Philips PUS7000 vs Haier M95E

Unfortunately, the PUS7000 is not suitable for watching HDR content. This screen is simply too dark. A brightness level of 200 nits is not enough to correctly display such a format. Even if a HDR signal message appears on the screen, the image will resemble a regular SDR recording. Therefore, it's better to stick with the latter format to avoid issues in displaying bright scenes, which you can read about below. The situation is not improved by the fact that this is a classic LCD model without additional layers to enhance colors, such as QLED or PFS. As a result, colors in HDR may appear washed out. Ultimately, this gives a worse effect than in the standard SDR format, which is simply better suited to the capabilities of this panel.

If there is one category in which the Haier M95E undoubtedly shines, it is the HDR effect, driven by the raw power of the backlighting. This TV cannot be denied that it is a truly bright device. Both in most movie scenes and during our synthetic measurements, the panel easily achieved and often even exceeded the threshold of 1200-1500 nits. This directly translates to the viewing experience – the image has a striking impact and truly allows you to feel the magic of materials recorded in this format. However, one must be aware of a certain compromise. When particularly demanding scenes filled with small, yet intense bright spots appear on the screen, the M95E does not lose its punch nor dims, but it pays a different price for it. A very strong and noticeably distracting halo effect is generated around these bright elements. It is evident here that the algorithms controlling the dimming have been programmed to prioritize brightness and visibility of the smallest details, even if this comes at the cost of flawless black levels. We are not entirely convinced that this is the healthiest approach; however, it must be acknowledged that the overall capabilities of the M95E in this regard are quite substantial. A significant advantage is the fact that we are dealing with a Mini LED QLED construction. The use of a quantum dot layer brings tangible benefits in the form of wide color gamut coverage, which in our tests reached almost 96% of the DCI-P3 color space. This guarantees that the television has full predispositions to display vibrant and appropriately saturated colors.

We tested the television in movie mode, which theoretically should provide the best and most natural colors. And indeed, this mode is quite correct; however, after connecting the calibration equipment, its biggest flaw became apparent. The PUS7000 has significant deficiencies in displaying red. Poorly tuned white balance and too low saturation of this color cause the image to appear too cool. As a result, one might get the impression that the displayed content is simply lacking in vibrant colors. The situation is exacerbated by the fact that both SDR and HDR content are excessively brightened. This is confirmed by the gamma curve and EOTF graphs, which show that the television displays the image brighter than it should. This causes scenes to lose their depth and may appear somewhat washed out. Fortunately, the Philips menu offers many functions to improve these aspects, so we immediately proceeded to calibration to see what could be squeezed out of this screen.

We evaluate every television primarily based on its default cinema mode – in this case "Film" – which theoretically should be the "best" and most accurate right out of the box. Unfortunately, with the Haier M95E, the word "best" is absolutely not synonymous with the word "good." Even during SDR viewing, the picture revealed obvious issues: white balance skewed too much towards red, and excessive, unnatural color saturation led to visible color deviations. Worse still, the M95E also has trouble managing brightness (gamma curve), excessively darkening the entire scene. Such behavior is hard to commend, as it directly causes details in the shadows to blend into a black blob, which are irretrievably lost.

However, the real disaster struck after switching to HDR material while still remaining in "Film" mode. It's hard to guess who came up with such a fantastic idea – or perhaps it was simply a complete oversight of this stage by Haier's engineers – but the image, instead of cinema fidelity, began to resemble the bright "Dynamic" mode. The white balance exposed huge issues with the blue color, which in turn resulted in unnatural sharpening and artificial oversaturation of the entire scene. As if that weren't enough, the EOTF curve characteristics ruthlessly revealed that the television also has fundamental problems with local dimming management in this setting. We haven't calibrated many Haiers in our career, but we know for sure now that the M95E definitely needs it.

After professional calibration, it is clear that the PUS7000 responds well to image adjustments. In this price range, this is not a given. The effects should be assessed in two scenarios, depending on what content we plan to watch. SDR performs the best. After our corrections, the image looks really good. Most color errors fell below level 3, which is the threshold at which distortions typically become visible to the naked eye in measurements. Movies, series, sports, and regular television present themselves naturally, without unpleasant deviations. If someone primarily watches classic channels or streaming in HD quality, the difference after calibration will be noticeable immediately. However, it must be made clear that the PUS7000 is still not a television suitable for sensible HDR, and calibration does not change much here. The reason lies in the hardware: colors remain too undersaturated. The television lacks solutions that expand the color gamut, such as PFS filters or a quantum dot layer, so the panel simply cannot show the intense colors required by HDR. This is most evident in reds, which still look pale. This limitation cannot be bypassed with menu settings, as it results from the design of the backlighting and the panel itself.

The calibration process left us with extremely mixed feelings. On one hand, we noted significant success in the area of colorimetry. Utilizing the options available in the menu, we managed to tame the white balance and bring it down to an acceptable level. As a result, SDR content was finally freed from the annoying red dominance, and the HDR image no longer resembled a vibrant, store demonstration mode. The entire color palette and its saturation were also clearly corrected – perhaps not perfectly, but to the extent that the software allowed, and the difference was visible to the naked eye.

Unfortunately, this is where our list of corrections basically ends, as M95E simply did not allow for more. As we indicated earlier, most settings related to image brightness do not respond to our commands at all. This means we were unable to control its fundamental characteristics in any way – neither the gamma curve nor the EOTF. In practice, the television in SDR content still tends to darken details, which was confirmed by the inflated gamma, merging details in the shadows. On the other hand, the EOTF curve in HDR mode still mercilessly exposed all the previously mentioned issues with chaotic local dimming zone management. And while the calibration process itself yielded quite a lot, removing most of the color issues, ultimately we had to capitulate.

The PUS7000 handles digital image processing quite well. The distortion reduction feature deserves praise, as it effectively smooths out unwanted tonal transitions even at a low setting. However, it has a flaw: if the action is too aggressive, it can introduce undesirable artifacts on the screen. It’s a good idea to experiment with this setting to find the sweet spot between a smooth image and detail clarity.

The upscaling, which is the enhancement of lower quality materials to 4K, is adequate. The image after processing is very "soft," which is typical for almost all Philips televisions. The edges are plastic and smooth, making the image look cohesive. If someone finds it too soft, it can always be adjusted with the sharpness slider in the menu to achieve a more pronounced effect.

Well, what happens with those color transitions when lower quality material full of compression artifacts comes on screen? Unfortunately, we have some bad news for you. Although we can find an option in the menu responsible for smoothing tonal transitions in older content, we definitely DO NOT RECOMMEND using it. Its activation causes a barrage of additional, ugly artifacts, noticeably blurring the entire image, and the funniest part – it often doesn’t even remove those unwanted “stairs” it was supposed to fight against. This feature might as well not exist at all.

We can write many more positive things about the overall upscaling, which is the process of raising lower resolutions to the native 4K matrix. The image after upscaling looks really good – it's neither overly jagged nor artificially smoothed. In this particular matter, the M95E simply delivers.

In this regard, we don't really have any good news. It might seem that the biggest downside is the lack of a 120 Hz panel, but in this price range, that's actually standard, and it's hard to expect more. However, the worst part is that the TV does not have any motion smoothing features. There are no supporting systems for either movies or sports. We have to accept that the image on the PUS7000 is processed "raw." This means that during dynamic scenes or fast camera movements, the motion may appear choppy or unclear. We have no way to enable any smoother that would soften this effect.

When it comes to motion fluidity and ghosting, our feelings are quite mixed because the M95E is a paradoxical television. Let’s start with the absolute delights: the heart of the device is a 144Hz panel, but what truly impresses is its performance with 120Hz content, which is crucial for sports and console gaming. We must state with full responsibility that Haier has equipped the television with one of the best VA panels currently available on the market when it comes to minimizing ghosting. It is rare to encounter an LCD panel that offers such clean, sharp, and ghost-free motion. In this respect, the M95E is simply phenomenal.

And this is exactly why the unpleasant surprise waiting for us on the software side is so painful. It turns out that this fantastic hardware potential is completely untapped, as the television practically offers no functioning options for improving fluidity. The smoothing systems, which should assist with lower frame rate content, can indeed be found in the Menu but essentially do not respond to our settings. The conclusion is brutally simple: if you intend to watch high fluidity material, you must be sure that the source is transmitting it natively at 120. In every other case, you must resign yourself to a rather raw, choppy image because the M95E will not help smooth it out in any way.

Although the PUS7000 is not marketed as a gaming TV, it does not perform as poorly in this category as one might expect. While there is no support for 120 Hz refresh rates, which is understandable at this price point, the manufacturer has included several important features that genuinely improve the comfort of playing on a console. The most significant of these are VRR and ALLM technologies. VRR is responsible for synchronizing the screen with the number of frames generated by the console. This prevents the image from "tearing" and keeps it consistent even during sudden frame drops in the game. In turn, ALLM is a solution that automatically switches the TV to the lowest latency mode right after detecting a signal from the console. All of these parameters are easily accessible thanks to the Game Bar feature. This is a special control panel for gamers that can be brought up on the screen at any time. It allows for a quick overview of current settings and connection status without interrupting gameplay, which is a very convenient solution.

When it comes to features for gamers, the Haier M95E presents some really strong arguments. First of all, it is fully ready for the new generation of consoles and powerful PCs. It is equipped with two full-fledged HDMI 2.1 ports, which handle 4K signals at 120Hz effortlessly and even allow for gaming at 144Hz. This is a foundation that guarantees us full utilization of the potential of our equipment. Moreover, the key technologies work flawlessly here. The television accurately detects the console and automatically switches to low latency mode (ALLM), so we don’t have to dig into the settings. The frame synchronization (VRR) also works smoothly, eliminating the annoying tearing of the image when the game's fluidity slightly drops. Considering the remarkably low motion blur of the panel, which we have already mentioned, the M95E creates a truly comfortable and responsive gaming environment. Of course, this is not a perfect package. A dedicated "Game Bar," which would be a handy menu for gamers, would be a nice addition, but in essence, it is just a nice extra. A more serious shortcoming is the lack of support for the HGiG standard, which complicates the ideal HDR configuration on the console and can lead to overexposures. Despite these shortcomings, the basic "gaming package" offered by the M95E is really solid and fully functional.