Philips The One (PUS8959 / PUS8919 / PUS8909 / PUS8949 vs Philips PUS7000

The luminance graph for Philips PUS8959 shows that the television can achieve around 550 nits of brightness, which can be considered a satisfactory level. Such brightness allows you to feel the effects of HDR, which stand out particularly in more demanding scenes. In the tested patterns, the television performed quite well, even in challenging sequences like those from "Sicario 2". Due to the lack of local dimming, the television does not dim small bright elements, and they shine at the full "power" of the television but at the cost of silvery blacks, which we mentioned in the paragraph about black levels. It’s also worth praising Philips PUS8959 for its good coverage of the DCI-P3 colour palette, which is around 94.5%. This ensures that the colours are vivid and close to the creators' intentions, which further enhances the quality of HDR effects and the experience of watching high dynamic range content.

Unfortunately, the PUS7000 is not suitable for watching HDR content. This screen is simply too dark. A brightness level of 200 nits is insufficient to display this format correctly. Even if a HDR signal message appears on the screen, the image will resemble a standard SDR recording. Therefore, it’s better to stick with the latter format to avoid errors in displaying bright scenes, as you will read below. The situation is worsened by the fact that this is a classic LCD model without additional layers that improve colours, such as QLED or PFS. As a result, colours in HDR may seem washed out. Ultimately, this provides a worse effect than in the standard SDR format, which is simply better suited to the capabilities of this panel.

The television Philips PUS8959 has been tested in the best, theoretically most precise picture mode – Filmmaker. Although the name suggests film quality, it unfortunately falls short of perfection. The biggest issue in this mode is the white balance, both in HD and 4K content. It is characterised by a significant dominance of the red colour and drops in the green levels, resulting in unnatural colour reproduction. For example, white elements of the image have a noticeable pink hue, and the green is less intense, which diminishes the overall naturalness and colour balance. The ColorChecker test confirms these errors – it is clearly visible how the colour samples "deviate" from the proper values, which can best be observed on the sample squares that should precisely reproduce the colours. The lack of accuracy in this regard affects the realism and fidelity of the image, which is particularly undesirable in Filmmaker mode.

As for the brightness characteristics, the gamma graph resembles a roller coaster – with small elements displayed on the screen, the brightness is excessive, causing details to become overly exposed. Conversely, at higher gamma values, the image loses contrast and becomes too dark, making the whole appear lacking in dynamism. Similar problems can be observed in the EOTF characteristics – the television is unable to accurately reproduce the brightness levels, negatively impacting the overall picture quality.

We tested the television in movie mode, which theoretically should provide the best and most natural colours. And indeed, this mode is quite correct; however, when we connected the calibration equipment, its biggest flaw became apparent. The PUS7000 has significant shortcomings in displaying reds. Poorly tuned white balance and too low saturation of this colour cause the image to appear too cool. As a result, one might get the impression that the displayed content lacks vibrant colours. The situation is worsened by the fact that both SDR and HDR content are excessively brightened. This is confirmed by the gamma curve and EOTF graphs, which show that the television displays the image brighter than it should. This causes scenes to lose their depth and can make them seem slightly washed out. Fortunately, in the Philips menu, we find plenty of features to improve these aspects, so we immediately proceeded to calibration to see what we could extract from this screen.

After calibration, the Philips PUS8959 shows a significant improvement in colour reproduction, especially in HD content. The white balance is exceptionally even, and the Delta E error values are below 1, which can be regarded as an outstanding result. Additionally, the gamma, which affects brightness in lower quality materials, performs very well, maintaining a stable level at 2.4, leading to an appropriate balance between bright and dark areas of the image.

When it comes to 4K HDR materials, there is also a noticeable improvement. The white balance, although not as perfect as in HD content, no longer suffers from excessive red exposure, making the image appear more natural and harmonious. Unfortunately, regarding the EOTF characteristic, it’s difficult to speak of any significant improvement, which stems from the structural limitations of the television that prevent substantial enhancement in this aspect.

Nevertheless, overall, it looks much better after calibration, making the Philips PUS8959 one of those televisions where it's truly worth investing time in precise calibration to achieve satisfactory image quality.

After professional calibration, it’s evident that the PUS7000 responds well to image adjustments. In this price range, that’s not a given. The effects are best evaluated in two scenarios, depending on the content we plan to watch. SDR performs the best. After our adjustments, the image looks really good. Most colour errors have dropped below level 3, which is the threshold at which discrepancies usually become visible to the naked eye. Movies, series, sports, and regular television present naturally, without unpleasant deviations. If someone mainly watches classic channels or streams in HD quality, the difference after calibration will be noticeable straight away. However, it must be said clearly that the PUS7000 is still not a television suited for proper HDR, and calibration doesn't change much in this regard. The reason lies in the hardware: colours remain too unsaturated. The television lacks solutions that widen the colour gamut, such as PFS filters or a quantum dot layer, so the panel simply cannot display the intense colours required by HDR. This is most evident in reds, which still look washed out. This limitation cannot be circumvented through menu settings, as it stems from the design of the backlighting and the panel itself.

When it comes to smoothing tonal transitions, the "Distortion Reduction" function in the minimum position performs quite well, effectively smoothing tonal transitions without excessive impact on other elements of the image. In testing, I did not notice that the reduction negatively affected the structure of the image, such as film grain or details of objects – everything remains in its place, which is a big plus for users who value the natural look of film material.

As for digital processing, the image looks pretty good, although it features very softened contours, giving it an almost "leafy" character. This effect may evoke mixed feelings – some users will appreciate the fluidity and delicacy of this type of presentation, while others may find it too gentle, losing detail. It is a matter of individual preference, but it must be admitted that Philips PUS8959 provides quite subtle yet effective tools for improving tonal transitions without excessive interference with the natural character of the image.

The PUS7000 handles digital image processing quite well. The distortion reduction feature deserves praise, as it effectively smooths unwanted tonal transitions even at a low setting. However, it has its downside: with too aggressive operation, it can introduce undesirable artifacts on the screen. It would be a good idea to experiment with this setting to find the golden mean between a smooth image and the clarity of details.

The upscaling, or enhancing the quality of lower materials to 4K, is decent. The image after processing is very "soft," which is typical of almost all Philips TVs. The edges are plastic and smooth, making the image look cohesive. If someone finds it too soft, it can always be adjusted with the sharpness slider in the menu for a more pronounced effect.

Philips PUS8959 TV is equipped with a 120 Hz panel, which should satisfy more demanding users, especially those who love watching dynamic sports broadcasts or playing games. Such a high refresh rate allows for significantly smoother images, being a key aspect during dynamic scenes and fast actions.

For those who prefer watching movies, the TV offers an additional motion smoother that allows adjustment of the frame rate according to personal preferences. The Philips PUS8959 features a 10-step adjustment for functions called "Smoothness" and "Motion Blur Reduction". The "Smoothness" function increases the number of frames through interpolation, making movement on the screen smoother, reminiscent of the so-called "soap opera effect". Meanwhile, "Motion Blur Reduction" focuses on minimising streaking and improving motion clarity, which is particularly noticeable in dynamic sequences such as action scenes or fast sports shots.

In this regard, we actually have no good news. It might seem that the biggest downside is the lack of a 120 Hz panel, but in this price range, that's actually the norm, and it's hard to expect more. However, the worst part is that the television has no motion smoothing features. There are no supporting systems in place for either movies or sports. We have to come to terms with the fact that the image on the PUS7000 is processed "raw." This means that during dynamic scenes or fast camera movements, motion can appear choppy or unclear. We have no option to enable any smoothers that could alleviate this effect.

Philips PUS8959 is a television that will surely please gaming enthusiasts. It supports most modern technologies useful during gameplay, such as HGiG, allowing for better representation of HDR effects in games. As a result, the image is more aligned with what the game developers intended to achieve.

The television also supports displaying images at 120 Hz, ensuring smoothness and dynamism, particularly important during action games and sports broadcasts. The Game Bar feature provides quick access to game settings, making it easier to adjust the image according to user preferences without interrupting gameplay.

Unfortunately, the Dolby Vision mode does not offer low input lag, which may be noticeable during dynamic scenes. Nevertheless, thanks to the HGiG feature and high refresh rate, the Philips PUS8959 remains an attractive choice for gamers, offering good image quality and suitable smoothness during gameplay.

Even though the PUS7000 isn’t marketed as a gaming TV, it doesn't perform as poorly in this category as one might expect. True, it doesn't support 120 Hz refresh rates, which is understandable at this price point, but the manufacturer has included several important features that significantly improve the console gaming experience. The most important of these are VRR and ALLM technologies. VRR is responsible for synchronising the screen with the number of frames generated by the console. This means the image doesn't "tear" and remains consistent even during sudden drops in frame rates while playing. On the other hand, ALLM is a solution that automatically switches the TV to a mode with the lowest latency immediately after detecting a signal from the console. All these parameters are easily accessible thanks to the Game Bar feature. This is a special control panel for gamers that can be brought up on the screen at any time. It allows for a quick view of current settings and connection status without interrupting gameplay, which is a very convenient solution.