of the wide DCI-P3 cinema palette at the level of 93-94%. This result outclasses most standard LCD TVs. In practice, this means that when watching 4K HDR content, the image – while not particularly bright – is very plastic, vibrant, and pleases the eye with the depth of colors.

For color tests, as always, we reached for the Filmmaker mode – a new feature in TCL TVs for 2025. And while the direction itself is a step in the right direction, the execution leaves much to be desired. The white balance in SDR content turned out to be too warm – there was an excess of red. On the other hand, in HDR, it went in the opposite direction: the image became excessively blue. The Colour Checker test revealed quite a few color errors that were noticeable to the naked eye. An even bigger problem turned out to be what we mentioned above – brightness management. Regardless of whether we were watching SDR or HDR content, the image tended to blow out the entire scene, giving it an unnatural, even grotesque character. It's hard to call this a "director-created" mode – because the director has certainly never seen such an image.

Here, regardless of whether you encounter the VA or IPS version, the situation looks identical. LG engineers once again served us their vision of a "gaming look," which unfortunately has little to do with accuracy. After switching to console, the white balance automatically drifts into very cold areas. The image is dominated by the color blue, making it seem artificially sharpened, and the white is so aggressive that it is almost burned out. This creates an effect that we associate with bright retail modes – everything is supposed to shine and scream "I am digital." While some may like this, we must say it straight: this is not an accurate image. If you care about naturalness, we suggest checking the settings right away and changing the color temperature to a warmer one.

After calibration, we finally managed to tame the white balance – and it immediately translated into a more natural image. Colors finally started to look the way they should, and the overall presentation was incomparably better than in the factory settings. In other words – it’s worth taking a moment to improve this, as the gain is truly significant. The gamma responsible for managing brightness was also brought into order in SDR content, and the effect was more than satisfying. Unfortunately, when we turned on HDR materials, the situation quickly became complicated. No matter how we set the local dimming, the television had a tendency to do what it liked with the image – either it overexposed everything or dimmed the darkest parts too much. Exactly as we saw in the scene from the movie Billy Lynn. So, the color improvement after calibration makes a great impression, but brightness management in HDR remains the Achilles' heel of C9K and presents a certain technological limitation.

After professional calibration, the QNED80A in the IPS version has changed beyond recognition, especially in "regular" content (SDR). We managed to eliminate the greenish tint and calm down the overly bright gamma. In classic television or older games, color errors (DeltaE) fell below the threshold of perceptibility (value < 2). The image is now consistent, natural, and truly pleasing to the eye. The situation is somewhat more complicated in HDR mode. Although the colors are already in place, the television has trouble perfectly controlling the brightness (EOTF curve). Due to the limitations of edge lighting and the rather poor adjustment options provided by LG in this area, the television's software sometimes "does what it wants" just to mask the imperfections of black and contrast. However, this is not a cause for concern – despite these technical limitations, the image after calibration is a class better than what you saw out of the box.

Digital image processing in TCL C9K is quite mediocre. The tonal smoothing feature seems to be present, but turning it on practically changes nothing – color bands are still visible, and it can unintentionally highlight elements we would prefer to hide, such as textures of objects. Fortunately, it doesn’t remove film grain, but that’s small comfort since the effects are still poor. Therefore, it's hard to recommend using this option.

On the other hand, image scaling performs much better. Lower quality materials look quite decent – characters and backgrounds are presented clearly, although, of course, with sources at 576p, physics cannot be fooled. Sometimes, characteristic aliasing on objects appears, but that’s the fault of the source itself, not the algorithm. A plus for not having issues with overscan – the image is not artificially cropped or enlarged.

It often happens that cheap 4K TVs mercilessly expose the flaws of low-resolution materials. Here, it's different. The QNED80A is great equipment for watching content that isn't perfect. The processor does a great job of upscaling the image, making even older recordings look quite decent on a 4K screen – they are consistent and free of digital noise. An interesting feature is the gradation reduction available in the settings. It is quite effective in combating so-called banding (color banding) in low-bitrate materials. Of course, one should approach it with some caution. Due to the lower computing power of the chip (compared to the premium series), enabling this option can sometimes result in unwanted artifacts or blurriness. Despite this risk, we encourage experimentation, as in many cases this feature can save a poor-quality viewing experience.

Like the C8K, the C9K is also a really fast television – both figuratively and literally. It features a 4K panel with a refresh rate of 144 Hz, and at lower resolutions, the display can even ramp up to 288 Hz. This speed translates into practice – when watching sports or playing games, the image looks very smooth and clear. Additionally, in films, we get an extra motion smoother called Motion Clarity, which allows us to adjust the fluidity to our own preferences – from the cinematic "judder" frame to almost theatrical smoothness.

In terms of motion reproduction, the QNED80A unfortunately has a tough time. The television is based on a 60Hz refresh rate panel, which in 2025 in the QNED series is quite a disappointment. If you are looking for perfect sharpness in dynamic soccer matches, you might feel a bit unsatisfied. A solution in this situation is the TruMotion system. It allows for artificially adding frames, which smooths out the image in movies and series. In the menu, you will find the De-Judder slider – we recommend setting it to a value of 2, 3, or 4. This is the "golden mean" that improves fluidity without turning the film into a soap opera.

For gaming, the TCL C9K is a complete tool. Here we have two (out of four) HDMI 2.1 ports with full bandwidth of 48 Gbps, so all key technologies work: VRR (variable refresh rate) and ALLM (automatic low latency mode). Additionally, the manufacturer added a really intuitive Game Bar, which allows you to quickly preview the most important parameters and adjust settings without digging through the menu. Also, TCL's policy is a plus – the TV is not afraid of any HDR formats, even in game mode. Whether it's HGiG or Dolby Vision for the Xbox Series S/X console – everything works as it should, giving the player wide freedom.

In the gaming section, we won't sugarcoat it for you – the QNED80A is not e-sports equipment. The lack of support for 120Hz signal is a fact that must be accepted. However, LG engineers have done everything to squeeze the maximum potential out of this 60 Hz panel, providing gamers with a set of desired features. First and foremost, the television supports VRR (in the range of 48-60Hz) and ALLM. This means that the image is smooth, does not stutter, and the television automatically switches to low latency mode as soon as we pick up the controller. Accessing these options is incredibly simple thanks to the dedicated system overlay – Game Dashboard. It is also worth appreciating the support for the HGiG format. This is a nod to owners of modern consoles. Although the screen does not support gaming Dolby Vision, HGiG ensures that the television "understands" how to display games in HDR. This helps us avoid the issue of blown-out clouds, which is unfortunately a plague on cheaper LCD televisions.