After all, final 12 months’s U8N was equally potent, inside the visible margin of error for most people. It’s no small feat to push the brightness even additional, however I might’ve most well-liked Hisense focus as an alternative on a few of the U8’s hang-ups, like poor off-axis viewing, a typical difficulty with LED TVs, or its penchant for oversaturating reds.
That additional crimson tint was notably noticeable in HD reveals like Breaking Dangerous (sure, I’m rewatching for a 3rd time) with the Warm1 coloration temperature, whereas Warm2 appeared too cool. In a single scene from Season 2, Jesse’s nuckles look positively painted crimson as he performs with a beetle. In one other, a sure somebody is in search of a funeral gown, pulling out a “blue” one that appears unequivocally violet on the U8QG—however correct blue (with some purple tint) on my LG C1 OLED.
The TV’s tendency to flatten shadow particulars is much less of a problem, due to its largely stable reflection dealing with and the flexibility to pep up darkish areas with Peak Brightness or settings like Darkish Element. Scenes just like the darkish depths of Mandalor from The Mandalorian or the torturous hilltop shot from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows proved simple to zip up even in difficult environments.
{Photograph}: Ryan Waniata
The U8 additionally appears to have stepped up its image processing this 12 months. Picture readability may be laborious to quantify, however the TV does an excellent job rendering sharp 4K photographs and upscaling HD video, whereas largely minimizing moiré, the kind of glittering impact on high quality patterns that may be an issue with budget-forward TVs. You’ll discover stable movement response, particularly with a contact of movement smoothing, and first rate display uniformity, too. My assessment mannequin revealed solely minor blotches in difficult take a look at patterns and shifting skylines.
Maybe the U8QG’s greatest brag is that there simply aren’t plenty of TVs that carry out this nicely in its worth tier, in a number of sizes (although efficiency between sizes will fluctuate). TCL’s rival QM8, presently in our testing rooms, normally prices extra, and costs go up from there for something near this stage of brightness from premium manufacturers, like Sony’s unbelievable Bravia 9 (9/10, WIRED Recommends). That might make the U8QG the default TV for brightness lovers on a price range, particularly as soon as the U8N is gone.
As typical, all of it relies upon whenever you purchase. Till lately, a 65-inch U8QG value $1,500, on par with the QM8K and bougier OLED fashions from final 12 months just like the LG C4 (9/10, WIRED Recommends). The C4 is not any nuclear titan, nevertheless it gives significantly better accuracy, readability, off-axis efficiency, and so forth. At $1,000 or much less, the U8QG is so much friendlier, and nicely price contemplating for these after eye-blasting brightness.
