TCL P89K / TCL P8K vs Hisense U7S Pro

The maximum brightness of the TCL P8K is around 300 nits, although in real film scenes, the television maintains more of a level of about 250 nits. These values cannot be considered sufficient to achieve a full HDR effect – they are closer to a solid base for SDR content. Therefore, we will not see spectacular flashes, bursts of light, or moments in which the screen actually "blinds," as is the case with more expensive models. This makes the image somewhat flat, and the differences between light and shadow are more symbolic than realistic. Fortunately, TCL has a few aces up its sleeve that save the overall reception. One of these is the coverage of the DCI-P3 colour palette at around 93–94%. Thanks to an additional QLED layer (PFS LED), the colours gain depth and intensity, clearly surpassing standard LCD panels. As a result, although there is a lack of the typical "wow effect" associated with HDR brightness, the image itself can impress with its saturation and vibrant tones, making film scenes pulse with colours and not appear strongly washed out.

Let's start with the fact that the U7S Pro is an impressively bright television. In calibrated mode our measurement equipment indicated a staggering 2,200 nits of peak brightness. This is an outstanding result, especially given that this model is positioned more as a mid-range set. However, as we know, peak brightness on test patterns is one thing and real film scenes another. Unfortunately, in actual video material the backlight output drops noticeably. Admittedly, in the most demanding moments the TV can still exceed 1,000 nits, which is still a great result and fits the mastering standards of most HDR films, but aggressively tuned local dimming algorithms turn out to be the real challenge. Because of them, small bright details, such as stars or the moon in a night sky, are noticeably dimmed. The TV tries to maintain deep blacks at all costs, which is understandable, but unfortunately this comes at the expense of the dynamic impact and the brightness of the HDR effect. The colour reproduction is worth praising. The new U7S Pro is a QLED design that provides very wide colour gamut coverage. 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, colour saturation has increased noticeably and coverage of the most demanding BT.2020 colour space has exceeded 81%.

In Filmmaker mode, the TCL P8K revealed certain imperfections in image reproduction from the outset. We noticed that the television had a tendency to slightly brighten scenes – its gamma was somewhat low, causing the image to appear slightly "washed out", lacking depth, as if the contrast had slipped out of control. This was most evident in HDR content, where the EOTF brightness graph clearly deviated from reference values. As a result, darker areas of the image appeared too gloomy, while brighter areas did not always reach the correct level of luminance. Another noticeable issue was a slight overemphasis on blue – the television stubbornly boosted this colour, causing certain parts of the image, especially skin tones and reds, to have a subtle purple tint. This is not a major flaw, but it is noticeable to a trained eye. Fortunately, most of these errors could be corrected during calibration. You can see the results of this adjustment in the graphs and photos below.

We tested the U7S Pro, as we always do, in the best factory-calibrated picture mode, namely Filmmaker Mode. The colours on display can be judged in two ways. The most disappointing was the preset intended for viewing SDR content, that is conventional television, YouTube and other less demanding material. The image there was noticeably yellowish, which turned out to be a direct consequence of an incorrectly set white balance. As our graphs show, this was due to a large deficiency of the blue component, which drastically affected the overall colour temperature. You can see this clearly on the ColorChecker charts and on the colour gamut plots themselves, where most samples shifted towards yellow. Fortunately the factory HDR mode performed much better; there the colour errors hovered around a Delta E of 3, which is already a very solid result.

After calibration, the TCL P8K showed a completely different face. It managed to achieve nearly perfect, even reference-level color reproduction in both SDR and HDR content. The screen no longer had a tendency towards a cool tint, and the white balance was perfectly balanced. The gamma values for SDR material also finally look as they should – the image has the proper depth and no longer appears washed out. The only remark that can still be made about the P8K concerns its "Chinese" traits, known from most TCL models. The TV still likes to manipulate saturation in HDR content in its own way – sometimes slightly boosting it, sometimes smoothing it out, which means the effect is not always fully predictable. Nevertheless, after calibration, the colors look stunning, and their accuracy is truly surprising. In most cases, measurement errors dropped below values of 1-2, which is a result that significantly more expensive models would not be ashamed of.

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.

The TCL P8K performs somewhat worse when it comes to the fluidity of tonal transitions in lower-quality materials. The television does offer a function to smooth out unwanted bands; however, its effectiveness leaves much to be desired. Even at the highest setting, it's hard to talk about any real improvement – at times the effect is almost the opposite of what is intended, as the function can introduce small artifacts and unnatural blurring on the screen.

On the other hand, upscaling – that is, scaling the image to 4K resolution – looks significantly better. The P8K handles this task surprisingly well – HD content, and even SD, is enhanced in an aesthetically pleasing manner without excessive loss of sharpness. While there are slight "hard" edges typical of this class of equipment, this can be easily adjusted with the sharpness slider to suit personal preferences. The final effect is more than satisfactory, especially considering the price range in which this model is situated.

The digital processing of lower-quality signals is of a very high standard here, all thanks to the MediaTek Pentonic 800 processor used in the U7S Pro. Upscaling itself also performs very well, meaning the TV's ability to lift lower-resolution sources to 4K is strong. We didn't notice any unnatural, sharp contours on the screen, and our test image featuring a model simply looked attractive.

TCL P8K is one of the cheapest televisions offering a refresh rate of 144 Hz, which in itself is quite an advantage in this price segment. Thanks to the fast panel, this model can confidently be recommended to both sports fans and video gamers – the image is smooth, and the movement of the ball or dynamic actions look natural. However, this does not mean that the P8K is suitable solely for sports. On the contrary – it can also maintain appropriate dynamics in films without introducing the artificial effect of "theatricality", as long as we set the parameters wisely. The television is equipped with a motion smoother called "Motion Clarity", which features two sliders: blur reduction and judder reduction. The first is responsible for smoothing the image by generating additional frames, which increases fluidity, but may cause a slight soap opera effect. The latter, on the other hand, reduces judder and improves sharpness during movement, although it can slightly darken the screen. Properly adjusting these two parameters allows for a really good balance between natural motion and fluidity. It has a 60 Hz refresh rate, but it is hard to say that it is a top-tier panel in terms of response speed. It will perform well for dynamic content, although more demanding users will notice that it is not a screen from the highest class in terms of motion clarity.

Hisense U7S Pro uses a panel with a maximum refresh rate of 165 Hz at 4K, and in game mode it can even reach 330 Hz at Full HD. However, it's worth remembering that these top figures matter little in everyday use, because most content is limited to a maximum of 120 Hz (for example when playing on a console). Even so, the TV handles motion quite well and performs very respectably for an LCD design.

It's hard to fault the smoothness itself. In the menu you'll find a motion smoothing feature called "Motion Enhancement", which hides two sliders: blur reduction and judder reduction. These allow manual configuration of the smoother, which works well for both films and sport, effectively improving the raw TV signal.

Although the TCL P8K is a budget television, it cannot be said that it is unsuitable for gaming. On the contrary – it is a screen that can pleasantly surprise any gamer. It features two HDMI 2.1 ports, allowing for 4K output at 120 Hz without any issues. For those gaming on a PC, they will also be pleased to know that the television can operate with a refresh rate of up to 240 Hz at a lower resolution – a small thing, but it delights. Additionally, it comes with a full set of gaming features: automatic game mode, Game Bar with quick parameter previews, VRR, HGiG, and support for Dolby Vision in games. All of this makes gaming on the P8K a truly enjoyable experience – the picture is smooth, the response is quick, and the television communicates well with next-generation consoles. The TCL P8K shows that a cheap screen doesn't have to mean giving up on fun. Certainly not in terms of gaming.

If you plan to connect a console or PC to the U7S Pro, you'll be more than satisfied. This TV is excellent for gamers. Hisense didn't spare any expense and fitted it with four HDMI 2.1 ports with full 48 Gbps bandwidth, so you don't need to juggle cables, as each port supports the full feature set. It offers automatic low-latency mode (ALLM) and VRR, which operates across a wide range from 48 Hz up to a whopping 330 Hz. Of course, that 330 Hz is for now a bit of a gimmick for owners of powerful PCs, since consoles will still be limited to 120 Hz, but it's good to have that headroom for the future. The Game Bar is also very useful while gaming. It's a handy on-screen menu for players where, without leaving the main TV settings, you can quickly change picture mode, enable a crosshair in the centre of the screen, or even switch to an ultra-wide display aspect, which PC simulator fans will appreciate. The only drawback to be aware of is an incorrect implementation of the HGiG standard in games. The TV ignores the console's HDR10 instructions and keeps forcefully altering the image in an attempt to "improve" it, which makes proper HDR setup in the console menu (where you set brightness using the symbols/checkerboard pattern) somewhat more awkward.