Philips PUS8359 (IPS) vs Sony BRAVIA 2 II (S25M2)

The quality of the HDR effect on the Philips PUS8359/12 TV is also not impressive. The brightness level of 280 nits is too low, resembling standard SDR more than true HDR, which is clearly visible on the five tested test patterns. Additionally, the television does not excel in terms of colour gamut coverage – a mere 76% of DCI-P3 is a result that can be considered poor, especially compared to other models in a similar price range.

The Sony Bravia 2 II is not a very bright TV and unfortunately that is immediately apparent in HDR. In our measurements brightness stayed around 300 to 330 nits, which is clearly too low for the brightest parts of the image to look truly impressive. In practice, HDR here does not differ that much from standard SDR. Bright highlights, the sun or lamps are of course visible, but they lack the intensity you would expect from HDR material. The Bravia 2 II therefore performs much better with standard SDR content, and in that use its limited brightness will be least noticeable.

Colour gamut coverage

The Sony Bravia 2 II is also not impressive in terms of colour. The TV does not use any additional gamut‑expanding filter, such as the quantum dots found in QLED TVs or a PFS phosphor layer. In our measurements coverage of the DCI‑P3 gamut was about 78%, and the very wide BT.2020 roughly 57%. That's definitely too little to talk about truly saturated colours in HDR material. More intense reds, greens or turquoises will simply be less striking than on TVs with an expanded colour gamut. The Bravia 2 II therefore performs much better in the Rec.709 standard, the gamut used for films, series and television in SDR.

The most faithful factory mode in terms of compliance with the source material turned out to be "Film", which was used in our tests. Nevertheless, like other factory modes, it also had its flaws. In both SDR and HDR materials, we noticed issues with white balance, where the dominance of green and red resulted in a yellowish tint. This effect was particularly noticeable in the form of yellowed whites and unnatural skin tones. The "ColourChecker" palette test showed that every colour had shifted to warmer tones, affecting colour reproduction accuracy. A key aspect of the image is also contrast and brightness, which can be assessed by analysing gamma charts and the EOTF curve. On the gamma chart, we noticed significant deviations – both excessively high values, which caused loss of detail in the shadows, and excessively low values, which led to a drastic drop in contrast. Compared to gamma, the EOTF curve performed better, only slightly brightening the image, which had a less negative impact on overall quality.

The out-of-the-box colour reproduction in Cinema mode was actually quite good, at least for ordinary SDR material. The Bravia 2 II had a slight tendency to boost reds, so some colours shifted to slightly warmer, at times faintly pinkish, tones. However, this wasn’t a major fault and during normal viewing the picture still looked fairly natural. There was a bit more happening with image brightness. Looking at the gamma curve, you can see Sony doesn’t stick perfectly to the reference value. The darkest areas are slightly lifted, while as brightness increases the gamma gradually rises and a larger part of the picture becomes darker than it should. That said, it’s not such a large difference as to be very distracting in everyday viewing. Overall, SDR straight out of the box performs quite respectably.

The situation is considerably worse in HDR. We’ve already mentioned the limited colour gamut, but in addition the Bravia 2 II noticeably manipulates image brightness here. The EOTF curve sits below the reference value for a large part of its range, which means the TV renders most mid and brighter parts of a scene darker than the source material intends. Only towards the very end of the range does the curve flatten out, as the panel reaches the limits of its capabilities. Combined with a peak brightness of around 300 nits, this results in HDR that not only lacks much brightness, but can also simply look too dark.

Philips, both in its cheaper and more expensive models, offers a wide range of tools for image calibration. We used them to improve the quality of the displayed image, although it was not as straightforward as it might seem. We managed to adjust the white balance, improve the gamma, and fine-tune the EOTF curve, but despite these efforts, the deltaE errors were still at a very high level. The main causes were limited coverage of the DCI-P3 palette and low maximum brightness, which significantly affected the final result. Although the overall presentation is much better, the design features of the television did not allow us to achieve spectacular results.

Calibration did a lot for the Bravia 2 II, particularly with SDR content. Above all, we managed to even out the white balance and tidy up the gamma, which now follows the reference value much more closely. As a result, the image no longer has the previous pink cast, and the brightness across different areas is much better organised. You can also see this in the colour errors, which after calibration fell to a very low level (with slight issues in the most saturated reds). We also partially managed to rein in the Bravia 2 II in HDR, especially in the way the television handles image brightness. However, there is one thing no calibration can fix: the capabilities of the panel itself. A narrow colour gamut means the television is physically unable to reproduce the most saturated colours present in HDR material. On top of that, the low contrast of the IPS panel means darker scenes are veiled by a grey haze, which robs colours of some of their depth. So we can improve how the Bravia 2 II makes use of its capabilities, but unfortunately we cannot overcome the panel's inherent limitations.

In this paragraph, we will take a look at two functionalities. Once again, we will examine the feature responsible for tonal transitions, but we will also check how the television handles image scaling. The option responsible for smooth gradation is called "Distortion Reduction". As we have established, it quite effectively smooths out irregularities. However, we must point out two things: we are unable to enable it for HDR materials, and that it blurs details in films.

The tested television cannot boast the best image scaling. The overall blurriness of the image is quite noticeable, but worse still, it blurs details. This is particularly evident on the branches and the model's hair. A characteristic white halo around the figures is also visible.

The upscaling on the Bravii 2 II is quite good and, in that respect, the TV matches the standard Sony has set. Lower-resolution content is sensibly upscaled to 4K, and the image is slightly smoothed in the process without excessive edge sharpening. The situation is worse when it comes to improving footage with visible compression artefacts. This is handled by the "Digital Noise Reduction" function, which at the "High" setting can indeed smooth out some unpleasant tonal banding. The problem is that it does this rather aggressively and, along with the imperfections, it also removes a lot of fine detail, including natural film grain. What is more, when there is more motion on screen its effectiveness drops sharply and any improvement is then minimal. For everyday use we therefore tended not to use this function.

Philips PUS8359 is not the best choice for watching sport. The lack of even basic motion smoothing functionality means that the image during fast-moving scenes is not adequately clear. Despite the use of an IPS panel (43 and 55'), which theoretically should offer better sharpness than VA panel variants, there is no noticeable improvement regarding blurring. In pictures with fast movement, the figure of the alien is clearly blurry, indicating that the television struggles to maintain sharpness in dynamic shots.

Bravia 2 II uses a 60 Hz panel and, given its capabilities, handles motion quite well. However, bear in mind that it is a basic panel and its limitations are already clearly visible, especially during sports. The TV cannot interpolate 50/60 fps material to a higher refresh rate, so it cannot further improve the sharpness of fast-moving objects. For films and series, however, it offers a conventional motion smoothing feature that can reduce the characteristic judder of material shot at 24 fps.

In terms of compatibility with consoles, Philips PUS8359 is mainly suited for occasional gamers. Although the television is equipped with an HDMI 2.0 port, it offers features such as Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM), Variable Refresh Rate (VRR), and Game Bar. ALLM automatically switches the television to low latency mode, making quicker reactions easier during gameplay, while VRR smoothly adjusts the refresh rate, eliminating screen tearing issues. The Game Bar provides quick access to game settings and real-time monitoring of parameters; however, in our opinion, it performs worse compared to the competition's solutions.

However, more demanding gamers may feel unsatisfied. Philips PUS8359 does not support advanced HDR formats in games or higher refresh rates, which is due to the use of a 60 Hz panel. These shortcomings limit the television's capabilities in delivering smooth and detailed experiences during fast, dynamic gameplay.

The Bravia 2 II is not a television that lends itself well to gaming, and the list of features shows that quite quickly. You essentially only get the automatic low-latency mode ALLM and a simple Game Bar that lets you view basic signal information and change a few settings. But that is where the list of strengths ends. The TV does not support VRR or 120 Hz (not even at lower resolutions), and on top of that it has problems with a proper implementation of the HDR HGIG format. It is suitable for occasional console gaming, and thanks to low input lag controls remain responsive, but if someone is looking for a TV primarily for games, the Bravia 2 II will simply be a rather limited choice.