Performance Analysis

TCL TV 85X925 Pro 85” MiniLED 8K visual performance and optical construction analysis

By Piseo

With the claimed uniqueness of OD ZERO for 8K MiniLED, does TCL succeed in reaching a good uniformity level with its 85X925 Pro 85” MiniLED 8K TV?

Report objectives

After several years and many announcements, MiniLED backlights are coming to the market. According to manufacturers’ claims, these will allow LCD displays to offer a contrast similar to OLEDs, while providing high brightness. All of this while offering reduced power consumption, a very thin form factor (thickness), and cost/price competitiveness with OLED.

With its 85X925 PRO MiniLED 8K, TCL claims to provide the only 8K MiniLED OD ZERO in the world. It combines a direct OD ZERO MiniLED backlight, quantum dots, 8K HDR Premium, and 100Hz Motion Clarity Pro for the best 8K HDR performance.

To evaluate the benefits of this new type of backlight, DXOMARK and PISÉO – leaders in the assessment of consumer electronics quality and photonic system architecture, respectively – have teamed up to produce this report.

To evaluate the display quality of the TCL TV 85X925 Pro 85” MiniLED 8K, DXOMARK carried out visual performance measurements. This report presents the test results and the performance comparison.

In order to understand the technology of the TCL TV 85X925 Pro 85’’ backlight, the optical architecture of the unit was analyzed by PISÉO and is presented here. This includes a description of the six optical films integrated between the MiniLED array and the LCD panel.

Based on their own analyses, DXOMARK and PISÉO carried out a cross-analysis to show the links between the user experience and backlight optical construction.

Approach to analysis

Tests and quality analysis of the performance of the TCL TV 85X925 Pro 85” MiniLED 8K, based on DXOMARK protocol and covering:

Video at high and standard dynamic range (HDR and SDR): brightness, contrast, EOTF, color, angular performance, halo
Artifacts: flicker, reflectance

To understand the technology of the TCL TV 85X925 Pro 85” MiniLED 8K backlight, PISÉO has analyzed the optical architecture of the unit by:

Disassembling the Samsung NEO QLED 65QN900A TV to access the backlight unit
Delayering the optical stack
Analyzing the material and the mechanical structure of each layer
Analyzing the optical properties of each layer
Analyzing the LED emission characteristics and the local dimming features at LED board level

Main conclusions

MiniLED displays, and the future microLED displays, are clearly a disruption for the display industry. This is both in terms of performance, as analyzed in this report, and also in terms of supply chain. All the major consumer electronics manufacturers, such as Apple, Samsung, TCL, and Skyworth, as well as display device manufacturers, are testing the market with new products and adapting their supply chains. They are also trying to find differentiation in terms of design and choice of the right display architecture, as well as choice of the right components and modules.

This revolution is revealed by the YOLE Group’s different analysis capabilities. Teardown, supply chain, and reverse costing is done by YOLE System Plus. Performance analysis is done by PISÉO. YOLE Intelligence studies company strategies and market evolution. Meanwhile, DXOMARK analyzes the visual performance of the display. Together, we have decided to launch a series of performance analysis reports to cover the most important MiniLED displays available on the market. Besides the TCL TV 85X925 Pro 85” Mini LED 8K, this year we have released studies of the following tablet, TV, and monitors:

Apple iPad Pro MiniLED 12.9” – visual performance and optical construction analysis
Samsung TV MiniLED NEO QLED 65QN900A – visual performance and optical construction analysis
Samsung Monitor MiniLED Odyssey Neo G9 – visual performance and optical construction analysis

These reports are available and reveal the design differences of these displays, the supply chain choices, the key suppliers, and new technologies implemented.

Based on these reports, next year we will release an overview report with performance comparison and analysis of the four products.

Key Features

Measurement and analysis of brightness, brightness uniformity, contrast, EOTF, color, color uniformity, angular performance, halo in video, and high and standard dynamic range (HDR and SDR) formats.
Measurement and analysis of artifacts such as screen reflectance and flicker.
Description of the MiniLED-based backlight unit technology.
Details about LED emission characteristics.
Main characteristics and roles of the different films in the optical stack.
Backlight unit operation when displaying a simple scene.

Product objectives

Provide test results and quality analysis of the performance of the TCL TV 85X925 Pro 85” Mini LED 8K.
Give insights into the optical architecture and explain how Samsung managed the technical challenges.
Show how the backlight optical construction contributes to the user experience.

This analysis is intended for display system designers, system architects, and marketing teams.

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TCL TV 85X925 Pro 85” MiniLED 8K visual performance and optical construction analysis

With the claimed uniqueness of OD ZERO for 8K MiniLED, does TCL succeed in reaching a good uniformity level with its 85X925 Pro 85” MiniLED 8K TV?