TCL P89K / TCL P8K vs Hisense U7S / U77SE

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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.