Dreame Q100 vs Hisense U7S / U77SE

The Dreame Q100 is unfortunately too simple, and above all too dim, to really deliver a true HDR effect. Our measured peak brightness reaches at most around 300 nits, which is definitely too low for bright parts of the image to really "hit" you with light. In fact, this is a level we more often associate with SDR material than with HDR. It therefore lacks the brightness headroom offered by more expensive TVs, which makes highlights, reflections and the sun look noticeably more impressive.

HDR colours

Fortunately the Q100 makes up for some of that elsewhere. The manufacturer markets it as a QLED TV, although in practice a PFS filter is responsible for widening the colour palette. Our measurements show coverage of about 92% of DCI-P3 and around 67% of BT.2020. These are not top-tier numbers, but still clearly better than basic LCD TVs without an extra layer to expand the gamut. That means HDR material can at least offer more saturated and varied colours, even if the brightness alone does not yet allow you to speak of a fully convincing HDR effect.

The Hisense U7S has considerable HDR potential, but it can’t make full use of it in every scene. On a test pattern it reaches about 1100 nits, so the backlight is genuinely strong. In our brighter film scenes we measured around 640 to 745 nits. That’s still enough for the sun or bright highlights to have a distinct bloom and to show an advantage over SDR material. When the TV needs to light a larger portion of the image, it handles it quite well.

The problem appears with small lights on a dark background. Each of the 192 zones covers an area considerably larger than a tiny point on the screen. If the TV were to drive such a zone strongly, it would brighten the surrounding area along with the light. Hisense tries to avoid that and dims the whole zone. Blacks look better as a result, but a small bright object that should draw the eye also loses intensity. That’s why in two tougher scenes we recorded only 297 and 154 nits. The difference is large: in one shot HDR can impress, and in the next small highlights are noticeably muted. The U7S therefore prioritises keeping deep blacks, even at the expense of bright details. With this number of zones it’s an understandable compromise, but it’s worth remembering that the peak 1100 nits tells us about the backlight’s capability, not how brightly the TV will show every element of a film.

Colours

Hisense markets the U7S as ULED, but that’s a marketing name; the wider colour gamut here is achieved by a PFS phosphor backlight. In our measurements the TV covered about 91% of the DCI-P3 space and 71% of BT.2020. Those are good results, though a little short of the best screens on the market. The biggest shortfall is in green — the TV doesn’t even reach the DCI-P3 boundary there, so the most intense green hues will be less saturated than they should be. Most colours in HDR films and series still look suitably vivid, however. A positive is the repeatability of the results: gamut coverage on test patterns and in film scenes is practically identical.

For testing we chose the "Film" mode and we think it’s by far the best of the available presets. There are none of the heavily boosted, unnatural colours you see in Vivid/Dynamic mode. The picture looks quite reasonable straight away, although it falls short of perfect. In SDR material the most noticeable issue was a slight warming of the image. The white balance had too much red, which made whites lean towards a warmer tint, and a similar cast was visible in the greys. In HDR the situation was a little different. Here blue had a slight advantage, making the image a touch cooler. These are not major faults. For such an inexpensive TV the factory settings on our unit were pretty decent, and the "Film" mode already delivers a relatively natural picture without much fiddling with the settings.

Factory colours on the Hisense U7S are decent, but there are a few things to fix. In SDR the white balance favours red, so the image looks too warm, in places with a slightly pink tint. You can see this on faces and bright, neutral surfaces. Gamma also runs below the target, so the TV brightens the image, especially in darker areas. That makes it easier to see shadow detail, but the scene loses some of its depth.

In HDR the white balance is a bit more even, but not completely neutral, with midtones lacking blue and the brightest parts lacking red. A bigger problem is the way brightness is reproduced. The EOTF curve shows that a large portion of the midtones is boosted, making the image appear brighter than the source material intends. Color Checker measurements also fare worse than in SDR: many errors are around 3 to 4, and individual ones reach as high as 8. Colours can therefore look attractive, but they're not always faithful to what we should be seeing. There’s room for improvement and we’ll see how much can be corrected with calibration.

Contrary to appearances, the Dreame Q100 is actually quite well prepared for picture calibration. The menu contains plenty of advanced picture settings that allow fairly precise adjustment of its characteristics. In our case the white balance required the most work, both in SDR and HDR. After correction SDR material looked very good. We managed to achieve an almost neutral white balance and natural colours, with the main limitation remaining the black level itself, stemming from the panel design and the lack of local dimming.

In HDR we were also able to improve white balance and colour reproduction, but here the TV’s electronics reveal their limitations more quickly. Even after very precise EOTF curve adjustment, the Q100 doesn't always stick to it properly during real-world scenes. In some content it can also brighten the image, making some parts look brighter than they should, and some detail in bright areas can be lost as a result.

Calibrating the Hisense U7S did the most for SDR content. We managed to even out the white balance, so the earlier warm tint is gone and whites and greys look neutral. Gamma now sits very close to the reference, so the TV no longer brightens the image unnecessarily and darker scenes have regained depth. Color Checker measurements confirm the improvement: most errors are below 2. For watching regular TV and SDR films, this delivers a really well calibrated picture. Calibration in HDR wasn’t as smooth. The TV lacks an effective way to correct the EOTF curve, so Hisense still interprets the film’s brightness a bit on its own. It brightens parts of the image and, depending on the scene and local dimming, can tone down the brightest elements. That couldn’t be eliminated by calibration. This also shows up in the Color Checker results, where many errors remain around 3–4 and some exceed 7. In SDR the result is therefore very good, but in HDR we have to accept that the TV adds its own interpretation of brightness to the image.

The weakest point of the Dreame Q100 is its digital image processing. The processor used does a fairly average job of improving weaker material, and the menu offers no function that effectively smooths ugly tonal transitions or reduces visible posterisation. The upscaling itself is also unimpressive. With low-resolution material the image is rather soft and lacks better reproduction of fine detail. Additionally, the Q100 tends to overscan, meaning it slightly crops the edges of the image with very poor sources, for example 480p material. In everyday viewing of HD or 4K content this won’t be a major issue, but with older recordings the processor’s limitations are clearly visible.

The processing of lower-quality material in the Hisense U7S is fairly average. The Pentonic 700 chipset used here doesn't cope particularly well with the effects of heavy compression. There's a "Smooth and Gradient Picture" function in the menu, but its performance leaves a lot to be desired. At the low setting it's hard to see any improvement in tonal transitions, though at least the picture doesn't suffer. Medium and high settings still don't remove visible banding between tones and begin to blur details; in our clips parts of characters' faces even vanished. Interestingly, film grain remains untouched at every level. If you do use this function, stick to the low setting. Its current performance needs refinement, but that's mainly down to the processor used here.

Upscaling to 4K performs much better. Lower-resolution content gains clarity, edges are well reproduced and fine details look sharp. That doesn't mean the TV can recover details that weren't in the recording, but it makes good use of what's provided by the source. Another plus is the lack of edge cropping, even with an SD signal.

The VA panel in the Dreame Q100 has a native refresh rate of 60 Hz, so right from the start it's not a television built for the most demanding sports fans or gamers. The manufacturer does note the option to run at 120 Hz and that mode is indeed available, but it's primarily intended for a gaming mode. In everyday use the Q100 should therefore be treated as a standard 60 Hz TV. That means less smooth motion during fast sports broadcasts or quick gameplay than in models with 120 Hz or higher panels. One positive is the panel's response time. The VA panel doesn't smear excessively, so motion stays fairly clear and doesn't leave strong, blurred trails behind objects. For films we can also use a simple motion smoothing system. The manufacturer has prepared several presets that help reduce the characteristic judder in material shot at 24 frames per second.

Motion handling on the Hisense U7S is decent thanks to its 144 Hz refresh rate. For films there's also a motion smoothing option with adjustable judder and blur reduction. You can keep a more cinematic feel to motion or increase smoothness if choppy camera pans bother you. High refresh is also useful for sport and gaming, but unfortunately it doesn't solve the panel's biggest problem.

The issue is pixel response time. Fast-moving objects leave long, distinct trails, as our UFO test shows. It's worst on dark backgrounds, where the trail is particularly pronounced. So motion can be smooth, but the moving object loses sharpness, and that difference on the U7S is fairly easy to spot.

Dreame Q100 is not strictly a gaming device, but for console use it offers a pretty sensible package. You get VRR to eliminate screen tearing and ALLM, which automatically switches the TV to a low-latency mode when it detects a console signal. An interesting compromise is support for 120 Hz. The panel won't reach that refresh rate in 4K, but drop to 1080p and you can play at 120 frames per second. If a title prioritises smoothness over resolution (and the game offers such a mode), it's worth using. It also includes a handy Game Bar that lets you quickly change screen settings, switch the refresh mode or add a virtual crosshair. The HGiG implementation is a bit weak, but credit is due for Dolby Vision Gaming support on Xbox Series X and S. This isn't a panel for tech purists, but for casual console gaming, especially when trading 4K for smoother Full HD, it performs very well.

The Hisense U7S has plenty to offer gamers. You get two HDMI 2.1 ports and support for 120 Hz in Full HD, 1440p and 4K, so modern consoles’ capabilities are well utilised. When connected to a PC you can use 144 Hz at 4K or switch the resolution to Full HD and run 240 Hz. So there’s a lot of choice, although it’s worth remembering the motion smearing mentioned earlier, which the high refresh rate doesn’t eliminate. VRR and ALLM are present as well. VRR helps keep the picture tear-free when a game’s frame rate changes. ALLM automatically switches the TV into game mode, so you don’t have to go into the menu each time. VRR works from 48 to 240 Hz, with the highest refresh rate available in Full HD. Xbox users can also play in Dolby Vision at 120 Hz. Importantly, that format does not cause significant input lag here. The Game Bar also looks great. It’s clear and attractive, and lets you quickly check what signal the TV is receiving. Handy gaming settings are close to hand too, including shadow brightening. If it’s hard to spot an opponent in a dark game, you can improve visibility without digging through the whole menu.

Our biggest complaint is HGiG. Hisense keeps doing its own tone mapping, which makes setting up HDR on the console confusing. You adjust the checkerboard pattern, and the TV continually alters its appearance. As a result, the point at which the pattern disappears does not correctly indicate the display’s brightness limit, and it’s easy to set the value too high. For this model it’s better to set the target HDR brightness on the console to around 900 to 1000 nits, rather than rely on the configurator.