Philips PUS8209 vs Hisense E7NQ PRO

Unfortunately, this is where the problems start. A maximum brightness of 280 nits is definitely too low to experience the true effect of HDR. In practice, the image resembles standard SDR more, so it's hard to talk about deeper visual experiences. On the plus side, the colour gamut coverage is 91.4% DCI-P3, which will be sufficient for most films. It's also worth noting that the image is stable and there are no issues with sudden brightness or colour changes. Overall, HDR on this television is more of a formality than an actual added value. If we're looking for genuine HDR emotions, this model may not meet expectations.

Based on the luminance chart, which indicates around 550 nits, it can be considered that Hisense E7NQ PRO theoretically has the potential to somewhat "enchant" us with its HDR image. Testing various scenes from movies, we noticed that the television continually tries to balance between maintaining appropriate brightness and preserving the deepest blacks. In favourable conditions – such as in a scene from “The Meg”, where the screen is flooded with bright light – this brightness can indeed impress us. At such moments, we feel that HDR actually adds that "something" to the image. Unfortunately, when difficult shots with fine, bright elements on a dark background appear on the screen, the situation looks much worse. Brightness then drops to 200-300 nits, which is definitely too little to really distinguish HDR from standard SDR.

It is clear that the television is trying, but the hardware limitations – mainly the small number of local dimming zones – prevent it from fully spreading its wings. The end result can therefore be quite inconsistent and as average as the contrast tests. On the plus side, it deserves credit for its impressive coverage of the DCI-P3 colour gamut at 97%. This allows the television to present a truly wide range of colours, which, in the right scenes, can give us at least a glimpse of the real HDR effect. It’s just a shame that the whole picture isn't complemented by better control of brightness and contrast.

Philips PUS8209 offers many picture modes, but the best of them, without a doubt, is the Filmmaker mode. Despite its proud name, it has its distinct problems. For HD content, the white balance is characterised by a strong dominance of red, causing the image to be significantly warmer than it should be in reality. The brightness characteristic (gamma), although correct in mid-tones, has serious issues at the beginning and end of the graph. Drops in shadows result in a loss of detail in dark areas, and spikes in bright areas make some elements look unnatural.

For high-quality content in 4K HDR, the situation reverses. In this case, blue dominates, leading to an artificial image boost effect, reminiscent of unnatural retail settings. Such an image looks unappealing and does not align with the creators' intentions. An additional problem is the EOTF curve, responsible for brightness in HDR materials. It deviates significantly from the reference graph, causing the image to appear too dark, stripping depth and detail from HDR content.

Against this backdrop, the errors in the Color Checker test and deviations in colour palette reproduction are exceptionally large, which further negatively affects the overall image quality. The Filmmaker mode, while the best among those available, requires substantial corrections to truly convey the full vision of the director.

When we took our copy of Hisense E7NQ PRO out of the box, we immediately started checking the available picture modes. Among them, the Filmmaker mode seemed the most promising, although it wasn't without its flaws. With standard SDR content, we noticed a clear tendency to overemphasise red, making the picture appear unnaturally warm. This was particularly evident in the comparison photo attached below. Conversely, when we switched to HDR content, the situation took a turn in the opposite direction. This time, blue was dominant, and there was hardly any red, resulting in a cool, at times almost "store-like" appearance — although not as drastic as in modes specifically designed for showcasing in displays. As a result, in our tests assessing colour reproduction, these disturbances in colour balance led to significant errors.

Additionally, the television had trouble reproducing brightness characteristics. At lower resolutions, it clearly brightened the darkest elements of the image, and with HDR content, the brightness curve (eotf) simply wouldn't align as it should. Initially, the television excessively darkened the smallest details, only to then over-brighten larger areas. Fortunately, the E7NQ PRO provides us with a lot of calibration tools, so knowing there was potential within it, we decided to take matters into our own hands and try to set it up to eliminate these issues.

After calibration, the white balance for HD and 4K content has significantly improved. While we haven't achieved a perfectly flat characteristic, the result is definitely better than before. The image on the television no longer appears either artificially warm or overly cold, which significantly enhances the naturalness of the displayed content. The brightness characteristic (gamma) has also been adjusted – the most significant issues at the beginning and end of the graph have been mitigated. The EOTF curve, which is responsible for brightness in 4K HDR materials, has been stabilised, eliminating problems with excessive dimming of the image. In the colour palette test, some imperfections can still be seen due to the average coverage of the wide colour gamut, which is a limitation of the hardware itself. Nevertheless, the final result is clearly better than pre-calibration – the image looks more natural and approaches the expectations for Filmmaker mode.

Thanks to the tools available in E7NQ PRO, we've managed to squeeze a pretty decent image out of it, especially with lower quality content. After fine-tuning the white balance of the SDR materials, the colours look much more natural, and what we see on the screen seems closer to the vision the producer intended to present. Additionally, we've improved the brightness characteristics (Gamma), so the TV no longer tends to over-brighten, and everything looks noticeably better than before our intervention.

With HDR materials, we also achieved some improvements, although it's not as rosy here. Yes, the white balance has approached an acceptable level, but the problem lies elsewhere. It's about the EOTF curve, which is how the TV manages brightness and tonality of the image. At first glance, one might think that the biggest issue concerns only the mid-tones, which are overly brightened. However, after more detailed testing and activating the EOTF curve visualisation filters, it becomes clear that the receiver has a tendency to brighten the entire screen. This seems to be a limitation due to the small number of local dimming zones and generally modest brightness management capabilities. Such hardware limitations are simply insurmountable. Nonetheless, after our calibration, the image is noticeably better than at the start. One just needs to be aware that in terms of contrast and brightness management, this model has its limits, which even a good calibration cannot fully overcome.

The television offers a “Distortion Reduction” feature that effectively improves the gradation of tonal transitions, particularly when set to the minimum level. Unfortunately, this comes at a cost – the feature also smooths out details like material textures. On the plus side, it’s worth noting that the operation of this option does not negatively affect the film grain, which remains intact.

As for image scaling (upscaling), the television generates a plastic, soft image that generally looks pleasant. However, in the background, issues with aliasing of certain elements, such as branches or small details, can sometimes be noticed, which may decrease the quality of the reception. Despite these minor imperfections, the overall experience of scaling is satisfactory.

When it comes to the tonal transition smoothing function in lower quality materials, the “smooth and gradient image” feature in Hisense E7NQ PRO unfortunately does not impress. At the lowest setting, the change is barely noticeable – it's more of a cosmetic improvement. Switching to “Medium” mode does produce a noticeable effect, but it's still nothing special, and the TV starts to excessively interfere with other elements of the image, which can look unnatural.

Image scaling is also rather average. On the test screen, where a portrait of a model and text are displayed, there are slight frays at the edges, making the overall presentation less smooth and aesthetic than we would expect in this class of device. It's just hard to talk about really effective improvement of lower resolution quality here.

The 60 Hz panel in the Philips PUS8209 is mainly suited for watching movies, but here you can also feel a certain shortcoming. The television does not offer any motion smoothing that would allow you to adjust the fluidity of the picture to individual preferences, which for some users may be disappointing.

Thanks to the use of a 144 Hz panel, E7NQ PRO performs exceptionally well with almost any type of content. Whether we're watching fast-paced matches, dynamic games or action films – the fluidity of motion leaves a good impression. When it comes to movies, the manufacturer has equipped the TV with two key tools: “motion blur reduction” and “judder reduction.” Each of these functions can be adjusted on a scale from 1 to 10.

At lower values, the processing is subtle, barely noticeable, and gently smooths motion without ruining the cinematic character of the image. The higher we move up the scale, the more clearly the TV interferes with the presented material, smoothing motion more aggressively, thereby minimising any judders or micro-cuts. Conversely, the highest settings can resemble the so-called “soap opera effect,” which makes the image look overly smooth, slightly losing its cinematic atmosphere. Thanks to this scale, however, we can find a happy medium, adjusting motion fluidity to our own preferences.

Philips PUS8209 offers basic features useful for gamers, such as variable refresh rate (VRR), automatic low latency mode (ALLM), and Game Bar, which makes managing settings easier.

Unfortunately, due to the 60 Hz panel, the TV will not meet the expectations of more demanding gamers who are looking for higher fluidity and precision of image. Additionally, this model does not support any HDR mode dedicated to gaming, such as HGiG or Dolby Vision, which further limits its capabilities in this regard.

If we sometimes like to turn on the console and immerse ourselves in the world of games for long hours, E7NQ PRO can make a really good impression. Thanks to the 144 Hz refresh rate, the gameplay is surprisingly smooth, and support for HDMI 2.1 and VRR ensures that the image doesn't "tear" even during the most dynamic actions. Additionally, there's ALLM, which automatically sets the lowest latency as soon as we switch to the console – so we don’t have to fiddle around in the options ourselves.

A big plus is also the ability to launch games in Dolby Vision, which makes colors and contrast simply look better. Hisense has also included a clear "gamebar," allowing us to continuously monitor the key parameters and change settings without leaving the game. The only thing we might slightly regret is the lack of HGIG support. It may not be a crucial element, but for some gamers, it can matter if they aim for the most faithful reproduction of the creators' vision. Nevertheless, in practice, the E7NQ PRO performs excellently and delivers truly enjoyable gaming experiences.