TCL is finally catching up with just about everybody else who’s anybody in the TV world, adding the popular “Filmmaker Mode” to its 2025 television range.
The company has resisted adding support for Filmmaker Mode for years, even though the picture format has become a staple TV setting with most other brands. We first saw Filmmaker Mode arrive at CES way back in 2020, and it was supported as early as then by major brands such as Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics.
Since then, it has expanded and is now available on most televisions, especially those from big name brands, and it’s also supported by streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.
However, TCL has somewhat strangely always held out, stubbornly refusing to even acknowledge Filmmaker Mode, for reasons known only to itself. But it’s finally changing its tune, and its new Mini-LED TVs this year will eagerly embrace the format.
In case you’re unaware, Filmmaker Mode is a picture setting that’s designed to replicate movies on screen exactly as the director intended. It ensures the colours presented are as accurate as possible, as well as getting the luminance just right. It disables features such as motion smoothing and other picture processing techniques to ensure it’s as close as possible to the original picture seen in cinemas.
While it’s similar in many ways to the older Cinema or Movie picture settings found on TVs of yesteryear, Filmmaker Mode provides a more standardised label, making it easier for viewers to understand what it does, no matter what TV they’re using.
TCL said Filmmaker Mode is coming to its full range of Mini-LED TVs, namely the C6K, C7K, C8K, C9K and X11K models in Europe and the U.K., and the QM6K, QM7K, QM8K and X11K that will be sold in the U.S. and Canada. It will initially only be available for SDR and HDR10 content, the company said. But in the second half of the year, it will add Filmmaker Mode for Dolby Vision via an update. TCL told FlatPanels HD it may remove its existing Dolby Vision Dark picture setting when this happens, but that’s not decided as of this time, and there’s a chance it may retain it.
According to TCL, it will still retain its existing Movie picture mode. It said it’s doing this because Filmmaker Mode is much more effective in darkened rooms, and less so in brightly lit rooms. So if you’re watching films in the daytime, you’ll probably be better off with the Movie picture mode, which is designed to perform in brighter ambient light.
TCL added that its new TVs will be able to automatically switch to Filmmaker Mode when watching compatible content on Netflix, Amazon Prime and other streaming platforms. The auto-switching feature will also apply to the IMAX Enhanced Picture mode in future, when the capability arrives via a planned firmware update.
The company seems to be looking at the possibility of bringing Filmmaker Mode to older televisions, particularly its 2024 TV models, but this is by no means confirmed. When asked, the company said it cannot commit to such an update, but said it also doesn’t rule it out.
TCL announced its U.K. Mini-LED TV range in March, and they’re expected to hit the shops later this month. Here's a closer look at TCL's 2025 TV lineup for the U.K:
