Samsung U8000F (IPS) vs Hisense E7Q / E79Q

Better doesn't mean good – and that's exactly how you can sum up the capabilities of the U8092F when it comes to displaying bright movie scenes in HDR mode. The brightness of the panel is just under 250 nits, which is definitely too low to enjoy any light effects. An interesting situation was observed during measurements of the fourth scene from the movie Sicario 2 – the television clearly dimmed the entire screen in an attempt to achieve better black levels (which still remain weak). One could even suggest that the device employs some form of "global dimming," but unfortunately – the effects are still very poor. To make matters worse, the television does not support a wide colour gamut – the coverage of the DCI-P3 space is around 80%, so don’t count on truly vibrant colours. The HDR image here looks more like slightly brightened SDR, and that’s the approach we would suggest you stick to when it comes to this television.

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.

Samsung U8000F has been tested in the best possible built-in picture mode on the television, which is Filmmaker Mode. This mode should – at least in theory – provide a cinematic, reference image without unnecessary enhancements. For SDR content (mainly HD/SD), the television presented itself surprisingly well out of the box. White balance errors hovered around a value of 3, which is roughly on the edge of perceptibility. The only criticism could be directed at brightness management – the gamma chart showed a slight tendency to brighten or darken certain sections, but overall it performs quite well for this price segment.

Unfortunately, it looks much worse in HDR mode. Although the white balance was not terrible, the television had significant colour errors – particularly evident on the Color Checker chart, where almost every sample fell outside the target point. The image in HDR simply looks unnatural, and the colours can be shifted, muted, or too cool. This largely stems from the fact that U8000F does not support a wide colour gamut (DCI-P3). The television is physically unable to display correct colours in the HDR standard – and this is unfortunately felt in every more demanding material.

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.

Even though the U8000F already offered a fairly good picture in SDR straight out of the box, we managed to tweak it a bit more. We were able to remove a slight purple tint and adjust the gamma to a more reasonable level. However, the television still tends to over-brighten the smallest and brightest parts of the image – the gamma chart shows a characteristic "dip" that is hard to fully straighten out.

Unfortunately, the situation looks worse in HDR. It's difficult to talk about any significant improvement here – the television simply isn't designed for HDR content. We tried to adjust the picture in the advanced settings, but despite our efforts, the colour errors remained quite noticeable – a delta E above 7 is already significantly visible deviations. It's a bit unfortunate, but that's the charm of a budget build. In SDR, the U8000F performs reasonably, whereas HDR is simply not its league.

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.

When it comes to how the Samsung U8000F handles lower quality materials, we must admit that Samsung has made progress compared to its predecessor from last year – the DU7192 model, which theoretically occupies the same place in the offering.

This year's model has been equipped with a function to improve the smoothness of tonal transitions, which has been implemented significantly better than last year. Yes, the TV still uses quite strong algorithms that can distort details or remove film grain, but even so – it can be confidently said that it operates effectively.

However, not everything has gone perfectly. The U8000F has noticeable issues with slight frame stuttering when watching very old content in very low resolution. If someone plans to play their old VHS tape, they must be aware that the picture may appear slightly "choppy".

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.

Samsung U8000F is equipped with a 60 Hz panel, so right from the start, it's clear that we shouldn't expect miracles. This is simply the standard in this class – sufficient for everyday viewing, but without any fireworks.

The television offers one motion smoothing slider – a feature called “Motion Blur Reduction”, which allows us to adjust the smoothness of the image in movies. Higher settings provide a more “theatrical” and smoothed effect, while lower ones maintain the original character of the film with a slight 24p effect. An interesting feature is “Clear Motion LED”, or BFI mode – which inserts black frames between the image frames to enhance motion clarity. However, in practice, the screen flickers significantly when it's activated, and it's better viewed as an experiment rather than something that truly enhances gaming comfort.

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 U8000F offers a basic set of features for gamers, which might still be sufficient for less demanding users. It has an automatic game mode – when a game is launched on the console, the TV automatically switches to low latency mode, which significantly improves response time. There’s also a VRR function, or variable refresh rate, which operates in the range of 48 to 60 Hz. This means that both Xbox and PS5 will not produce the “tearing” effect – as long as we stay within this range.

[UPDATE] We have updated our Samsung TV tests from the 2025 model year due to the release of software version 1131, which has restored the crucial HGiG feature for gamers.

And unfortunately, that’s about it for the advantages. Add-ons like Game Bar or higher refresh rates are reserved for higher models of Samsung from the 2025 line. In theory, the TV also supports the HGiG feature, which should adjust the HDR picture to the intentions of the game developers. Unfortunately – even though this feature is mentioned in brochures and store materials – its configuration on the Xbox console proved to be... impossible in practice.

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.