HD PICTURE QUALITY HD picture quality fell short, overall. Reproduction of fine HD image detail was Excellent. Color accuracy was Very Good, with flesh tones in particular, looking natural. Contrast—the difference between the darkest blacks and brightest whites—was Good, so images had some depth, but it was not the best. Black levels were overly bright, unfortunately, worse than many TVs. Image brightness was Good (with the backlight control turned up), making it a suitable choice for all but the sunniest rooms. There was slight display non-uniformity in our test sample—it appeared as brighter cloudy areas which were most noticeable on very dark scenes (or in the black bars of a letterboxed movie)—the severity can vary from model to model. Its reproduction of smooth edges on image content was generally Excellent and free of "jaggies" (jagged edges), whether for "up-converted" HD-to-UHD images, deinterlacing of 1080i video, or film mode detection from 1080i content.
4K UHD PICTURE QUALITY Overall 4K UHD picture quality was decent, overall. In our UHD testing, we played native-4K movies and test videos (non HDR) thru the TV's HDMI input, and found their image detail was all there. For color, contrast and black level, the TV performed similarly to its HD picture quality.
HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE (HDR) PERFORMANCE HDR performance was ineffective In our tests, the display did not have the peak brightness capability necessary (by HDR standards) to reproduce the extended contrast on our HDR content.
VIEWING ANGLE This Hisense model has a wide viewing angle overall, better than that of most TVs. It will provide fairly consistent picture quality, with fewer problems than most TVs, for typical viewing conditions—say, if your family is seated across a long sectional or in chairs off to the sides. Our examination at various viewing angles indicated reasonably good consistency. In our tests, the picture did show moderate dimming from the sides. With dark scenes this model doesn't fare quite as well. When viewed from the sides, the depth of black levels varied depending on our vertical position. As we moved closer to the screen this limitation became even more apparent, especially if seated on the floor looking upward where black levels brightened significantly. When we viewed the TV from the sides the image had some loss of quality. We viewed the image from above and below center screen, and saw Excellent vertical viewing angle performance, with no significant changes in color, contrast, and black level.
MOTION BLUR In our motion tests, this Hisense TV had Good motion performance, with some blurring. It does not have a special feature to minimize motion blur.
SOUND QUALITY We got sub-par sound quality, with below average performance. It could be acceptable for typical programming, but its shortcomings would be obvious with movie soundtracks and music. In our listening evaluations, we found the bass (low frequencies) to be lacking in depth and definition, and had a slight amount of rattle or buzzing during our bass-heavy sound clip. Treble (high frequencies) was satisfactory. The overall sound was thin and a bit closed in. This TV should be OK if the room isn't too noisy—we found the speakers could produce a Good volume level and quality did degrade at the highest settings. Overall, though imperfect, most people would find this sound quality acceptable. If sound quality matters to you, you might want to add a soundbar or other external speaker system.
EASE OF USE Consider the TV's stand is 40 inches wide when choosing a table top to place it on. On first power up, an on-screen guide appeared—which you could choose to follow when setting up the TV. The remote controls the TV via an RF signal and doesn't need to be pointed at the TV. It has a simplified design with a reduced set of buttons. It includes many of the typical buttons: power, volume control, mute, menu and exit buttons. But annoyingly it lacks the channel up/down and source-input buttons. It also has dedicated buttons for streaming Netflix, Disney+, Apple TV+, and Hulu.
INTERNET FEATURES This TV provides internet functionality via its "Roku TV" portal, with access to a library of applications from the Channel Store. Movie streaming services that can be downloaded to this TV, or are built-in, include Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Disney, Apple TV and HBO Max—and these can be streamed in HD or 4K UHD. Claimed support for external voice assistants (not built in to the TV) include Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple Siri HomeKit.
CONNECTIONS This model has three HDMI inputs (one supports eARC, enhanced audio return channel). It also has one USB port, an optical digital audio out, a headphone out, an Ethernet port, WiFi wireless networking, DLNA—to access files within your home network, and AirPlay—for sharing videos, photos, music, and more from Apple devices to the TV.
WHAT'S INCLUDED You get with this TV: a quick start guide, an electronic user guide via the TV's menu, a remote control with batteries, and a detachable power cord. No printed manual is included.
ABOUT UHD TESTING Ultra-high definition "UHD" can refer to both the TV and program content. While the UHD industry standard includes 4K and 8K, most UHD TVs and UHD content at this time are 4K. A 4K UHD image is presented as 3840 x 2160 pixels—four times the pixel-count of HD. We test UHD TV picture quality using 4K UHD movies, videos, photos, and test patterns to confirm these displays deliver performance to this format's full potential. We examine the TV's ability to reproduce 4K UHD image detail, as well as high dynamic range (HDR)—for TVs that support this capability. Image quality is tested using a UHD movie player connected to the TV's HDMI input, and from files stored on USB flash drive. We also check how well the TV can upscale HD movies to the display's higher UHD resolution while keeping artifacts such as "jaggies" along the edges of image content to a minimum. The best UHD TVs, and HDTVs, present high fidelity images that reveal the full quality of the best source content without degradation.
