Samsung U8000F (VA) vs Hisense E7Q / E79Q

While the U8000F with its VA panel can still be praised for decent blacks, there are no such accolades when it comes to brightness—particularly in HDR scenes. The television only achieves a maximum of just under 250 nits, which is simply too low to talk about any impressive light effects. Bright elements appear washed out, and scenes that should shine look rather flat. An interesting situation occurred during our testing of a scene from the movie Sicario 2— the screen noticeably darkened, as if the television was trying to hide its limitations in displaying blacks. One might get the impression that the device artificially darkens the image to improve contrast, but in practice, the effect doesn't make much difference, apart from the fact that we see less on the screen. Additionally, there’s the issue of colours—the U8000F doesn’t support a wide colour gamut, so one shouldn’t expect vibrant, saturated hues known from better models. The HDR image here resembles a slightly brightened SDR and... maybe that’s not such a bad thing. For this model, it’s not worth expecting a cinematic experience—better to treat HDR as a modest addition.

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 by us in the best picture mode it offers out of the box – that is, Filmmaker Mode. This profile is supposed to theoretically provide a neutral, cinematic image, free of unnecessary enhancements and artificial beautifications. In the case of SDR content – mainly in HD or SD resolution – the television already presented itself surprisingly reasonably right out of the box. The only noticeable imperfection was brightness management. The gamma chart showed some deviations – slight brightening or dimming of certain tones – but in practice, this did not significantly affect the viewing experience. For a television in this segment, it performs quite well.

However, the situation in HDR mode looks significantly weaker. Although white balance was still acceptable, colour errors were very evident. In the Color Checker test, almost every sample was outside the target point, and the image itself appeared unnatural – colours were skewed, sometimes too cool, and at other times simply dull and lifeless. The main issue lies in hardware limitations – the U8000F does not support the wide colour gamut of DCI-P3, so it is physically unable to reproduce the colours that the HDR standard intends. Unfortunately, this is evident in almost every more demanding scene.

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.

Right out of the box, the U8000F offered a pretty decent picture in SDR for its price range. We managed to tweak it a bit further – we reduced a slight purple tint and improved the gamma characteristics, giving it a more natural curve. Despite these adjustments, the TV still has a tendency to overly brighten the brightest details – the gamma chart shows a clear break that cannot be fully corrected.

On the other hand, in HDR mode, it’s noticeably weaker. It's hard to talk about any significant improvement – despite attempts to fine-tune the settings, the picture still presents considerable colour errors. A Delta E exceeding 7 indicates noticeable deviations that we couldn’t effectively reduce. Unfortunately, this is a limitation of the construction itself – the U8000F simply wasn't designed for serious HDR. In daily SDR viewing, it performs quite well, but for HDR content... it’s best not to have overly high expectations.

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 have to admit that Samsung has made progress compared to its predecessor from last year – the DU7192 model, which theoretically occupies the same place in the lineup. This year’s model is equipped with a feature that improves the smoothness of tonal transitions, which has been implemented much better than last year. Yes, the television still uses quite strong algorithms that can distort details or remove film grain, but still – it can be confidently said that it works effectively. However, not everything has gone perfectly. The U8000F has noticeable issues with slight image stuttering when watching very old content in very low resolution. If someone plans to play their old VHS tape, they must be prepared for the image to look 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.

The Samsung U8000F comes with a 60 Hz panel, so right from the start, it's clear that you can't expect miracles. It's simply the standard in this class – sufficient for everyday viewing, but without any fireworks. The TV offers one motion smoothing slider – a function called "Motion Blur Reduction", which allows us to adjust the smoothness of the image in films. Higher settings provide a more "theatrical" and smoothed effect, while lower settings maintain the original character of the film with a slight 24p effect. Interestingly, there is the "LED Clear Motion" feature, or BFI mode – which inserts black frames between the frames of the image to improve motion sharpness. However, in practice, the screen flickers significantly when this is activated, and it's best to treat this as more of an experiment rather than something that genuinely improves the gaming experience.

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.

[UPDATE] We have updated our 2025 Samsung TV reviews following the release of firmware version 1131, which officially restores the essential HGiG (HDR Gaming Interest Group) support.

Samsung U8000F offers a basic set of features for gamers, which can still prove sufficient for less demanding users. Here we have an automatic gaming mode – when a game is launched on the console, the TV switches to low-latency mode by itself, significantly improving response time. We also find the VRR feature, 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 on the screen – as long as we stay within this range.

Unfortunately, that's about it when it comes to 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 image to the intentions of game developers. Unfortunately – despite this feature appearing in advertising brochures and store materials – its setup on the Xbox console turned out, in practice, to be... impossible.

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.