Philips PUS7000 vs Haier M90E

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

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%.

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, after connecting the calibration equipment, its biggest flaw came to light. The PUS7000 has significant shortcomings in displaying red. Poorly tuned white balance and overly low saturation of this colour cause the image to appear too cool. As a result, one may get the impression that the displayed content is simply lacking in 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 may appear somewhat washed out. Fortunately, in the Philips menu, we find quite a few functions to improve these aspects, so we immediately proceeded to calibration to see what could be squeezed out of this screen.

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.

After professional calibration, it is evident that the PUS7000 responds well to image adjustments. In this price range, this is not at all a given. The effects should be evaluated in two scenarios, depending on what content we plan to watch. SDR performs the best. After our adjustments, the picture looks really good. Most colour errors have fallen below level 3, which is the threshold at which distortions usually begin to be visible to the naked eye in measurements. Films, series, sports, and regular television look natural, without unpleasant deviations. If someone mainly watches classic channels or streams in HD quality, the difference after calibration will be noticeable immediately. However, it must be clearly stated that the PUS7000 is still not a television suited for reasonable HDR, and calibration changes very little in this regard. The reason lies in the hardware: the colours remain too unsaturated. The television lacks solutions to expand 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 apparent in reds, which still look pale. This limitation cannot be bypassed with menu settings, as it stems from the design of the backlighting and the panel itself.

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.

The PUS7000 handles digital image processing quite well. The distortion reduction feature deserves praise, as it effectively smooths out unwanted tonal transitions even at low settings. However, it has a drawback: if applied too aggressively, it can introduce undesirable artifacts on the screen. Therefore, it would be a good idea to experiment with this setting to find a happy medium between a smooth image and detail clarity.

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

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.

In this respect, 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 is actually the norm, and it is hard to expect anything more. However, the worst part is that the television does not have any features to improve motion smoothness. There is a lack of any supporting systems, both in films and in sports. We must 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, the motion can appear choppy or unclear. We do not have the option to enable any smoothers that would reduce this effect.

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.

Although the PUS7000 is not marketed as a gaming television, it does not perform as poorly in this category as one might expect. While it is true that we won’t find support for 120 Hz refresh rates, which is understandable at this price point, the manufacturer has ensured several important features that genuinely enhance the gaming experience on consoles. The most important of these are the VRR and ALLM technologies. VRR is responsible for synchronising the screen with the number of frames generated by the console. This prevents the image from tearing and keeps it consistent even during sudden drops in frame rate while gaming. In contrast, ALLM is a solution that automatically switches the television to the lowest latency mode as soon as it detects 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 summoned on screen at any time. It allows for a quick preview of the current settings and connection status without interrupting gameplay, which is a very convenient solution.

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.