PHILIPS PUS9010 (IPS) vs Hisense UR9S

In the Philips PUS9010 version with an IPS panel, the HDR brightness unfortunately performs worse than in the previously tested 55-inch model with a VA panel. The difference reaches about 100 nits, which is quite noticeable given the relatively low values. While the VA version could exceed 500 nits, here the maximum brightness is around 400 nits. This level still allows for watching movies and series in HDR, especially on streaming platforms, but the effects are clearly muted. Bright elements do not have the same impact, and scenes requiring high luminance appear less impressive. On the positive side, the coverage of the DCI-P3 colour gamut is commendable. The IPS version offers around 91%, which is about 5% more than the variant with a VA panel. This translates to somewhat better colour saturation in HDR content, despite the lower brightness. Colours can appear more vibrant and cohesive, especially in colourful scenes.

Hisense UR9S is undoubtedly a show of strength from the Chinese manufacturer when it comes to luminance. On a synthetic test pattern the panel reached as much as 2600 nits, which is an impressive result. However, it is important to clearly separate laboratory results from filmic realities. In real material the UR9S behaves much more... restrained. Maximum brightness peaks in balanced scenes hover around 1500 nits. In demanding, dark shots, where algorithms must at once maintain deep black and precisely light small details, brightness can fall drastically, even to around 400 nits. The discrepancy between the chart and reality is therefore huge. This is a direct consequence of the conservative behaviour of the local dimming system. When a bright object occupies a large part of the frame, the system can easily sustain a high brightness. But in night scenes the priority becomes protecting black and combating the halo effect (unsightly glows around bright edges). To avoid contrast degradation, the TV drastically limits light output. Even so, the UR9S can still produce a very powerful, immersive HDR effect that impresses in bright, spectacular sequences.

Colour gamut coverage

On test patterns the Hisense UR9S performs excellently in terms of colour. Its coverage of the DCI-P3 gamut is almost 100%, and the wide BT.2020 as much as 93%. Those are results even the best QD-OLED TVs do not achieve. But again, synthetic measurements are one thing, films and series another. In real-world scenes the figures fell to 93% for DCI-P3 and 81% for BT.2020. That's still a great result, but the advantage of RGB Mini LED is no longer as dramatic as manufacturers claim in their marketing materials. One could even say that currently their capability is similar to TVs equipped with quantum dots, the so-called QLED. So why does this happen? To a large extent colour reproduction here depends on the specifics of how the backlight zones operate. When a strongly saturated colour sits next to white or another, more complex element, a single zone has to handle both parts of the picture at once. Under those conditions the backlight cannot maintain extreme saturation of a given colour on screen, because the emitted light takes on a more white-like character. In the UR9S this has been refined quite well, but still not enough for the TV to maintain such high colour saturation in every situation.

We assessed the colour reproduction, as always, on the factory settings, focusing on the movie mode, which for Philips usually provides the best starting point. This is also a good moment to demonstrate how much the same TV model can vary depending on the type of panel used. Looking at the white balance, the overall tendency remains similar to the variant with the VA panel. Excessive red in the whites is still noticeable, but in the tested unit with an IPS panel, there are also deficits in the blue channel. As a result, the image has a slightly different colour character, which can be clearly seen in the comparative materials. This is a very good example illustrating why ready-made settings downloaded from the internet do not always work even within the same model.

However, returning to the assessment itself, this unit performs quite well, especially with SDR content. Colour tests show correct saturation and consistency, with no glaring errors that could interfere with everyday viewing. In HDR materials, slight deficits in reds can already be noticed, but these are not flaws that spoil the overall perception of the image. The biggest limitations do not come directly from the colours, but rather from the white and black levels. The use of an IPS panel and slightly lowered gamma results in the image being slightly boosted in brightness, and the poor black levels further affect the perceived contrast. This makes the overall picture look brighter, but at the same time it loses depth, especially during evening viewing.

We tested the Hisense UR9S in Filmmaker Mode, which out of the box provides the best image reproduction. With HDR material the TV performed quite well in this regard. The white balance showed no major errors, and the luminance response, although it had the characteristic Hisense profile, was maintained at a reasonable level. The picture was therefore neither excessively brightened nor noticeably colour-distorted. The same mode performed much worse with SDR material, the kind of content we watch most often, such as broadcast television or YouTube. The white balance was strongly shifted towards red and blue, giving the picture a slight pink tint. This also affected the gamma curve. Instead of approaching the reference value of 2.4, it was closer to 2.0, making the image look too bright, particularly in midtones and darker areas. Filmmaker Mode therefore remains the best out-of-the-box choice, but it is not a mode without faults.

After calibration, the picture was brought to a truly sensible level. The overall look is coherent and natural, and when it comes to colour reproduction, it is difficult to unequivocally state whether we are dealing with a VA or IPS panel. This is a good sign, showing that the television has a solid foundation for further adjustments. It is worth noting the larger colour gamut coverage in this variant, which can subtly enhance the perception of colourful scenes, particularly in HDR content. However, this advantage is largely balanced out by the boosted black levels resulting from the use of an IPS panel. The limited black depth affects the perceived contrast, especially when watching in a dark room. Consequently, despite the noticeable improvement after calibration, the final assessment remains the same as in the variant with the VA panel. Better colours are unable to fully compensate for the weaker black levels.

After calibration the biggest improvement was in SDR mode, although we also refined the HDR picture. Hisense offers a lot of calibration settings in the menu, so we were able to precisely correct the white balance and the remaining image errors. The most important change was removing the pink tint that had previously been clearly visible in SDR material. After calibration the picture looks much more natural, especially in everyday content such as TV or YouTube.

Colour reproduction errors on the ColorChecker chart are very small after calibration. The vast majority of colours fall below values of 2 to 3, which is at a level very difficult to discern with the human eye. The only thing we could not completely eliminate is the tone-mapping approach characteristic of Hisense TVs in HDR. It affects how brightness is distributed in films and can subtly 'enhance' the image, rather than sticking exactly to the creators' intent. For less experienced viewers this can produce a stronger 'wow' effect, but it will not always fully match how the material should look.

In the Philips PUS9010, we find another iteration of the P5 Perfect Picture image processor, designed to improve the quality of inferior materials. One of the components of this system is the distortion reduction function, which is responsible for smoothing tonal transitions. It works effectively and indeed reduces the visible colour gradation. Unfortunately, it does so quite aggressively. In practice, it can dim details such as the texture of materials or film grain. This is a notable compromise, so we would not recommend it for movie screenings. However, it performs significantly better with more casual content like YouTube or regular television. The P5 processor also manages quite well with lower resolution materials. The image is soft, at times even too soft, but this can easily be corrected with the sharpness slider, adjusting the effect to personal preference. A positive aspect is also the lack of edge trimming in SD materials, which is still not standard in this class of televisions.

For the past two years digital picture processing has been one of Hisense's strengths, and the UR9S is no exception. The manufacturer uses the Hi-View AI Engine RGB processor, which in practice is built on the well-known MediaTek Pentonic 800 platform, previously used, among others, in the U8Q model. The TV handles upscaling lower-resolution material to 4K very well, and copes with low-bitrate content where compression artefacts are common. Thanks to a feature called "Smooth and Gradient Picture", the image remains detailed without appearing over-sharpened or artificially smoothed. When watching regular broadcast TV or older, lower-quality material, the UR9S can get a surprising amount out of them. In terms of digital picture processing, this is one of the most refined LCD TVs we've had the chance to test.

Philips PUS9010 has a 4K panel with a refresh rate of 144 Hz, which will be appreciated primarily by sports fans and gamers. This is especially evident in dynamic scenes where the motion is sharp, and annoying blur is almost non-existent. When it comes to movies (standard 24 fps), Philips gives us a proven set of settings known from higher series. Two sliders are used to control motion. “Smoothness” allows you to adjust the image to your own taste: at low settings, we maintain a cinematic character, while moving the slider to the right gives us a perfectly smooth, albeit somewhat “theatrical” effect. On the other hand, “Motion Blur Reduction” is a function designed for sports – it ensures that fast-moving objects do not lose detail and remain clear.

The Hisense UR9S is one of the first televisions on the market with a 4K panel and a 170 Hz refresh rate. In the larger sizes, 75 and 85 inches, this goes up to 180 Hz. However, such a high refresh rate will be useful mainly to owners of very high-performance PCs. Most films and TV series are still watched at 24 fps, and sports broadcasts at 50 fps, so for everyday use panel response time and the operation of the motion smoothing are more important. In that respect the UR9S performs very well. Panel smearing is minimal, as confirmed by our UFO test. Moving objects do not leave a pronounced trail, so the picture remains clear even in fast scenes.

The Philips PUS9010 is a truly solid machine for gaming. It has everything that matters: VRR, automatic game mode (ALLM), and support for HGiG. The latter is a great feature – it allows HDR in games to be set exactly as the developers envisioned. The television handles 120 Hz refresh rates effortlessly at every popular resolution (1080p, 1440p, and 4K). Whether you connect a PS5, Xbox, or a powerful PC, everything functions stably and simply as it should. Gamers will also appreciate the Game Bar. This quick, clear menu immediately shows whether the low latency mode is active. This is especially useful when frequently switching between different consoles. The whole experience is complemented by Ambilight. Evening sessions with this backlighting take the atmosphere to a whole new level – the image seems larger, and dynamic scenes leave an even better impression. Even if someone isn’t a fan of such “gadgets”, it’s hard to deny that it’s impressive.

Hisense UR9S is very well prepared for gaming. All three HDMI ports are HDMI 2.1 and offer the full 48 Gb/s bandwidth. The TV supports 4K at 170 Hz, and on larger screen sizes even 180 Hz. It also includes VRR, ALLM, NVIDIA G-Sync and AMD FreeSync, so in terms of basic features there is little to criticise. PC gamers can additionally enable DLG mode. After switching the resolution to Full HD the refresh rate can increase to as much as 330 Hz. That's probably an option for a relatively small group of users, but it shows how much headroom the panel has. Hisense has also added a Game Bar that lets you quickly change key settings, check the refresh rate or enable an on-screen crosshair and minimap zoom.

The biggest drawback remains the lack of a properly working HGiG. The TV still uses its own tone mapping, which makes configuring HDR on a console a bit more difficult. In our case values around 1500 to 2000 nits worked best, but it's worth checking which setting keeps all the detail in the brightest parts of the image.