TCL P755 vs LG QNED86A / QNED85A / QNED87A

The TCL P755 delivers an average HDR experience, with a maximum brightness of just under 300 nits. This limitation affects the intensity of bright areas in HDR content, reducing the contrast impact, as bright elements may appear less pronounced. However, the TV compensates with an impressive 93% coverage of the DCI-P3 colour gamut, which brings vibrant, saturated colours that enhance the quality of HDR content. Despite the brightness cap, the extensive colour range enriches hues, providing a more lifelike and visually engaging viewing experience.

Against the backdrop of contrast and black, the brightness of the QNED86A and the overall HDR effect performs much better. This is a television that can reach around 700 nits in the best conditions, so in terms of brightness alone, there is nothing to be ashamed of. As a result, scenes with strong lights, explosions, flashes, or bright parts of the landscape look clear and can make an impression. Interestingly, even in more challenging moments with small, contrasting elements on the screen, the television handles their backlighting well, and the details are quite visible. The problem resurfaces when there are a lot of dark tones. The lack of effective local dimming causes black to virtually disappear, and instead, we get a gray glow spreading across the entire screen. This kills the sense of depth and makes the image look flat, as if it lacks a cinematic quality. In bright animations or colorful family films, this won't be an issue because colors and bright light dominate there. But in horrors or productions set in darkness, these limitations are very palpable. As a consolation, it’s worth mentioning that the QNED86A is actually a QLED television with a PFS LED filter, which gives it very good coverage of wide color gamuts. Both the DCI-P3 palette and the wider BT.2020 perform really solid here. This ensures that colors in HDR films are saturated, vibrant, and have the right depth – even if the black itself disappoints, the colors can save the viewing experience and make the image look attractive.

In Cinema mode, the colour reproduction on the TCL P755, while set to the best factory configuration, falls short of ideal accuracy. The primary issue is the white balance, where the red component is notably elevated and the green is reduced. This imbalance shifts colours towards red, making them appear unnatural, particularly in scenes featuring white or neutral tones. This issue is highlighted in the Colour Checker test, which shows a discernible red bias affecting the realism of the image and diminishing the perception of colour depth.

Examining contrast performance, the gamma graph analysis reveals notable inconsistencies, especially in darker areas, where values dip below the target level of 2.4. Consequently, shadows and darker sections are displayed brighter than intended, impacting overall contrast. Furthermore, the EOTF (Electro-Optical Transfer Function) curve, essential for accurate brightness representation, veers slightly above the reference curve. The data shows a boost in brightness up to around 50% before a gradual levelling off. This creates excessive mid-tone brightness, which can lead to loss of detail and some distortion in brighter scenes, ultimately affecting the clarity and immersion of the viewing experience.

We primarily tested the QNED86A in Filmmaker mode, which is designed to provide the most accurate picture. Unfortunately, right out of the box, there were quite a few shortcomings. The most noticeable issue was the poorly adjusted white balance – there was a lack of blue, causing the overall image to lean slightly yellow, and at times, even orange. An even bigger problem turned out to be the way the television manages brightness. Due to its technical limitations – namely, local dimming that only works along the edges of the screen – the QNED86A tends to over-brighten entire scenes. This is where the flattening effect we mentioned earlier comes from. Instead of distinct depth and contrast, we get something akin to "boosted brightness," which can strain the eye over time.

Post-calibration, the TCL P755 delivers a markedly improved colour performance for SDR content. The colour curves now align closely with ideal values, with a more consistent gamma stability across the range. While a slight drop at the beginning of the gamma curve persists, the accuracy in colour reproduction is significantly enhanced. The Colour Checker test reveals most colour samples are now under an error threshold of 2, showcasing much-improved colour fidelity with only minimal deviations, resulting in colours that feel notably more authentic to life.

HDR content benefits from these calibration adjustments as well. White balance corrections lend a more natural tone, with colours appearing more balanced overall. The EOTF curve, while nearer to the ideal reference line, still features a mild brightness elevation at the start, which can cause minor distortions in exceptionally bright scenes. However, overall tonal quality and detail resolution have both improved. Tone mapping also performs more effectively, enhancing detail in bright regions while maintaining better image accuracy.

In summary, while calibration does not bring flawless performance, it makes a substantial difference in the P755’s visual quality. Following these adjustments, the television provides a more accurate, realistic viewing experience in both SDR and HDR content, smoothing out many of the previous colour inconsistencies for a more visually engaging result.

What was saved in the QNED86A6A is undoubtedly the colors. After calibration, the white balance was set with great precision, resulting in deviations on the Colour Checker palette mostly not exceeding the threshold of visibility for the human eye. In other words – the colors finally looked natural, without strange yellow or orange tones that previously ruined the experience. Unfortunately, even the best calibration cannot bypass design limitations. The already mentioned very modest number of local dimming zones and their unfortunate placement made the analysis of the EOTF curve in films still show clear over-brightening of scenes. The image tended to flatten, lacking cinematic depth. Fortunately, this effect is not as noticeable in older productions or SDR content. There, calibration really does its job and allows taming the QNED in such a way that the image can be pleasing. However, the specifics of this design – especially the contrast issues – cannot be entirely overcome.

The "Gradual Smoothing" function on the TCL P755 performs effectively, reducing visible boundaries between shades of the same colour and creating smoother tonal transitions. Unfortunately, this feature is unavailable in HDR mode, which can impact the quality of tonal gradations in high dynamic range content.

In terms of image scaling, the television shows some limitations. There are visible edge cut-offs, especially noticeable around figures and tree branches, which result in some detail blurring and a reduction in overall image sharpness. This is particularly noticeable when viewing lower-resolution content. Additionally, SD-quality images display a slight crop at the top and bottom, which may further impact viewing for standard-definition content.

If someone is worried about possible "steps" when connecting colors, there is a simple way in the QNED86A. Just turn on the feature called Smooth Gradation and set it to medium level. Then the TV really smooths out all those unwanted transitions – especially in older productions – and does it in such a way that the film grain doesn't disappear, nor do strange artifacts appear. In other words, you can use it without worry.

The upscaling itself also turns out quite well. Of course, there are no miracles here – with lower quality sources, you can observe characteristic jaggedness. Fortunately, there is a sharpness slider in the menu, and if someone prefers a more "softer" image, it can be quickly adjusted to their taste.

The TCL P755 delivers satisfactory, though not flawless, motion smoothness. It includes a "Flicker Reduction" feature for films, allowing users to fine-tune motion smoothness on a scale from 1 to 10. This setting offers flexibility in tailoring the image to cinematic or more theatrical preferences, adjusting for a slower or faster appearance according to personal viewing taste.

The QNED86A is equipped with a 120 Hz refresh rate panel, so right from the start, it's safe to say that it's suitable for both sports and gaming. And indeed, this is true – the image looks smooth, and motion blur is not very noticeable. IPS panels have always had some issues with this, and you can sometimes notice slight blurring here as well, especially in very dynamic scenes, but it's not something that ruins watching a match or a fast-paced game. For movie and sports fans, LG has added the traditional TruMotion smoother. In the menu, we have two sliders – one for movies (De-Judder), the other for sports (De-Blur). The first adds missing frames and allows you to adjust the character of motion – from raw, cinematic to more fluid, "theatrical." The second enhances sharpness during dynamic actions, so it's worth turning it up a bit if you're watching a lot of sports.

The TCL P755 comes equipped with gamer-oriented features like ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode), VRR (Variable Refresh Rate), Dolby Vision for gaming, and a Game Bar. ALLM automatically activates low latency mode to enhance response times and reduce input lag, while VRR syncs the screen refresh rate with the console's frame output, minimising screen tearing for a smoother gaming experience. Dolby Vision for gamers brings improved colour and contrast for compatible games, and the Game Bar allows easy access to essential settings like response time.

However, the 60 Hz panel limits the display to this refresh rate across resolutions, which may impact the fluidity in high-motion games. The absence of G-Sync also affects PC gamers, as gameplay on computers lacks this technology's extra smoothing. Notably, HGiG mode, meant to optimise HDR game visuals, is not fully functional on this model, which slightly detracts from the HDR gaming experience.

In terms of gaming, the LG QNED86A6A is a complete tool. It features four HDMI 2.1 ports with full bandwidth of 48 Gb/s, which means that whether you connect a PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, or a powerful PC – everything will work at full 4K 120 Hz with support for all features. This is a big plus, as some competitors still have only two such ports, which can be problematic with a larger number of devices. It also has VRR, or variable refresh rate, which eliminates screen tearing, and ALLM, which automatically activates game mode when the console is turned on. There’s also Dolby Vision Gaming and a proper implementation of the HGiG format, so titles supporting these formats look more vivid and detailed. Added to all of this is the Game Optimizer – a kind of control center for the gamer. From this level, you can view image parameters in real-time, quickly change modes, activate additional features, or adjust image settings to your preferences. The LG QNED86A6A essentially has everything one can expect from a modern gaming television.