TCL MQLED85 / C765 vs Hisense U7S Pro

The TCL MQLED85/C765 television performs well with HDR handling. In the tested movie scenes, where the screen is covered at 100% brightness, the model achieves impressive results around 1000 nits, providing intense and realistic representation of HDR content. However, similar to contrast, the dimming algorithm may show some limitations. Despite the large number of Mini LED zones, the television does not always manage to "stun" the user with brightness in very challenging test scenes. For example, in a scene from "Life of Pi," where a bright moon appears against a dark background, and in another scene from "Sicario 2," where a very bright light effect is visible against a dark background, the television did not reach maximum intensity. For users expecting perfect HDR performance in such extreme cases, the TCL MQLED may be slightly disappointing. However, regarding colors, the television stands out with a very high color gamut coverage of DCI P3 at 95%, which is an impressive result comparable to much more expensive models. The TCL MQLED85 / C765 offers support for various HDR formats, including Dolby Vision and HDR10+, which is essential for cinema image enthusiasts. Although this model achieves brightness over 1000 nits, the TCL MQLED85 may struggle to reflect details in very high contrast scenes. For better HDR quality control, the C765 is equipped with dynamic tone mapping, making the image more realistic and natural depending on the content.

Let’s start by saying that the U7S Pro is an impressively bright television – in calibrated mode, our measuring equipment indicated a staggering 2200 nits of peak brightness! This is an impressive result, considering that this model is positioned as mid-range.

However, as we know, peak brightness on test patterns is one thing, and actual movie scenes are another. Unfortunately, in real video materials, the backlight power clearly drops. While in the most demanding moments the television can still exceed the 1000 nit barrier – which is still a great result, perfectly fitting the mastering standards of most HDR films – the truly challenging aspect turns out to be the aggressively tuned local dimming algorithms. Because of them, small, bright details, such as stars or the moon in the night sky, are noticeably dimmed. The television tries at all costs to maintain deep black levels, which is of course understandable, but unfortunately, this comes at the cost of dynamics and the brilliance of the HDR effect itself.

The color reproduction is worth praising. The new U7S Pro is a QLED construction that provides very wide color gamut coverage. Unlike last year's model (U7Q Pro), this year's variant is now a “true” QLED, rather than a solution based on a PFS filter. As a result, color saturation has noticeably increased, and coverage of the most demanding BT.2020 space has exceeded the 81% barrier.

TheTCL MQLED85/C765 television was tested in movie mode, which, although it seems to be the best setting from the manufacturer, is not without flaws. The color reproduction in HD/SDR mode MQLED85 shows certain shortcomings. In the analysis of white balance, there is a significant lack of blue color, which can affect the overall picture quality, especially in bright scenes where blue hues are crucial for natural representation. The overall image may then seem too warm. As for gamma contrast, the graph shows a significant jump above the reference line of level 2.4 at the beginning, which may suggest significant dimming of brightness in darker areas, leading to a loss of detail in blacks. Then, for most of the time, the values are below this line, which can lead to a loss of detail in the brighter parts of the image. Such a distribution can negatively affect the perceived image quality, especially when watching regular HD television.

In the case of 4K HDR image quality of the TCL MQLED85/C765, there is a noticeable excess of red color in the analysis of white balance. Such an excess can significantly affect the viewer's experience, leading to several significant effects. First of all, too much red can make other colors, such as green or blue, appear muted or unnatural. This distortion of color balance can result in an overall impression of "oversaturation," which detracts from the image's naturalness and authenticity. Regarding contrast, the EOTF (Electro-Optical Transfer Function) graph indicates that most values are above the reference line, suggesting an intense boost in brightness in the bright areas of the image. However, the exception is the beginning of the graph, where the EOTF line is below the reference one, which may lead to excessive dimming of small light elements.

Users should be aware that despite using the best mode, which is movie mode, the television is not free from flaws in the context of picture settings, so it is worth considering adjusting the settings to achieve better results.

We tested the U7S Pro model – as always – in the best factory-tuned picture mode, which is Filmmaker Mode. We can evaluate the displayed colors in two ways. The most disappointing was the profile intended for watching SDR content, such as traditional television, YouTube, and other less demanding materials. The picture was clearly too yellow, which turned out to be a direct consequence of a poorly set white balance. As our graphs show, there is a huge deficiency of the blue component here, which drastically affected the overall color temperature. This is clearly evident on the ColorChecker charts and the graphs of the color palette itself, where most samples veered toward yellow. Fortunately, the factory HDR mode performed significantly better – there, the color errors hovered around a Delta E value of 3, which is already a really solid result.

After professional calibration of the TCL MQLED85/C765 television, its color properties in movie mode have significantly improved, resulting in much more satisfying visual experiences. Both in SDR and HDR modes, the white balance shows no serious errors, and the graph appears much better harmonized. Users can now enjoy natural color reproduction, which is essential for achieving an authentic experience while watching movies. It is worth noting that in HDR content, there may be minor color reproduction errors at the end of the graph, but they are significantly smaller than before calibration. This makes characters and landscapes more realistic, enhancing the depth of immersion in the story.

Regarding contrast, the gamma curve, responsible for HD quality, has been completely free of drops below the reference line, which means better detail visibility in dark scenes. However, there is still a slight boost at the beginning of the graph, which may affect the perception of bright elements. For HDR content, the EOTF curve also shows smaller errors, although certain issues in reproducing midtones may still be noticeable. The EOTF curve measured on real film scenes still shows a significant brightness boost, making the image appear more intense but artificially brightened. This is a typical issue for TCL brand televisions, which may appeal to untrained viewers but can be annoying for those more familiar with the ideal picture.

What benefits does professional calibration bring for movie enthusiasts? Thanks to it, watching becomes even more realistic and immersive, allowing every scene to be experienced fully, maintaining details and natural colors.

However, we know that the Hisense company can do much more – as previous generations have proven – which is why we simply couldn't leave the factory flaws of the U7S Pro model in everyday content. As always in such cases, we subjected the television to professional calibration. The conclusions? This process brought about a colossal change. After manually adjusting the white balance and compensating for the deficiencies in the blue component, the annoying yellow tint disappeared like magic. The white became naturally pure, and skin tones gained the proper, healthy hue. Importantly, the calibration not only tamed the capricious SDR mode but also allowed us to squeeze the maximum from the panel's potential, reducing the average color reproduction errors to values almost imperceptible to the human eye. The only thing we have to nitpick after the entire process is the very nature of the Mini-LED backlighting and its specific cooperation with the HDR signal. The aggressively tuned local dimming algorithms significantly interfere with the EOTF brightness curve. As a result, the backlighting does not always work perfectly with the creator's intent – depending on the scene being viewed, the curve can noticeably run either above or below the reference, which at times disrupts the perfect dynamics of HDR image.

We will now take another look at the tone transitions in the TCL MQLED85/C765 television, but in the context of poorer image quality. Despite the presence of the "Gradual Smoothing" option, when set to "low," the effects are practically invisible, disappointing users expecting an improvement in image quality. On the other hand, setting it to "high" brings minimal results, and worse, it can blur significant details, negatively affecting the sharpness and clarity of the displayed image. However, in terms of image scaling, the television successfully displayed the image without overscan, which means we do not lose any part of the view. The image looks quite decent, and details such as tree branches or the outlines of models do not show significant fraying, which positively influences the visual quality.

The digital processing of lower quality signals is at a very high level here, thanks to the MediaTek Pentonic 800 processor utilized in the U7S Pro. The upscaling itself, which is the TV's ability to enhance lower resolution signals to 4K, is also performing well. We did not notice any unnatural, sharp edges on the screen, and our test image with the model looked simply attractive.

TCL MQLED85/C765 is equipped with a standard refresh rate matrix of 120 Hz, with the possibility of increasing it to 144 Hz when connected to a powerful computer. The television also offers a multi-stage motion smoother, which mainly serves users who want to improve motion smoothness in films. It allows for the adjustment of the effect's intensity on a scale from 0 to 10, enabling precise matching of image smoothness to individual preferences. The matrix's response time is decent but not perfect. We can observe ghosting occurring behind both dark and medium objects.

The Hisense U7S Pro features a panel with a maximum refresh rate of 165 Hz in 4K, and in game mode, it can reach up to 330 Hz at Full HD resolution. However, it's important to note that these highest numbers have little significance in everyday use, as most content supports a maximum of 120 Hz (e.g., while gaming on a console). Nevertheless, the TV handles motion quite well and performs really decently for an LCD construction.

There's hardly anything to complain about regarding fluidity. In the menu, we find a motion smoothness enhancer called "Motion Enhancement," which hides two sliders: blur reduction and judder reduction. They allow for manual configuration of the smoothness enhancer, which works well for both movies and sports, effectively improving the raw television signal.

TCL MQLED85/C765 has received an impressive rating in the gaming features category, making it an excellent choice for gaming enthusiasts. The television supports all the latest technologies that significantly enhance the gaming experience. Among the key gaming features is ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode), which automatically switches the television to low latency mode, minimizing response time and ensuring smooth gameplay. VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) supported in the range from 48 to 144 Hz eliminates stuttering and screen tearing in dynamic gaming scenes. Additionally, the television supports Dolby Vision Game Mode, which provides better image quality in games with exceptional color depth and contrast. TCL MQLED85/C765 also features a decent but not the best implementation of HGiG (HDR Gaming Interest Group), optimizing HDR game display, but in the case of TCL, it causes bright details in white, resulting in some elements blending into a white spot - we can read more about this in the color reproduction section. It supports various resolutions such as 1080p@120Hz, 1440p@120Hz, and 4K@120Hz, allowing gamers to take advantage of higher image quality and better fluidity. The Game Bar feature allows for easy switching between game settings and quick control of parameters, significantly facilitating the adjustment of the television to individual needs. With support for G-Sync and FreeSync technologies, users of NVIDIA and AMD graphics cards will be pleased with the synchronization of refresh rates, eliminating tearing and stuttering issues, providing a smoother and more immersive gameplay experience.

MQLED85/C765 is a television that combines advanced technologies and excellent support for gamers, making it an ideal choice for those who want to maximize their gaming experiences.

If you plan to connect a console or PC to the U7S Pro, you will be more than satisfied – this television is excellent equipment for gamers. Hisense didn't spare any expense and included 4 HDMI 2.1 ports with full bandwidth of 48 Gbps. You won't need to juggle cables, as each port will handle the full package of features. We have an automatic game mode (ALLM) and VRR, which works over a wide range from 48 Hz to a cosmic 330 Hz. Of course, those 330 Hz are currently just a gimmick for owners of powerful PCs, as consoles will still be limited to 120 Hz, but it's good to have that reserve for the future. The Game Bar also works very well during gaming. It's a handy menu bar for gamers, where you can quickly change the picture mode, turn on a crosshair in the center of the screen, and even change the aspect ratio to ultra-wide without going into the main settings of the television, which PC simulator fans will appreciate. The only downside worth noting is the incorrect implementation of the HGiG format in games. This means that the television ignores the instructions from the console regarding the image generated in HDR10 and constantly meddles with the image it produces, trying to "enhance" it in its own way. Because of this, the correct configuration of HDR in the console menu (where brightness is set on the logo/checkerboard) is somewhat complicated.