Sony Bravia 8 MK2 vs Philips PUS7000

Thanks to the new QD-OLED panel, the Sony Bravia 8 II can achieve astronomically high brightness levels of around 2000 nits, translating to near-reference quality in films and series recorded in HDR format. In test materials such as Life of Pi and Sicario 2, the effect is absolutely stunning – details in bright parts of the image remain perfectly visible, and night scenes captivate with depth and contrast. However, it’s not perfect. Compared to its most formidable competitors, the Bravia 8 II shows a noticeable drop in brightness during full-screen, very bright scenes. When comparing peak luminance with 100% white brightness in HDR mode, the Bravia 8 II can appear two or three times dimmer than LG G5 or Samsung S95F models. This was particularly evident in a scene from the film The Meg – the screen became noticeably darker than in competitors' televisions. Despite this flaw, the Bravia 8 II's results still place it at the forefront of the market. It deserves praise for its absolutely top-notch colour gamut coverage – nearly 100% DCI-P3 and close to 90% BT.2020. These parameters allow full potential extraction from HDR content and provide a cinematic experience in the comfort of your home.

Unfortunately, the PUS7000 is not suitable for watching HDR content. This screen is simply too dark. A brightness level of 200 nits is insufficient to display this format correctly. Even if a HDR signal message appears on the screen, the image will resemble a standard SDR recording. Therefore, it’s better to stick with the latter format to avoid errors in displaying bright scenes, as you will read below. The situation is worsened by the fact that this is a classic LCD model without additional layers that improve colours, such as QLED or PFS. As a result, colours in HDR may seem washed out. Ultimately, this provides a worse effect than in the standard SDR format, which is simply better suited to the capabilities of this panel.

Right out of the box, the Bravia 8 II performs really well. In the best IMAX® Enhanced mode, the TV manages to render colours in a pleasant and natural way, although "well" doesn’t mean "best in class" here. The white balance definitely requires adjustment – skin tones tend to lean towards slightly pink/cool tones, both in SDR and HDR content. We also noticed that the EOTF curve characteristics show a tendency to brighten the darkest parts of the image. This is likely due to the manufacturer's desire to highlight as many details as possible, even in deep shadows. Is this a good approach? It's hard to say definitively, but we know one thing – it's not an ideal solution.

We tested the television in movie mode, which theoretically should provide the best and most natural colours. And indeed, this mode is quite correct; however, when we connected the calibration equipment, its biggest flaw became apparent. The PUS7000 has significant shortcomings in displaying reds. Poorly tuned white balance and too low saturation of this colour cause the image to appear too cool. As a result, one might get the impression that the displayed content lacks vibrant colours. The situation is worsened by the fact that both SDR and HDR content are excessively brightened. This is confirmed by the gamma curve and EOTF graphs, which show that the television displays the image brighter than it should. This causes scenes to lose their depth and can make them seem slightly washed out. Fortunately, in the Philips menu, we find plenty of features to improve these aspects, so we immediately proceeded to calibration to see what we could extract from this screen.

After calibration, the excessive cooling of the image caused by an overly strong boost in blue colour was primarily eliminated. The reds became deeper, and the skin tones took on a natural, healthy appearance. The actors, who previously seemed "cold," now look much livelier and more convincing on screen. However, one thing hasn't changed – the analysis of the EOTF curve still shows that the Bravia 8 II has a tendency to brighten the darkest parts of the image. It's hard to say whether this is a deliberate effect by the manufacturer or a consequence of the panel's design and software. In practice, this means that scenes that the creators wanted to leave in deep darkness can reveal more details than intended. Despite this, the reception of the image after calibration is clearly better – the warm, natural tones and realistic skin shades make viewing on the Bravia 8 II simply more pleasant to the eye.

After professional calibration, it’s evident that the PUS7000 responds well to image adjustments. In this price range, that’s not a given. The effects are best evaluated in two scenarios, depending on the content we plan to watch. SDR performs the best. After our adjustments, the image looks really good. Most colour errors have dropped below level 3, which is the threshold at which discrepancies usually become visible to the naked eye. Movies, series, sports, and regular television present naturally, without unpleasant deviations. If someone mainly watches classic channels or streams in HD quality, the difference after calibration will be noticeable straight away. However, it must be said clearly that the PUS7000 is still not a television suited for proper HDR, and calibration doesn't change much in this regard. The reason lies in the hardware: colours remain too unsaturated. The television lacks solutions that widen the colour gamut, such as PFS filters or a quantum dot layer, so the panel simply cannot display the intense colours required by HDR. This is most evident in reds, which still look washed out. This limitation cannot be circumvented through menu settings, as it stems from the design of the backlighting and the panel itself.

Upscaling and digital image processing are a true showcase of the capabilities of the Bravia 8 II. Sony has long been regarded as a master in this field, and here it only confirms its reputation. The proprietary XR processor can extract nearly the maximum from lower resolution materials – whether it's TV or an old movie from a DVD, the image appears clearer, with more detail and better depth. Sure, if we feed it exceptionally poor-quality material (like our archival photo with the Model), it won't work miracles, but in everyday viewing, it’s hard to find fault.

The gentle gradation feature also performs excellently. In the “Medium” setting, it effectively smooths tonal transitions, eliminating stripes on colourful and grey gradients, while not destroying film grain or fine image details. It’s this balance between delicacy and effectiveness that keeps Sony TVs among the best on the market in this category.

The PUS7000 handles digital image processing quite well. The distortion reduction feature deserves praise, as it effectively smooths unwanted tonal transitions even at a low setting. However, it has its downside: with too aggressive operation, it can introduce undesirable artifacts on the screen. It would be a good idea to experiment with this setting to find the golden mean between a smooth image and the clarity of details.

The upscaling, or enhancing the quality of lower materials to 4K, is decent. The image after processing is very "soft," which is typical of almost all Philips TVs. The edges are plastic and smooth, making the image look cohesive. If someone finds it too soft, it can always be adjusted with the sharpness slider in the menu for a more pronounced effect.

Motion fluidity is practically a closed topic in the case of the Bravia 8 II. The OLED with 120 Hz refresh rate naturally provides a very clean, clear image in dynamic scenes, so it's hard to complain about anything here. However, one of the best smoothing systems on the market deserves particular praise. They allow for precise adjustment of movie fluidity to personal preferences – from gentle smoothing to an almost "theatrical" effect – without the risk of artificial jumps, image tearing, or annoying artifacts. It's one of those features that will be appreciated both during movie screenings and while watching sports.

In this regard, we actually have no good news. It might seem that the biggest downside is the lack of a 120 Hz panel, but in this price range, that's actually the norm, and it's hard to expect more. However, the worst part is that the television has no motion smoothing features. There are no supporting systems in place for either movies or sports. We have to come to terms with the fact that the image on the PUS7000 is processed "raw." This means that during dynamic scenes or fast camera movements, motion can appear choppy or unclear. We have no option to enable any smoothers that could alleviate this effect.

Sony has really done its homework from previous years and in the Bravia 8 II, it has prepared a package of features for gamers that is hard to describe as anything other than "almost perfect". We have everything you’d expect from equipment of this class – VRR, ALLM, Dolby Vision Gaming mode, HGiG, and even a handy Game Bar that allows you to quickly check parameters and change settings without leaving the game. It's also worth noting how smoothly and seamlessly these features work – no delays, no strange stutter. You simply turn on the game and everything looks as it should. Unfortunately, there are a few "buts". The manufacturer still provides us with only two full bandwidth HDMI ports, so if someone has a console, a PC, and another device like a Soundbar connected via eARC, the fun begins with plugging and unplugging cables. It's also surprising that there's no support for 1440p at 120 Hz – particularly important for Xbox gamers. Overall though – this is one of those TVs that can comfortably be placed in the centre of a gaming lounge and enjoyed without major compromises.

Even though the PUS7000 isn’t marketed as a gaming TV, it doesn't perform as poorly in this category as one might expect. True, it doesn't support 120 Hz refresh rates, which is understandable at this price point, but the manufacturer has included several important features that significantly improve the console gaming experience. The most important of these are VRR and ALLM technologies. VRR is responsible for synchronising the screen with the number of frames generated by the console. This means the image doesn't "tear" and remains consistent even during sudden drops in frame rates while playing. On the other hand, ALLM is a solution that automatically switches the TV to a mode with the lowest latency immediately after detecting a signal from the console. All these parameters are easily accessible thanks to the Game Bar feature. This is a special control panel for gamers that can be brought up on the screen at any time. It allows for a quick view of current settings and connection status without interrupting gameplay, which is a very convenient solution.