If you’ve got been looking for a brand new TV not too long ago, you may need observed a development: They’re getting brighter. TV makers are racing to construct eye-watering shows that actually outshine rivals on the gross sales flooring, and with the rising availability of excessive dynamic vary TV exhibits, motion pictures and video games, that brightness is an asset. The Hisense U8G belts out extra uncooked brightness than simply about any I’ve reviewed, which is extra spectacular contemplating its midrange value.

LikeBrighter than some other TV at this priceVery good distinction and colorSleek design with distinctive stand

Don’t LikeWorse than rivals with theatrical HDR content materialAndroid TV sensible system not as polished as Google TV

TVs this shiny, just like the Samsung Q90A and Vizio PX, normally price much more than the U8G. Meanwhile TVs at an identical value, together with the TCL 6-Series and Sony X90J, measure considerably dimmer — and the Hisense appeared higher with shiny HDR materials than these two in my side-by-side comparisons. That further brightness additionally turns out to be useful in shiny rooms. On the opposite hand, the Hisense’s HDR efficiency was hampered by stray illumination and blooming, in addition to lighter (worse) black ranges in mixed-brightness and darker video. Beyond picture high quality the Hisense has its good factors (smooth styling, particularly that stand) and less-good (Android TV as an alternative of the newer Google TV), however the primary motive to contemplate this TV is in case you have an exceedingly shiny room otherwise you need that further punch when watching HDR content material. I preferred the picture high quality of the TCL and Sony higher, however the U8G is a stable performer in its personal proper.

Sizes in Hisense U8G collection

Model quantity

Screen dimension

55U8G

55-inch

65U8G

65-inch

Most TV collection at this stage embrace a 75-inch mannequin, and maybe a 50- or an 85-inch as properly, however the U8G is simply out there in two sizes. I reviewed the 65-inch model, however this evaluation applies to the 55-inch as properly.

Such a stan for that standMost TVs look just about the identical, however the Hisense U8G stands out (pun meant). Its curvy and flowing stand jogs my memory of butterfly wings and appears like no different TV stand available on the market. The body across the image is a darkish, silver-gray metallic alongside the underside and beveled on the sides. The panel is surrounded by a skinny strip of black on the highest and sides, set in opposition to the identical silver-gray, which additionally matches the stand. 
David Katzmaier/CNET
Unfortunately Hisense’s distant spoils the high-end really feel. It’s a typical black, rubber-buttoned clicker with no fewer than six shortcut keys — the same old suspects and, for some motive, Tubi. Another button summons Google Assistant, which you’ll be able to discuss to by way of distant or by saying “OK Google” into skinny air, due to the U8G’s built-in far-field mic.

David Katzmaier/CNET
One misstep for the U8G is that it runs the Android’s sensible TV system as an alternative of the extra up-to-date Google TV platform, which is accessible from rivals together with Sony and TCL. When I requested whether or not new TVs can be upgraded to Google TV, Hisense’s rep advised me, “The 2021 lineup will continue using the Android TV operating system.” I do not anticipate an improve anytime quickly. Android fragmentation, welcome to TVs.
David Katzmaier/CNET
Android TV labored properly sufficient on my U8G evaluation pattern, with snappy response instances and the anticipated hundreds of apps due to the Google Play retailer — together with 4K HDR and Dolby Vision from suitable apps like Netflix and Disney Plus. The homepage is not my favourite — it appears too cluttered with prompt materials, too little of which I’m eager about (see additionally: “Tik Toks That Are Actually Relatable”) — however I appreciated having the ability to choose favourite apps so as to add to the highest for straightforward entry. Overall I desire Android TV to LG or Vizio, and it has extra apps than Samsung, however Google TV and Roku are higher in my e book.Key options

Display expertise

LED LCD

LED backlight

Full-array native dimming

Resolution

4K

HDR suitable

HDR10 and Dolby Vision

Smart TV

Android TV

Remote

Standard

The greatest picture-affecting further on the U8G is full-array native dimming, a characteristic that illuminates totally different areas of the display independently for higher distinction. The 65-inch U8G I reviewed has a wholesome 360 dimming zones, in comparison with 160 on the TCL 6-Series and 144 on the 2021 Vizio P-Series. In principle, extra zones means higher image high quality as a result of they’ll higher management illumination and blooming, however that is not all the time the case. It’s additionally notable that in contrast to TCL, Samsung and LG, the U8G does not use mini-LED.Other picture-centric extras embrace a local 120Hz refresh charge to enhance movement dealing with and gaming. The U8G helps all the foremost HDR codecs, together with Dolby Vision. Like Samsung, TCL and Vizio, Hisense makes use of quantum dots to attain a large HDR shade gamut, but it surely makes use of its personal “ULED” advertising and marketing label (it stands for “ultra LED” for those who’re asking) as an alternative of the QLED advertising and marketing label. You ought to ignore them each.
David Katzmaier/CNET
4 HDMI inputs2 USB portsComposite AV inputEthernet (LAN) portOptical digital audio output1x headphone audio output1x RF (antenna) inputserial port (minijack)The U8G enter choice matches up properly in opposition to any high-end TV. The first two HDMI inputs are primary HDMI 2.0 whereas Input 3 and 4 work with the foremost HDMI 2.1 options, particularly 4K decision at as much as 120 frames per second and VRR (variable refresh charge) — nice information for avid gamers who need to benefit from these options on an Xbox Series X or Sony PlayStation 5. The TV additionally helps enhanced audio return channel (eARC) on Input 3.Unlike a lot of Samsung’s and LG’s units, the Hisense really has an analog video enter, albeit composite-only, and I additionally recognize having a headphone jack.Trust me, it is even brighter in individual.
David Katzmaier/CNET
Picture high quality comparisonsI set the Hisense up subsequent to 2 TVs at comparable value factors and have ranges — the TCL 6-Series and Sony X90J — and whereas it has its excessive factors, I preferred it the least of the three. The Hisense delivered the brightest picture and with shiny HDR materials it appeared impactful and vibrant. On the opposite hand its theatrical HDR picture lagged behind, with brighter letterbox bars and extra blooming. It additionally confirmed extra blurring in video games than the opposite two.

Dim lighting: The Hisense was a really stable performer in dwelling theater lighting with customary dynamic vary video. Watching the darkish Dol Guldur part of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies on 1080p Blu-ray (Chapter 3) the Hisense, TCL and Sony all appeared very comparable after calibration for a dim room. Black stage in areas just like the letterbox bars and shadows of Gandalf’s cage, for instance, was glorious, and particulars in near-black areas like the steps and ledges of the fortress appeared pure and well-defined. No TV in my lineup loved a big benefit over one other on this class.Bright lighting: The U8G’s prodigious brightness serves it properly in shiny rooms. The solely TVs I’ve reviewed with larger mild output are the Samsung QN90A and the Vizio PX, each of which price extra.Light output in nits

TV

Brightest (SDR)

Accurate shade (SDR)

Brightest (HDR)

Accurate shade (HDR)

Vizio P65QX-H1 (2020)

2,017

1,287

2,780

2,064

Samsung QN65QN90A

1,622

1,283

2,596

1,597

Hisense 65U8G

1,619

1,612

2,288

2,288

TCL 65R635 (2020)

1,114

792

1,292

1,102

Vizio P65Q9-H1 (2020)

768

629

1,305

1,084

Sony XR65X90J

951

815

945

847

LG OLED65G1

377

334

769

763

I additionally recognize that the Hisense’s brightest image modes are fairly correct. For the “accurate” column I used the Theater Bright mode for SDR and Theater HDR for, um, HDR, and each are as color-accurate as this TV will get. Technically Vivid was barely brighter for SDR, however not sufficient to matter.The display of the Hisense did not dim reflections in addition to the Sony X90J or TCL 6-Series, but it surely preserved black ranges barely higher than the TCL.  Color accuracy: The Hisense did not have any shade points. Before calibration it measured exceedingly correct in its greatest modes, Theater and Filmmaker, and with just some tweaks it grew to become even higher. Comparing colours from Five Armies the three TVs appeared very comparable, from the reddish tinge of the ruined Dale buildings to the white of the snow to the pores and skin tones of the Laketown refugees.Video processing: The U8G was a mean performer on this class. In its favor it delivered right 24-frame movie movement when its Motion Enhancement setting was within the Off or the Film place — the latter is the default for the Filmmaker image mode. The different settings launched some stage of smoothing or Soap Opera Effect. Meanwhile the Custom setting’s Judder Reduction launched SOE at stage 4 or larger out of 10, whereas 0 by way of 3 confirmed some judder.Unlike most TVs of this caliber, the Hisense is not able to delivering larger than 600 strains of movement decision in my take a look at, no matter mode. The Motion Clearness possibility additionally does not appear to enhance movement decision a lot; I nonetheless measured a most of 600 strains with it turned on as properly. It does repair the backlight at a selected stage nevertheless, so I left it turned off.Uniformity: Each of the three screens was roughly comparable at delivering a fair picture throughout the display, with no main shiny or darkish spots, banding or different main points with most materials. The Hisense did present extra blooming and stray illumination than the others, nevertheless, which confirmed up most prominently within the corners. From off-angle the Hisense was barely higher at sustaining shade constancy than the TCL and about the identical because the Sony, whereas the Hisense’s black stage constancy from off-angle was just like the others.
David Katzmaier/CNET
Gaming: Connecting my Xbox One Series X the Hisense supported 4K at 120Hz with VRR, and mechanically engaged recreation mode. But once I began a recreation, Mass Effect 3 from the Legendary Edition, I observed some blurring or ghosting alongside the sides of objects once I moved the digital camera, particularly high-contrast darkish areas like a personality’s black hair in opposition to a brighter encompass. Hisense has issued a software program replace that it mentioned would handle the problem, however even working that replace (model V000.01.00A.L0706) the blurring persevered. It was current in 60Hz and 1080p as properly. I additionally performed a little bit of Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla and it did not appear as apparent, however nonetheless seen.I would not name it a deal-breaker — many TVs present blurring throughout gaming, particularly fast right-stick digital camera strikes — however it’s one thing attentive avid gamers will seemingly discover and be bothered by. In comparability the TCL, for instance, did not present practically as a lot ghosting. For what it is price different facets of gaming picture high quality on the Hisense, particularly distinction and brightness, have been superb.Input lag in recreation mode was glorious at simply over 15 milliseconds for each 1080p and 4K HDR. That’s only a couple milliseconds extra (worse) than least-laggy 2021 TVs from LG and Samsung, and 4 or so higher than the TCL, for those who’re counting, however I doubt even the twitchiest of avid gamers would discover these variations.

HDR and 4K video: The U8G’s insane brightness got here by way of most readily with HDR, however sadly for Hisense brightness is not the whole lot. This TV confirmed a much less pure look than the TCL and Sony, significantly with blended theatrical materials, and extra blooming than both one. In its favor, nevertheless, it blew each out of the water with shiny HDR.That superiority was instantly evident once I popped in my go-to analysis sequence for HDR, the the montage from the Spears and Munsil 4K Blu-ray. Spot measurements, for instance the setting solar above the lake (2:10) measured 391, 560 and 621 nits on the Sony, TCL and Hisense respectively, a distinction that was simply seen. Another apparent distinction got here with the objects on largely black backgrounds, such because the peacock feather (2:59). The Hisense’s “black” was visibly deeper than the Sony’s and only a hair brighter (worse) than the TCLs, however when it comes to impression and total impression of distinction and pop, the Hisense was one of the best of the three with this materials. Its colours additionally appeared extra saturated and pure than the TCL, and equal to the Sony.The Hisense did not look fairly pretty much as good as the opposite two with blended theatrical content material, nevertheless. Watching darkish and mid-dark scenes in The Battle of the Five Armies, the Hisense appeared worse than the opposite two. In Chapter 9 when the Council rescues Gandalf from Dol Guldur, the U8G’s letterbox bars have been brighter, robbing the picture of pop, and the tower as an entire (28:04) appeared flatter and fewer contrasty. I noticed the identical slight flatness distinction in different darkish scenes, for instance when Thorin speaks earlier than the backdrop of Dale (40:19), and it may very well be attributable to the U8G’s less-accurate EOTF. Blooming within the letterbox bars and darkish shadows was additionally extra apparent and distracting on the Hisense than the others, particularly within the lower-right and upper-left corners of my evaluation pattern. In its favor the Hisense confirmed glorious shade once more, a step forward of the TCL and equal to the Sony, however total with theatrical materials it was my least-favorite.Hisense 65U8G image settings, HDR notes and chartsCNET is now not publishing superior image settings for TVs we evaluation. Instead, we’ll give extra common suggestions to get one of the best image with out itemizing detailed whereas steadiness or shade administration system (CMS) settings we could have used to calibrate the TV. As all the time, the settings supplied are a guidepost, and if you would like essentially the most correct image you must get an expert calibration.Prior to calibration, the Theater Night, Theater Day and Filmmaker modes have been essentially the most correct on the U8G. All three modes confirmed considerably reddish shade temperature and better brightness than my dim-room goal. After adjusting brightness to hit my 137-nit goal, the fundamental two-point shade temperature controls labored beautifully to calibrate the pink solid away, to the extent that I did not want to the touch the out there 10-point system in any respect. Primary and secondary shade accuracy was an identical story: correct sufficient that I did not want to make use of the CMS.Dark room settings (SDR):Backlight menuLocal dimming: ExcessiveBacklight stage: 0Automatic Light Sensor: OffLight sensor shift: 0 [grayed out]Picture mode: Theater NightContrast: 11Brightness: 50Color: 53Tint: 0Sharpness: 0Picture Size: LargeSmart Scene: OffSuperior Settings menuOverscan: OffColor Temperature: LowMotion Enhancement: FilmMotion Clearness: OffNoise Reduction: OffDigital Noise Reduction: OffHDMI Dynamic Range: AutoEnergetic Contrast: OffFilmmaker Auto Mode Detection: OffColor Space: AutoInstant Game Response: AutoFreeSync: Off [grayed out]Calibration Settings menuColor Tuner: [no change]While Balance: [no change]Gamma: 2.2Gamma Calibration [no change]RGB Only: OffBright room settings (SDR):Picture mode: Theater Day [no other changes]HDR Notes: I ended up utilizing HDR Theater mode as a result of it had one of the best mixture of brightness and grayscale accuracy, but it surely wasn’t very correct. Unfortunately not one of the modes, together with HDR Theater, carefully adopted the goal EOTF. Four delivered roughly essentially the most correct grayscale, particularly HDR Game, IMAX Mode, HDR Theater and Filmmaker. The first three have been brighter than the goal EOTF, whereas the latter was darker (and exceedingly darkish total). I ended up going with HDR Theater for my testing as a result of in contrast to IMAX mode it allowed me to tweak settings; IMAX was grayed out. The less-accurate EOTF additionally affected secondary shade measurements, ColorMatch HDR and Color Checker. Gamut protection was glorious, nevertheless.Geek field

Test

Result

Score

Black luminance (0%)

0.005

Good

Peak white luminance (SDR)

1619

Good

Avg. gamma (10-100%)

2.26

Good

Avg. grayscale error (10-100%)

0.72

Good

Dark grey error (30%)

0.67

Good

Bright grey error (80%)

0.68

Good

Avg. shade checker error

1.00

Good

Avg. saturation sweeps error

1.16

Good

Avg. shade error

2.06

Good

Red error

2.03

Good

Green error

2.58

Good

Blue error

3.40

Average

Cyan error

1.66

Good

Magenta error

0.91

Good

Yellow error

1.76

Good

1080p/24 Cadence (IAL)

Pass

Good

Motion decision (max)

600

Average

Motion decision (dejudder off)

600

Average

Input lag (Game mode)

15.30

Good

HDR10

Black luminance (0%)

0.034

Average

Peak white luminance (10% win)

2288

Good

Gamut % UHDA/P3 (CIE 1976)

97.78

Good

ColorMatch HDR error

9.25

Poor

Avg. shade checker error

5.44

Poor

Input lag (Game mode, 4K HDR)

15.37

Good

Hisense 65U8G Report by David Katzmaier on ScribdPortrait Displays Calman calibration software program was used on this evaluation.