Haier M90E vs Hisense U7S Pro

Haier M90E is a television that does not lack brightness. In most film scenes, the peak luminance exceeds 1000 nits, which gives the image a distinct 'kick' and high dynamics. It performs really well in typical bright HDR materials. However, one must take into account the aforementioned dimming algorithm. In scenes that are not uniformly bathed in light – for example, when displaying single stars on a black sky – the high brightness highlights imperfections in zone control. Instead of a precise point of light, we often see a pronounced halo effect around bright objects. Despite these shortcomings, the overall image presentation can be pleasing, largely due to the colour reproduction. The manufacturer used a phosphor PFS coating, which allows for a wide coverage of the colour palette. In our measurements, the coverage of the DCI-P3 space reached a solid 95%.

Let's start with the fact that the U7S Pro is an impressively bright television. In calibrated mode our measurement equipment indicated a staggering 2,200 nits of peak brightness. This is an outstanding result, especially given that this model is positioned more as a mid-range set. However, as we know, peak brightness on test patterns is one thing and real film scenes another. Unfortunately, in actual video material the backlight output drops noticeably. Admittedly, in the most demanding moments the TV can still exceed 1,000 nits, which is still a great result and fits the mastering standards of most HDR films, but aggressively tuned local dimming algorithms turn out to be the real challenge. Because of them, small bright details, such as stars or the moon in a night sky, are noticeably dimmed. The TV tries to maintain deep blacks at all costs, which is understandable, but unfortunately this comes at the expense of the dynamic impact and the brightness of the HDR effect. The 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 'true' QLED rather than a solution based on a PFS filter. As a result, colour saturation has increased noticeably and coverage of the most demanding BT.2020 colour space has exceeded 81%.

For the measurements, we selected the Film mode, which is supposed to offer an image closest to the creators' intentions. Unfortunately, in the case of the M90E, its characteristics – apart from the reduced brightness – differ little from the Dynamic mode. Both in SDR and HDR materials, the image is distinctly tinged with a cool blue hue. The white balance is heavily skewed towards blue, which resembles typical, aggressive 'store' settings. This results in an unnatural representation of skin tones and makes the image fatiguing to the eyes over extended viewing periods. The management of brightness also negatively impacts colour fidelity. The television struggles to maintain proper levels – small details are often too dim, while larger, bright areas of the image suffer from clipping. These deviations in the brightness curve, combined with the cool white balance, lead to very significant colour reproduction errors (DeltaE) in the factory settings.

We tested the U7S Pro, as we always do, in the best factory-calibrated picture mode, namely Filmmaker Mode. The colours on display can be judged in two ways. The most disappointing was the preset intended for viewing SDR content, that is conventional television, YouTube and other less demanding material. The image there was noticeably yellowish, which turned out to be a direct consequence of an incorrectly set white balance. As our graphs show, this was due to a large 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 gamut plots themselves, where most samples shifted towards yellow. Fortunately the factory HDR mode performed much better; there the colour errors hovered around a Delta E of 3, which is already a very solid result.

Haier M90E clearly benefits from professional calibration, particularly with SDR content. The television's menu offers a sufficient number of tools to effectively correct factory errors. We managed to 'tame' the white balance and eliminate the dominant blue tint. We also corrected, though to a lesser extent, the brightness curve (gamma), which allowed us to recover some detail in the shadows that were too heavily dimmed out of the box. The final effect in SDR is a picture that is significantly more natural and pleasant to watch. In HDR mode, the success is only partial. Although we were able to improve the white balance here as well, colour reproduction errors (Color Checker) remained at a high level. Analysis of the EOTF curve (responsible for brightness in HDR) indicates the cause of the problem: the television imposes its own interpretation of the signal and does not provide tools for modifying this curve. The source of the high errors is not the calibration itself, but the specific characteristics of the device – aggressive and imprecise zone dimming interferes with measurements and is 'firmly' embedded in the characteristics of this model.

We know, however, that the company Hisense is capable of much more – as previous generations have demonstrated – which is why we couldn't simply overlook the factory shortcomings of the U7S Pro model in everyday content. As is often the case, the television underwent professional calibration. The conclusions? This process brought about a colossal change. After manually adjusting the white balance and supplementing the deficiencies in the blue component, the annoying yellow tint disappeared as if by magic. White became naturally pure, and skin tones gained the appropriate, healthy hue. Importantly, calibration not only tamed the capricious SDR mode but also allowed us to extract the maximum potential from the panel, reducing average colour reproduction errors to levels nearly imperceptible to the human eye. The only thing we must criticise after the whole process is the very nature of the Mini-LED backlight 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 backlight does not always work perfectly with the creator's intention – depending on the scene being viewed, the curve can noticeably deviate either above or below the reference, which at times disrupts the ideal dynamics of HDR imagery.

The evaluation of the image processor must be divided into two separate aspects, as the Haier M90E behaves inconsistently here. The first issue is the upscaling itself, that is, scaling lower resolution content to 4K. In this task, the television performs quite decently. The algorithms effectively enhance detail, resulting in a relatively sharp, clear, and legible final image. In this regard, it is hard to have major objections to the device.

The situation is completely different with materials that have a high degree of compression, as encountered in older recordings or on platforms like YouTube with lower bitrate. Here, the processor "struggles" with smoothing tonal transitions and masking imperfections in the source. The television fails to hide compression blocks, resulting in a very harsh, "digital" character of the image. The lack of effective artifact reduction can severely discourage viewing lower quality content on this screen.

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

The Haier M90E is equipped with a simple yet functional motion smoothing system (MEMC). In the settings menu, the user will find a three-level adjustment scale: low, medium, and high. This allows for the adjustment of the degree of intervention in the image to one’s own preferences – from gentle smoothing of 24p films to maximum fluidity (the soap opera effect). The system operates stably and fulfills its purpose in typical applications.

Hisense U7S Pro uses a panel with a maximum refresh rate of 165 Hz at 4K, and in game mode it can even reach 330 Hz at Full HD. However, it's worth remembering that these top figures matter little in everyday use, because most content is limited to a maximum of 120 Hz (for example when playing on a console). Even so, the TV handles motion quite well and performs very respectably for an LCD design.

It's hard to fault the smoothness itself. In the menu you'll find a motion smoothing feature called "Motion Enhancement", which hides two sliders: blur reduction and judder reduction. These allow manual configuration of the smoother, which works well for both films and sport, effectively improving the raw TV signal.

From a hardware perspective, the Haier M90E is a solid proposition. The television is equipped with two full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 ports, which supports key technologies: VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) and ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode). It is also worth noting the proper implementation of the Dolby Vision mode for gaming, which maintains a relatively low input lag. Problems arise with the software configuration. The biggest drawback is the forced, continuous dynamic tone mapping by the television’s processor. This prevents correct HDR calibration from the console using system test patterns (HGiG) – the television ignores source settings and processes the image on its own terms. We also noted shortcomings in the interface: the M90E does not have a typical "Game Bar" (overlay with parameters), which is standard among competitors. Collaboration with Xbox consoles proved problematic with unusual parameters – the device struggles to correctly display a resolution of 1440p at a refresh rate of 120 Hz. Despite the aforementioned software shortcomings, the Haier M90E remains a very appealing screen for gamers. The overall reception is saved by the solid hardware base. The native refresh rate of 144 Hz and the presence of full-fledged HDMI 2.1 ports are advantages that are crucial for everyday use. If we are looking for a television that ensures high fluidity and supports 4K signal, this model will fulfil its task.

If you plan to connect a console or PC to the U7S Pro, you'll be more than satisfied. This TV is excellent for gamers. Hisense didn't spare any expense and fitted it with four HDMI 2.1 ports with full 48 Gbps bandwidth, so you don't need to juggle cables, as each port supports the full feature set. It offers automatic low-latency mode (ALLM) and VRR, which operates across a wide range from 48 Hz up to a whopping 330 Hz. Of course, that 330 Hz is for now a bit of a gimmick for owners of powerful PCs, since consoles will still be limited to 120 Hz, but it's good to have that headroom for the future. The Game Bar is also very useful while gaming. It's a handy on-screen menu for players where, without leaving the main TV settings, you can quickly change picture mode, enable a crosshair in the centre of the screen, or even switch to an ultra-wide display aspect, which PC simulator fans will appreciate. The only drawback to be aware of is an incorrect implementation of the HGiG standard in games. The TV ignores the console's HDR10 instructions and keeps forcefully altering the image in an attempt to "improve" it, which makes proper HDR setup in the console menu (where you set brightness using the symbols/checkerboard pattern) somewhat more awkward.