Sharp GP7 vs Hisense U7S Pro

In terms of HDR, Sharp GP7 can surprise us pleasantly. The maximum brightness of around 500 nits is the threshold at which the real advantages of high dynamic range begin to be visible. During our tests, we achieved stable values between 430 and 500 nits, which translated to a clearer distinction of elements in both bright and slightly darker scenes. Additionally, it has a DCI-P3 colour gamut coverage of about 95%, allowing for vibrant, visually pleasing colours. Of course, it isn't top-tier, but for this price range – a big plus.

Let's start with the fact that the U7S Pro is an impressively bright TV. In calibrated mode our test equipment recorded a staggering 2200 nits of peak brightness. That's an excellent result, especially given that this model is positioned more as a mid-range set.

As we know, peak brightness on test patterns is one thing, and real film scenes are another. Unfortunately, in real-world footage the backlight output drops noticeably. In the most demanding moments the TV can still exceed 1000 nits, which is still a great result and sits well within the HDR mastering standards for most films, but the real challenge comes from aggressively tuned local dimming algorithms. Because of them, small bright details, like stars or the moon in a night sky, are noticeably dimmed. The TV seems determined to preserve deep blacks, which is understandable, but sadly this comes at the expense of dynamic range and the overall HDR punch.

Colour reproduction is worth praising. The new U7S Pro is a QLED design that provides very wide colour gamut coverage. Unlike last year's model (U7Q Pro), this year's variant is a genuine QLED rather than a solution based on a PFS filter. As a result, colour saturation has clearly increased, and coverage of the demanding BT.2020 colour space has exceeded 81%.

Out of the box, in movie mode, GP7 doesn't fare badly at all. In HD materials, we noticed slight disturbances in white balance - drops in red and blue that made the image take on a somewhat greenish hue. This is noticeable, for instance, on the faces of characters, which become less lifelike. The gamma is slightly brighter in places, resulting in less deep blacks. In 4K HDR content, a cooler, bluish tone also emerges, making the colours appear less natural. On the other hand, looking at it from a "straight out of the box" perspective, these settings aren't bad - a few minor adjustments will suffice, and with the help of special tools, we will try to improve them.

We tested the U7S Pro, as we always do, in the best factory-tuned picture mode, Filmmaker Mode. The displayed colours can be judged in two ways. The most disappointing was the profile intended for SDR viewing, i.e. classic TV, YouTube and other less demanding content. The image there had a distinct yellow cast, which proved to be a direct result of an incorrectly set white balance. As our charts show, this involved a huge deficiency of the blue component, which drastically affected the overall colour temperature. You can see this clearly on the ColorChecker charts and on the colour palette graphs themselves, where most samples drifted towards yellow. Fortunately, the factory HDR mode performed much better; there the colour errors hovered around a Delta E of 3, which is a really solid result.

Calibration really makes a difference in Sharp GP7. After making adjustments, we achieved a better white balance in HD content, and the colours started to look much more natural, with minimal deviations and no clear dominance of individual hues. In 4K HDR, the change isn't as spectacular, but it's still noticeable. The gamma has been brought to a more neutral level, although a slight boost in the brightest details on the screen is still evident. The inability to control dynamic tone mapping limits our manoeuvrability, but nonetheless, this is a significant step forward compared to the factory settings.

We do know, however, that the company Hisense is capable of much more – as previous generations have proven – which is why we simply couldn’t leave the factory flaws of the U7S Pro model unaddressed in everyday content. As always in such cases, we had the television undergo professional calibration. The conclusions? This process brought about a colossal change. After manually adjusting the white balance and compensating for deficiencies in the blue component, the annoying yellow tint disappeared as if by magic. White became naturally clean, and skin tones gained the proper, healthy hue. Importantly, the calibration not only tamed the capricious SDR mode but also maximised the potential of the panel, reducing average colour reproduction errors to values nearly imperceptible to the human eye. The only thing we need to criticise after the whole process is the very nature of the Mini-LED backlighting and its specific interaction with the HDR signal. The aggressively tuned local dimming algorithms significantly interfere with the EOTF brightness curve. As a result, the backlighting doesn’t always work perfectly with the creator’s intent – depending on the scene being watched, the curve can noticeably run either above or below the reference, occasionally disrupting the ideal dynamic of HDR images.

The TV can scale lower quality content quite well. Our test patterns were well reproduced, and although there was minimal banding with fine, delicate shapes (such as thin branches), it still looked satisfactory. Additionally, Sharp GP7 offers a “10-bit colour reproduction” feature to smooth tonal transitions in poor quality materials. It is useful, but at the cost of some details, so we recommend turning it on only when we're really watching something of poor quality.

The digital processing of lower-quality signals is at a very high level here, and that's all thanks to the MediaTek Pentonic 800 processor used in the U7S Pro. The upscaling itself also performs well, meaning the TV's ability to upscale lower-resolution signals to 4K is impressive. We didn't notice any unnatural, overly sharp contours on the screen, and our test image of the model simply looked attractive.

With a 60 Hz panel and average response time, it's hard to expect miraculous smoothness. In dynamic tests, like the one with the “little green man”, it’s clear that the picture can blur and occasionally lose sharpness. For watching movies and series, this is acceptable, especially since you can use the motion smoother with three levels of adjustment. However, if we care about ultra-smooth sports broadcasts or super-responsive gameplay, we might feel a bit dissatisfied.

The Hisense U7S Pro uses a panel with a maximum refresh rate of 165 Hz at 4K, and in gaming mode it can even hit 330 Hz at Full HD. However, it's worth remembering that these top figures don't mean much in everyday use, because most content still runs at a maximum of 120 Hz (for example when playing on a console). Even so, the TV handles motion quite well and performs respectably for an LCD design.

There isn't much to fault when it comes to smoothness. In the menu you'll find a motion smoothing feature called "Motion Enhancement", which hides two sliders: blur reduction and judder reduction. They let you manually tune the smoothing, which works well for both films and sport, effectively improving the raw TV signal.

Let's not kid ourselves – GP7 Sharp is not a television for the most demanding console gamers. Yes, we have ALLM, which automatically switches the TV to low latency mode, but it lacks VRR or G-Sync. We also won't find any advanced menu to help adjust settings during gameplay. Dolby Vision in games? It's there, but with such a large input lag that it's hard to talk about comfort. If we play occasionally and don't aim for the highest standards, it can be managed, but tech enthusiasts will face disappointment.

If you're planning to connect a console or PC to the U7S Pro, you'll be more than pleased – this TV is great gear for gamers. Hisense hasn't held back, featuring 4 HDMI 2.1 ports with full bandwidth of 48 Gbps. So you don't have to juggle cables, as each port will handle the full suite of features. We have an automatic game mode (ALLM) and VRR, which operates over a wide range from 48 Hz to a whopping 330 Hz. Of course, that 330 Hz is currently just a gimmick for owners of powerful PCs, as consoles will cap at 120 Hz, but it's good to have that headroom for the future. The Game Bar also works really well when gaming. It's a handy menu bar for gamers, where you can quickly change the picture mode, turn on a crosshair in the middle of the screen, and even switch the display aspect ratio to ultra-wide, which PC simulation fans will appreciate. The only downside worth noting is the incorrect implementation of the HGiG format in games. The issue is that the TV ignores instructions from the console regarding the image generated in HDR10 and constantly butts in, trying to "enhance" the image in its own way. This makes proper HDR configuration in the console menu (where brightness is set on the logo/checkerboard) a bit more challenging.