Philips PUS8359 (VA) vs Hisense E7Q PRO / E79Q PRO

Philips PUS8359 did not impress us with its results in HDR materials. This model is capable of generating a maximum brightness of 320 nits, and often even less. Such results, combined with a lack of support for HDR Dolby Vision, mean that the image will be significantly darker compared to the source material. Therefore, playing SDR materials will be more beneficial for this television. This is also suggested by the rather low coverage of the DCI-P3 colour gamut at 83%, which results in significant colour deficiencies. The fact remains that the television supports the HDR format based on dynamic metadata, although HDR10+ is such a niche format that it does not bring any significant advantages.

When it comes to the quality of the HDR effect, the E7Q PRO is unfortunately not a television that can impress with brightness alone. In real film materials, we measured around 250–300 nits, which is simply too little for HDR to look spectacular. There is a lack of that "spark" in bright details, highlights, and light effects, and in many HDR scenes, it can resemble good SDR more than true cinematic HDR. The consolation in all this is the colours. We managed to confirm that the E7Q PRO is a PFS-type television, meaning it has an additional filter that improves colour gamut coverage. As a result, even if the brightness does not deliver, the colours in HDR content can be appropriately saturated and pleasing to the eye, without the feeling of a "washed-out" image.

The best factory mode in terms of fidelity to the source material was "Film". This was the mode we used during our tests. Just like each of the factory modes in televisions, it had its shortcomings. We will check what exactly was wrong in both SDR and HDR materials. In both cases, the white balance showed excessive dominance of the green and red colour combination. This created a yellow tint that spread across the entire image, causing issues such as yellowed whites and problems with skin tones. This situation was perfectly illustrated on the "ColourChecker" palette, where each of the tested samples was pushed into its warmer counterparts. The foundation of the image is primarily contrast and black. These are represented by gamma charts and the EOTF curve. Looking at the first one, we can see a true rollercoaster, as we can observe both an elevated and a lowered gamma. The heavily elevated gamma caused visibility issues in blacks, while the lowered gamma led to a dramatic drop in contrast. In this context, the EOTF curve performed significantly better, only slightly brightening the image.

In terms of colour reproduction, we tested the Hisense E7Q Pro in Movie mode, which turned out to be the best built-in preset without a doubt. This mode, unlike the Eco, Standard or Dynamic settings, offers the most natural colours straight out of the box. Although no factory mode is completely free of flaws, the E7Q Pro deserves high praise for its colour rendering in standard SDR content. The colour palette is very well tuned here, and the errors in the Color Checker tests often did not exceed a value of 3, which is an outstanding result rarely seen in such affordable televisions. The only drawback we noted in SDR is the tendency to darken some elements of the image, as indicated by the slightly raised gamma graph. The television performs slightly worse with colours in HDR mode. Here, colour errors become noticeable to the naked eye, mainly due to a lack of blue in the white balance. This causes the colours on the screen to be too warm, and for some viewers, they may even seem “too cinematic.” Of course, to improve these parameters, we proceeded with professional calibration.

Philips offers a wide range of image calibration tools in both its more expensive and cheaper models. We utilised these tools and got to work, which was not as easy as many of you might think. While we were able to model the white balance, significantly improve the gamma, and refine the EOTF curve in both cases, the deltaE errors remained extremely high. There are several reasons for this situation, which are directly related to the low coverage of the DCI-P3 palette and the maximum brightness of the unit in HDR materials.

In the case of materials with a standard dynamic range (SDR), our actions in Filmmaker mode turned out to be largely cosmetic 😉. We mainly focused on a subtle adjustment of the white balance and equalising the gamma curve, which allowed us to recover details in the darker areas of the image that previously tended to get lost. However, it is worth noting that the E7Q Pro unit we tested was exceptionally well-made at the factory. We remind you that these parameters depend on the specific unit – with mass production, factory calibration can be random, so your unit may require slightly different intervention. The biggest beneficiary of professional calibration was undoubtedly HDR mode. This is where we did the most work, which brought spectacular results. We managed to effectively tame the excessive warmth of the image, caused by a factory deficiency in blue colour. After calibration, the colour errors were reduced to a significantly lower level, which will certainly please those who watch a lot of streaming content in HDR format, expecting faithful reproduction.

In this paragraph, we will take a look at two functionalities. We will once again examine the feature responsible for tonal transitions, but we will also check how the television performs with image scaling. The option responsible for smooth gradation is called "Distortion Reduction". As we have established, it quite effectively smooths out the inconsistencies. However, we must point out two things: we cannot enable it for HDR materials and that it blurs details in films.

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

When it comes to upscaling and digital image processing, the E7Q PRO deserves praise. The scaling performs really well and does not dramatically fall behind much more expensive, advanced televisions. Lower-quality materials can look clean and sensible, without the impression that the image is artificially "enhanced." However, the smoothing function presents a bit worse. Indeed, it can be effective and improve tonal transitions in poor quality materials, but at the same time, it can introduce undesirable effects. It sometimes removes grain or adds unwanted artefacts, giving the image a more "digital" character. Therefore, we mainly recommend it to those who prefer a smoother, less cinematic style of image.

Philips PUS8359 will not be the best television for sports. The reason for this is the lack of implementation of even the basic motion smoothing feature, which was to be expected given the price of the device. We also note that we are dealing with a VA panel, whose sharpness is not of the highest standard. This type of panel is mainly associated with high contrast, which goes hand in hand with quite a slow response time, as clearly indicated by the matrix analysis results. As you can see from the images captured in rapid motion, the picture is typically blurred for this type of panel. Although it may not be the ideal option, it can be used conditionally for watching sports; however, one must keep in mind the less than optimal sharpness in motion. It is worth mentioning that films will exhibit judder, as the television does not have any motion smoother, even the simplest one.

In the category of smearing and motion fluidity, the E7Q PRO has one very strong argument. At this price, Hisense has included a 120 Hz panel, and in PC mode, it can even operate at 144 Hz. This immediately provides greater possibilities in motion settings, as the menu offers more options for smoothing the image. Among other things, we have frame interpolation options, which allow us to adjust the fluidity for sports or films, depending on whether we prefer a more cinematic character or a "theatrical" smoothness.

It will not be a surprise if we write that Philips PUS8359/12 only offers the most basic support for consoles. Once the console is connected, we can count on features such as: VRR and ALLM. This is quite pleasing in the case of the former, as experience has shown that even in more expensive units there can be issues with this. A nice touch is the implementation of a special GameBar that allows for changing settings on the "fly," so we won't have to exit the game and unnecessarily distract ourselves. This feature also allows for adapting gameplay to the needs of people with disabilities, which will certainly be extremely useful.

The E7Q PRO is a phenomenal screen for gamers. Aside from the typical "ache" of Hisense, which is the lack of support for the HGiG format due to permanently active tone mapping, we get practically everything one can expect from a television that is to have a gaming label. There are two HDMI 2.1 ports, along with a full set of key features. We have variable refresh rates, automatic switching to game mode, and support for 4K at 120 Hz. Additionally, all the most important settings are at hand in a clear Game Bar. This tool not only looks modern but also has a typically "gaming" edge and truly makes life easier while gaming.