Philips The One (PUS8959 / PUS8919 / PUS8909 / PUS8949 vs Haier Q80FUX

The luminance chart for Philips PUS8959 shows that the television is capable of achieving around 550 nits of brightness, which can be considered a satisfactory level. This brightness allows for the effects of HDR to be experienced, particularly standing out in more demanding scenes. In the tested test patterns, the television performed quite well, even in challenging sequences such as those from "Sicario 2". Due to the lack of local dimming, the television does not dim small bright elements, and they shine with the full "power" of the television but at the expense of the silvery blacks mentioned in the paragraph about black levels. It is also worth praising Philips PUS8959 for its good coverage of the DCI-P3 colour palette, which amounts to approximately 94.5%. As a result, colours are vivid and close to the creators' intentions, which further enhances the quality of HDR effects and the experience of watching high dynamic range content.

Alright, let’s move on to the topic that stirs up so much discussion, namely the capabilities of the television in HDR mode. Let’s state it clearly right away: the Haier Q80FUX is certainly not a brightness demon. The panel of this receiver can generate about 350 nits at peak, which in today’s terms is the absolute minimum to even talk about the presence of High Dynamic Range (HDR). On the positive side, this power is at least stable – regardless of which test pattern or film scene we used, the measurements consistently oscillated in the range of 300-350 nits. These are therefore results that are at best sufficient, definitely far from the dazzling display of capabilities we are accustomed to with more expensive models. Fortunately, there is one aspect in which the Q80FUX compensates for these shortcomings and does so impressively. After all, we are talking about a QLED television (more precisely PFS LED), which means that thanks to the quantum dot filter applied to the panel, it can generate really juicy, vibrant colours. These are not empty promises – a DCI-P3 colour gamut coverage of nearly 95% is an impressive result and directly translates into colours that are very pleasant to the eye and saturated.

The television Philips PUS8959 has been tested in the best, theoretically most precise picture mode – Filmmaker. Although the name suggests cinematic quality, it unfortunately falls short of perfection. The biggest problem in this mode is the white balance, both in HD and 4K content. It is characterised by a significant dominance of red colour and drops in green levels, resulting in unnatural colour reproduction. For example, white elements in the image have a noticeable pink hue, and the green is less vibrant, causing the overall image to lose its naturalness and colour balance. The ColorChecker test confirms these errors – it is clearly visible how the colour samples "deviate" from the correct values, which can be best observed on the sample squares that should accurately reproduce the colours. The lack of accuracy in this regard affects the realism and fidelity of the image, which is particularly undesirable in Filmmaker mode.

As for the brightness characteristics, the gamma chart resembles a true roller coaster – with small elements displayed on the screen, the brightness is excessive, causing details to become overly exposed. Conversely, at higher gamma values, the image loses contrast and becomes too dark, making the overall appearance lack dynamism. Similar problems can be observed in the EOTF characteristics – the television is unable to accurately reproduce brightness levels, negatively impacting the overall picture quality.

Factory settings for movie mode are rarely perfect, but in the case of the Q80FUX, we were confronted with a noticeable imbalance. In SDR content, the image was decidedly too warm, a result of excessive red in the white balance, giving the whole a slightly sepia tone. Ironically, in HDR materials, the television fell into the opposite extreme – an excess of blue caused an unnatural, cold effect in perception. However, it was not the capricious white balance that was the biggest problem with this television. The real culprit, responsible for the aforementioned issues, was hiding deeper. It turned out that the Q80FUX has completely miscalibrated gamma values and, crucial for HDR, a poorly executed EOTF curve. It was these erroneous factory settings that caused persistent clipping of the brightest parts of the image, overlaying them with that characteristic milky filter. Thus, we found the source of the problem. This state of affairs led to general, significant colour errors, which were easy to catch even for an untrained eye. Like every television we tested, we decided to calibrate this model as well, and the results of these adjustments can be found in the next paragraph.

After calibration, the television Philips PUS8959 shows a significant improvement in colour reproduction, especially in HD content. The white balance is exceptionally even, and the Delta E error values are below 1, which can be considered a remarkable result. Additionally, the gamma, responsible for brightness in lower-quality materials, performs very well, maintaining a stable level at 2.4, leading to an appropriate balance between bright and dark areas of the image.

As for 4K HDR materials, a significant improvement is also visible. The white balance, although not as perfect as with HD content, no longer exhibits issues with excessive red exposure, resulting in a more natural and harmonious image. Unfortunately, regarding the EOTF characteristic, it is difficult to speak of any significant improvement, which stems from the structural limitations of the television that prevent any substantial enhancement in this aspect.

Nevertheless, the overall performance is significantly better after calibration, making the Philips PUS8959 one of those televisions where it is truly worth dedicating time to precise calibration to achieve satisfactory picture quality.

The results of our calibration procedures must, regrettably, be acknowledged as twofold. Generally speaking, the picture is undeniably better than before the corrections; however, the biggest winner of this process turned out to be SDR content. It is precisely there, after correcting the gamma and white balance graphs, that we achieved results that can confidently be called very good. After adjustment, the Q80FUX truly shines in standard dynamics, showing only slight errors in the most difficult skin tone reproductions. Unfortunately, the weakest link remains HDR content. Here lies the paradox: despite having calibrated the white balance to nearly perfection, the overall colour errors still remain at quite a high level. The reason is that the television continues to interpret static HDR10 metadata "in its own way," stubbornly enforcing that unfortunate image burn-out effect, which inevitably leads to significant distortions. Although we have successfully eliminated the factory excess of blue, it is precisely due to this interference of electronics that the screen still tends to stray into somewhat overly cold tones. That is just how this television is.

When it comes to smoothing tonal transitions, the "Distortion Reduction" function at its minimum setting performs quite well, effectively smoothing tonal transitions without excessive impact on other elements of the image. In tests, I did not notice that the reduction negatively affected the image structure, such as film grain or object details – everything remains in its place, which is a significant plus for users who appreciate the natural look of film materials.

As for digital processing, the image looks quite good, although it features very softened contours, giving it an almost "misty" character. This effect can evoke mixed feelings – some users will appreciate the fluidity and delicacy of this type of presentation, while others may find it too gentle, losing detail. It is a matter of individual preference, but it must be said that the Philips PUS8959 provides fairly subtle yet effective tools for improving tonal transitions without excessive interference in the natural character of the image.

If there is one area where Haier clearly shows it still has a long way to go compared to the market leaders, it is digital image processing. The upscaling, well... is just alright. And that’s really about all that can be said about it. It does what is expected of it: it ensures that lower resolution signals do not scare us with harsh pixelation on the screen and do not look like a forcibly enlarged postage stamp. However, it is far from the finesse and “intelligent” sharpening that more experienced players in this market have developed over the years. The biggest shortcoming of the Q80FUX software is the almost complete lack of any additional "cleaning" and smoothing functions for the image. The receiver does not offer any noise reduction or gradient improvement mechanisms. This means that with older or heavily compressed materials, we simply have to come to terms with the fact that any imperfections in tonal transitions or blending of colours, which we mentioned earlier, will continually accompany us during the viewing.

Philips PUS8959 TV is equipped with a 120 Hz panel, which should satisfy more demanding users, especially those who love watching dynamic sports broadcasts or playing games. Such a high refresh rate allows for significantly smoother images, being a key aspect during dynamic scenes and fast actions.

For those who prefer watching movies, the television offers an additional motion smoother that allows adjusting the film's frame rate according to personal preferences. The Philips PUS8959 features a 10-step adjustment for functions called "Smoothness" and "Motion Blur Reduction." The "Smoothness" function is responsible for increasing the number of frames through interpolation, making the motion on the screen smoother, resembling the effect of so-called "soap opera." Meanwhile, "Motion Blur Reduction" focuses on minimising ghosting and improving motion clarity, which is particularly noticeable in dynamic sequences, such as action scenes or fast-paced sports shots.

The issue of motion fluidity and blurring is largely predetermined by the use of a 60-hertz panel, which naturally makes it difficult to recommend this receiver to enthusiasts of very dynamic content. Fortunately, in the Q80FUX, we find a few options (although, as we shall see shortly, in reality only one) that are supposed to improve the experience with older film productions. There is a "De-Judder" slider available, which actually controls the smoothness of the image and allows us to adjust it to our preferences: from raw, cinematic frame rates to a more theatrical, smoothed presentation. However, a true surprise awaits us just beside it in the menu. There is also a second slider, supposedly dedicated to removing blur – a feature we typically encounter in 120Hz panels to combat motion blur in sports. However, as we expected, recalling memories from the tests of the K85F model, this slider here is merely a façade. Its adjustment does absolutely nothing to the image and it simply appears to be an oversight by the product engineers who left a non-functional option in the software for this type of panel.

Philips PUS8959 is a television that will certainly satisfy gaming enthusiasts. It supports most modern technologies useful during gameplay, such as HGiG, allowing for better reproduction of HDR effects in games. As a result, the image is closer to what the game creators intended to achieve.

The television also supports displaying images at 120 Hz, ensuring smoothness and dynamism, which is especially important during action games and sports broadcasts. The Game Bar feature allows for quick access to game settings, making it easier to adjust the image according to user preferences without interrupting gameplay.

Unfortunately, the Dolby Vision mode does not offer low input lag, which may be noticeable during dynamic scenes. Nevertheless, thanks to the HGiG feature and high refresh rate, the Philips PUS8959 remains an attractive choice for gamers, providing good image quality and adequate smoothness during gameplay.

Stepping into the realm of gaming, the Haier Q80FUX proves to be quite a decent companion for the "casual gamer". Onboard, we find highly desired features such as VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) and ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode). However, the biggest surprise is something else altogether. Although we are not dealing with a 4K@120Hz panel here, the television is capable of accepting and displaying a 120Hz signal at a lower resolution (Full HD). This is a very useful feature that allows for a conscious switch of the console to a lower resolution mode in exchange for significantly higher smoothness, which is a compromise entirely acceptable in the gaming world.

We won’t particularly complain about the lack of extras like the "Game Bar", as it's merely a nice addition. The most concerning issues arise when we delve into the world of HDR in gaming. Due to the television constantly adapting the signal "in its own way", setting the brightness on the console according to the HGIG standard is nearly impossible to achieve as per instructions. Worse still, in the Dolby Vision mode for gaming, the input lag increases to around 50 ms, which is a value high enough to render this mode practically unusable. However, in general, we would not recommend gaming on this television in HDR mode, so these are not such grave shortcomings. What is most pleasing is the presence of 120Hz in Full HD, which makes the Q80FUX a rather nice television for the occasional gamer.