Samsung Neo QLED QN95D vs Hisense E7Q / E79Q

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.

Hisense E7Q / E79Q is a mid-brightness TV, with a peak luminance level of around 350-380 nits. This is the absolute minimum that allows viewing HDR content in a way that's close to the creators' intentions, though without a distinct "wow" effect. The results of synthetic tests on white test patterns were confirmed in practice – in movie scenes, the bright parts of the image are stable and fairly even, but it's hard to talk about a true "burst of light" here. In everyday use, such as when watching Netflix or YouTube, the HDR effect is acceptable and is more than sufficient for most users. However, it must be said clearly – this is not the level of top-end screens, and one shouldn't expect that at this price. Fortunately, the Hisense E7Q / E79Q has an advantage that allows it to score quite a few points: it's a QLED panel of the PFS LED type, using an additional phosphor layer that improves colour reproduction. The measured range of the DCI-P3 colour gamut is around 92%, which means that the colours in most scenes are vibrant, well-saturated, and pleasing to the eye, especially for this price bracket.

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.

In Filmmaker mode, the Hisense E7Q / E79Q television really managed to impress. After the first measurements, it turned out that the white balance was quite well tuned, with the only minor deviation being a slight tendency towards a purple hue, which we mentioned earlier. However, this did not significantly impact the overall character of the image – it remained cohesive and pleasant to view. A much bigger issue was the brightness characteristics (gamma) in SDR content and the EOTF curve in HDR films. The television clearly brightened the image, flattening contrast and taking away depth. Gamma values could drop from the reference 2.4 down to around 1.9, making the image look as though it was covered with a thin, milky layer. Fortunately, this is a problem that can be relatively easily corrected through calibration.

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.

The biggest beneficiary of calibration in the case of the Hisense E7Q / E79Q was undoubtedly the SDR mode. It managed to achieve almost perfect image quality – most of the errors in the Color Checker test dropped below a value of 3, and often even 2, which is a remarkable result for this class of equipment. The biggest improvement came from aligning the brightness characteristic (gamma), which made the image no longer look blown out and regained natural depth. In HDR content, it was also possible to improve the colours and eliminate the purple tint that we mentioned earlier, but errors in the Color Checker measurements were still noticeable. This is due to the fact that – as is often the case with Hisense televisions – the screen manipulates brightness quite strongly, overexposing some colours. This was also indicated by the EOTF curve, which was slightly above the reference values, suggesting these minor issues with excessive brightening. Despite this flaw and the construction limitations that arise with HDR content, the Hisense E7Q / E79Q gained quite a bit after calibration. In everyday use, the television presents a coherent, natural, and pleasant-to-the-eye image, and the difference compared to the factory settings is indeed huge.

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.

In the case of Hisense E7Q / E79Q, upscaling and digital image processing are not the strongest points of this television. It is evident that the manufacturer has opted for simplicity rather than advanced image processing algorithms. The television does not offer any features that smooth tonal transitions or systems that enhance image clarity, which makes lower resolution materials look quite raw. Subtle compression edges can be seen on the screen, which better processors in other models can effectively hide.

During the testing of HD materials, we noticed that the E7Q tries to artificially boost detail, which sometimes works and other times has the opposite effect – the image becomes soft, slightly blurred, and at times even "watery." There is no aggressive sharpening that ruins naturalness, but there is also a lack of finesse in detail integration that better image processors provide.

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 E7Q / E79Q is a television with a 60 Hz screen, so sports fans in 4K may feel a slight disappointment – you simply won’t see such smooth images here as in more expensive models with higher refresh rates. Fortunately, when it comes to movies, the situation is much better. Cinematic materials recorded at 24 frames per second can be displayed here using a motion smoothing feature, allowing the user to adjust the picture to their own preferences – more cinematic with visible frames or smoother, in a theatrical style.

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.

Hisense E7Q / E79Q is a really good TV for gamers, even though it doesn’t support 4K signal at 120 Hz. However, the manufacturer has included a set of features that until recently could only be found in more expensive models. There's ALLM, which is auto-switching to low latency mode, allowing the TV to activate game mode with very low input lag automatically. We also have VRR, working up to 60 Hz – while this may not look impressive on paper, in practice it is fully sufficient, as most console games don’t exceed this limit anyway. All these settings can be quickly found in the Game Bar panel, a convenient menu created specifically for gamers. From this level, you can change picture modes, turn on a frame counter, or even… an on-screen crosshair – in the Vidaa system amusingly called a “target point,” which is the result of a clumsy translation from the Chinese manufacturer.

Special praise should go to the ability to play in 1080p at 120 Hz, which significantly improves the fluidity and responsiveness of the image. This means that if someone wants to play a few titles at a higher refresh rate, they can simply lower the resolution and enjoy much smoother motion. Despite the lack of 4K@120Hz, the Hisense E7Q / E79Q really performs well as a gaming TV – especially for those who aren’t looking for perfection but a solid and fast screen for everyday gaming.