Hisense S7NQ CanvasTV vs Hisense E7Q / E79Q

When it comes to the brightness of the television and how it handles bright elements while watching films, it's just average – similar to the contrast. The average brightness level of the Hisense S7NQ is around 500 nits. This is a value that allows you to feel the hints of true HDR, but it's definitely not enough to speak of remarkable effects. However, the television should be praised for its colour gamut coverage – films look very colourful and vibrant. Thanks to the use of a PFS LED (QLED) coating, the device is able to cover more than 90% of the DCI-P3 colour gamut and over 72% of the wider BT.2020 palette. For a television of this class – these are really very good results.

Hisense E7Q / E79Q is a mid-brightness TV, with a peak luminance level of around 350-380 nits. This is the absolute minimum that allows viewing HDR content in a way that's close to the creators' intentions, though without a distinct "wow" effect. The results of synthetic tests on white test patterns were confirmed in practice – in movie scenes, the bright parts of the image are stable and fairly even, but it's hard to talk about a true "burst of light" here. In everyday use, such as when watching Netflix or YouTube, the HDR effect is acceptable and is more than sufficient for most users. However, it must be said clearly – this is not the level of top-end screens, and one shouldn't expect that at this price. Fortunately, the Hisense E7Q / E79Q has an advantage that allows it to score quite a few points: it's a QLED panel of the PFS LED type, using an additional phosphor layer that improves colour reproduction. The measured range of the DCI-P3 colour gamut is around 92%, which means that the colours in most scenes are vibrant, well-saturated, and pleasing to the eye, especially for this price bracket.

Let's check how the Hisense S7NQ CanvasTV performs in terms of colour reproduction in its best factory mode, which is Filmmaker. Right from the start, it’s clear that it’s definitely better than in dynamic or standard mode, but there are still a few things to nitpick. In terms of image quality from HD signals, the colours are slightly skewed – there’s a dominance of cooler blue tones and a lack of red. This makes the image seem a bit too cool.

A similar effect is noticeable in 4K content, but it’s more pronounced there. The excessive exposure of blue tones and lack of red makes the image appear distinctly cold. However, the biggest issue with this TV isn’t the colours themselves but the way brightness is managed. The unit we tested slightly increased brightness compared to the reference value. The result of this is indeed better visibility of details, but at the cost of significantly lighter blacks – which makes the entire image seem more "flat."

A similar phenomenon was observed in the 4K signal – the slightly inflated curve at the beginning of the EOTF graph indicates that the TV has a tendency to overexpose certain scenes. Fortunately, this effect can be improved through professional calibration, which we will discuss in the next point.

In Filmmaker mode, the Hisense E7Q / E79Q television really managed to impress. After the first measurements, it turned out that the white balance was quite well tuned, with the only minor deviation being a slight tendency towards a purple hue, which we mentioned earlier. However, this did not significantly impact the overall character of the image – it remained cohesive and pleasant to view. A much bigger issue was the brightness characteristics (gamma) in SDR content and the EOTF curve in HDR films. The television clearly brightened the image, flattening contrast and taking away depth. Gamma values could drop from the reference 2.4 down to around 1.9, making the image look as though it was covered with a thin, milky layer. Fortunately, this is a problem that can be relatively easily corrected through calibration.

The results we achieved after calibrating the Hisense S7NQ are really very good. Thanks to the calibration, we managed to eliminate excessive blue tone exposure and deficiencies in red with HD signals. A similar, albeit slightly weaker effect was also achieved with 4K HDR content. Brightness management in HD materials has also improved – the television no longer struggles with brightening the image "overall".

However, there are things that cannot be circumvented. The character of the EOTF curve has hardly changed, and the lack of local dimming means that the smallest elements on the screen will always be slightly overexposed. You just have to come to terms with this when choosing a television with a similar type of backlighting. Nevertheless, the final effect is very good and should fully satisfy the vast majority of users.

The biggest beneficiary of calibration in the case of the Hisense E7Q / E79Q was undoubtedly the SDR mode. It managed to achieve almost perfect image quality – most of the errors in the Color Checker test dropped below a value of 3, and often even 2, which is a remarkable result for this class of equipment. The biggest improvement came from aligning the brightness characteristic (gamma), which made the image no longer look blown out and regained natural depth. In HDR content, it was also possible to improve the colours and eliminate the purple tint that we mentioned earlier, but errors in the Color Checker measurements were still noticeable. This is due to the fact that – as is often the case with Hisense televisions – the screen manipulates brightness quite strongly, overexposing some colours. This was also indicated by the EOTF curve, which was slightly above the reference values, suggesting these minor issues with excessive brightening. Despite this flaw and the construction limitations that arise with HDR content, the Hisense E7Q / E79Q gained quite a bit after calibration. In everyday use, the television presents a coherent, natural, and pleasant-to-the-eye image, and the difference compared to the factory settings is indeed huge.

Equally important is how the television handles tonal transitions with a poorer signal – for example, in older films, on television, or on YouTube. Unfortunately, despite the presence of the “Smooth and Gradient Picture” feature, which was supposedly meant to improve this aspect, its functionality is really poor. It’s barely noticeable that it has any real impact on the visibility of colour transitions.

The image scaling is also disappointing. Yes, you can see that the television is trying to “pull up” the quality, but the end result is far from ideal. The image often appears slightly jagged, which is particularly noticeable in the example of tree branches in the background. Additionally, the Hisense S7NQ has a clear tendency to crop the image at lower resolutions, which could result in missing subtitles in the news or finer details in the image.

In the case of Hisense E7Q / E79Q, upscaling and digital image processing are not the strongest points of this television. It is evident that the manufacturer has opted for simplicity rather than advanced image processing algorithms. The television does not offer any features that smooth tonal transitions or systems that enhance image clarity, which makes lower resolution materials look quite raw. Subtle compression edges can be seen on the screen, which better processors in other models can effectively hide.

During the testing of HD materials, we noticed that the E7Q tries to artificially boost detail, which sometimes works and other times has the opposite effect – the image becomes soft, slightly blurred, and at times even "watery." There is no aggressive sharpening that ruins naturalness, but there is also a lack of finesse in detail integration that better image processors provide.

When it comes to motion fluidity, the television performs really well. Although the S7NQ was primarily designed for displaying static elements – such as images – the manufacturer has used a panel with a refresh rate of 144 Hz. As a result, sports or games look really good on it.

For content that is not recorded at a high frame rate, the manufacturer has provided two features that allow you to adjust the picture to your own preferences. “Motion blur reduction” and “blur” operate on a 10-point scale, enabling a choice between a more cinematic image – with characteristic frame jumps – and a smooth effect reminiscent of a “soap opera.” How to set this up? That’s a personal choice – we leave the decision to you.

Hisense E7Q / E79Q is a television with a 60 Hz screen, so sports fans in 4K may feel a slight disappointment – you simply won’t see such smooth images here as in more expensive models with higher refresh rates. Fortunately, when it comes to movies, the situation is much better. Cinematic materials recorded at 24 frames per second can be displayed here using a motion smoothing feature, allowing the user to adjust the picture to their own preferences – more cinematic with visible frames or smoother, in a theatrical style.

Even though the S7NQ is an "image" type television, you can actually play games on it. Really. It has practically everything (except for HGiG mode) that a modern gaming television needs. The 144 Hz panel and two full HDMI 2.1 ports allow for seamless connection of two consoles, such as the PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X/S.

The television supports Automatic Low Latency Mode (ALLM) and Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) without any stutters or issues. It also handles high frame rates at lower resolutions without any trouble. A shoutout to Hisense for the very attractive Game Bar – it displays all available image options, and additionally, we have the ability to enlarge the minimap or turn on the crosshair (because sometimes someone might actually want to "aim" 😉).

The only missing element – as we mentioned earlier – is the lack of proper implementation of HGiG mode. This is the feature responsible for automatically setting the image in games as the developers intended. It’s a shame because it's the only thing that separates the Hisense S7NQ from being a full-fledged gaming "monster".

Hisense E7Q / E79Q is a really good TV for gamers, even though it doesn’t support 4K signal at 120 Hz. However, the manufacturer has included a set of features that until recently could only be found in more expensive models. There's ALLM, which is auto-switching to low latency mode, allowing the TV to activate game mode with very low input lag automatically. We also have VRR, working up to 60 Hz – while this may not look impressive on paper, in practice it is fully sufficient, as most console games don’t exceed this limit anyway. All these settings can be quickly found in the Game Bar panel, a convenient menu created specifically for gamers. From this level, you can change picture modes, turn on a frame counter, or even… an on-screen crosshair – in the Vidaa system amusingly called a “target point,” which is the result of a clumsy translation from the Chinese manufacturer.

Special praise should go to the ability to play in 1080p at 120 Hz, which significantly improves the fluidity and responsiveness of the image. This means that if someone wants to play a few titles at a higher refresh rate, they can simply lower the resolution and enjoy much smoother motion. Despite the lack of 4K@120Hz, the Hisense E7Q / E79Q really performs well as a gaming TV – especially for those who aren’t looking for perfection but a solid and fast screen for everyday gaming.