TCL C805 PICTURE SETTINGS

Guide to configure the image of your Smart TV TCL C645, C745, C805 and C845:
the best settings

We leave you with the guide to configure the image of your TCL QLED 2023 (models C645, C745
and C845) with the best possible settings. When we get our brand new Smart TV the same thing
always happens: the rush makes us configure the TV in any way and we do not even check that
our panel is not defective, making the mistake of leaving the TV in the default picture mode
(Standard usually) which is a tremendous mistake. It's normal, nothing happens: we are too anxious.

From AVPasión we recommend you to "waste" a little time in configuring it in the best possible way
and that's what we are here for, to help you in the process. It is known that most panels are in a
standard scale of nits, color and gamma, so we are going to start from the best possible factory
image modes and then everyone can modify them to taste, adding here, removing there, raising
a little this value or that, but always keeping in a "base" values.

What does each option on my TV do?

Taking advantage of this space, we will see little by little what each option of our TCL C845 QLED
does and then, we will summarize the best settings and image modes for each type of content
(SDR, HDR, DTT, Consoles, PC, etc.) in a table that you will find at the end of the article in addition
to the video that accompanies this news. Although the guide is oriented for this model, it works for
the rest of TCL's 2023 ranges.

As I mentioned, before we will explain what each option does so that you, after seeing the table,
you can decide whether or not you want to activate any of them. Without further ado, here we go.
First we will have to go to Settings -> Display and Sound -> Smart Settings -> Smart Picture and disable
Adaptive Brightness and Adaptive Content:
Perfect, now we can start configuring the image modes. To do this we will always have to set the
content in the format we want to configure (SDR, HDR10, HDR10+ or Dolby Vision). Once done, click
on Settings -> Image and we can start configuring the options.

Option Description
Picture Mode Allows you to switch between various pre-made picture types (Standard,
Cinema, etc.).
Brightness Controls the amount of light emitted by the panel.
Color Saturation Controls the overall color saturation of the panel.

Before configuring the picture options, it will be necessary to go to Display Settings, where you will
find three more options:

Option Description
Auto Format Makes the image fill the entire screen, deforming the 4:3 aspect ratio. Must be
turned off.
Screen Mode Controls the forced Aspect Ratio. Should always be set to 16:9.
Overscan Controls the screen zoom, should always be set to off.

And now we can go into the explanation of each image setting we have in Advanced Settings,
starting with the Brightness Settings:

Option Description
Brightness Controls the amount of light emitted by the panel.
Contrast Takes care of the brightness control that affects the whites.
Black Level Handles brightness control affecting shadow detail.
Dynamic Contrast Applies an algorithm that detects areas of IRE 0-2 to
subtract detail and increases the brightness of IRE 90-100
for more sense of contrast.
Black Stretch Crushes shadow detail to make the panel appear to have
more contrast.
ECO Mode Automatically adjusts brightness using the light sensor.
Local Dimming Controls the Full Array Local Dimming algorithm between
Off, Low and High.
Microdimming Flatten the black level to make the image appear more
contrasted.
Gamma Allows us to switch between the various gammas, where 2
equals 2.4 and 0 equals 2.2.
Dynamic Hue Mapping (HDR only) Enables or disables tone mapping for HDR sources, but
alters the EOTF curve very aggressively.

OK, we'll click back and now it's the Color section's turn:

Option Description
Color Saturation Controls the overall color saturation of the panel. Recommended not to
overuse.
Hue Allows to correct the phase error given between transmitter and receiver of an
NTSC signal. Recommended not to touch.
Dynamic Color Saturates primary and secondary colors to appear to have more color volume.
Blue Light Filter Alters the colorimetry by lowering the blue saturation.
Color Temperature Shifts the color set to a cooler or warmer (bluer or yellower) image.
Color Range Allows us to switch between the different color ranges (Rec.601, Rec.709 and
BT.202) as well as Automatic.
White Balance It allows us to touch the Color Temperature in steps of 1 as well as 22 points of
the gamma.

Well, we go back and go to the last section, the Clarity section:

Option Description
Sharpness Applies a focus mask to simulate sharpness. Recommended not to overuse.
MPEG NR Removes color compression noise from the image at the cost of losing fine
detail.
Noise Reduction Removes digital noise from the image at the cost of losing fine detail.
Clear gradation Applies a de-contour filter to improve color gradations, recommended not to
exceed the Low value.

Well, we will click back and go to the Motion section, where we will activate the Motion Clarity
option to unlock the options:

Option Description
Motion Blur Led Activates the Black Frame Insertion, recommended to be turned off.
Blur Grid Allows us to set the blur effect (vibration) of the movement.
Vibration Grid Allows us to set the interpolation level from 1 to 10.
Dynamics Acceleration* Activates the 144 Hz of the panel.

We will end up going to Expert Options:

Option Description
White Balance Gives access to 2 and 20 point white balance for calibration.
Color space Switches color spaces (REC.601, 709, BT2020, DCI P3, etc.) automatically
or manually. Automatic is recommended.
DDC* Allows us to connect to the calibration software.
HDR Mode Allows us to enable or disable HDR.
HDR Peak Brightness* Allows to set the number of nits (brightness) of the panel.

* Only available on C845 or higher.

Guide to configure the picture of your TCL C645, C745 and C845 TV: best
settings

And with this we finish the explanations of what each option does. Now comes the summary, that
is to say, which options to activate and which not and what value to put to each of them
depending on the content that we put (it is not the same to put the PS5 than a UHD player). As we
said at the beginning of the article, take this as a base on which you can tweak with your own
tastes.

In HDR and SDR we have set the options that are closest to the reference image measured with the
probe. The values for DTT can be omitted, since not broadcasting with a standard, we can put the
values that we like, I have left some recommended but you can change them:

SDR and DTT modes

SDR DTT Option/Mode (Any other material)
Picture Mode Cinema Cinema
Brightness 50 (to taste) 50 (to taste, norm=20)
Contrast 90 90
Black Level 50 50
Dynamic Contrast Off Off
ECO Mode Off Off
Local Attenuation High High
Microdimming Off Off
Gamma 2 2
Color Saturation 50 50
Hue 0 0
Dynamic Color Off Off
Blue Light Filter Off Off
Color Temperature Warm (-5) Warm (-5)
Color Range Auto Auto
White Balance Untouched Untouched
Sharpness 15 15
MPEG NR Off Off
Noise Reduction Off Off
Gradation Clear Off Off
Led with clear motion Off Off
Blur Network 0 0
Vibration Network 2 2
Color space Auto Auto

HDR Modes
Option/HDR Mode HDR and HDR10+ Dolby Vision
Picture Mode Cinema DV Dark
Brightness 100 100
Contrast 100 100
Black Level 50 50
Dynamic Contrast Off Off
ECO Mode Off Off
Local Attenuation High High
Microdimming Off Off
Gamma 0 0
Dynamic Hue Mapping (HDR only) Off Off
Color Saturation 50 50
Hue 0 0
Dynamic Color Off Off
Blue Light Filter Off Off
Color Temperature Warm (-5) Warm (-5)
Color Range Auto Auto
White Balance Untouched Untouched
Sharpness 15 15
MPEG NR Off Off
Noise Reduction Off Off
Gradation Clear Off Off
Led with clear motion Off Off
Blur Network 0 0
Vibration Network 2 2
Color space Auto Auto
Gaming Modes
Option/Mode Consoles and PC Gaming Consoles and PC Gaming HDR
Picture Mode Gaming (set to auto) HDR Gaming (set to auto)
Brightness 65 (to taste) 100
Contrast 90 100
Black Level 50 50
Dynamic Contrast Off Off
ECO Mode Off Off
Local Attenuation High High
Microdimming Off Off
Gamma 2 0
Dynamic Hue Mapping (HDR only) Off Off
Color Saturation 50 50
Hue 0 0
Dynamic Color Off Off
Blue Light Filter Off Off
Color Temperature Warm (-5) Warm (-5)
Color Range Auto Auto
White Balance Untouched Untouched
Sharpness 0 0
MPEG NR Off Off
Noise Reduction Off Off
Gradation Clear Off Off
Led with clear motion Off Off
Blur Network / /
Vibration Network / /
Color Space Auto Auto

With these simple steps you will be able to have your TV set up fairly accurately, without going into
professional probes and spectrophotometers, but at least you will be using a fairly correct base. To
get a higher accuracy, it is necessary to hire a professional calibration service with a probe.