Hisense U8Q vs Philips OLED770

When it comes to HDR, the Hisense U8Q shows its claws. On paper, meaning in synthetic measurement tests, the TV can "push out" nearly 4000 nits of peak brightness. This is a value that most models can only envy. In practice, this translates to very strong light effects in movies – in some scenes we managed to measure real levels from 1500 to 2000 nits, which is a level usually reserved for the absolute top-tier TVs on the market.

Of course, it's not always so perfect. In small, point-like elements, brightness can drop – a good example is scene number 4 from the movie Sicario 2, where instead of thousands of nits we get about 500. But it's worth noting that the effect doesn't disappear completely – the light is still visible, and the image doesn't appear artificially dimmed. This is a typical issue with Mini LEDs, so it’s hard to consider it a major drawback.

However, a huge plus has to be granted for colour reproduction. Thanks to additional coatings improving colour saturation, the U8Q almost covers the entire DCI-P3 colour space (98%), and for the wider BT.2020 gamut it achieved over 80%. This is an excellent result that makes HDR films look juicy, intense, and just very cinematic.

The Philips OLED770 doesn't try to compete with the brightest OLEDs on the market, and it's actually hard to expect that, as it's the entry-level model in Philips' range for 2025. In our measurements, it reached a maximum of around 700 nits, which allows for enjoyment of HDR effects in scenes where light appears in spots – for instance, in the flash of headlights or a starry sky. In such moments, the picture can truly amaze. However, it's different when there are more bright elements on the screen. The TV, like many cheaper OLEDs, restricts luminance at that point, and the entire image noticeably dims. This was best seen in a scene from the movie The Meg, where the sun rises behind an oil platform – the brightness dropped to around 250 nits, which is almost three times less. The HDR effect remains pleasing to the eye, but it's worth being aware that this model performs best in scenes with less intense light. Fortunately, the OLED770 also has an ace up its sleeve – the coverage of the DCI-P3 colour palette is as high as 99%, so colours in movies and games are vibrant and very close to what the creator intended.

We have to admit that when the U8Q arrived in our editorial office, we were slightly surprised… and in a good way. Usually, white balance in televisions immediately requires adjustment – it can be too warm or too cold, which immediately causes strange colour errors. Meanwhile, here the situation looks really good straight out of the box. Of course, we’re talking about our unit, so there’s no guarantee that every model will be tuned as well, but in our case, the first impressions were very positive. The only more noticeable issue was related to how the television manages brightness. Looking at the EOTF chart, it’s clear that the U8Q tends to brighten small elements on the screen. This, in turn, caused what we mentioned earlier – slight overexposure and the impression that the whole scene is a bit too bright. However, this is not a flaw that negates the picture, rather an effect characteristic of this model.

The first measurements already show that the factory settings of the Philips OLED770 have a lot to improve, even in Filmmaker mode. The white balance chart clearly indicates a lack of blue, giving the image a slightly yellowish tint. In practice, white is not snow-like, but leans towards warmer hues – which some may even find appealing, but from a precision standpoint, this is a deviation from the norm. The gamma, on the other hand, tends to be on the darker side – the average value is around 2.6 instead of the reference 2.4. In mid-tones, the image appears muted and more saturated, which can look too "cinematic" but detracts a bit from the naturalness. However, the most significant issues are visible in colour reproduction. The average error is relatively high, and some colours – particularly shades of grey – deviate significantly from what should be seen. In everyday viewing, this means that sometimes colours may look less natural than we would wish.

Of course, we wouldn’t be ourselves if we didn’t make adjustments to the white balance. After calibration, we managed to level the SDR signal to near perfection – older films, YouTube content, and classic television looked nearly ideal on the U8Q. It’s truly an impressive level that shows this model can do a lot if given a bit of help. Unfortunately, the situation is different with HDR content. The colours themselves don’t pose much of a problem, but the biggest issue with the U8Q remains the EOTF brightness characteristics. In practice, the television tends to "shoot" above how the image should originally look. It’s this slight "blowout" we noticed earlier in comparisons with the best screens on the market. It’s a bit of a shame that this characteristic can't be completely tamed – if we could maintain equally good brightness control in HDR as we do in SDR, we would be looking at an absolutely reference-level image.

Philips OLED770 had shown signs from the start that it harboured significant potential, but it was hard to fully appreciate this in its factory settings. The image was often too warm, and some colours appeared as if they had lost their naturalness along the way. Calibration revealed that this television was very amenable to work – it responded to every adjustment and almost immediately unveiled another layer of its capabilities. The white balance was set in both SDR and HDR so that the yellowish haze disappeared and a neutral, clear white emerged. Gamma stabilised closer to perfection, which helped restore the naturalness of mid-tones, while shadows ceased to be artificially darkened, perhaps even with a slight brightening effect. The result was obvious... Movies are watched with greater ease; the image has cinematic depth without the feeling that something is overly darkened. However, the most interesting aspect was working on the colours. Factory errors were not dramatic, but slightly noticeable – skin tones could be too warm, and grey wasn’t always the shade we expected. After calibration, the error values dropped to around 2, and in many cases even below 1. This is a level that is definitely lower than the threshold of discernibility for the human eye. In other words, after correction, the colours finally “clicked” into place. Looking at the screen, we felt like the television had begun to speak with a full voice. Like an instrument that had finally been properly tuned.

Hisense U8Q handles lower quality materials quite well. The television can smooth tonal transitions thanks to the “Smooth and Gradient Picture” feature – it works best on the Medium setting. It nicely dims unwanted bands and irregularities in the image, but importantly, it doesn't remove the film grain or fine details.

The upscaling itself is also at a good level. Image from lower resolutions appears smooth and soft, sometimes a bit too much – we get a plastic effect that may not appeal to everyone. Fortunately, this can be easily corrected with the sharpness slider, allowing you to adjust the image to your personal preferences.

The problem of the previously mentioned colour connections can largely be mitigated thanks to the "distortion reduction" function, which is an algorithm for smoothing tonal transitions in Philips. It works best at a low level – effectively eliminating unwanted colour bands while not introducing strange artifacts or losing image detail. This is one of those features that is truly worth keeping on.

The issue of upscaling is somewhat less impressive. Images from lower resolution can be too soft, while in some parts the characteristic "jaggies" appear. The impression is that the algorithm is trying to reconcile two contradictory directions – smoothing and sharpening – and ultimately fails to find the golden mean. As a consolation, it's worth noting that the television does not have problems with overscan, meaning it does not cut off the edges of the image, which can sometimes happen in other competing models.

Hisense U8Q has a panel that can refresh the image up to 165 Hz in 4K resolution. In practice, this will mainly benefit PC gamers, but as they say – better to have it than not 😊. For movies and series, we have a built-in smoother called Ultra Motion Smoothing. In the settings, it can be easily adjusted to your own preferences – whether you want a more ‘cinematic’ frame rate or a smooth, theatrical spectacle.

The issue of the panel in the Philips OLED770 is not entirely straightforward. The manufacturer claims a 120 Hz panel, but our measurements showed that the screen can accept a 4K signal even at 144 Hz. This sounds like great news – because who wouldn't want an additional mode for PC gamers at this price? However, the reality turned out to be more complex. With 120 Hz content, the television behaves like most OLEDs – the image is absolutely clear, with no trace of blurring or smearing, ideal for both dynamic games and sports broadcasts. The problem only arises at 144 Hz. Unlike models with official support for this frequency, here we see the phenomenon of so-called frame skipping. This means that the television is unable to display all the frames – some of them are skipped, causing motion to lose smoothness and double outlines to appear on the screen. The effect resembles the operation of the BFI function, which Philips does not offer in this model anyway.

In terms of features, the Hisense U8Q has practically everything one would expect from a modern gaming television. Thanks to the new processor, the manufacturer has managed to implement three HDMI 2.1 ports, so there’s no trouble connecting multiple consoles or a computer. On top of that, it includes all the key technologies – Game Bar with parameter previews, variable refresh rate (VRR), automatic game mode (ALLM)… in a word, a complete set.

But as often happens with Hisense, it’s missing just a bit from perfection. The biggest drawback remains the lack of support for the HGiG format, which allows the TV's brightness to be adjusted to the console and gets the most out of HDR in games. It’s a shame because if this feature were included, we’d have a device practically made for gamers. As it stands, the U8Q remains “only” a very good choice 😉

If someone is looking for a TV for gaming, the Philips OLED770 is a candidate that's hard to overlook. The mere fact that this is an OLED gives it a great starting point – perfect blacks and infinite contrast make evening sessions in atmospheric games look like they've been taken straight out of a cinema. Added to that is the Ambilight system, which uses LEDs on the back of the TV to extend the image onto the wall behind the screen. The effect is such that even just playing FIFA can look like a small spectacle, and in horror games, the atmosphere becomes really thick. On the technical side, it's also quite decent. The Philips OLED770 supports variable refresh rate (VRR) up to 120 Hz, has an automatic mode for gamers (ALLM), and for those using an Xbox Series X, Dolby Vision support in games is also available. You just need to know that in this mode, the input lag is slightly higher than standard, although still at an acceptable level. As a bonus, we also get the 'Game Bar', which is a special tool strip for gamers. It's not the most conveniently designed solution, but it allows for a quick view of key parameters without exiting the game. Overall, this gives a picture of a TV that has all the most important gaming features on one hand, and on the other can add something unique – Ambilight. And it's this mix of technology and visual effect that makes the OLED770 one of the better screens for gaming in a home environment.