Hisense U7NQ vs Samsung Neo QLED QN95D

The Hisense U7NQ 65 television showed impressive capabilities on the luminance chart, surpassing the 1000 nit barrier and achieving very high brightness scores effortlessly in the first, third, and fifth test scenes. However, just like before, in the second and fourth test scenes, such as from the film Sicario 2, there are significant issues with maintaining brightness, and results around 200 nits are very disappointing. Despite the large number of dimming zones, the algorithm in the television that controls these zones is unable to respond adequately — in this case, it strongly dims small elements like the moon or the light from a helicopter. Bright light that should dazzle us is too dim to be considered an HDR effect. Nevertheless, the television deserves praise for its high coverage of the DCI-P3 colour gamut, at 96%, which allows it to accurately render most film scenes.

Samsung QN95D handles HDR exceptionally well, achieving peak brightness around 2000 nits. In tested movie scenes where the screen is fully illuminated, the TV delivers intense and realistic HDR content reproduction, significantly enhancing the quality of visual experiences. However, similar to the contrast, the dimming algorithm can sometimes exhibit limitations. Despite a significant number of Mini LED zones, the TV won’t amaze users with incredible lighting. For example, in scenes from "Life of Pi," where a bright moon appears against a dark background, and in segments of "Sicario 2," featuring intense lighting effects on a dark backdrop, the TV shows very poor performance. During such moments, the TV attempts to reduce the halo effect by dimming the image to a level reminiscent of SDR quality. This results in deep and uniform blacks, but at the cost of losing some details in bright areas. It’s a compromise aimed at maintaining the best possible black quality, although it does make the image lose some of its dynamism. Despite some flaws in the local dimming algorithm's performance, this TV deserves praise for its wide coverage of the DCI-P3 colour gamut. This is made possible by the use of a quantum dot coating, also known as QLED technology, which allows for vibrant and rich colours.

The Chinese manufacturer offers various picture settings in its televisions, but the best mode in this model is undeniably the Filmmaker Mode. Despite its name, this mode has its issues: the white balance, although roughly correct, is characterised by a strong dominance of warm tones due to the prominence of red hues, both in 4K and HD material. The Colour Checker test confirms these errors — deviations in samples can be seen in improper shades. As for brightness characteristics, the gamma responsible for HD material shows values below 2.4, which leads to some screen brightness. Meanwhile, the EOTF curve shows the television's problems with displaying small light elements, as confirmed by the previously described paragraphs.

In the category of factory colour reproduction, the Samsung QN95D television has been tested in Filmmaker mode, which offers the best settings from the manufacturer. However, it is not entirely free of flaws. For HD content, there is a significant colour discrepancy, particularly in the white balance, where the red colour clearly dominates the graph. The situation improves with 4K HDR content, but there are still significant drops in blue colour reproduction. These effects can be observed in a scene from the film "Star Wars," where the main character is rendered in overly warm tones.

In terms of contrast, the gamma graph shows a large initial spike, indicating that the television effectively highlights the brighter parts of the image. However, at the end of the graph, we notice a significant drop, which may mean that details may be lost in darker tones. This shape of the gamma curve can affect how users perceive dark scenes, where some details may become too blurred or too dark, causing the image to lose clarity. It's also worth noting the curve corresponding to brightness (EOTF), which is quite correct, except for the initial drop.

Although the Samsung QN95D boasts impressive specifications and advanced technologies to earn the title of one of the best televisions on the market, it requires some improvements in colour reproduction and contrast to fully realise its potential.

Hisense TVs offer a range of image correction tools that allow you to adjust settings to your own preferences, which is why we decided to use these capabilities to bring the image quality closer to reference standards. In terms of white balance, we were able to eliminate the dominance of red, resulting in more neutral colours, which allowed for a more realistic image in both 4K and HD content. We noticed a similar improvement in brightness characteristics. The gamma, which previously led to excessive brightness on the screen, has been corrected, contributing to better detail reproduction in darker areas of the image while maintaining natural tonal balance.

However, the biggest challenge was calibrating the EOTF curve, which is responsible for brightness in 4K content. At first glance, the EOTF value looked almost perfect, but detailed tests revealed somewhat different results. When we looked closer — especially using the filter on the right side of the EOTF chart — we noticed how the TV manipulated 4K film content, often significantly boosting brightness. This effect was particularly noticeable in scenes from films like Pan and Billy Lynn, where the TV attempted to artificially increase the brightness of elements, impacting their naturalness. Despite these imperfections, the calibration yielded positive results, especially in terms of tonal improvement. For most users, the end result should be satisfying, particularly if they are looking to bring image quality closer to professional reference standards.

After calibration, the picture on the Samsung QN95D television achieves truly impressive results. The white balance is perfectly balanced, and error readings rarely exceed a value of 2, which means that colours are displayed very accurately. Most samples from the Color Checker test fall within an acceptable error range, confirming that the television reproduces colours excellently. The contrast has also improved significantly, and the gamma curve is more stable, leading to better visibility of details in dark and bright scenes. However, it is worth noting the EOTF (Electro-Optical Transfer Function) curve, which shows some discrepancies in film tests. Although the television performs well in most scenes, in more extreme cases, details in black can still be lost - this is due to an aggressive dimming algorithm.

Nevertheless, these minor imperfections do not diminish the overall picture quality. After calibration, the Samsung QN95D delights with its visual quality, offering an exceptional experience that will certainly please anyone looking for a top-of-the-line television.

When it comes to smoothing tonal transitions, despite the presence of the "Smooth and Gradient Image" feature in the test sequence, we did not notice that the feature added anything — we recommend turning it off. As for upscaling, the television handled our model quite well, and the branches in the background are not overly jagged — the image appears quite plasticky. However, it has been slightly cropped by the so-called overscan.

The Samsung QN95D television handles tonal transitions well, even in lower-quality materials, thanks to the noise reduction feature, which acts like a gentle gradient. This feature is incredibly effective, smoothly rendering the image and eliminating unwanted noise while significantly improving the quality of the displayed content. However, as is often the case, excessive effectiveness can lead to unintended side effects. In some materials, this feature can also blur elements that should remain sharp, such as film grain.

Despite this, the television performs well in terms of image scaling, eliminating larger jaggedness in the picture. In a scene where branches are visible, they are not overly artificially sharpened, which allows for a natural appearance, and the model does not have an artificial outline. Overall, this means that even in more challenging conditions, the film material presents itself satisfactorily on the Samsung QN95D. The only downside when watching HD/SD content (like regular terrestrial television) is that we have a slightly cropped image - this is caused by the so-called overscan, which cannot be turned off.

Hisense U7NQ has a refresh rate of 144 Hz, which definitely enhances motion smoothness. For movie enthusiasts, there are two features available: judder reduction and motion blur reduction. The judder reduction function minimises the effect of so-called judder, that is, unpleasant image jumps, particularly noticeable at lower frame rates. Meanwhile, motion blur reduction helps to sharpen fast-moving objects, which is useful when watching dynamic action scenes.

When it comes to trailing, the television has a decent response time, which means excessive trailing is not visible, except in specific situations, such as the test with the alien on a dark background. In such cases, slight artifacts may appear, but overall the television handles dynamic images well, providing satisfying motion quality.

The panel in Samsung QN95 performs very well in terms of motion blur and fluidity. With a refresh rate of 120 Hz and features that reduce blur and jitter, users can adjust the picture settings to their personal preferences, whether for watching films or dynamic sports broadcasts. Users have the ability to customise the motion smoothness on a 10-point scale – from a more frame-like appearance, reminiscent of traditional film, to a smooth, almost theatrical effect that works especially well in sports broadcasts.

Hisense U7NQ offers everything a gamer might need for comfortable gameplay. The TV supports a refresh rate of 144 Hz, providing an extremely smooth image, especially in dynamic action games. The VRR (variable refresh rate) feature ensures the image adapts to varying frames per second, eliminating stuttering and tearing. Additionally, there is an ALLM (automatic low latency mode) function that automatically switches the TV into game mode, minimising input lag.

The TV also supports Dolby Vision, which is particularly important for gamers who value high contrast and rich colours in games that support this format. The Hisense U7NQ also features a Game Bar, allowing quick access to key settings during gameplay, as well as support for G-Sync technology, further reducing image tearing.

Unfortunately, despite its wide range of features, it lacks support for the most popular HDR format in gaming — HGiG. This may be disappointing for gamers who expect optimal detail reproduction in HDR scenes. Nevertheless, the remaining features make the Hisense U7NQ a solid choice for any console gaming enthusiast.

Samsung QN95D offers a fair bit of features that gamers will appreciate. First and foremost, the television supports Variable Refresh Rate (VRR), which allows for smoother gameplay by eliminating screen tearing issues, especially during dynamic scenes. There's also the Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM), which automatically switches the TV to low latency mode when it detects a connected console or computer, providing more responsive control.

Additionally, the QN95D Samsung has a gaming mode that reduces input lag to a very low level, which is crucial in games where reflexes play an important role. With a high refresh rate of 120 Hz, the image is exceptionally smooth, significantly impacting the experience of dynamic action games and sports productions. The television also supports G-Sync and FreeSync technologies, which further enhance gameplay smoothness and improve user comfort. An interesting addition is the 'Game Bar' – a special menu that provides quick access to all game-related settings, allowing easy adjustment of the image and parameters to the user's preferences without the need to pause the gameplay.

Although the Samsung QN95D does not support Dolby Vision – which is quite obvious for Samsung TVs – it does offer the HGiG feature, which ensures appropriate image quality in HDR games, in line with the creators' vision.