Hisense U6NQ vs Blaupunkt UGC5500S

Hisense U6NQ offers a stable HDR effect, which is a rarity in TVs with local dimming. On most streaming platforms, in films and series recorded in 4K, the television delivers consistent performance – in every tested scene, regardless of difficulty, the brightness is around 450 nits. This is a pleasant surprise, as in many models of this class, there are notable differences – some scenes are well-lit, while others are heavily dimmed by dimming algorithms. However, the Hisense U6NQ prioritises maintaining higher brightness, which comes at the expense of black levels, as mentioned in the contrast test paragraph.

The HDR effect on the U6NQ is satisfactory, offering a noticeable "burst" of light in bright moments, although it is worth noting the previously mentioned blooming, which may be visible in more challenging scenes. In terms of colours, the television also performs decently – the coverage of the DCI-P3 palette is 89%, and BT.2020 is 71%. Although these are not results that would impress more demanding users, for beginners in the world of high-quality materials, the U6NQ serves as a solid choice. Therefore, it presents an interesting proposition as an "entry-level" television for home cinema.

Here, too, we will not mince words – if you are looking for a television strictly for cinematic experiences in HDR, you have come to the wrong place. The Blaupunkt UGC5500S is unfortunately not a machine designed for such challenges. This is primarily due to its very low brightness, which we measured during our tests. A result of around 250 nits on film scenes speaks for itself. It is simply too little to even talk about any real HDR effect. Quite frankly, everything displayed here in this format can be confidently regarded as a somewhat “enhanced” SDR mode. We expected this, as virtually every device in this price range falters in this area, but we feel obliged to warn you about it. Manufacturers love to boast about HDR compatibility with stickers on their boxes, but in reality, this format simply does not exist here – it lacks the “fuel” of brightness.

The situation is particularly difficult for Blaupunkt, as we are dealing with a panel that has a very basic coverage of the DCI-P3 colour palette, reaching only about 80%. You will not find any advanced coatings to extend these capabilities (such as quantum dots), which means that scenes that should ideally burst with richly saturated colours appear simply under-saturated on this screen. Therefore, we have a specific piece of advice for you: do not force the HDR mode on this model. If you have the option in the streaming app settings – simply turn it off. By sticking to the classic SDR mode, you can be sure that the television will not attempt to “enhance” something that it cannot handle hardware-wise.

Hisense U6NQ in Filmmaker mode offers really decent colour reproduction, although it's worth noting that differences between individual units can be noticeable. The model we tested was pleasantly surprising, especially with HD content in SDR quality. The white balance was correct here, and errors around 3–4 ΔE should be acceptable for the average viewer. The television performed slightly worse with colour reproduction in 4K HDR materials. The dominance of blue shades led to unnatural cool tones on the Colour Checker chart, giving the image a "store-bought" character. Combined with issues in brightness characteristics – gamma and EOTF curve caused some parts of the image to be too dark – the Filmmaker mode loses some of its credibility in this case. Although the factory settings of the tested unit deserve praise, especially in SDR, there were still minor shortcomings that would require correction to fully exploit the capabilities of the television.

We also took a close look at how Blaupunkt handles colours in movie mode, and here the matter is, in short, twofold. Once again, we need to clearly separate what we see in standard SDR format from what happens when HDR is turned on, as these are two entirely different worlds. Let’s start with the better side of the coin. If you plan to watch classic television, YouTube, or older films on this television, you can count on really reasonably well-tuned colours. In our test unit, the white balance in movie mode performed exceptionally well, which honestly surprised us. Of course, to avoid being overly optimistic, we did notice some shortcomings. Looking at the gamma charts, we observed that the processor struggles with appropriately dimming the image in its brightest areas. Additionally, there is quite a strong, at times excessively aggressive red saturation, which resulted in visible errors in reproducing certain shades. Nevertheless, in general terms, the image in SDR is simply solid and can be watched without a grimace on one’s face. Unfortunately, the charm disappears the moment we again enter the HDR world. Here, Blaupunkt behaves as if we suddenly switched it to shop mode, and in its worst version. The excess blue in the white balance is so significant that it is almost blinding, ruining any realism of the scene. Moreover, the television interprets brightness very loosely, which, when analysing the EOTF curve, clearly showed that for most of the time, the colours appear simply washed out and lacking in depth. This is, by the way, perfectly visible through the colour errors that become evident in this mode. Once again, we are left with the same conclusion: Blaupunkt in SDR mode looks significantly better and more natural than in HDR, which feels forced and lacking appropriate refinement.

Although the factory settings of the Filmmaker mode on the Hisense U6NQ were quite good, we decided to carry out a calibration to fully assess the capabilities of this model. Only after such an adjustment can one see how the television performs under ideal conditions. In the case of SDR content, which was already at a high level, we managed to further improve the white balance. However, the most significant change came from correcting the brightness characteristics – the gamma was optimised and no longer causes excessive dimming of the image, which improves its naturalness.

For 4K HDR content, the calibration also produced positive effects. We eliminated the blue dominance issue, resulting in a more balanced and natural image. However, managing brightness in HDR materials remains a more complex matter. The EOTF curve, while having problems with dimming the image in the 10–30% brightness range in laboratory conditions, reveals other shortcomings in real scenes. The television tends to excessively brighten the smallest elements on the screen. As a result, this leads to visible halo effects around bright objects. This phenomenon, which we mentioned earlier in the context of contrast and HDR, arises from the technological limitations of the particular model and is often difficult to eliminate.

In short: although the Filmmaker mode with factory settings performed decently, calibration allowed us to extract an even better effect – minor adjustments resulted in a more balanced image, especially in HDR content. For users seeking the highest quality picture, calibration will be a beneficial step.

It may sound like a joke – pulling out professional measuring equipment for a television costing around a thousand złotys / 250 dollars, but we wouldn’t be ourselves if we didn’t check it out. The question is: does such cheap equipment give us any room for manoeuvre when it comes to calibration? To your surprise, the answer is: yes, and very much so. In the Blaupunkt UGC5500S menu, we found surprisingly many options that allowed us to really work on the picture. These are not just empty sliders; they are specific tools that we could utilise using our measuring sensors and software. In SDR mode, the effects were visible to the naked eye. We successfully eliminated the problem we mentioned earlier – that excessive, almost artificial red saturation. We also fixed the issue of improper dimming in the brightest parts of the image. After calibration, the standard format image became significantly more balanced and simply correct. When it came to HDR, the situation was again more complicated. While we managed to 'tame' that aggressive blue tint in the white balance, it was clear that we were fighting somewhat in vain. Even after adjusting the settings, the television still tried to interfere with the image in its own way, as if the electronics knew better than us how the scene should look. Additionally, there is a hardware barrier that no slider can overcome – colours in HDR still remain under-saturated. This is simply due to the quality of the panel itself; it physically cannot produce the most vibrant colours. To sum up this topic: if any of you ask whether it is possible to calibrate a television for a 'thousand', we answer with full conviction: it is possible.

With high-quality materials, such as 4K, tonal transitions on U6NQ look really good – the colours blend nicely, and the image is coherent. Unfortunately, when we move to content in lower resolutions, the television does not offer any additional features that could improve this aspect. An example is the test with the light bulb, where it is clearly visible that the television has a problem with rendering subtle tonal transitions.

However, digital processing performs quite well. The image looks pliable, is pleasantly soft, and free from excessive banding. Moreover, thanks to the sharpness settings, it can be adjusted according to personal preferences – whether towards a softer or sharper image. Overall, although scaling lower quality materials could be better, the television handles image processing effectively.

If you expect the processor in this model to magically "fix" the poor-quality signal from cable TV or old films from YouTube, we must disappoint you. The capabilities of this television end at absolutely basic upscaling, which is simply stretching the image to a higher resolution. It does this adequately in that the image is not blurry, but there's no mention of any intelligent sharpening or adding details here. Worse still, Blaupunkt is completely devoid of any features for reducing unwanted tonal transitions. If the material being watched has what is known as banding (that is, ugly "steps" instead of a smooth transition of colours, e.g., in the sky), this television will display it in all its glory. Additionally, the television has a tendency to slightly crop the edges of the image. Instead of displaying 100% of what the source sends, Blaupunkt slightly enlarges the frame, causing us to lose details at the very edges of the screen. In summary: in the category of digital "enhancing" of images, Blaupunkt simply performs poorly. We receive a raw, unprocessed signal, with all its flaws.

Hisense U6NQ offers native 60 Hz refresh rate at 4K resolution, but the manufacturer has added a feature that allows the refresh rate to be increased to 120 Hz, at the cost of reducing the resolution to Full HD. This solution, which we have seen before in TCL televisions, such as the C655 or C655 PRO. This gives the user the choice – higher motion fluidity or full resolution. This is a sensible approach, especially considering that many games on next-generation consoles do not achieve full performance in 4K at 120 Hz.

As for movies, the television is equipped with a motion smoothing feature that allows you to adjust the motion characteristics to your own preferences. This allows for a more cinematic effect or increased fluidity in dynamic scenes. Overall, Hisense U6NQ offers reasonable solutions in terms of motion fluidity that should satisfy both gamers and movie enthusiasts.

When it comes to motion fluidity, Blaupunkt has nothing to defend itself with. A 60 Hz panel at this price is standard, so none of us were expecting an impeccably sharp image in fast action scenes or during a match. However, the biggest drawback of this model is that you won't find any digital motion smoothers in the menu. The manufacturer has not given us any room for manoeuvre – nothing can be smoothed out or adjusted to our personal preferences. The image is always "raw," and we receive it exactly as the source transmits it. For fans of cinematic "jumping" of the image, this might be good, but the rest of us simply have to get used to the lack of any motion enhancement.

Hisense U6NQ offers the option to choose between 4K at 60 Hz and Full HD with a refresh rate of 120 Hz. This solution may appeal to gamers who want to decide what is more important to them – higher resolution or smoothness. The television supports features such as ALLM and VRR, which help in achieving smoother gameplay. A nice addition is the GameBar – an easy-to-use panel that allows you to quickly change picture settings and check statistics. There is also a Dolby Vision Game mode, which operates with low input lag, which is a big plus for console enthusiasts. Unfortunately, it lacks HGiG, which could further enhance HDR quality in games. Nevertheless, the Hisense U6NQ performs quite well as a gaming television, especially for those who play occasionally and do not require the highest refresh rates in 4K. It is a solid choice for less demanding users.

When it comes to gaming on the Blaupunkt, we weren't expecting miracles, and indeed – the list of features is not very long. However, there are two interesting points worth mentioning, as they might be significant for some of you at this price. The first plus is that the TV quickly detects the connected console. Thanks to the ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode) feature, the device knows when you start gaming and automatically switches to low-latency mode. This is convenient because you don't have to fiddle with settings each time to prevent input lag from ruining the fun. The second point is a genuine surprise that caught us off guard. Although it has a 60 Hz panel, the Blaupunkt can display images at 120 Hz at Full HD resolution. Sure, you lose the details of 4K, but for those playing more dynamic, online shooters where smoothness is more important than resolution, this is a really nice and unexpected addition in such an inexpensive device. Besides these two points, you won't find anything more here. There are no advanced smoothness enhancement systems for gamers or extensive gaming menu bars. This is a simple screen for occasional gaming.