Samsung Neo QLED QN95D vs Hisense U7S / U77SE

Samsung QN95D handles HDR exceptionally well, achieving a peak brightness of around 2000 nits. In the tested movie scenes, where the screen is fully lit, the television provides intense and realistic representation of HDR content, significantly enhancing the visual experience. Nevertheless, similar to contrast, the dimming algorithm may sometimes show limitations. Despite the considerable number of Mini LED zones, the television does not surprise the user with incredible brightness. For instance, in scenes from the film "Life of Pi," where a bright moon appears against a dark background, and in excerpts from "Sicario 2," where a strong light effect occurs on a dark background, the television displays very poor results. At such moments, the television attempts to reduce the halo effect by darkening the image to a level reminiscent of SDR quality. As a result, blacks appear deep and uniform, but this comes at the cost of losing some detail in bright areas. It is a compromise aimed at maintaining the best possible quality of black, although it simultaneously causes the image to lose a bit of its dynamism. Despite certain flaws in the operation of the local dimming algorithm, this television deserves praise for its wide coverage of the DCI-P3 colour gamut. This is made possible by the use of a quantum dot coating, also known as QLED technology, which allows for vibrant and rich colours.

The Hisense U7S has considerable potential for HDR display, but it cannot exploit that potential in every scene. On a test pattern it reaches around 1,100 nits, so the backlight itself is very strong. In our brighter film scenes we measured about 640 to 745 nits. That is still plenty for the sun or bright highlights to have a clear bloom and to show an advantage over SDR material. When the TV needs to brighten a larger portion of the image, it handles it fairly well.

The problem appears with small highlights on a dark background. Each of the 192 zones covers an area much larger than a tiny point on the screen. If the TV were to light that whole zone strongly, it would also brighten the area around the highlight. Hisense tries to avoid that and dims the entire zone. This makes blacks look better, but a small bright object that should attract the eye also loses intensity. That is why in two more demanding scenes we recorded only 297 and 154 nits. The difference is large: in one shot HDR can impress, and in the next small highlights are noticeably muted. The U7S therefore prioritises preserving deep blacks, even at the expense of bright details. With that number of zones it is an understandable compromise, but worth bearing in mind — the peak 1,100 nits tells us about the backlight’s capability, not how brightly the TV will show every element of a film.

Colours

Hisense describes the U7S as ULED, but that is a marketing name, and it is a PFS phosphor backlight that expands the colour palette here. In our measurements the TV covered about 91% of the DCI-P3 colour space and 71% of BT.2020. Those are good results, though they fall short of the best screens on the market. The largest shortfall is in green — the TV does not even reach the DCI-P3 boundary here, so the most intense shades will be less saturated than they should be. Most colours in HDR films and series still look suitably vibrant. A positive is the repeatability of the results. Gamut coverage on test patterns and in film scenes is practically identical.

In the category of factory colour reproduction, the television Samsung QN95D was tested in Filmmaker mode, which offers the best settings from the manufacturer. Nevertheless, it is not entirely free from flaws. In the case of HD content, there is a noticeable colour deviation, particularly in white balance, where the red colour clearly dominates the graph. The situation improves with 4K HDR content; however, there are still significant drops in blue colour reproduction. These effects can be observed in a scene from the film "Star Wars," where the protagonist is depicted in overly warm tones.

As for contrast, we can observe an initial large jump on the gamma graph, indicating that the television effectively highlights the brighter parts of the image. However, at the end of the graph, we notice a distinct drop, which may mean that in darker tones, details can be lost. Such a shape of the gamma curve can affect the way users perceive dark scenes, where some details may become too blurred or too dark, causing the image to lose clarity. It is also worth noting the curve responsible for brightness (EOTF), which is quite correct, except for the initial drop.

Although Samsung QN95D boasts impressive parameters and advanced technologies to deserve the title of one of the best televisions on the market, it requires certain adjustments in colour reproduction and contrast to fully utilise its potential.

Out-of-the-box colours on the Hisense U7S are decent, but there are a few areas to improve. In SDR there is a red bias in the white balance, which makes the picture too warm and, in places, slightly pink. You can notice this on faces and on bright, neutral surfaces. The gamma also runs below the target, so the TV brightens the image, particularly in darker areas. That makes shadow detail easier to see, but the scene loses some of its depth.

In HDR the white balance is somewhat more even, but not entirely neutral, with a shortage of blue in the mid-tones and a lack of red in the brightest parts. A bigger issue is how brightness is rendered. The EOTF curve shows a large portion of the mid-tones being lifted, causing the picture to look brighter than the source intends. Color Checker measurements are also weaker than in SDR: many errors are around 3 to 4, and some reach as high as 8. Colours can therefore look attractive, but they are not always faithful to what we should see. There is room for improvement here and we will see how much can be corrected through calibration.

After calibration, the picture on the Samsung QN95D television achieves truly impressive results. The white balance is perfectly aligned, and error readings rarely exceed 2, which means that colours are displayed very accurately. Most samples from the Color Checker test fall within an acceptable error range, confirming that the television reproduces hues excellently. The contrast has also improved significantly, and the gamma curve is more stable, resulting in better visibility of details in both dark and bright scenes. However, it is worth noting the EOTF (Electro-Optical Transfer Function) curve, which shows some discrepancies in film tests. Although the television performs well in most scenes, details in the blacks can still be lost in more extreme cases – this is due to an aggressive dimming algorithm.

Nevertheless, these minor imperfections do not detract from the overall picture quality. After calibration, the Samsung QN95D impresses with its visual quality, offering an exceptional experience that will certainly satisfy anyone looking for a top-tier television.

Calibration of the Hisense U7S brought the biggest improvements with SDR material. We managed to even out the white balance, so the previous warm tint has gone and whites and greys now look neutral. Gamma is also now very close to the reference, and the TV no longer brightens the picture unnecessarily, so darker scenes have regained depth. Color Checker measurements confirm the improvement: most errors are below 2. That means the picture is very well set up for watching regular TV and SDR films. It wasn't as smooth in HDR. There is no effective way to correct the EOTF curve, so the TV still interprets a film's brightness somewhat on its own. It brightens parts of the picture and can dim the brightest elements depending on the scene and the behaviour of the local dimming. Calibration could not eliminate this. This is also reflected in the Color Checker results, where many errors remain around 3–4 and a few exceed 7. So the result in SDR is really very good, but in HDR we must accept that the TV adds its own interpretation of brightness to the image.

The Samsung QN95D television handles tonal transitions even in lower quality materials, thanks to the noise reduction feature employed, which functions like a gentle gradation. This feature is extremely effective, smoothing out the image and eliminating unwanted noise while significantly improving the quality of the displayed material. However, as is often the case, too much effectiveness can lead to unintended side effects. In some materials, this feature may also blur elements that should remain sharp, such as film grain.

Despite this, the television performs well in the context of image scaling, eliminating larger jagged edges. In a scene where branches are visible, they are not excessively artificially sharpened, allowing for a natural appearance, and the model does not have an artificial outline. Overall, this means that even in more challenging conditions, the film material presents itself satisfactorily on the Samsung QN95D. The only downside when watching HD/SD content (such as regular terrestrial television) is the fact that we have a slightly cropped image – this is caused by the so-called overscan, which cannot be turned off.

The handling of lower-quality material is fairly mediocre on the Hisense U7S. The Pentonic 700 chipset used here does not cope particularly well with strong compression artefacts. The menu includes a "Smooth and Gradient Image" function, but its performance leaves much to be desired. At the low setting tonal transitions show little improvement, although at least the image does not suffer. The medium and high settings still do not remove obvious banding between shades, and they begin to blur details; in our test material even parts of characters' faces disappeared. Interestingly, film grain remains untouched at every level. If you do use this feature, stick to the low setting. Its current behaviour needs refinement, but that is mainly down to the chipset used here.

Upscaling to 4K performs much better. Lower-resolution content gains in legibility, edges are well reproduced, and fine elements look sharp. That does not mean it recovers details that were never in the recording, but the TV makes good use of what it receives from the source. Another plus is that it does not crop the image edges, even with an SD signal.

The panel in Samsung QN95 performs very well in terms of motion blur and smoothness of movement. With a refresh rate of 120 Hz and features for reducing blur and judder, the picture settings can be customised to personal preferences, whether for watching films or for dynamic sports broadcasts. The user has the option to adjust the smoothness of the image on a 10-point scale – from a more frame-like appearance reminiscent of traditional film to a smooth, almost theatrical effect, which works particularly well for sports transmissions.

Motion handling on the Hisense U7S is decent thanks to the 144 Hz refresh rate. For films there is also a motion smoother with adjustable judder and blur reduction. You can therefore keep a more cinematic motion or increase smoothness if jerky camera pans bother you. The high refresh rate is also useful for sports and gaming, but unfortunately it does not solve the panel's biggest problem.

That problem is pixel response time. Fast-moving objects leave long, clearly visible trails, as our UFO test shows. It looks worst on dark backgrounds, where the trail behind the object is particularly pronounced. So motion can be smooth, but the moving object itself loses sharpness, and that difference on the U7S is fairly easy to notice.

Samsung QN95D offers quite a few features that gamers will appreciate. First and foremost, the television supports variable refresh rate (VRR), which allows for smoother gameplay, eliminating issues with tearing, especially during dynamic scenes. We also find the auto low latency mode (ALLM) feature, which automatically switches the television to low latency mode when it detects a connected console or computer, ensuring more responsive controls.

Furthermore, the QN95D Samsung has a game mode that reduces input lag to a very low level, which is crucial in games where reflexes play an important role. With a high refresh rate of 120 Hz, the picture is exceptionally smooth, significantly enhancing the experience of fast-paced action games and sports productions. The television also supports G-Sync and FreeSync technologies, which further enhance gameplay smoothness and improve user comfort. An interesting addition is the 'Game Bar' – a special menu that provides quick access to all game-related settings, allowing easy adjustments of picture and parameters to suit user preferences without the need to interrupt gameplay.

Although the Samsung QN95D does not support Dolby Vision – which is quite obvious for Samsung televisions – it does offer the HGiG feature, which ensures appropriate picture quality in HDR games, in line with the creators' vision.

The Hisense U7S has a lot to offer gamers. You get two HDMI 2.1 ports and support for 120 Hz at Full HD, 1440p, and 4K, so modern consoles’ capabilities are well used. When connected to a PC you can use 144 Hz at 4K or switch the resolution to Full HD and run 240 Hz. So there’s a wide choice, although it’s worth remembering the motion smearing mentioned earlier, which the high refresh rate does not eliminate. VRR and ALLM are also present. The first helps prevent tearing when frame rates in a game change. The second automatically switches the TV into game mode, so you don’t have to dig through the menu each time. VRR works from 48 to 240 Hz, with the highest refresh rate available in Full HD. Xbox users can also play in Dolby Vision, including at 120 Hz. Importantly, this format does not introduce significant input lag here. The Game Bar also looks very good. It’s easy to read, visually appealing, and lets you quickly check what signal the TV is receiving. There are also handy gaming settings at your fingertips, including shadow brightening. If it’s hard to spot an opponent in a dark game, you can improve visibility without digging through the entire menu.

Our biggest complaints concern HGiG. Hisense continues to do its own tone mapping, which makes setting HDR on the console confusing. You adjust a checkerboard test pattern and the TV continuously adapts how it looks. As a result, the moment the pattern disappears does not correctly indicate the screen’s brightness limit, and it’s easy to set the value too high. For this model it’s better to set the target HDR peak brightness on the console to about 900 to 1000 nits, rather than relying on the configurator.