If you prioritize top-tier picture quality and can afford a higher price tag, the Sony A95K's OLED technology offers better blacks, viewing angles, and contrast, which is excellent for movies and in darker rooms. However, if you prefer a TV that performs better in a bright room and is more budget-friendly, the TCL QM8, with its LCD screen and bright display, could be more suitable, especially for daytime TV or news watching. Keep in mind that while both are good for gaming, the OLED's perfect blacks may be more appealing for immersive gaming experiences. Give Feedback
this description is based on the product variant with some specs and product variant with some specs. At the time of writing, the variant with some specs cost some dollars and the variant with some specs cost some dollars.
Advantages of the Sony A95K (OLED)
Excellent for dark room
Best in class for movies & TV
Best in class for sports
Best in class for news, talk, & other TV
Best in class for cartoons & animation
Excellent for use as monitor
Best in class for upscaling
Best in class motion processing
Best in class viewing angle
Best in class reflections
Advantages of the TCL QM8 (LCD)
Best in class for bright room
Key differences
Picture Quality
9.4/10
8.5/10
10.00/10
CONTRAST
8.00/10
9.1/10
COLOR VOLUME SCORE
9.2/10
RGB OLED
PANEL TYPE
miniLED FALD
QD-OLED
PANEL SUB-TYPE
VA
The Sony A95K (OLED) has excellent picture quality, while the TCL QM8 (LCD) has very good picture quality.
Movies & TV
9.5/10
8.3/10
10.00/10
CONTRAST
8.00/10
10.0/10
BLACK UNIFORMITY
8.5/10
10.0/10
UPSCALING
4.8/10
Yes
HDR10 SUPPORT
Yes
No
HDR10+ SUPPORT
Yes
Yes
DOLBY VISION SUPPORT
Yes
The Sony A95K (OLED) is best in class for movies & TV, while the TCL QM8 (LCD) is very good.
The Sony A95K excels in watching movies and cinematic content due to its perfect contrast, superior local dimming, and outstanding black uniformity, providing deep blacks and high-quality images in dark scenes. On the other hand, the TCL QM8 offers excellent performance with very good local dimming and black uniformity, but its lower contrast and narrower viewing angles may not deliver the same level of immersion in cinematic content as the OLED of the A95K.
Sports
9.5/10
6.5/10
10.0/10
MOTION PROCESSING
4.6/10
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
120Hz
10.0/10
INPUT LAG SCORE
7.6/10
10.0/10
UPSCALING
4.8/10
7.9/10
SDR BRIGHTNESS SCORE
10.0/10
Yes
HLG SUPPORT
Yes
The Sony A95K (OLED) is best in class for sports, while the TCL QM8 (LCD) is only fair.
The Sony A95K excels in sports due to its superior motion processing and response time, ensuring fast-moving action is displayed smoothly, along with a wide viewing angle that maintains image accuracy from different positions. In contrast, the TCL QM8 has lower performance in motion processing and response time, which can result in more blur during fast sports action, and its narrower viewing angles could reduce picture quality when viewed from the side.
Gaming
8.9/10
8.3/10
9.4/10
RESPONSE TIME SCORE
8.1/10
10.0/10
INPUT LAG SCORE
7.6/10
10.0/10
MOTION PROCESSING
4.6/10
100.0/100
GAMING LOCAL DIMMING
90.0/100
8.3/10
GAME HDR BRIGHTNESS SCORE
9.3/10
The Sony A95K (OLED) and TCL QM8 (LCD) are both very good for gaming, though the Sony A95K (OLED) is somewhat better.
The Sony A95K stands out for gaming due to its excellent response time and top-tier input lag, ensuring a highly responsive gaming experience. In contrast, the TCL QM8, while still very respectable, has slightly less impressive response time and input lag, which may not be as optimal for the most demanding fast-paced games.
Cartoons & Animation
9.5/10
8.9/10
9.3/10
COLOR GAMUT SCORE
8.1/10
9.1/10
COLOR VOLUME SCORE
9.2/10
7.9/10
SDR BRIGHTNESS SCORE
10.0/10
9.3/10
COLORS OUT OF THE BOX SCORE
7.6/10
9.8/10
GRAY UNIFORMITY
7.5/10
The Sony A95K (OLED) is best in class for cartoons & animation, while the TCL QM8 (LCD) is very good.
The Sony A95K is considered best for watching cartoons and animation due to its excellent colors out of the box and color gamut, ensuring vibrant and accurate images. The TCL QM8, while also very good for animations with a strong color gamut, doesn't match the Sony's perfect out-of-the-box color accuracy and may not display cartoons and animations with equally rich colors.
News, Talk, & Other TV
9.5/10
6.8/10
7.9/10
SDR BRIGHTNESS SCORE
10.0/10
10.0/10
UPSCALING
4.8/10
The Sony A95K (OLED) is best in class for news, talk, & other TV, while the TCL QM8 (LCD) is only fair.
The Sony A95K excels at upscaling lower resolution content and delivers solid SDR brightness, making it a great choice for watching news, talk shows, and other TV programs in varying quality; it also offers excellent colors out of the box, a wide color gamut, and effective local dimming for better contrast. The TCL QM8, while offering the best SDR brightness, which is great for brightly lit rooms, might fall short in terms of upscaling, color accuracy, and contrast due to less effective local dimming, thus it's considered fair for the same TV viewing scenarios.
Bright Room
8.6/10
9.9/10
10.0/10
VIEWING ANGLE
5.3/10
7.9/10
SDR BRIGHTNESS SCORE
10.0/10
8.0/10
HDR BRIGHTNESS SCORE
9.3/10
10.0/10
REFLECTIONS SCORE
8.9/10
The TCL QM8 (LCD) is best in class for bright room, while the Sony A95K (OLED) is very good.
The TCL QM8 excels in bright rooms due to its outstanding SDR and HDR brightness, allowing it to overcome ambient light, and very good reflection handling, meaning it can reduce the impact of glare. In contrast, while the Sony A95K presents very good HDR brightness and best-in-class reflection handling, its SDR brightness is only good, which might be a disadvantage in very brightly lit environments despite its superior contrast, color volume, and color gamut which enhance picture quality.
Cost
$2,997
$1,498
$0
$1,000
$2,000
$3,000
$4,000
$5,000
The Sony A95K (OLED) has a price of $2,997 and the TCL QM8 (LCD) costs $1,498.
"A95K will be one of the highest-performing TVs of the year, if not the hottest TV of 2022. The color on the Sony A95K is the most accurate I have ever seen. Certain hues of red just haven’t been produced on a TV … until now. Perhaps with deeper scrutiny, I may one day find some nit to pick, but in the time I was able to spend with the A95K, I was simply thrilled."
Get a great deal on the Sony A95K (OLED) or the TCL QM8 (LCD)
About Sony
Sony stands as a highly experienced and widely trusted TV manufacturer, earning a reputation that surpasses all others. A Japanese company, Sony has been making TVs for far longs than it has been making Playstation game consoles. Sony's high-end TVs are often regarded as the ultimate choice for videophiles, representing the epitome of quality, albeit at a premium price point. Renowned for their advanced and precise motion handling, as well as their cutting-edge local dimming algorithms, Sony consistently delivers unparalleled performance in these areas. They include Google TV software with all their TV sets, which grants access to the largest selection of apps available and they also include Bravia Core which is a movie streaming platform specifically for Sony TVs that offers higher picture quality by using more bandwidth.
About TCL
TCL, the highly recognizable TV brand from China, has firmly established itself as the second-largest manufacturer in terms of sales volume. Renowned for striking an impressive balance between affordability, picture quality, and design, TCL TVs deliver a compelling overall package. While they have traditionally excelled in the low-end and midrange TV segments, TCL has recently made remarkable strides in the realm of high-end televisions, introducing impressive models that rival top competitors. Most TCL TVs use Roku software which is very user friendly and easy to use, but they have a few other models that use Google TV which has the largest app selection, but is not as user friendly as Roku.
This information was produced and vetted by the PerfectRec TVs team. We are a product research and recommendation organization that meticulously reviews and evaluates the latest TV information and makes it digestible for you.
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