Hisense A6N vs Sony X90L

The HDR performance on A6N is unfortunately underwhelming. A peak brightness of just 250 nits doesn't allow for spectacular highlights, and HDR looks rather washed out, more like standard SDR. This won't satisfy more demanding users who want to enjoy high-quality film content. Additionally, colour gamut coverage isn't very impressive either, with DCI-P3 at 82% being a mediocre result that doesn't let you fully enjoy vibrant colours in HDR material.

HDR on the Sony X90L television looks promising. The luminance chart indicated that the TV has a solid power reserve, achieving a maximum of 1000 nits in synthetic tests. But how does this perform in real-world scenarios? In scenes such as the opening of Life of Pi or the final sequence from The Meg, the TV is capable of delivering that power on HDR content, reaching around 800 nits. Unfortunately, displaying small light elements on a black background, like in the scene from Sicario 2, presents greater challenges for the X90L – here the results reach around 600 nits. Nevertheless, when looking at competitive models with mini-LED technology, the effect looks very good and can shine enough to impress us. The colour gamut coverage is also noteworthy, with a result of 96% for DCI-P3 and 76% for BT.2020, which indicates good colour reproduction in HDR content.

In the colour reproduction category, the Hisense A6N in Filmmaker Mode leaves much to be desired. Although the mode's name suggests we should expect faithful rendering of cinematic colours, the reality is different, and the TV has considerable picture-quality issues. The problem with white balance is particularly noticeable for both HD and 4K material, with a strong bias toward blue. This results in artificial, cool tones, clearly visible in the comparison image below. The ColourChecker test further confirms these errors, which are compounded by low colour-gamut coverage.

The gamma luminance curve shows a serious problem maintaining a 2.4 target. The curve sits well below the reference value, leading to excessive image brightening and washed-out blacks. The EOTF curve for 4K material also indicates brightness issues, with a significant early overshoot caused by the TV's excessive brightening that negatively affects picture quality. This picture profile prevents fully enjoying films and requires manual adjustment.

The best mode on Sony televisions is the IMAX Enhanced mode. Although IMAX is mainly associated with the cinema experience, the colour reproduction out of the box is average here. In the case of lower quality materials, such as HD – regular television or YouTube – it's worth paying attention to the white balance. It suffers from a shortfall in red and excessive dominance of blue, which gives the image a pinkish hue. The brightness characteristic, or gamma, for HD content is quite acceptable, but a slight boost can cause the image to appear washed out and look as if it’s behind a light fog.

For 4K HDR content, the situation is somewhat different. The white balance shows a significant boost in blue, which makes the image unnaturally sharp and gives it an artificial feel. Such an exaggeration in colour reproduction may not appeal to everyone, especially if one prefers more realistic tones. Additionally, the EOTF curve in Sony X90L looks quite acceptable at first glance. However, at the end of the graph, there are certain fluctuations that suggest the television is trying to maintain the correct brightness to avoid overexposing larger elements.

Hisense A6N offers options and tools in its settings for adjusting many picture settings that we utilised. When it comes to white balance, we managed to eliminate excess blue – this effect is clearly visible in the comparison image below, where the boy in the picture almost "comes to life." A significant improvement can also be noticed in the gamma brightness characteristic – the television no longer has serious issues with excessively brightening the entire image. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for 4K materials, where the EOTF curve could not be fully corrected due to the exceptionally low brightness of this model. For HDR content, we use dynamic tone mapping, which allows for the recovery of many details despite the boosting of midtones in the image. For this television, this provides more benefits than drawbacks. The errors that are still visible in the test with the colour palette and Colour Checker for 4K content arise from low colour gamut coverage and are difficult to eliminate due to the television's characteristics. Nevertheless, the tonal quality of the image is significantly better, which is why we recommend calibrating the factory settings, which are far from ideal.

Sony offers many tools for improving picture quality, including two extra picture modes that we decided to use during testing and apply calibration to. This solution greatly simplifies the calibration process and is very effective, provided you have the right tools. In the case of HD content, white balance was almost perfectly aligned – only one shade of grey exceeds an error value of "1", which is a great result. The same can be said for the brightness characteristic (gamma), which presents almost perfectly, with microscopic deviations of around 0.01.

For 4K HDR content, the situation is not as ideal. Although white balance has been significantly improved, it was not possible to completely eliminate the dominance of blue. Nevertheless, errors in the Colour Checker test only occasionally exceed the value of "2", which means that picture distortions are practically unnoticeable. When it comes to the EOTF curve, it's worth activating the filter in the top right corner "EOTF in Films" – the graph looks correct, but the TV struggles with illuminating very small elements, which is due to the limited number of backlight zones. Despite these minor errors, it's thanks to the calibration that the IMAX Enhanced mode in the Sony X90L makes watching movies feel like a true cinema experience.

Let's see how A6N handles low-quality sources. When it comes to smoothing tonal transitions, the lack of features for reducing posterisation or smoothing such transitions in low-quality material like television or DVD may be noticeable to more demanding viewers. As for digital processing, the model was presented correctly and the branches were free of the characteristic jaggedness. The picture has strong three-dimensional modelling and a soft look, which may appeal to viewers who prefer this kind of image style.

The Sony X90L television features a smooth tonal transition function known as Gentle Gradation, which is incredibly effective. Even at the "low" setting, the effects are satisfactory, but at the "medium" setting, it works like a dream – we recommend using this option for the best results. The image scaling on the Sony X90L is simply excellent. The image is not overly sharpened, which gives a natural effect and makes everything look cohesive. It's clear that the engineers have really put effort into this aspect, creating a solution that impresses and performs well in everyday use. This means that even when watching content like regular television or YouTube, where the image is by nature not stunning, you can enjoy a smooth, coherent, and visually pleasing experience.

The 60 Hz panel in Hisense A6N will probably satisfy people who like watching movies, because the TV offers an "ultra motion smoothing" feature that lets you adjust the image's judder, making it more choppy or smoother, with a soap‑opera effect. When it comes to motion blur, it’s rather average; there’s quite noticeable smearing, especially on dark backgrounds, which is a fairly typical trait for this class of TVs.

Sony X90L with a 120 Hz display is an excellent choice for both gamers and film enthusiasts. The television is equipped with the Motion Flow smoothing feature, which allows for adjusting motion smoothness using two sliders: "smoothness" and "clarity". The "smoothness" slider controls the level of motion fluidity, which affects the reduction of image stuttering, while "clarity" is used to reduce blurriness and enhance motion sharpness, which is especially useful in dynamic scenes.

Hisense A6N is a TV that will likely appeal to casual gamers, mainly because of its 60 Hz panel, which may not satisfy more demanding users. Still, it offers a few features that can make gaming more enjoyable. The TV supports ALLM (automatic low latency mode), VRR (variable refresh rate) and Dolby Vision, allowing for better picture quality and smoother motion in games that support those technologies. What's more, the low input lag means in-game reactions are quick, which is crucial, especially in fast-paced titles. Thanks to these features, although the TV is not an ideal choice for demanding gamers, it offers solid support for those who value comfortable gaming without complicated settings. It's an ideal solution for people who want to enjoy gaming without heavy hardware requirements, while still having access to modern technologies that improve the gaming experience.

Sony X90L is a TV that performs well in terms of compatibility with consoles and features for gamers. Its 120 Hz panel and two HDMI 2.1 ports with a bandwidth of 48 Gb/s allow for smooth playback of high-resolution games at high frame rates. Gamers can also take advantage of the ALLM feature, which automatically switches the TV to low latency mode, and VRR, which ensures smooth gameplay without frame tearing. The Game Bar is an added bonus – an intuitive tool that provides quick access to essential settings and gaming features, making it easier to control the gameplay.

Unfortunately, when it comes to HDR in games, the Sony X90L has its limitations. It lacks support for HGiG, a standard that many gamers consider crucial for accurate HDR representation in games. While the TV supports Dolby Vision, which theoretically could enhance image quality in games, the practical implementation of this feature is problematic. Dolby Vision in game mode comes with very high input lag, making gameplay less comfortable and precise movements more difficult. Additionally, Dolby Vision cannot be enabled alongside VRR. This means that despite numerous advantages, gamers seeking the perfect HDR in games may feel unsatisfied.