Hisense E7NQ PRO vs Panasonic W85

Based on the luminance chart, which indicates around 550 nits, it can be considered that Hisense E7NQ PRO theoretically has the potential to somewhat "enchant" us with its HDR image. While testing various scenes, we noticed that the TV continually tries to balance maintaining adequate brightness and preserving the deepest blacks. In favourable conditions – for instance, during a scene from "The Meg," where the screen is flooded with bright light – this brightness impresses. At such moments, we feel that HDR actually adds that "something" to the image. Unfortunately, when more challenging shots appear on the screen with small, bright elements against a dark background, the situation looks much worse. The brightness then drops to 200-300 nits, too little to distinguish HDR from regular SDR.

It's clear that the TV is trying, but hardware limitations – primarily the small number of local dimming zones – prevent it from fully spreading its wings. The result can therefore be quite uneven and just as average as in the contrast tests. However, it deserves credit for the impressive coverage of the DCI-P3 colour gamut at 97%. This allows the TV to showcase a wide range of colours, which, in the right scenes, can give us at least a taste of the true HDR effect. It’s a pity that the overall experience isn’t complemented by better brightness and contrast.

Unfortunately, we don't have good news here. The Panasonic W85B is rather dim – its peak brightness does not exceed 300 nits, so it's hard to talk about any true HDR effect. In practice, this means that scenes which on other screens can "shine" and make an impression, here look simply like regular SDR with a slight boost in colors. Our measurements and film tests confirmed this – regardless of the content, the W85B won't extract anything more from HDR. So if someone is looking for a TV specifically for HDR, it's better to look towards other models. As a consolation, the fact remains that in terms of colors, the W85B performs quite well. It's a QLED TV, so its color gamut coverage is wide, and most films and series look natural, without a distinct "washed out" effect. The colors are saturated, so during regular viewing, there is no sense that something is quite wrong.

When we took our copy of Hisense E7NQ PRO out of the box, we immediately started checking the available picture modes. Among them, the Filmmaker mode seemed the most promising, although it was not without flaws. With standard SDR content, we noticed a clear tendency for an excessive boost in red, which caused the image to appear unnaturally warm. This is particularly evident in the comparison photo included below. On the other hand, when we switched to HDR content, the situation went in the opposite direction. This time blue was dominant, and red was scarce, giving a cool effect, at times even a somewhat "store-like" impression — although not as drastic as in those modes that are actually intended for displaying in exhibitions. As a result, in our colour reproduction tests, these imbalances in colour balance led to significant errors.

Additionally, the TV had issues with rendering brightness characteristics. At lower resolutions, it clearly brightened the darkest elements of the image, and with HDR content, the brightness curve (eotf) did not want to align as it should. Initially, the TV excessively darkened the smallest details and then overly brightened larger areas. Fortunately, the E7NQ PRO provides us with plenty of calibration tools, so knowing the potential, we decided to take matters into our own hands and try to set it up to eliminate these issues.

While testing the Panasonic W85B, we of course started with the Filmmaker mode, as it is the gold standard today for watching content "as the director intended." The problem is that this TV is quite far from those intentions. The biggest issue turned out to be an excess of red – in both SDR and HDR. The picture often looked overly warm, and in some scenes, it appeared almost "blazing." Additionally, there’s the issue of brightness management. When we looked at the gamma and EOTF charts, it was clear as day that in most scenes, the TV brightens the image more than it should. The effect was easy to predict. Details can get lost, leading to flattening and clipping across the entire screen. Of course, we know how to improve this, but it must be said honestly that it requires quite a bit of work in calibration. Out of the box, the W85B does not provide a reference-level picture – it is rather a TV that will always interpret colors and brightness a bit "its own way" without professional adjustments. Unfortunately, this is to the detriment of the viewer.

Thanks to the tools available in E7NQ PRO, we managed to squeeze a quite decent image out of it, especially in the case of lower-quality content. After fine-tuning the white balance of the SDR materials, the colours look much more natural, and what we see on the screen seems closer to the vision the manufacturer intended to present. Additionally, we improved the brightness characteristic (Gamma), causing the TV to no longer have a tendency to over-brighten, and everything looks significantly better than before our intervention.

In HDR materials, we also managed to achieve some results, although it is not as rosy here. Indeed, the white balance has approached an acceptable level, but the problem lies elsewhere. It concerns the EOTF curve, which is how the TV manages the brightness and tonality of the image. At first glance, it might seem that the biggest issue pertains only to the mid-tones of the image, which are overly illuminated. However, after more detailed testing and enabling filters to display the EOTF curve, it is evident that the receiver tends to brighten the entire screen. This appears to be a limitation arising from the small number of local dimming zones and generally modest brightness management capabilities. Such hardware limitations are simply insurmountable. After our calibration, however, the image is noticeably better than at the start. One just needs to be aware that in terms of contrast and brightness management, this model has its limits, which even good calibration cannot fully overcome.

Fortunately, calibration made a significant difference for the Panasonic W85B, especially in SDR content. Here, the improvement was really noticeable – we managed to balance the white and reasonably tame the TV's tendency to excessively brighten the entire image. The picture became more coherent, and the colors gained a naturalness that was lacking in the factory settings. Admittedly, the results from the Color Checker are not perfect, as the W85B has visible issues with green saturation, but overall, we assess the post-calibration effect in SDR very positively. The situation with HDR is a bit different. Here, we were also able to limit the tendency to warm up the entire scene, so the image turned out much better than in the factory settings. However, the same problem we mentioned earlier is still evident – the TV interprets the image too "in its own way" and brightens the entire frame. The lack of local dimming only exacerbates this effect. In summary, briefly in SDR content, the W85B performs really well after calibration and is perfectly suitable for everyday viewing. However, in HDR, even after adjustments, it is still hard to unequivocally recommend it for serious viewing sessions.

Unfortunately, the "smooth and gradient image" feature in Hisense E7NQ PRO does not impress when it comes to smoothing tonal transitions in lower-quality materials. At the lowest setting, the change is hard to notice—it's more of a cosmetic improvement. Switching to "Medium" mode already provides a noticeable effect, but it still isn't anything special. In addition, the television starts to excessively interfere with other image elements, which can look unnatural.

Image scaling is also rather average. On the test screen, where a portrait of a model and text are displayed, slightly jagged edges can be seen, which makes the overall presentation less smooth and aesthetically pleasing than we would expect in this class of device. It's simply hard to speak of truly effective enhancement of lower resolution quality here.

With native SDR content, the Panasonic W85B performs very well – tonal transitions are smooth and natural, without artificial bands or clear contours. However, the situation looks worse with lower resolution materials. This is where the television has the biggest problem with "beautifying" the image. The lack of any option in the menu that would allow for improving gradation means that with older films or materials from YouTube, one can sometimes notice slight issues with color blending.

Fortunately, upscaling, or increasing the quality of lower resolution content, performs much better. This is definitely a strong point of this model – the image is scaled cleanly and in detail, and the television handles this better than one might expect from such an affordable device. This is thanks to the HCX processor, which Panasonic has been developing for years, and it shows that even in the lower series, it can do a good job.

Thanks to its 144 Hz panel, the E7NQ PRO performs excellently with almost every type of content. Whether we are watching fast-paced matches, dynamic games, or action movies, the fluidity of motion leaves a good impression. For movies, the manufacturer has equipped the TV with two key tools: "motion blur reduction" and "judder reduction." Each of these functions can be adjusted on a scale from 1 to 10.

At lower values, the processing is subtle, barely noticeable, and gently smooths motion without ruining the cinematic character of the image. The higher we move up the scale, the more clearly the TV intervenes in the presented material, smoothing motion more forcefully, thus minimizing any stutter or micro-cuts. On the other hand, the highest settings may resemble the so-called "soap opera effect," which makes the image look overly smooth, losing some of its cinematic atmosphere. However, with such a scale, we can find the golden mean, adjusting the fluidity of motion to our own preferences.

At first glance, everything looks good – the Panasonic W85B has a 120 Hz panel and even a 144 Hz mode, so it seems that it should handle smooth motion well. The problem begins when we look into the settings. The options for improving fluidity are supposedly present in the menu, but in practice… they change nothing. No matter what we choose, the image looks the same. On top of that, there's a lack of BFI, which is the black frame insertion mode that helps sharpen motion in many TVs. And suddenly, it turns out that despite having a strong panel, the W85B doesn't give us any real tools to adjust that motion to our needs. It only works well when the source itself operates at a higher frequency – for example, games at 120 Hz. But when it comes to movies or sports, we just have to take what the TV shows us, because there's nothing more we can do about it.

If you enjoy switching on your console and immersing yourself in games for hours, the E7NQ PRO is sure to make a strong impression. With its 144Hz refresh rate, gameplay feels impressively smooth, while support for HDMI 2.1 and VRR prevents screen tearing, even during the most action-packed moments. Additionally, ALLM automatically applies the lowest latency as soon as you switch to your console, so there’s no need to tweak the settings manually.

A major plus is the ability to play games in Dolby Vision, enhancing colours and contrast for a more vibrant experience. Hisense has also included a user-friendly game bar, allowing you to monitor key performance stats and adjust settings without leaving the game. The only real drawback is the absence of HGIG support. While not essential, some gamers may miss it if they’re looking for the most accurate representation of a game’s intended visuals. That said, in practice, the E7NQ PRO delivers an excellent gaming experience that’s smooth, responsive, and enjoyable.

On paper, the Panasonic W85B looks really solid. Here we have two full HDMI 2.1 ports, support for ALLM, variable refresh rate, Dolby Vision in games, and of course, a high refresh rate for the panel itself. Additionally, there’s the characteristic Panasonic game bar that allows you to check key parameters with one click and quickly change them if necessary. Sounds great, but the problem arises when we activate HDR. Here, the W85B significantly falters because it lacks proper HGiG implementation – the TV manages brightness poorly, and instead of faithful image rendering, we get scenes that are too bright, sometimes even blown out. The solution? The simplest – turn off HDR in the console settings and leave everything in SDR. And here it gets really interesting, because in this scenario, the W85B shows its better side. Low input lag, high smoothness thanks to 120 Hz – all of this makes gaming look phenomenal. Yes, HDR can be sacrificed, but if responsiveness and smooth gameplay are priorities, the W85B provides a lot of fun.