PHILIPS PUS9010 (IPS) vs Hisense UR9S

In the Philips PUS9010 version with an IPS panel, HDR brightness unfortunately falls short compared to the previously tested 55-inch variant with a VA panel. The difference is about 100 nits, which is clearly noticeable given the relatively low values. While the VA version could exceed 500 nits, here the maximum brightness reaches around 400 nits. This level still allows for watching movies and series in HDR, especially on streaming platforms, but the effects are clearly more subdued. Bright elements do not have as much impact, and scenes requiring high luminance appear less impressive. On the positive side, the coverage of the DCI-P3 color palette is commendable. The IPS version offers about 91%, which is roughly 5% more than the variant with the VA panel. This translates to slightly better color saturation in HDR content, despite the lower brightness. Colors can appear more vivid and consistent, particularly in colorful scenes.

The Hisense UR9S is without a doubt a show of strength from the Chinese manufacturer when it comes to luminance. On a synthetic test pattern the panel reached as much as 2600 nits, which is an impressive result. But you have to clearly separate lab results from film realities. In real material the UR9S behaves much more restrained. Peak brightness in balanced scenes hovers around 1500 nits. In demanding, dark shots—where the algorithms must at the same time preserve deep blacks and precisely light small details—brightness can drop drastically, even down to around 400 nits. The gap between the chart and reality is therefore huge. This is a direct consequence of conservative local-dimming behavior. When a bright object occupies a large portion of the frame, the system can easily maintain a high luminance. But in night scenes the priority becomes protecting black levels and fighting the halo effect (unsightly glows around bright edges). To avoid degrading contrast, the TV drastically limits its light output. Even so, the UR9S can still produce a very powerful, engaging HDR effect that impresses in bright, spectacular sequences.

Color gamut coverage

On test patterns the Hisense UR9S performs excellently in terms of color. DCI-P3 coverage is nearly 100%, and BT.2020 coverage reaches 93%. Those are figures even the best QD-OLED TVs don't achieve. But again, synthetic measurements are one thing and movies and series are another. In real-world scenes the numbers fell to 93% for DCI-P3 and 81% for BT.2020. That's still great, but the advantage of RGB Mini LED is no longer as dramatic as manufacturers promise in marketing materials. You could even say their capability is now close to TVs equipped with quantum dots, the so-called QLEDs. Why does this happen? Largely, color reproduction depends on how the local dimming zones operate. When a highly saturated color appears next to white or another, more complex element, a single zone must handle both parts of the image at once. Under those conditions the backlight cannot maintain extreme saturation of a given color on the screen, because the emitted light takes on a character closer to white. Hisense refined this quite well in the UR9S, but still not enough for the TV to sustain such high color saturation in every situation.

We assessed color reproduction, as always, using factory settings, focusing on movie mode, which in the case of Philips usually offers the best starting point. This is also a good moment to show how much the same TV model can vary depending on the panel used. Looking at white balance, the overall trend remains similar to the variant with a VA panel. There is still excessive red in the whites, but in the tested unit with an IPS panel, there are also deficiencies in the blue channel. As a result, the image has a slightly different color character, which can be clearly seen in the comparative materials. This is a very good example showing why ready-made settings downloaded from the internet may not always work even within the same model.

However, returning to the assessment itself, this unit performs quite well, especially in SDR content. Color tests show correct saturation and color consistency, without glaring errors that could interfere with everyday viewing. In HDR materials, slight deficiencies in reds are already noticeable, but these are not flaws that completely ruin the perception of the image. The biggest limitations do not stem directly from the colors but rather from whites and blacks. The use of an IPS panel and slightly lowered gamma results in the image being slightly boosted in brightness, while the weak black further affects perceived contrast. This makes the overall look brighter, but at the same time, it loses depth, especially during evening viewing.

We tested the Hisense UR9S in Filmmaker Mode, which, by default, provides the most accurate image reproduction. In HDR content the TV performed quite well in that regard. White balance did not show large errors, and the luminance curve, though typical for Hisense, was at a reasonable level. So the image was neither overly bright nor noticeably color-shifted. The same mode fared much worse with SDR content, meaning the content we watch most often, such as broadcast TV or YouTube. White balance was strongly shifted toward red and blue, giving the image a slightly pink tint. This also affected the gamma curve. Instead of approaching the reference value of 2.4, it was closer to 2.0, which made the image look too bright, especially in midtones and darker areas. Filmmaker Mode therefore remains the best out-of-the-box choice, but it's not without flaws.

After calibration, the image was brought to a really reasonable level. Everything looks coherent and natural, and when it comes to color reproduction, it's hard to definitively state whether we have a VA or IPS panel. This is a good sign, showing that the TV has a solid foundation for further adjustments. It's worth noting the larger color gamut coverage in this variant, which can slightly improve the reception of colorful scenes, especially in HDR content. However, this advantage is largely counterbalanced by the elevated blacks, resulting from the use of an IPS panel. Limited black depth affects perceived contrast, especially when watching in a dark room. As a result, despite the noticeable improvement after calibration, the final assessment remains the same as in the variant with a VA panel. Better colors are not able to fully compensate for the weaker blacks.

After calibration we saw the biggest improvement in SDR mode, though we also refined the HDR picture. Hisense offers a lot of calibration settings in the TV's menu, so we could precisely correct the white balance and other image errors. The most important change was removing the pink cast that had previously been clearly visible in SDR content. After calibration the picture looks much more natural, especially in everyday content such as TV or YouTube.

Color reproduction errors on the ColorChecker chart are very small after calibration. The vast majority of colors fall below a Delta E of 2–3, meaning at a level very hard for the human eye to detect. The only thing we couldn't completely eliminate is the characteristic HDR tone mapping typical of Hisense TVs. It affects how brightness is distributed in movies and can subtly "beautify" the image, rather than strictly following the creators' intent. For a less experienced viewer this can produce a stronger "wow" effect, but it won't always fully match how the content should look.

In the Philips PUS9010, we find another iteration of the P5 Perfect Picture image processor, which aims to improve the quality of weaker materials. One of the components of this system is the distortion reduction function, responsible for smoothing tonal transitions. It works effectively and actually reduces visible color gradation. Unfortunately, it does so rather aggressively. In practice, it can dull details such as material textures or film grain. This is a clear compromise, so we wouldn't recommend it for movie screenings. It performs much better with looser content, like YouTube or regular television. The P5 processor also handles lower resolution materials quite well. The image is soft, sometimes even too soft, but it can easily be adjusted with the sharpness slider, tailoring the effect to personal preferences. Additionally, the lack of edge cropping in SD materials is a plus, which is still not standard in this class of televisions.

Digital image processing has been one of Hisense's strengths for two years, and the UR9S is no exception. The manufacturer uses the Hi-View AI Engine RGB processor, which is essentially based on the well-known MediaTek Pentonic 800 platform, previously used, among others, in the U8Q. The TV handles upscaling lower-resolution material to 4K and low-bitrate content very well, where various compression-related artifacts are common. Thanks to a feature called "Smooth and Gradient Picture", the image remains detailed without appearing overly sharpened or artificially smoothed. When watching regular TV or older, lower-quality material, the UR9S can pull a surprising amount out of them. In terms of digital image processing, this is one of the most refined LCD TVs we've had the chance to test.

Philips PUS9010 has a 4K panel with a refresh rate of 144 Hz, which will be appreciated primarily by sports fans and gamers. This is especially evident in dynamic scenes where motion is sharp, and annoying trailing is nearly absent. When it comes to movies (standard 24 fps), Philips provides us with a proven set of settings known from higher series. Two sliders are used to control motion. The “Smoothness” slider allows you to adjust the image to your taste: at low settings, we maintain a cinematic character, while moving the slider to the right gives us a perfectly smooth, albeit slightly “theatrical” effect. On the other hand, the “Motion Blur Reduction” is a feature made for sports – it ensures that fast objects do not lose details and remain clear.

The Hisense UR9S is one of the first TVs on the market with a 4K panel and a 170 Hz refresh rate. In the larger sizes, 75 and 85 inches, that goes up to 180 Hz. Such a high refresh rate will mainly be useful to owners of very powerful PCs. We still watch movies and series mostly at 24 fps, and sports broadcasts at 50 fps, so in everyday use panel response time and the performance of motion smoothing are more important. In that respect the UR9S performs very well. Motion blur is minimal, as our UFO test also confirmed. Moving objects do not leave a pronounced trail, so the picture remains clear even in fast scenes.

The Philips PUS9010 is truly a solid machine for gaming. It has everything that matters: VRR, automatic game mode (ALLM), and support for HGiG. The latter is a great feature—it allows HDR in games to be set exactly as the creators envisioned. The television handles 120 Hz refresh rates effortlessly at every popular resolution (1080p, 1440p, and 4K). It doesn't matter if you connect a PS5, Xbox, or a powerful PC—everything runs smoothly and just as it should. Gamers will also appreciate the Game Bar. It's a quick, clear menu that immediately shows whether low latency mode is active. This is especially useful when frequently switching between different consoles. The experience is completed by Ambilight. Evening sessions with this lighting are on a whole different level; the image seems larger, and dynamic scenes leave an even better impression. Even if someone isn’t a fan of such “gimmicks,” it’s hard to deny that it’s impressive.

The Hisense UR9S is very well prepared for gaming. All three HDMI ports are HDMI 2.1 and offer the full 48 Gb/s bandwidth. The TV supports 4K at 170 Hz, and on larger screen sizes even 180 Hz. On top of that there are VRR, ALLM, NVIDIA G-Sync and AMD FreeSync, so in terms of core features there’s little to complain about. PC gamers can also enable DLG mode. After switching the resolution to Full HD the refresh rate can increase to as much as 330 Hz. That’s probably an option for a narrow group of users, but it shows how much headroom the panel has. Hisense also added a Game Bar that lets you quickly change key settings, check the refresh rate, or enable a reticle and minimap zoom. The biggest downside remains the lack of a properly working HGiG. The TV keeps using its own tone mapping, which makes setting HDR on a console a bit more difficult. In our case values between 1500 and 2000 nits worked best, but it’s worth checking which setting still preserves all the details in the brightest parts of the image.