Philips PUS8209 vs Hisense S7NQ CanvasTV

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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".