Philips PUS8500 vs PHILPS PUS9060

When it comes to the HDR effect on the PUS8560, it can fairly confidently be stated that it is very average. The panel brightness is around 350 nits, which we consider to be the absolute minimum for watching content in this format. However, this is not a result that will astonish a viewer searching for the best possible picture.

On the plus side, it is worth noting that the PUS8500 series – including the PUS8560/12 we tested – is advertised as a QLED television. And indeed, we can expect a wider colour spectrum here. This model is equipped with an additional filter (PFS), and a DCI-P3 colour coverage of around 90% should suffice for the majority of users. This filter works very similarly to quantum dots. As a result, the colours are quite well saturated. It is not an outstanding result, but it is entirely sufficient for watching films and series from streaming platforms.

The One is bright enough to enjoy films recorded in HDR format. The average brightness of this model is around 500 nits, so we can easily expect a pleasant viewing experience for films from streaming platforms. Of course – it could always be better, because when it comes to brightness, you can never have too much for this type of content. Unfortunately, a disappointing surprise may be the coverage of the DCI-P3 colour palette offered by the PUS9060. Although the manufacturer boasts about using a QLED filter here (in reality, it’s PFS LED), it's hard to speak of any positive effects from its operation. 85% coverage of the DCI-P3 palette is certainly not a level to be proud of in 2025 – particularly in a television advertised as QLED.

We tested the television with the best available factory settings, namely in Film/Filmmaker mode – this is the mode we recommend for everyday viewing. Unfortunately, it is not without its flaws. Both in HD and HDR content, the image had a noticeable tendency to a pink tint, caused by an excessive amount of red and blue in the white balance. Another issue turned out to be excessive brightness in the image, which was confirmed by both the gamma chart and the EOTF curve. This feature was responsible for loss of detail and washed-out colours in more challenging HDR scenes that we mentioned earlier. The overall result led to significant colour reproduction errors – in extreme cases, the delta E value exceeded 7, while the threshold for visible errors for the human eye is around 3. This situation can be improved with calibration, and you can read about its effects below.

We tested the PUS9060 in the best factory mode available – of course, we are referring to the movie mode. Unfortunately, the best in this case does not mean good. The image in this mode was distinctly yellowish and shifted towards orange tones. The white balance on this television was definitely too warm, giving the entire scene an artificial, somewhat “tanned” appearance. This led to significant colour errors, which in the worst cases exceeded a delta E value of 6 – thus they were visible to the naked eye. The situation was reversed in HDR mode, where the image became too blue and too cool in perception. Additionally, there was a slight increase in brightness – the gamma curve and EOTF suggested that the television slightly brightened the image, which was also evident in the comparative photo below.

The Dutch manufacturer offers quite a sizable amount of settings in its products, so as usual, we decided to tinker with them a bit. The effects are immediately noticeable – we managed to correct the white balance, which made the image stop appearing excessively pink. The brightness characteristic has also been partially evened out, of course, within the limits set by the television itself. The image is no longer overly exaggerated, and the overall reception after calibration is definitely better than in the factory settings of the Filmmaker mode.

One could only critique the EOTF curve characteristic, which still indicates that the image has a tendency to brighten HDR materials. Despite our efforts, the darkest parts of scenes are still sometimes too bright, and the brightest ones do not always achieve their full contrast potential. However, it must be clearly stated that we are dealing with a typically budget construction – one cannot expect reference-level reproduction of HDR content from it.

Calibration has definitely helped this model – it improved the balance, toned down the aggressive colour palette, and brought the image closer to what one might expect from a well-configured movie mode. However, there are certain limitations that cannot be overcome.

Thanks to calibration in film mode, we managed to completely eliminate the yellow-orange tint, which significantly improved the perception of the entire scene. The image has become much more visually pleasing, although it is still far from reference settings. It may now appear slightly bluish, but it is still a definite improvement compared to the factory settings.

Unfortunately, we were not able to significantly improve the brightness characteristics, but this is already a matter of the television's design - the absence of local dimming limits the ability to precisely manage brightness. The PUS9060 simply cannot dynamically adjust luminance as more advanced models do. Nevertheless, after calibration, the overall experience is much more enjoyable, especially with film material.

Philips PUS8560 offers a function for reducing posterization, hidden under the name "distortion reduction". And although it indeed fulfills its role by smoothing out problematic tonal transitions, it works a bit too broadly. In practice, it affects not only colourful gradients but also softens faces, the textures of clothing, and the surfaces of furniture. This compromises the authenticity of the image – especially in films where natural texture is very important. However, if someone is looking for smoothing at all costs, it's best to set this option to "Low". For cinema image enthusiasts – we definitely do not recommend it.

On the positive side, the quality of upscaling older materials is noteworthy – the PUS8560 model handles them surprisingly well. The image retains its natural softness, without artificially boosted sharpness. It is also worth mentioning that the television correctly displays content with very low resolution, avoiding issues with image edge cutting (so-called overscan).

In the PUS9060, we find yet another version of the image processor called by Philips the P5 Perfect Picture, which is designed to improve the image – especially the imperfect one. The television features a distortion reduction function, which serves to smooth tonal transitions, i.e., those "colour joins" we mentioned earlier. This function does this very effectively – there is no noticeable harsh gradation of colours, but unfortunately, it works so aggressively that it sometimes dulls desired elements, such as the textures of materials or film grain. So one can consider this a certain compromise. We would rather not recommend using this function for films, but for more casual content – e.g., YouTube or standard television – it is perfectly fine.

The P5 processor also aims to improve the quality of lower-resolution images and does so quite effectively. The test image with the model is very soft – sometimes overly so – but this can be easily adjusted with the sharpness slider to match personal preferences. It is also pleasing that the television does not cut off edges in SD materials – which unfortunately still occurs in some TV models.

The Philips PUS8560 is a television equipped with a panel featuring a refresh rate of 60 Hz, which immediately limits its capabilities in terms of displaying dynamic content. Watching sports or playing on a console is not particularly enjoyable. The situation is further worsened by the lack of any option to improve the smoothness of films. In the menu, we won't find settings that would allow us to enable a motion smoother or even a slight motion smoothing for films recorded at 24 frames per second. You can imagine the effect. The image can appear jerky, especially in shots with panoramic camera movements.

PHILIPS PUS9060 is equipped with a 4K panel with a refresh rate of 144 Hz, so we can confidently say that it is suitable for both watching sports and playing games. And indeed, it is. But what about films that are most often recorded at 24 frames? As with most of the televisions we tested with a refresh rate of 120 Hz and above, the PUS9060 offers two sliders in the motion smoothness options. The “Smoothness” slider allows you to adjust the effect in films – you can set the image to be smoother, resembling a theatrical effect (higher settings), or more cinematic, with a slight "jump" in frame rate (lower settings). Additionally, there is a function called "Motion Blur Reduction," which limits blurring – and this is a very useful feature, especially when watching sports.

Although the Philips PUS8560 is not designed with gamers in mind, the manufacturer has decided to equip it with a few features that may prove useful when connecting a console. On board, we find automatic switching to game mode (ALLM), as well as a simple connection status information bar – the so-called Game Bar. It does not make a particularly strong visual impression, but it serves its purpose. The presence of variable refresh rate (VRR), operating in the range of 48 to 60 Hz, may come as a surprise. While this is not a wide range, in the case of less demanding games or titles with unstable frame rates, VRR can help reduce screen tearing. However, this is the only element that could be considered beyond the minimum.

It must be made clear that the PUS8560 is not equipment for gamers looking for a responsive screen and full support for modern console features. It lacks HDMI 2.1 ports, the refresh rate is limited to 60 Hz, and the response time of the panel is not among the fastest. This model may be suitable at most for casual gamers who want to enjoy the Ambilight system.

PHILIPS PUS9060 is a true gaming monster – it has practically everything you could expect from a modern gaming television. There's VRR, there's ALLM, and on top of that, there's the implementation of HGiG, which helps to set HDR in games the way the developers intended. The television supports every possible resolution at 120 Hz, including 1080p, 1440p, and full 4K – so regardless of whether you're gaming on Xbox, PS5, or PC, everything works as it should. It also features a simple Game Bar, which is a special menu for gamers that allows you to quickly check if the ALLM mode is indeed working in low-latency mode.

And of course – Ambilight TV. Let’s be honest – without LED lights at the back, it’s not really a proper gaming setup. 😉 The multicoloured backlighting can really enhance the atmosphere, especially in the evening. It may not be to everyone's taste, but younger gamers will be thrilled – because it just looks impressive.