Philips PUS8209 vs Hisense S7NQ CanvasTV

Unfortunately, this is where the problems begin. A maximum brightness of 280 nits is definitely too low to feel the true HDR effect. In practice, the image resembles standard SDR more, so it's hard to speak of deeper visual experiences. On the plus side, the color gamut coverage is commendable – 91.4% DCI-P3 is a result that will be sufficient for most films. It must also be noted that the image is stable and there are no issues with sudden changes in brightness or colors. Looking at the overall picture, HDR on this TV is more of a formality than an actual added value. If we are looking for true HDR emotions, this model may not meet expectations.

When it comes to the brightness of the television and how it handles bright elements while watching movies, it is just average—similar to contrast. The average brightness level of the Hisense S7NQ is around 500 nits. This is a value that allows you to feel the beginnings of true HDR, but it is definitely too little to speak of outstanding effects. However, the television deserves praise for color gamut coverage—movies look very colorful and vibrant. With the use of PFS LED (QLED) coating, the device can cover over 90% of the DCI-P3 color gamut and over 72% of the wider BT.2020 gamut. For a television in this class, these are truly very good results.

Philips PUS8209 offers many picture modes, but the best among them, without a doubt, is the Filmmaker mode. Despite its proud name, it has its clear issues. In the case of HD content, the white balance is characterized by a strong dominance of red, causing the image to be significantly warmer than it should be in reality. The brightness characteristic (gamma), although correct in the midtones, has serious problems at the beginning and end of the graph. Drops in the shadows lead to a loss of details in dark areas, and highlights in bright areas make some elements look unnatural.

For high-quality 4K HDR content, the situation reverses. In this case, blue dominates, leading to an effect of artificial image enhancement, reminiscent of unnatural store settings. Such an image looks unappealing and inconsistent with the creators' intentions. An additional problem is the EOTF curve, responsible for brightness in HDR materials. It deviates significantly from the reference chart, making the image appear too dark, robbing the depth and detail of HDR content.

Against this background, the errors in the Color Checker test and deviations in color palette reproduction are exceptionally large, which negatively impacts the overall image quality. The Filmmaker mode, although the best among the available options, requires significant corrections to fully deliver the director's vision.

Let's now check how the Hisense S7NQ CanvasTV performs in color reproduction in the best factory mode, which is Filmmaker. Right from the start, it is evident that it is definitely better than in dynamic or standard mode, but there are still a few things to nitpick. In terms of image quality from the HD signal, the colors are slightly inaccurate – there is a dominance of cooler shades of blue and a lack of red. Because of this, the image appears somewhat too cool.

A similar effect occurs with 4K content, but it is more noticeable there. The excessive exposure of blue tones and the lack of red make the image seem distinctly cold. However, the biggest issue with this television is not the colors themselves but rather the way brightness is managed. The tested unit slightly boosted the brightness compared to the reference value. The result is indeed better visibility of details, but at the cost of significantly brightened black – which makes the entire image seem more "flat."

A similar phenomenon was noticed in the 4K signal – the slightly inflated curve at the beginning of the EOTF graph shows that the television has a tendency to excessively expose certain scenes. Fortunately, this effect can be improved with professional calibration, which we will discuss in the next point.

After calibration, the white balance for HD and 4K content has improved significantly. Although we did not achieve a perfectly flat characteristic, the effect is definitely better than before. The image on the television no longer appears artificially warm or overly cold, which significantly enhances the naturalness of the displayed content. The brightness characteristic (gamma) has also been adjusted - the biggest issues at the beginning and end of the graph have been mitigated. The EOTF curve, which is responsible for brightness in 4K HDR material, has been stabilized, eliminating problems with excessive dimming of the image. In the color palette test, some imperfections can still be seen due to average coverage of a wide color gamut, which is a limitation of the hardware itself. Nevertheless, the final effect is clearly better than before calibration - the image looks more natural and approaches the expectations for the Filmmaker mode.

The results we achieved after calibrating the Hisense S7NQ are really very good. Thanks to the calibration, we were able to eliminate the excessive exposure of blue tones and the lack of red in the HD signal. A similar, although slightly weaker effect was also achieved with 4K HDR content. Brightness management in HD material has also improved – the television no longer has problems with overall image brightness issues.

However, there are things that cannot be overlooked. The characteristic of the EOTF curve has practically not changed, and the lack of local dimming means that the smallest elements on the screen will always be slightly overexposed. One simply has to accept this when choosing a television with a similar type of backlighting. Nonetheless, the final result is very good and should fully satisfy the vast majority of users.

The television offers a "Distortion Reduction" feature that effectively improves the gradation of tonal transitions, especially when set to the minimum level. Unfortunately, it comes at a price – the feature also smooths out details like the texture of materials. On the plus side, the operation of this option does not negatively affect the film grain, which remains intact.

As for image scaling (upscaling), the television generates a plastic, soft image that generally looks pleasant. However, in the background, one can sometimes notice issues with aliasing on some elements, such as branches or fine details, which can lower the quality of the reception. Despite these minor imperfections, the overall experience of scaling is satisfactory.

It is equally important how the television handles tonal transitions on a poorer signal – for example, in older movies, television, or on YouTube. Unfortunately, despite the presence of the "Smooth and Gradient Picture" feature, which was supposedly intended to improve this aspect, its performance is truly lacking. It is barely noticeable that it has any real impact on the visibility of color transitions.

Image scaling also performs poorly. Yes, one can observe that the television tries to "stretch" the quality, but the final effect is far from ideal. The image often appears slightly jagged, which is especially noticeable in the case of tree branches in the background. Additionally, the Hisense S7NQ has a clear tendency to crop the image at lower resolutions, which can cause us to miss captions in the news or finer details of the image.

The 60 Hz panel in the Philips PUS8209 is mainly suited for watching movies, but there is also a certain sense of dissatisfaction here. The TV does not offer any motion smoothing feature that would allow adjusting the smoothness of the picture to individual preferences, which may be disappointing for some users.

When it comes to motion fluidity, the television performs really well. Although the S7NQ was mainly designed for displaying static elements – such as images – the manufacturer has utilized a panel with a refresh rate of 144 Hz. As a result, sports or games look really good on it.

For materials that are not recorded at a high frame rate, the manufacturer provided two features that allow you to adjust the picture to your own preferences. "Motion blur reduction" and "motion smoothing" operate on a 10-level scale, allowing you to choose between a more cinematic image – with characteristic frame jumps – and a smooth effect reminiscent of a "soap opera." How to set this up? That's a personal matter – we leave the decision to you.

The Philips PUS8209 offers basic functions useful for gamers, such as variable refresh rate (VRR), automatic low latency mode (ALLM), and a Game Bar that makes managing settings easier.

Unfortunately, due to the 60 Hz panel, the television will not meet the expectations of more demanding gamers who are counting on higher fluidity and precision of the image. Additionally, this model does not support any HDR mode dedicated to games, such as HGiG or Dolby Vision, which further limits its capabilities in this regard.

Even though the S7NQ is an "image" type TV, you can actually play games on it. Really. It has almost everything (except for HGiG mode) that a modern gaming TV needs. The 144 Hz panel and two full-fledged HDMI 2.1 ports allow for seamless connection of two consoles, such as PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X/S.

The TV supports automatic game mode (ALLM) and frame synchronization (VRR) without any stuttering or issues. It also handles high frame rates at lower resolutions without a hitch. We must commend Hisense for the very attractive Game Bar – it displays all available picture options, and additionally, we have the ability to zoom in on the mini-map or enable a crosshair (because sometimes someone might actually want to "aim" 😉).

The only missing element – as we mentioned earlier – is the lack of a proper implementation of HGiG mode. It is responsible for automatically setting the picture in games as the creators intended. It's a shame because that’s the only thing separating the Hisense S7NQ from being a full-fledged gaming "monster."