Hisense U6NQ vs Panasonic Z85A

Hisense U6NQ offers a stable HDR effect, which is rare in TVs with local dimming. On most streaming platforms, in movies and series recorded in 4K, the TV presents consistent performance – in every tested scene, regardless of difficulty level, brightness is around 450 nits. This is a pleasant surprise, as many models in this class show significant differences – some scenes are well-lit, while others are heavily dimmed by dimming algorithms. However, Hisense U6NQ prioritizes maintaining higher brightness, which comes at the expense of black levels, as mentioned in the paragraph about contrast testing.

The HDR effect on the U6NQ is satisfying, offering a noticeable "hit" of light in bright moments, although it is worth remembering the previously mentioned blooming, which can be visible in more challenging scenes. In terms of colours, the TV also performs decently – the coverage of the DCI-P3 palette is 89%, and BT.2020 is 71%. Although these are not results that would impress more demanding users, for beginners in the world of high-quality content, the U6NQ serves as a solid choice. Thus, it presents an interesting option as an "entry-level" TV for home cinema.

The Panasonic Z85A is an OLED television, so you can expect great effects in movies right away. And indeed – our tests show that the WOLED panel can achieve around 800 nits of peak brightness in optimal conditions. This is a solid result that performs well in most demanding HDR scenes, allowing you to enjoy a dynamic and detailed image. However, like every OLED, the Z85A has its limits. In very bright scenes that cover the entire screen – like the final sequence from the movie The Meg – the television reduces brightness to about 400 nits. This is standard behavior for this technology, so if someone plans to watch movies in a brightly lit living room, it's worth keeping this in mind. The coverage of the DCI-P3 color gamut at 98% also deserves a big plus. As a result, the television delivers a wide range of colors that stand out with vibrancy and depth, and details in HDR scenes are sharp and precise. In short – the Panasonic Z85A provides a solid HDR effect that will satisfy any movie enthusiast.

The Hisense U6NQ in Filmmaker mode offers truly decent colour reproduction, although it is worth noting that differences between individual units can be noticeable. The model we tested surprised us positively, especially with HD content in SDR quality. The white balance was correct, and errors around 3–4 ΔE should be acceptable for the average viewer. The TV performed slightly worse in colour reproduction with 4K HDR materials. The dominance of blue hues led to unnatural cool tones on the Colour Checker chart, giving the picture a "store-bought" character. Combined with issues in brightness characteristics – gamma and EOTF curve caused some parts of the image to be too dark – the Filmmaker mode loses some of its credibility in this case. Although the factory settings of the tested unit deserve praise, especially in SDR, there were still minor shortcomings that would require adjustment to fully leverage the capabilities of the TV.

The Panasonic Z85A offers many picture modes, but the Filmmaker mode definitely stands out from the rest. It is rare for a television to be so well-tuned straight out of the box, and the unit we had the opportunity to test really impressed us positively.

However, there were some minor shortcomings. In the SDR signal, we noticed a slight deficiency in red and blue colors, which made the image have a cooler shade than it should. This is particularly evident in the comparative photo. Conversely, in 4K HDR materials, the situation was the opposite – the excess of red made the image seem warmer than the creators intended. In terms of brightness characteristics (gamma) and maintaining the appropriate EOTF curve, it is hard to find fault. There are some minor deviations, but they are so minimal that the average viewer is unlikely to notice them.

It is also worth emphasizing that our observations pertain to a specific unit of the television. Two identical models can differ from each other due to natural production variations. Nevertheless, the unit we had in hand is really solid and deserves praise. Now it's time for our calibration – we'll see if we can squeeze even more from this screen!

Although the factory settings of the Filmmaker mode on the Hisense U6NQ were quite good, we decided to carry out calibration to fully assess the capabilities of this model. Only after such an adjustment can you see how the TV performs in ideal conditions. In the case of SDR content, which was already at a high level, we managed to further improve the white balance. However, the biggest change came from the brightness characteristic correction - gamma was optimized and no longer causes excessive dimming of the image, which improves its naturalness.

For 4K HDR content, calibration also yielded positive results. We eliminated the problem of blue dominance, which translated into a more balanced and natural image. However, managing brightness in HDR materials remains a more complicated issue. The EOTF curve, although it had problems with dimming the image in the range of 10-30% brightness under laboratory conditions, reveals other shortcomings in real scenes. The TV tends to excessively brighten the smallest elements on the screen. As a result, this leads to noticeable halo effects around bright objects. This phenomenon, which we mentioned earlier in the context of contrast and HDR, stems from the technological limitations of the model and is often difficult to eliminate.

In short: although the Filmmaker mode with factory settings looked decent, calibration allowed for an even better effect - minor adjustments resulted in a more balanced image, especially in HDR content. Calibration will be a beneficial step for users seeking the highest quality image.

The Panasonic Z85A offers truly wide possibilities when it comes to image settings, so we enthusiastically set about calibration. Although we mainly focused on white balance correction, the final effect exceeded our expectations. Both HD and 4K HDR content now present nearly perfect color reproduction, with minimal errors that are difficult to catch with the naked eye. Well-calibrated televisions are rare, and we must admit – it is truly gratifying. Although gamma and EOTF curve did not require drastic adjustments, we managed to further stabilize their characteristics across the entire brightness scale. After calibration, the Panasonic Z85A is a true gem for home cinema enthusiasts. The image is precise, colors are natural, and every scene looks exactly as the director intended.

With high-quality materials, such as 4K, tonal transitions on the U6NQ look really good – the colours blend nicely and the image is cohesive. Unfortunately, when we switch to content in a lower resolution, the television does not offer any additional features that could improve this aspect. An example is the test with the light bulb, where it is clear that the television has trouble rendering subtle tonal transitions.

On the other hand, digital processing performs quite well. The image looks plastic, pleasantly soft, and free of excessive aliasing. Moreover, thanks to the sharpness settings, it can be adjusted according to personal preferences – whether towards a softer or sharper image. Overall, although scaling lower-quality materials could be better, the television does well with image processing.

Now that we know how the Panasonic Z85A handles tonal transitions in 4K materials, it's time to look at its "Gradation Smoothing" feature. It works, but unfortunately not entirely effectively. Regardless of the selected value – whether low, medium, or high – we were unable to achieve perfectly smooth tonal transitions in our test sequence. We recommend setting this feature to an intermediate level. While it may slightly blur fine details, it at least avoids the problem of losing film grain, which can be crucial for many viewers when watching classic productions.

When it comes to image scaling, the television performs quite well. It is evident that the image is slightly sharpened, and thin lines can sometimes appear somewhat jagged. However, this is standard in most televisions and fortunately, it can be adjusted using the sharpness slider. This gives us full control – we can achieve a more plastic, blurred image or a clearer one, though more "harsh" and artificially sharp. It all depends on the user’s preferences and the type of content we are watching. Overall, the scaling is at a solid level and should satisfy most users who are using lower resolution materials.

The Hisense U6NQ offers a native refresh rate of 60 Hz at a 4K resolution, but the manufacturer has added a feature that allows increasing the refresh rate to 120 Hz at the cost of reducing the resolution to Full HD. This is a solution we have seen before in TVs from TCL, such as the C655 and the C655 PRO. This gives the user the option to choose – higher motion fluidity or full resolution. This is a sensible approach, especially considering that many games on new-generation consoles do not achieve full performance in 4K at 120 Hz.

As for movies, the TV is equipped with a motion smoothing feature that allows adjusting motion characteristics to personal preferences. This can create a more cinematic effect or increase fluidity in dynamic scenes. Overall, the Hisense U6NQ offers reasonable solutions for motion fluidity that should satisfy both gamers and movie lovers.

The Panasonic Z85A has a 120 Hz panel, which will surely please both gamers and sports fans. Sure, it's not 144 Hz like some gaming TVs, but in practice, the difference is really hard to notice. In games, the image is stable and clear, and during fast action, there's no sign of any motion blur. The same goes for sports – a quick run by a soccer player or a dynamic car maneuver looks smooth and natural. The TV also has an "Intelligent Frame Creation" feature, which is a motion smoother. There are two sliders – one for reducing motion blur and the other for motion smoothness. With these, you can adjust the picture to your personal preferences – whether you prefer a more cinematic effect with gentle transitions between frames or a maximally smooth image perfect for watching sports.

The Hisense U6NQ offers the option to choose between 4K at 60 Hz and Full HD with a refresh rate of 120 Hz. This solution may appeal to gamers who want to decide what is more important to them – higher resolution or smoothness. The television supports features such as ALLM and VRR, which help in achieving smoother gameplay. A nice addition is the GameBar – an easy-to-use panel that allows for quick changes to picture settings and checking statistics. It also includes a Dolby Vision Gaming mode, which works with low input lag, a big plus for console enthusiasts. Unfortunately, it lacks HGiG, which could further enhance HDR quality in games. Nevertheless, the Hisense U6NQ performs quite well as a gaming television, especially for those who play occasionally and do not require the highest refresh rates in 4K. It is a solid choice for less demanding users.

Panasonic is mainly associated with home cinema televisions, but the Z85A shows that it can also enter the gaming world with a really strong punch. This is equipment that can easily be called a gaming beast - it has everything needed for comfortable gameplay.

Even though we only have two HDMI 2.1 ports, both operate at full bandwidth, so we can easily connect both a next-gen console and a gaming PC. All key features are supported: ALLM automatically switches the TV to game mode, VRR ensures smooth images without stuttering and tearing, and with properly implemented HGIG and Dolby Vision, HDR games look really good - colors are vivid, details clear, and dark scenes readable. There is also a Game Bar in the form of a clear, circular menu. It may not look as impressive as with the competition, but it is intuitive and contains all the most important settings that we would like to have at hand during gaming.

In summary - the Panasonic Z85A is equipment that really surprises with its gaming capabilities. It is a television where both console gamers and PC gamers will feel at home. It's smooth, dynamic, and simply good.