LG OLED G4 vs Hisense S7NQ CanvasTV

LG G4 guarantees an incredibly vivid HDR effect, placing the television among the very best. The equipment of the highest model in the producer's 2024 portfolio with the second generation of micro-lens technology (MLA) has achieved a maximum brightness level of 1474 nits in real scenes. The only area where the product from the Korean manufacturer may lag behind LCD televisions with Mini LED backlighting is during the full-screen scenes featuring a lot of white. If we disregard the latter type of scene, the average result would be even higher. It is also worth mentioning scenes with very fine details, where each one shines at full intensity, which is not as evident in non-OLED televisions. The combination of such brightness and wide coverage of the DCI-P3 palette makes HDR materials more engaging than ever before.

When it comes to the brightness of the television and how it handles bright elements while watching films, it is simply average – similar to the case with contrast. The average brightness level of the Hisense S7NQ is around 500 nits. This is a value that allows one to feel the beginnings of true HDR, but it is definitely too little to speak of remarkable effects. However, the television should be praised for its colour gamut coverage – films look very colourful and vibrant. Thanks to the use of PFS LED (QLED) coating, the device is capable of covering over 90% of the DCI-P3 colour palette and over 72% of the wider BT.2020 palette. For a television of this class – these are really very good results.

The best factory mode in terms of colour reproduction was "Filmmaker". This was the one we used during our tests. Let's check how its characteristics looked before the calibration process. Looking closely at the white balance first, we can notice a significant dominance of red and green. As a result, the image had a warm yellowish hue. Such characteristics are typically observed in "Cinema", "Filmmaker" or similarly named modes. The effect of this colour balance was clearly visible in both SDR and HDR content, which after switching from "Standard" mode appeared distinctly yellow. Now, let's move on to two graphs that are responsible for the brightness characteristics and consequently the contrast of the image. The first one (Gamma), representing materials with a standard colour palette, performed decently. For most of the time, midtones and bright whites were reproduced very accurately; however, it noticeably lost the darkest details, which merged into a black blob. Conversely, HDR materials, represented by the EOTF curve graph, exhibited a significant drop in contrast due to a strong boost in brightness. The colours themselves also posed a problem, as can be seen on the "ColorChecker" graph, since they were noticeably under-saturated.

Let's now check how the Hisense S7NQ CanvasTV performs in colour reproduction in the best factory mode, which is Filmmaker. Right from the start, it is clear that it is decidedly better than in dynamic or standard modes, but there are still a few things to nitpick. Regarding image quality from an HD signal, the colours are slightly inaccurate – there is a dominance of cooler shades of blue and a lack of red. This makes the image appear somewhat too cool.

A similar effect can also be observed with 4K content, but there it is much more noticeable. The excessive exposure of blue tones and the lack of red result in the image appearing distinctly cold. However, the biggest problem with this television is not the colours themselves but the way brightness is managed. The tested unit slightly boosted brightness compared to the reference value. While this results in better visibility of details, it comes at the cost of significantly brightened blacks – causing the entire image to seem more "flat".

A similar phenomenon was noticed in the 4K signal – the slightly elevated curve at the beginning of the EOTF chart shows that the television has a tendency to overexpose certain scenes. Fortunately, this effect can be improved with professional calibration, which we will discuss in the next point.

The manufacturer has implemented extensive support for the calibration process in its LG televisions for many years. We therefore used 2- and 20-point greyscale adjustments, as well as an advanced CMS (Colour Management System), and got to work. As you can see, thanks to the procedure carried out, each parameter has significantly improved. The use of tools allowed for the achievement of extremely beneficial effects, which include: studio colour reproduction, recovery of details in dark areas of the image, appropriate brightness characteristics, and suitable colour saturation. This brings us as close as possible to the reference image, which is what the film director saw on the preview monitor. It is worth noting that the LG G4 televisions alone allow for even deeper intervention in image quality thanks to the ability to calibrate with 3D LUTs. However, this is a solution recommended only for post-production or graphic studios.

The results we achieved after calibrating the Hisense S7NQ are really very good. Thanks to the calibration, we managed to eliminate the excessive exposure of blue tones and deficiencies in red with HD signal. A similar, albeit slightly weaker effect was also achieved with 4K HDR content. Managing brightness in HD material has also been improved – the television no longer has issues with brightening the image "across the board."

However, there are things that cannot be bypassed. The characteristic of the EOTF curve has practically not changed, and the lack of local dimming means that the smallest elements on the screen will always be slightly overexposed. One simply has to come to terms with this when choosing a television with a similar type of backlighting. Despite this, the final effect is very good and should fully satisfy the vast majority of users.

The tested television did not perform particularly well with materials rich in tonal transitions, as a result of which we could observe a strong posterisation effect. However, there is a partial remedy for this issue. The manufacturer has equipped the LG G4 with a smoothing system called "Gentle Gradation," which we can apply at three levels: Low, Medium, and High. Each of these options guarantees quite a high effectiveness of smoothing on light colours, although it is low on darker ones. We recommend primarily using the first one, as the other two interfere with the director's intentions by removing film grain.

When watching lower-quality materials, the efficiency of the television during upscaling is extremely important. The image from the tested television is sharp and clear. However, one should pay attention to the jagged edges of fine details and minor issues around characters, such as the creation of halo effects, which occurs due to the sharpening imposed by LG G4 even when the lowest value on the slider, that is 0, is set. It is worth noting that this represents a certain change compared to the LG G3, which did not impose such strong image sharpening, even when the appropriate slider was set to position 0.

Equally important is how the television handles tonal transitions on a poor signal – for example, in older films, television, or on YouTube. Unfortunately, despite the presence of the "Smooth and Gradient Picture" feature, which was supposedly meant to improve this aspect, its performance is truly poor. It's barely noticeable that it has any real impact on the visibility of colour transitions.

The image scaling is also lacking. Yes, it can be observed that the television tries to "enhance" the quality, but the end result is far from ideal. The image often appears slightly jagged, which is particularly noticeable in the example of tree branches in the background. Additionally, the Hisense S7NQ has a clear tendency to crop the image at lower resolutions, causing subtitles in news items or finer details in the image to be missed.

The maximum refresh rate that we can set on the LG G4 is 144 Hz. Naturally, this is only possible when the LG G4 is connected to a very powerful PC. Otherwise, we will operate at a maximum refresh rate of 120 Hz, which is recommended if we primarily want to watch sports or content with high motion dynamics. For those requiring high image fluidity, the manufacturer has implemented a multi-level motion smoother called "TrueMotion". This has been divided into two separate sliders that adjust the sharpness of moving images (De-Blur) and judder (De-Judder). Both sliders can be set in the range from 0 to 10, with each level affecting the degree of smoothness, allowing everyone to find their golden mean.

The LG OLED G4 panel features an average response time of 0.78 ms (as directly derived from our measurements), enabling an incredibly clear image, unattainable by LCD televisions, which can have response times of several milliseconds. This is perfectly illustrated by the images from the "UFO Test", which show no trailing blur behind the object. Moreover, the LG OLED G4 test revealed that the television offers the ability to precisely adjust the motion smoothing function, allowing users to select the ideal level of image interpolation. We particularly appreciated this during fast-paced actions in video games, where the LG G4 performed exceptionally well, minimising any blurring. Thanks to OLED technology, this model eliminates so-called ghosting, ensuring that the image remains sharp even in the most dynamic sporting or cinematic scenes.

When it comes to motion fluidity, the television performs remarkably well. Although the S7NQ was designed primarily for displaying static elements – such as images – the manufacturer has implemented a 144 Hz refresh rate matrix. As a result, sports and games look really good on it.

For materials that are not recorded at a high frame rate, the manufacturer has provided two features that allow you to adjust the picture to your own preferences. "Motion blur reduction" and "judder reduction" operate on a 10-point scale, allowing you to choose between a more cinematic image – with characteristic frame jumps – and a smooth effect reminiscent of a "soap opera". How to set this up? That’s a personal matter – we leave the decision to you.

The LG G4 television supports all the features that make up the HDMI 2.1 standard. During testing, each of them activated without the slightest problem, which allows us to consider the television as designed for gaming. Their functionality will surely be appreciated by both console users and those connecting the LG G4 to a computer. It is also worth mentioning the correct implementation of the HGIG (HDR Gaming Interest Group) mode, which ensures that games mastered to brightness levels exceeding the maximum luminance of the LG G4 will correctly map tones, and the game's visuals will remain true to the original.

A nice touch is the existence of a special GameBar, which we can call up at any moment to check game parameters, but most importantly, to change them quickly. More importantly, enabling VRR technology does not degrade contrast, which is very common in televisions that feature local dimming or Mini LED backlighting. Of course, this is thanks to the OLED panel itself, characterised by pixel self-emission. As a matter of editorial obligation, we will only mention a slight grey flicker, which is somewhat normal after enabling VRR.

In summary, the LG G4, like practically all OLED televisions, is an ideal product for all kinds of games and online competitions. With fully-fledged HDMI 2.1 connections with a full bandwidth of 48 Gbit, features such as VRR, ALLM, G-Sync, FreeSync, or gaming in HDR Dolby Vision will bring much joy.

Although the S7NQ is a "picture" type television, it can indeed be used for gaming. Really. Here you can find almost everything (except for the HGiG mode) that a modern gaming television needs. The 144 Hz panel and two full-fledged HDMI 2.1 ports allow for the hassle-free connection of two consoles, such as the PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X/S.

The television supports Automatic Low Latency Mode (ALLM) and Variable Refresh Rate (VRR), with no stuttering or issues. It also handles displaying high frame rates at lower resolutions without any trouble. Hisense deserves praise for a very attractive Game Bar – it displays all available picture options, and additionally, we have the ability to enlarge the minimap or turn on the crosshair (because sometimes someone might actually want to "aim" 😉).

The only missing element – as we mentioned earlier – is the lack of a proper implementation of the HGiG mode. It is specifically responsible for automatically adjusting the picture in games as the creators intended. It's a shame, because that’s the only thing preventing the Hisense S7NQ from being a full-fledged gaming "beast".