TCL C8 Ownership Review

Sadly I tried to look for TCL C8 at nearby stores in Delhi. Apparently, none of the big brands (Croma or Reliance Digital) has it. TCL sites shows Hari Om Electronics as a the dealer when I check C8 on their site but went to the nearest store and they havent even heard of the C series and tried to peddle me P8. I called another branch and they didnt have but checked back with TCL and told me that only 55" model is available in India and the 65" version hasnt even arrived in India yet. Is this true?

Not true. When i purchased my C8 the TCL exclusive shop had stock for 65 inch as well. They were ready to give me that if i was willing for it. Sadly, 65 inch is a tight fit in my TV showcase so i dint go for it.

Please check if there are any exclusive TCL showrooms nearby. They should have it. In chennai also only the exclusive showroom had it. Reliance and Chroma did not have this model.
 
Unfortunately i missed to update about the panel quality in the Post#2. Details below (unable to edit now)

Panel Quality:
1.) Light Bleeding - Light bleeding is there. But not much. You can see it with your naked eye though on Dark room. Bottom portion of it was brighter as its Edge lit panel. However, this is not a deal breaker as its not too much. When the room has some light then the bleeding is not visible.
2.) Contrast Ratio (Deep Blacks) - Contrast ratio is decent as well. Much better than IPS panels. But you will still see the backlight glow slightly when the screen is pitch black while you watch it on a dark room. If i enable micro dimming it resolves this issue very well. However, it dims the entire screen. Is this a dealbreaker? Definitely no as the Blacks are still decent in pitch dark room and almost excellent on a bright room.
3.) Upscaling - Anything above 1080P is handled good. But not very good in upscaling resolutions below that. Few of my downloaded 720P source was upscaled fine as well. However, it all depends on the source. High quality 720P source was handled good. Many other 720P displayed a bit pixelated. These are observations from around 5/6 feet distance from the TV. However, as per my viewing distance (around 10feet) even SD news channels (youtube) looked very good. So it all depends on your viewing distance. For my position (10 feet) i dont have any issues. Also, i feel currently there are no TVs that can do better than this in this price range.
4.) Viewing Angle - I actually expected a very poor viewing angle. However, it is good. I have no issues viewing content from side (it gets a bit dim though). Also, my regular viewing is from dead straignt only so i dont bother about viewing angles in general.
5.) Reflection Handling - It is fine for me. I did not have great expectations in reflection handling. There is a balcony door and big window exactly opposite to my TV, so while viewing in day time sometimes i may need to close the balcony door to avoid reflection. Its not very poor but manageable.
6.) Gray Uniformity/Dirty Screen Effect - Very good Gray/screen uniformity and almost negligible dirty screen effect. However, again my camera was not able to capture it properly since there was a shadow of myself on the screen when this image was displayed. This shadow moves along with me so its very difficult to take a picture of it accurately on how it was displayed on the TV.
7.) Local dimming - As you know this TV has Micro dimming where it dims the entire frame during dark scenes. I was able to see it work very well when i displayed the test pattern to check black uniformity. However, since it dims the entire screen the frame looks a bit dull. So i have disabled it as i found the native blacks to be decent. You can try setting this to "Low" or "Medium" if you want to improve the blacks.
8.) Motion Judder/Blur - Motion judder is visible on very few scenes on movies and not at all noticable on most of the scenes. This TV has MEMC which helps in making the motion more fluid. I dont watch sports though so cannot comment regarding the same. For regular movies (24FPS content) it is slightly visible on few scenes probably based on the speed of the camera movement etc. But majority of the time its not irritating for you. I personally feel this is all a TV with 60Hz can do after disabling all the Motion enhancement options. If you need Judder free TV then you can try enabling Motion options to see if it improves. But i feel if you need Judder free TV then you need to forget 60Hz and look for 120Hz panel.

You nailed it
 
Just received a popup for new update. .. Haven't updated yet.. will do after sometime .... Any TCL C8 owners received this??

@Nightf0x .. Did you receive this update?? Do you know changelog for this update?

IMG_20200625_103813__01_compress28.jpg
 
Unfortunately i missed to update about the panel quality in the Post#2. Details below (unable to edit now)

Panel Quality:
1.) Light Bleeding - Light bleeding is there. But not much. You can see it with your naked eye though on Dark room. Bottom portion of it was brighter as its Edge lit panel. However, this is not a deal breaker as its not too much. When the room has some light then the bleeding is not visible.
2.) Contrast Ratio (Deep Blacks) - Contrast ratio is decent as well. Much better than IPS panels. But you will still see the backlight glow slightly when the screen is pitch black while you watch it on a dark room. If i enable micro dimming it resolves this issue very well. However, it dims the entire screen. Is this a dealbreaker? Definitely no as the Blacks are still decent in pitch dark room and almost excellent on a bright room.
3.) Upscaling - Anything above 1080P is handled good. But not very good in upscaling resolutions below that. Few of my downloaded 720P source was upscaled fine as well. However, it all depends on the source. High quality 720P source was handled good. Many other 720P displayed a bit pixelated. These are observations from around 5/6 feet distance from the TV. However, as per my viewing distance (around 10feet) even SD news channels (youtube) looked very good. So it all depends on your viewing distance. For my position (10 feet) i dont have any issues. Also, i feel currently there are no TVs that can do better than this in this price range.
4.) Viewing Angle - I actually expected a very poor viewing angle. However, it is good. I have no issues viewing content from side (it gets a bit dim though). Also, my regular viewing is from dead straignt only so i dont bother about viewing angles in general.
5.) Reflection Handling - It is fine for me. I did not have great expectations in reflection handling. There is a balcony door and big window exactly opposite to my TV, so while viewing in day time sometimes i may need to close the balcony door to avoid reflection. Its not very poor but manageable.
6.) Gray Uniformity/Dirty Screen Effect - Very good Gray/screen uniformity and almost negligible dirty screen effect. However, again my camera was not able to capture it properly since there was a shadow of myself on the screen when this image was displayed. This shadow moves along with me so its very difficult to take a picture of it accurately on how it was displayed on the TV.
7.) Local dimming - As you know this TV has Micro dimming where it dims the entire frame during dark scenes. I was able to see it work very well when i displayed the test pattern to check black uniformity. However, since it dims the entire screen the frame looks a bit dull. So i have disabled it as i found the native blacks to be decent. You can try setting this to "Low" or "Medium" if you want to improve the blacks.
8.) Motion Judder/Blur - Motion judder is visible on very few scenes on movies and not at all noticable on most of the scenes. This TV has MEMC which helps in making the motion more fluid. I dont watch sports though so cannot comment regarding the same. For regular movies (24FPS content) it is slightly visible on few scenes probably based on the speed of the camera movement etc. But majority of the time its not irritating for you. I personally feel this is all a TV with 60Hz can do after disabling all the Motion enhancement options. If you need Judder free TV then you can try enabling Motion options to see if it improves. But i feel if you need Judder free TV then you need to forget 60Hz and look for 120Hz panel.

Great honest review. Thanks.
Just wanted to clarify as of now these two are on the list what do you suggest:

1. C8
2. Oneplus U 55

Would be great if you can help me out on this point. If any other suggestions without a stretch in the budget then I am open for that too.
 
Great honest review. Thanks.
Just wanted to clarify as of now these two are on the list what do you suggest:

1. C8
2. Oneplus U 55

Would be great if you can help me out on this point. If any other suggestions without a stretch in the budget then I am open for that too.

Personally i have not seen Oneplus U1 55 in person. However, TCL C8 is a great TV for the price. Its a very good TV with no major issues. It also supports all HDR formats (though the brightness is 350nits). I could see Oneplus is also similar specced TV with good after support from OnePlus. Try to check both the TVs in person and take the call. I feel you should be happy with any of these TVs provided you dont have high expectations from them to perform similar to QLED/OLED TVs.
 
Hi heard that after a software update HDR has been having issues. Have you faced any issues as such on the c8?

Yes.. I got the v321 update after which the HDR content is a bit overexposed ... This issue is faced internationally on all TVs built on RT51 platform.. so expecting a fix soon.. it's still watchable though..
 
Updated my TCL 65C8 to v363. No problems at all. Got a new audio pass-through option. Design is now more consistent with Android settings UI. I feel the upscaling is improved. No Youtube 4K60 lag
 
Updated my TCL 65C8 to v363. No problems at all. Got a new audio pass-through option. Design is now more consistent with Android settings UI. I feel the upscaling is improved. No Youtube 4K60 lag
Which firmware are you currently running on the C8.
 
Join WhatsApp group to get HiFiMART.com Offers & Deals delivered to your smartphone!
Back
Top