Hisense U7NQ vs TCL C855

The Hisense U7NQ 65 television showed considerable potential on the luminance chart, exceeding the 1000 nits barrier and easily achieving very high brightness results in the first, third, and fifth test scenes. However, as before, in the second and fourth test scenes, such as from the film Sicario 2, there are significant issues with maintaining brightness, and results around 200 nits are very disappointing. Despite a large number of dimming zones, the algorithm in the television responsible for controlling these zones fails to respond adequately — in this case, it significantly dims small elements such as the moon or the light from a helicopter. The bright light that should dazzle us is too dim to be considered HDR effect. Nevertheless, it is worth praising the television for its high coverage of the DCI-P3 colour gamut at 96%, which allows it to represent most film scenes well.

TCL C855 delivers a highly varied HDR effect. On one hand, the television truly shines, while on the other, it resembles a lower model with FALD backlighting. This situation is, however, regularly observed in this brand, so it was not a surprise to us. The first and last scenes, featuring large elements of light, look almost phenomenal, "shining" with brightness levels of 1470 and 1820 nits respectively. Such effects will certainly cause more than one person to squint, while simultaneously feeling the extraordinary dynamism of the scene itself. You can truly feel as if you are inside the film. The situation changes dramatically when small or minor elements with high luminance surrounded by black appear on the screen. The TCL C855, in order to avoid the halo effect, significantly reduces brightness to a level of even 240 nits, which is a disappointing result, causing the film to not appear as if it was recorded in HDR. The HDR effect in the TCL C855 makes watching dynamic scenes more engaging, allowing the viewer to feel as though they are part of the action. Even with smaller elements of high luminance, the television manages to maintain details without excessive dimming. Moreover, the TCL C855 test shows that the brightness of the image is adjusted for scenes with a large amount of detail, which enhances viewing comfort.

The Chinese manufacturer offers various picture settings in its televisions, but the best mode in this model is undoubtedly Filmmaker Mode. Despite its name, this mode has its issues: white balance, although roughly correct, is characterised by a strong dominance of warm tones due to the oversaturation of red, both in 4K and HD content. The Colour Checker test confirms these errors — deviations of samples towards inappropriate hues are visible. As for brightness characteristics, the gamma responsible for HD content shows values below 2.4, leading to some brightening of the screen. Meanwhile, the EOTF curve reveals the television's struggles with displaying small bright elements, as confirmed by the previously described paragraphs.

The best factory mode for the TCL C855 is "Film," and it is on this mode that we conducted all our tests. Like any mode predefined by the manufacturer, it had its drawbacks that are worth correcting to achieve an image as close as possible to what the film producer intended. We will examine the colour characteristics in both SDR and HDR materials. Looking at the first, we see a noticeable dominance of green in the white balance, which, as you might imagine, resulted in an unpleasant greenish tint across the entire image. Observing the very important gamma chart, which is responsible for the image's contrast, we see a significant deviation from the reference line marked at 2.4. From the left, we can observe a strong spike in the measured value, which at this point caused the image to be overly contrasted, merging details into a dark blob. This situation persisted for quite some time, up to 20% of the chart's value, before then dipping below the reference. This, in turn, meant a brightening of the image and a significant drop in contrast. The factory mode performed slightly better in HDR materials, as the white balance looked quite good, except for the second half, where green once again took precedence. Looking at the EOTF curve, which, unlike gamma, shows the rate of brightness increase, we see primarily two errors: the darkest scenes were too dark, and the brightest ones were overexposed. This was something we could also observe in the scene from the film "Pan" in the paragraph checking the TV's HDR.

Hisense televisions offer many image correction tools that allow users to adjust settings to their own preferences, which is why we decided to take advantage of these capabilities to bring the image quality closer to a reference standard. In terms of white balance, we were able to eliminate the dominance of the red colour, resulting in more neutral hues, which allowed for a more realistic image in both 4K and HD materials. We observed similar improvements in brightness characteristics. The gamma, which previously led to excessive screen brightness, was corrected, contributing to better detail reproduction in the darker areas of the image while maintaining a natural tonal balance.

However, the biggest challenge was calibrating the EOTF curve, which corresponds to brightness in 4K materials. At first glance, the EOTF value appeared nearly perfect, but detailed tests showed somewhat different results. When we examined it more closely — especially using the filter on the right side of the EOTF chart — we noticed how the television manipulated 4K film materials, often significantly boosting brightness. This effect was particularly noticeable in scenes from films such as Pan and Billy Lynn, where the television attempted to artificially increase the brightness of elements, affecting their naturalness. Despite these imperfections, the calibration yielded positive results, especially in terms of tonal improvement. For most users, the final effect should be satisfactory, particularly if they are keen on bringing the image quality closer to professional reference standards.

TCL, like the vast majority of manufacturers, provides advanced calibration tools in its televisions. Here we find 2- and 20-point adjustments for greyscale as well as an advanced colour management system. The results, as you can see, are very good, and in SDR materials we have significantly approached the reference image. We eliminated both the green tint and the gamma issue, although there is still a slight "kink" at the very beginning. The performance with HDR materials was somewhat poorer, as the TCL C855 did not allow us to model them adequately. We were only able to slightly adjust the EOTF curve and significantly improve the colours themselves.

When it comes to smoothing tonal transitions, despite the presence of the "Smooth and Gradient Image" function in the test sequence, we did not notice that the function made any difference — we recommend turning it off. As for upscaling, the television handled our model reasonably well, and the branches in the background are not overly jagged — the image appears quite plastic. However, it was slightly cropped by the so-called overscan.

Once again, we will take a look at the function of smoothing tonal transitions, but this time also at image scaling. The latter is particularly important when watching lower-quality materials, such as certain television programmes or older films. We will focus on the function responsible for tonal transitions. Interestingly, just like in the scenes of the previous test, it performed excellently and smoothed out practically all the inconsistencies; however, here it had problems. Using the menu responsible for this function, we found that no setting - even the strongest - was of any help.

Image scaling in TCL C855 is described as one of the best we have had the opportunity to test so far. The image is sharp, but in a way that could be described as natural for our eyes. Even the small, fine branches do not have jagged edges, and there is no white halo around figures, which is characteristic of inferior scaling systems.

Hisense U7NQ has a refresh rate of 144 Hz, which definitely contributes to smooth movement. For film enthusiasts, two functions are available: judder reduction and motion blur reduction. The judder reduction function minimises the effect known as judder, or unpleasant jumps in the image, particularly noticeable at lower frame rates. Meanwhile, motion blur reduction helps to sharpen fast-moving objects, which is useful when watching dynamic action scenes.

As for ghosting, the television has a good response time, meaning excessive ghosting is not visible, except in specific situations, such as the test with the little green man on a dark background. In such cases, slight artefacts may appear, but overall the television handles dynamic images well, providing satisfactory motion quality.

The maximum refresh rate we can set on the TCL C855 is 144 Hz. Naturally, this is only possible by connecting the TCL C855 television to a very powerful PC. Otherwise, we will be operating at a maximum refresh rate of 120 Hz, which is recommended if we primarily want to watch sports or content with a lot of motion dynamics. For those requiring high image fluidity, the manufacturer has implemented a multi-stage motion smoother. This has been divided into two separate sliders regulating the sharpness of moving images (Motion Blur Reduction) and flicker (Flicker Reduction). Both sliders can be set in the range from 0 to 10, with each increment affecting the level of smoothing, so everyone can find their sweet spot. We present a setting that allows for slight smoothing without the soap opera effect.

The panel of the TCL C855 features a very good response time. This is particularly important as VA panels often have issues with so-called ghosting, which is the effect where a black halo can be seen behind a fast-moving object.

Hisense U7NQ offers everything a gamer might need for comfortable gameplay. The television supports a refresh rate of 144 Hz, providing an incredibly smooth image, especially in dynamic action games. The VRR (variable refresh rate) feature ensures that the image adapts to varying frames per second, eliminating stuttering and screen tearing. Additionally, there is an ALLM (automatic low latency mode) feature, which automatically switches the television to game mode, minimising input lag.

The television also supports Dolby Vision, which is particularly important for gamers who appreciate high contrast and rich colours in games that support this format. The Hisense U7NQ also has a Game Bar feature that allows quick access to the most important settings during gameplay, as well as support for G-Sync technology, further reducing screen tearing effects.

Unfortunately, despite a wide range of features, it lacks support for the most popular HDR format in gaming — HGiG. This may be disappointing for gamers who expect optimal detail reproduction in HDR scenes. Nevertheless, the other features make the Hisense U7NQ a solid choice for any console gaming enthusiast.

The TCL C855 television is equipped with full HDMI 2.1 connectors with a full bandwidth of 48 Gb/s. During our tests, we confirmed the seamless operation of all functions that are part of this standard. As can be seen, all checkboxes light up green, which will certainly be appreciated by gamers, both console and those using the television as a monitor for their computer. Additionally, the TCL C855 supports both AMD FreeSync and NVIDIA's G-Sync, which can be easily activated in the graphics card settings. Those with a very powerful setup can send a 144 Hz signal to the C855, which this television handles effortlessly. It is also worth mentioning the implementation of the HGIG mode, which, however, due to the flaw of the “Game” mode, is overly brightened, making it difficult to configure properly on screen. Fortunately, the television performs excellently with the Dolby Vision format.

The TCL C855 is one of the first manufacturers to equip its televisions with a special GameBar, which allows for extensive setting changes on the fly, without the need to exit the game. It features functions such as an additional crosshair grid, black level correction, and settings for people with disabilities. In the picture, we can see the next generation of this solution.

In summary, the TCL C855 television will be an ideal solution for those seeking a screen for all sorts of electronic gaming. Thanks to all the features supporting such entertainment, it is incredibly engaging. It is also important to highlight the very low input lag, regardless of the selected settings, including with the HDR Dolby Vision format.