Sharp FQ8 vs Philips MLED920 / MLED910

The Sharp FQ8 achieves a maximum brightness of over 450 nits, which is commendable for its price range. While this level might not be groundbreaking, it places the television among the better-performing models in its class. At this brightness, the image appears vivid and detailed, and the HDR metadata functions effectively, offering a more immersive viewing experience compared to dimmer devices.

The television supports the advanced Dolby Vision HDR format, enhancing the depth and richness of the content. It also includes Dolby Vision IQ, which adjusts the image's brightness and colours based on ambient lighting. However, the implementation of this feature on the Sharp FQ8 is suboptimal, introducing artificial brightening and noticeable distortions. For this reason, it is advisable to disable Dolby Vision IQ for the most accurate picture quality.

With quantum dot technology, the television achieves a colour gamut coverage of approximately 94%, resulting in vibrant and realistic colours. This combination of features ensures the Sharp FQ8 delivers an engaging and detailed visual experience, even with some limitations.

Philips MLED920 in our measurements in static tests even reached around 900 nits, which for a mid-range model is quite an impressive result. In practice, this translates to a lot of satisfaction during viewing – in scenes rich in bright light, such as the first, third, or fifth test patterns, the screen was able to generate around 700 nits, which is sufficient to feel the real "HDR effect". However, it cannot be denied that the limited number of backlight zones and the typical mini-LED compromises in dimming algorithms reveal their flaws in more demanding scenes. In sequences with small light sources – like the moon or a scene from the film Sicario 2 – the television clearly prioritises maintaining deeper blacks at the expense of the brightness of these small elements. For most viewers, this is still a reasonable compromise, as the dark background looks much better, although it should be noted that the details themselves may not dazzle with intensity. The question of colours also leaves a bit to be desired. Although the employed PFS filter (the equivalent of quantum dots known from QLEDs) does its job and the colours appear quite vibrant, the coverage of the DCI-P3 colour space reaches "only" 90%. In everyday viewing, this will be sufficient, but in extremely colourful productions – like the latest Disney animations – one can notice that some tones are not as vivid as they could be in other constructions.

The Sharp FQ8 was evaluated for colour reproduction in its movie mode, which provides the best default settings for achieving realistic visuals. While it performs adequately, certain issues impact the overall image quality. Tests on HD content revealed significant white balance problems, with a marked dominance of red. This is evident in the colour graph, where the red line noticeably rises above the others, and in practical tests, such as a movie scene featuring a child, where the image appears overly warm and unnaturally red. Similar issues persist with 4K HDR content, where an excessive red tint detracts from the accuracy of colour reproduction, an important consideration for viewers prioritising faithful visuals.

For SDR contrast, the gamma graph displayed an unusual anomaly at the start, highlighting reproduction issues. The remainder of the gamma curve lies below the reference line, indicating suboptimal brightness and contrast levels for standard content. In 4K HDR, the EOTF curve also deviates significantly, suggesting inconsistencies in brightness reproduction. These fluctuations can result in less enjoyable viewing experiences for HDR content, particularly in scenes requiring precise light and dark balance.

Like every Philips TV we've tested, the MLED920 was primarily assessed in Filmmaker mode – the so-called "most honest" mode, designed for films and to faithfully convey the intentions of the creators. Indeed, in terms of colour accuracy, it performs best among all the modes available on the TV, but it is not without flaws. The first thing that stands out is the white balance. The image has a slight tendency towards purple-pink tones, giving it a somewhat unnatural character. However, an even bigger problem turned out to be what we mentioned earlier – image clipping. Just looking at the gamma or EOTF charts reveals that the line deviates significantly from the norm, dropping below a value of 1.8. In practice, this means "bleeding" of the brightest whites, where the image becomes almost milky. Fortunately, most of these issues can be corrected – the MLED920 responds to calibration, and with a few adjustments, image quality can be significantly improved.

After calibration, the Sharp FQ8 shows notable improvements in its performance for SDR content. The white balance has been significantly refined, with all lines approaching the reference line. While the lines are not perfectly straight, the results are impressive for a TV in this price range. This adjustment enhances the naturalness and accuracy of colours, contributing to a more enjoyable visual experience. However, the gamma chart still displays the peculiar jump at the start, though the remaining line now aligns much closer to the expected outcome.

For HDR content, the white balance also sees meaningful improvements compared to the pre-calibration state, although it doesn’t perform as well as in SDR mode. This refinement results in more consistent and visually appealing colours, despite some remaining imperfections. On the downside, the EOTF chart reveals limited progress in contrast due to the lack of control over dynamic tone mapping settings, which hampers uniform brightness representation in HDR.

Despite these limitations, the calibration significantly elevates the Sharp FQ8, particularly in SDR mode. The improved white balance and colour reproduction deliver a more natural and pleasant viewing experience. While HDR content still leaves room for improvement, the TV achieves a respectable level of performance, solidifying its position as a strong contender in its price range.

After calibration, we managed to largely tame the white balance – to the extent that the average viewer will not be able to detect colour inaccuracies. The characteristic pink-purple glow that previously disrupted the naturalness of the image has also disappeared. The colour palette has been organised, and the colours appear more cohesive and neutral. The gamma in SDR content looks really good after calibration – there’s no sign of the earlier “bleeding” effect in bright scenes. The image has become more contrasty and free from the milky effect that previously severely affected the viewing experience. In the case of HDR content, the improvement is also noticeable, although here it is still evident that the television goes “its own way”. The EOTF curve cannot be fully adjusted, as Philips simply does not offer tools for precise control of this parameter in its settings. In many films, the television still exposes the image “in its own way”. Despite these limitations, calibration has brought a lot of good – the majority of colour inaccuracies have been minimised and the overall image balance has significantly improved. However, one must remember that certain barriers arise from the very hardware construction and simply cannot be overcome.

The Sharp FQ8 performs adequately with its 10-bit colour reproduction feature, providing smooth transitions between grey shades in the light bulb photo. For optimal results, setting it to medium is recommended, as it avoids issues like grain smoothing or blurring key elements. The "low" setting also yields good results without introducing unwanted visual artefacts.

In terms of upscaling, the Sharp FQ8 TV handles video without overscan, making full use of the screen. The jagged edges of branches are noticeable, but the edges of trousers appear without any clear jaggedness, contributing positively to the overall image quality. Additionally, the TV's AI Super Resolution feature enhances clarity by artificially sharpening jagged elements, further improving the viewing experience.

The manufacturer has equipped this model with several features that improve signal quality, and although we usually approach such “enhancers” with caution, here they prove to be really helpful. The key option is called “distortion reduction” – it works best at a medium level because, on one hand, it effectively smooths out unwanted steps and colour transitions, and on the other, it doesn’t excessively cut details, meaning the image still looks natural.

It’s a bit worse when it comes to upscaling. Lower quality materials – such as the test video with the model – appeared soft and lacking sharpness. Of course, it can be partially adjusted with the sharpness slider in the menu, but the result still falls short compared to what competitors offer at a similar price. Philips still needs to work on this aspect because, in light of the successful improvement of tonal transitions, the upscaling simply comes off weak.

The Sharp FQ8 features a 120 Hz panel, able to support playback at 144 Hz when connected to a PC, which should theoretically provide smooth motion rendering. The TV includes features designed to enhance film fluidity and reduce motion blur, crucial for more dynamic content. However, in the absence of Black Frame Insertion (BFI) technology, the panel's average response time leads to less-than-ideal results. This results in slight motion blur, which may be particularly noticeable when watching sports or during intense gaming sessions.

Philips MLED920 features a 144 Hz panel, which immediately suggests that we shouldn’t complain about motion smoothness. And indeed – for a VA panel, the motion blur is relatively low here, and while you can sometimes notice slight issues on darker backgrounds, they’re not something that will catch the eye of most people during regular viewing.

A big plus is also the presence of a motion smoother called “Motion Style.” It allows you to adjust the smoothness to your own preferences – if someone prefers a more “theatrical,” almost television-like character of the image, they can increase the sliders, and if they want to maintain the natural “judders” of a cinematic frame, they just need to set lower values. This way, everyone can find a happy medium.

The Sharp FQ8 offers several features that cater to gamers, enhancing the overall gaming experience. Firstly, the television is equipped with HDMI 2.1, which brings several advantages. ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode) automatically switches the TV to a low-latency mode when a gaming device is detected. VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) helps reduce screen stuttering by adjusting the screen’s refresh rate to match the number of frames generated by the console or PC, providing smoother gameplay, especially in dynamic games. Additionally, the TV supports G-Sync, which synchronises the image with the graphics card, preventing stuttering and screen tearing.

Despite these advantages, the FQ8 has some limitations. The lack of support for HGiG (HDR Gaming Interest Group) means the TV does not optimise the dynamic range for HDR games. Furthermore, while Dolby Vision mode can improve picture quality in supported games, it suffers from very high input lag.

For gamers, the Philips MLED920 is truly a complete tool. The manufacturer has taken care of everything that is now considered standard in televisions for consoles and PCs. It has ALLM, so the console automatically switches the screen to game mode, there’s VRR and a 144 Hz refresh rate that ensures smooth gameplay even in fast-paced titles. All key HDR formats are supported – including HGiG and Dolby Vision Gaming for Xbox – which means that regardless of what you’re playing and on which console, the television will be able to extract the maximum potential from the image. In everyday gaming, the Game Bar proves useful too – a relatively simple implementation by Philips, but a functional panel where you can quickly check image parameters, enable VRR, or adjust details without leaving the game. It’s not as elaborate as the competition, but it does its job without any complaints. And finally, something that sets Philips apart from the competition – Ambilight. The three-sided LED backlighting can make a huge impression in games, especially in the evening. It’s also a way to slightly 'expand' the screen and create a greater sense of immersion. And since coloured LEDs have recently become almost an essential element of a gamer’s room, the MLED920 fits perfectly into this trend.