TCL P755 vs Hisense S7NQ CanvasTV

TCL P755 provides average HDR effect quality. The maximum brightness of the television is slightly below 300 nits. Such brightness limits the intensity of bright areas in HDR content. In practice, this means that bright elements may not be sufficiently pronounced, which affects the overall impression of contrast. However, the television offers a wide coverage of the DCI P3 colour gamut, reaching around 93%. As a result, colours are vibrant and saturated, significantly improving colour reproduction quality in HDR content. Despite the limited brightness, the wide colour range allows for richer and more realistic shades.

When it comes to the brightness of the television and how it handles bright elements while watching films, it is simply average – similar to the case with contrast. The average brightness level of the Hisense S7NQ is around 500 nits. This is a value that allows one to feel the beginnings of true HDR, but it is definitely too little to speak of remarkable effects. However, the television should be praised for its colour gamut coverage – films look very colourful and vibrant. Thanks to the use of PFS LED (QLED) coating, the device is capable of covering over 90% of the DCI-P3 colour palette and over 72% of the wider BT.2020 palette. For a television of this class – these are really very good results.

The colour reproduction in the P755 in "Movie" mode, although it is the best factory setting, leaves much to be desired. The biggest problem is the white balance, where the graph clearly shows a spike in red and a drop in green. This leads to a shift in colours towards red, making the colours on the screen less natural and potentially looking incorrect, especially in scenes with a white or neutral background. This is confirmed by the "Colour Checker" test, which reveals that the colours are indeed skewed towards red, affecting the realism of the image and reducing the perception of colour depth. In terms of contrast, the gamma chart analysis shows considerable fluctuations, particularly in dark areas of the image, where values drop below the optimal level of 2.4. This results in darker areas being displayed brighter than they should be. Additionally, the EOTF curve, responsible for brightness reproduction, is slightly above the reference curve. The graph shows a slight boost in brightness to around 50%, followed by only a minor decrease. This leads to excessive brightness enhancement in the mid-tones of the image and may result in loss of detail and distortion in brighter scenes.

Let's now check how the Hisense S7NQ CanvasTV performs in colour reproduction in the best factory mode, which is Filmmaker. Right from the start, it is clear that it is decidedly better than in dynamic or standard modes, but there are still a few things to nitpick. Regarding image quality from an HD signal, the colours are slightly inaccurate – there is a dominance of cooler shades of blue and a lack of red. This makes the image appear somewhat too cool.

A similar effect can also be observed with 4K content, but there it is much more noticeable. The excessive exposure of blue tones and the lack of red result in the image appearing distinctly cold. However, the biggest problem with this television is not the colours themselves but the way brightness is managed. The tested unit slightly boosted brightness compared to the reference value. While this results in better visibility of details, it comes at the cost of significantly brightened blacks – causing the entire image to seem more "flat".

A similar phenomenon was noticed in the 4K signal – the slightly elevated curve at the beginning of the EOTF chart shows that the television has a tendency to overexpose certain scenes. Fortunately, this effect can be improved with professional calibration, which we will discuss in the next point.

After calibration, the colour reproduction on the television improves significantly when it comes to SDR content. The colour curves are now close to the ideal value, and the gamma is more stable. Although the drop at the beginning of the graph to value is still present, the overall accuracy of colour reproduction is much better. The "Colour Checker" test shows that most colour samples have errors below level 2, indicating improved colour fidelity. A few deviations are present, but generally, the colours are now more realistic and consistent with reality.

Calibration also brings improvement in HDR content. The white balance has been improved, resulting in a more natural colour reproduction. The EOTF curve, although now closer to the reference curve, still shows a slight boost in brightness at the beginning of the graph. This leads to minor distortions in very bright scenes, but the overall tonal quality and detail have been enhanced. Dynamic tone mapping works more effectively, improving image quality in bright areas and retaining more detail.

Although the device's picture does not achieve complete perfection, calibration brings significant improvement. After adjusting the settings, the television presents itself much better, offering a more realistic and accurate colour reproduction in SDR and HDR content. While some shortcomings can still be noticed, calibration effectively eliminates many previous issues, ensuring better image quality and more natural colours.

The results we achieved after calibrating the Hisense S7NQ are really very good. Thanks to the calibration, we managed to eliminate the excessive exposure of blue tones and deficiencies in red with HD signal. A similar, albeit slightly weaker effect was also achieved with 4K HDR content. Managing brightness in HD material has also been improved – the television no longer has issues with brightening the image "across the board."

However, there are things that cannot be bypassed. The characteristic of the EOTF curve has practically not changed, and the lack of local dimming means that the smallest elements on the screen will always be slightly overexposed. One simply has to come to terms with this when choosing a television with a similar type of backlighting. Despite this, the final effect is very good and should fully satisfy the vast majority of users.

The "Gradual Smoothing" function works quite well, effectively eliminating visible boundaries between different shades of the same colour. Thanks to it, tonal transitions are smoother. Unfortunately, this function is not available in HDR mode, which may affect the quality of tonal gradations in higher dynamic range materials.

When it comes to image scaling, the television does not perform at its best. There are noticeable edge cuts, particularly evident on the figure of the model and the branches of trees. The blurring of details in these areas affects the overall sharpness of the image. This may be noticeable when watching content in a lower resolution. Moreover, SD quality images are displayed with slight cropping at the top as well as the bottom.

Equally important is how the television handles tonal transitions on a poor signal – for example, in older films, television, or on YouTube. Unfortunately, despite the presence of the "Smooth and Gradient Picture" feature, which was supposedly meant to improve this aspect, its performance is truly poor. It's barely noticeable that it has any real impact on the visibility of colour transitions.

The image scaling is also lacking. Yes, it can be observed that the television tries to "enhance" the quality, but the end result is far from ideal. The image often appears slightly jagged, which is particularly noticeable in the example of tree branches in the background. Additionally, the Hisense S7NQ has a clear tendency to crop the image at lower resolutions, causing subtitles in news items or finer details in the image to be missed.

The television offers decent, although not perfect, results in terms of motion fluidity. For films, the television features a “Flicker Reduction” function that allows for motion fluidity adjustment on a scale from 1 to 10. With this option, we can customise the appearance of the image to a cinematic or more theatrical preference (with a slower or faster pace).

When it comes to motion fluidity, the television performs remarkably well. Although the S7NQ was designed primarily for displaying static elements – such as images – the manufacturer has implemented a 144 Hz refresh rate matrix. As a result, sports and games look really good on it.

For materials that are not recorded at a high frame rate, the manufacturer has provided two features that allow you to adjust the picture to your own preferences. "Motion blur reduction" and "judder reduction" operate on a 10-point scale, allowing you to choose between a more cinematic image – with characteristic frame jumps – and a smooth effect reminiscent of a "soap opera". How to set this up? That’s a personal matter – we leave the decision to you.

The device offers a range of features useful for gamers, such as ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode), VRR (Variable Refresh Rate), Dolby Vision for gamers, and Game Bar. ALLM automatically switches the television to low latency mode, significantly improving response to commands from the controller and minimising input lag. VRR synchronises the screen refresh rate with the number of frames generated by the console, eliminating screen tearing and providing smoother gameplay. Dolby Vision for gamers enhances picture quality, offering better colour and contrast reproduction in games that support this format. The Game Bar feature allows quick access to game settings and monitoring of key parameters such as reaction time.

However, the television has certain limitations. The 60 Hz panel prevents the display of higher refresh rate signals at various resolutions, which may affect the smoothness of the image in dynamic games. Additionally, the lack of support for G-Sync technology for PC may impact gameplay quality on a computer. It is also worth noting that the HGiG mode, which aims to improve picture quality in HDR games, does not function correctly in this model, negatively affecting the visual experience in HDR-supported games.

Although the S7NQ is a "picture" type television, it can indeed be used for gaming. Really. Here you can find almost everything (except for the HGiG mode) that a modern gaming television needs. The 144 Hz panel and two full-fledged HDMI 2.1 ports allow for the hassle-free connection of two consoles, such as the PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X/S.

The television supports Automatic Low Latency Mode (ALLM) and Variable Refresh Rate (VRR), with no stuttering or issues. It also handles displaying high frame rates at lower resolutions without any trouble. Hisense deserves praise for a very attractive Game Bar – it displays all available picture options, and additionally, we have the ability to enlarge the minimap or turn on the crosshair (because sometimes someone might actually want to "aim" 😉).

The only missing element – as we mentioned earlier – is the lack of a proper implementation of the HGiG mode. It is specifically responsible for automatically adjusting the picture in games as the creators intended. It's a shame, because that’s the only thing preventing the Hisense S7NQ from being a full-fledged gaming "beast".