Samsung Q6F (IPS) vs Hisense U7S Pro

The Samsung Q6F is, unfortunately, a very dark model. Its peak brightness in HDR does not exceed 250 nits, which is a value that is decidedly too low to even talk about any effect of “high dynamic range,” or HDR. In practice, it’s better to stick to content in SDR format, which simply looks more predictable on this television. Another problem is the global dimming technique – in scenes with a lot of black, the television drastically dims the entire panel to artificially improve the black levels. This causes the image to become even darker, and the brightness can drop below 100 nits. The only consolation is supposed to be the QLED technology, but even here it is average. The layer of quantum dots used is not of the highest quality, as the coverage of the DCI-P3 colour palette does not exceed 90%. As a result, the colours in HDR content may simply appear under-saturated.

Let's start with the fact that the U7S Pro is an impressively bright television – in calibrated mode, our measuring equipment indicated a staggering 2200 nits of peak brightness! This is an absolutely remarkable result, considering that this model is positioned rather as a mid-range option.

However, as we know, peak brightness on test patterns is one thing, and actual film scenes are another. Unfortunately, in real video materials, the backlight power clearly drops. Although in the most demanding moments, the television can still exceed the 1000-nit barrier – which is still an excellent result, perfectly aligned with the mastering standards of most HDR films – the real challenge comes from the aggressively tuned local dimming algorithms. Because of this, small, bright details such as stars or the moon in the night sky are noticeably dimmed. The television tries at all costs to maintain deep blacks, which is of course understandable, but unfortunately, this comes at the expense of the dynamics and brilliance of the HDR effect itself.

One must commend the colour reproduction. The new U7S Pro is a QLED design that provides very wide coverage of the colour palette. Unlike last year's model (U7Q Pro), this year's variant is a "true" QLED, rather than a solution based on a PFS filter. As a result, the colour saturation has clearly increased, and coverage of the most demanding BT.2020 colour space has surpassed the 81% barrier.

We tested the television in Filmmaker mode, which showed us two completely different facets of this model. Looking at SDR content, we were genuinely shocked at how good this television looks straight out of the box. It was really difficult to find fault with anything here. Despite a slight 'muddiness' in the white balance or somewhat brightened details in the blacks (which directly stem from the design of the IPS panel), the colour errors hovered around a level of '2'. This result is not only surprisingly good but downright amazing, considering the price of this device.

On the other hand, what the Q6F displayed in terms of colours after switching to HDR mode was a very unpleasant surprise. The errors in colour reproduction and palette were so enormous that our charts literally ran out of scale. Of course, since Samsung even in such an affordable model offers very extensive calibration options, we decided to approach the issue professionally and see what could be done during calibration.

We tested the U7S Pro model – as we always do – in the best factory-calibrated picture mode, namely Filmmaker Mode. We can evaluate the displayed colours in two ways. The most disappointing was the profile designed for viewing SDR content, that is, traditional television, YouTube, and other less demanding materials. The picture was clearly yellowed, which turned out to be a direct consequence of a poorly set white balance. As our graphs show, there is a significant deficiency of the blue component, which drastically affected the overall colour temperature. This is clearly visible on the ColorChecker charts as well as on the graphs of the colour palette itself, where most samples leaned towards yellow. Fortunately, the factory HDR mode fared much better – there, the colour errors were around a Delta E value of 3, which is already a really solid result.

After our calibration, the colours in SDR mode looked even better – the result is truly surprising, as colour errors at the '1' level are something generally seen in devices costing several thousand pounds. In this regard, the Q6F is really an excellent screen for everyday television, less demanding series or films. Unfortunately, our intervention in the HDR mode did not bring a noticeable improvement. The television, due to its poor blacks and low coverage of a wide colour gamut, still has significant issues with proper colour saturation, especially reds. This is an example of a device where HDR exists mainly as a label on the box – for everyday use, we definitely recommend watching content in SDR format.

We know, however, that the company Hisense is capable of much more – as previous generations have demonstrated – which is why we couldn't simply overlook the factory shortcomings of the U7S Pro model in everyday content. As is often the case, the television underwent professional calibration. The conclusions? This process brought about a colossal change. After manually adjusting the white balance and supplementing the deficiencies in the blue component, the annoying yellow tint disappeared as if by magic. White became naturally pure, and skin tones gained the appropriate, healthy hue. Importantly, calibration not only tamed the capricious SDR mode but also allowed us to extract the maximum potential from the panel, reducing average colour reproduction errors to levels nearly imperceptible to the human eye. The only thing we must criticise after the whole process is the very nature of the Mini-LED backlight and its specific interaction with the HDR signal. The aggressively tuned local dimming algorithms significantly interfere with the EOTF brightness curve. As a result, the backlight does not always work perfectly with the creator's intention – depending on the scene being viewed, the curve can noticeably deviate either above or below the reference, which at times disrupts the ideal dynamics of HDR imagery.

Q6F performs very well in upscaling lower-resolution content to native 4K. The scaling here is surprisingly good, even for such an inexpensive television from the QLED series. The only downside is the situation where we are watching very low-resolution materials, such as 576p (typical for old DVD players) – in which case the image may be slightly cropped. This is due to the fact that the television does not allow the Overscan function to be turned off, which is a typical issue with Samsung devices.

The situation is completely different when it comes to digital processing, specifically the attempt to smooth the image of unwanted artifacts. Here the television completely fails. Although there is a function in the menu called "Noise Reduction," it yields no visible results regardless of the slider setting. The only thing it manages to do is introduce undesired errors in the image. Despite its presence in the system, we definitely do not recommend using it.

The digital processing of lower quality signals is at a very high level here, thanks to the MediaTek Pentonic 800 processor used in the U7S Pro. The upscaling performance is equally impressive, meaning the television’s ability to enhance lower resolution signals to 4K. We did not notice any unnatural, sharp contours on the screen, and our test image featuring the model simply looked attractive.

The 60 Hz panel in the Samsung Q6F is standard for this price range, making it rather average for dynamic sports or gaming. However, when it comes to films, the television performs quite well thanks to the motion smoothing feature. The "Motion Reduction" option allows you to adjust the smoothness of movement to your own preferences – from maintaining a cinematic character to complete fluidity.

The Hisense U7S Pro uses a panel with a maximum refresh rate of 165 Hz in 4K, and in game mode, it can reach up to 330 Hz at Full HD resolution. However, it is important to remember that these highest figures do not significantly matter in everyday use, as most content is still limited to a maximum of 120 Hz (for example, when gaming on a console). Nevertheless, the television handles motion quite well and performs really decently for an LCD construction.

There is little to criticise about the fluidity itself. In the menu, we find a motion smoother called "Motion Enhancement", which hides two sliders: blur reduction and judder reduction. These allow for manual configuration of the smoother, which works well in both films and sports, effectively enhancing the raw television signal.

We're not going to beat around the bush – the Q6F is not a television designed for gamers. Although it features additions like ALLM (automatic low latency mode) and VRR frame synchronisation for consoles, the list of advantages basically ends there. Aside from these basics, the television offers nothing more that would satisfy those who spend a lot of time in front of a console. It’s a great shame that such a useful tool as Game Bar, which allows for quick control of game parameters in Samsung's higher models, is missing here. In terms of gaming, this model is absolutely basic and is only suitable for "casual" gamers.

If you plan to connect a console or PC to the U7S Pro, you will be more than satisfied – this television is excellent equipment for a gamer. Hisense has not spared any expense and has included as many as 4 HDMI 2.1 ports with full bandwidth of 48 Gbps. You won’t need to juggle cables as each port will handle the full set of features. We have an automatic game mode (ALLM) and VRR, which operates in a wide range from 48 Hz to an impressive 330 Hz. Of course, that 330 Hz is currently a gimmick for owners of powerful PCs, as consoles will be limited to 120 Hz, but it’s good to have that buffer for the future. The Game Bar also works very well during gaming. It’s a handy menu bar for gamers, where you can quickly change the picture mode, enable a crosshair in the centre of the screen, and even change the display aspect ratio to ultra-wide without having to exit to the main television settings, which will be appreciated by fans of PC simulators. The only downside worth mentioning is the improper implementation of the HGiG format in games. The issue is that the television ignores instructions from the console regarding the image generated in HDR10 and continues to forcefully interfere with the image it produces, trying to "enhance" it in its own way. This makes proper HDR configuration in the console menu (where you set brightness on symbols/checkerboard) somewhat difficult.