The U8N also allows you to control the optical port’s volume output with your TV’s remote, making it much simpler to control older audio systems that don’t support HDMI ARC/eARC, just like the original mine. KEF LSX speakers. If you decide to opt for integrated audio, the U8N’s 2.1.2 speaker system provides some pretty good detail and a bit of extra bass for its subwoofer.
The TV is fully equipped on the gaming front, including VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) and AMD FreeSync Premium Proto for smooth high frame rate gaming, as well as ALLM (Automatic Low Latency Mode) for low input lag. Gaming feels realistic and responsive, with impressive HDR performance. I like the variety of picture settings available, including Cinema and Game modes, which deliver rich contrast and vivid colors for details like the girl’s ruby-red armor. Kratos in God of war Ragnarok.
Blind climax
The U8N offers an almost scary level of picture settings for in-depth adjustments. The Maximum Brightness setting is the most confusing. When applying my usual picture modes during setup, like Theater Night for standard dynamic range (SDR) and HDR Theater mode for HDR10, Maximum Brightness was set to High by default, this really enhances the overall image. This can lead to increased black levels and white highlights in content and menu bars, especially with HDR video, causing my wife to initially call the U8N a “compromised TV.”
There are a few things going on here. First, Maximum Brightness is designed for daytime viewing in bright rooms with sunlight streaming in, allowing even the darkest scenes to be displayed. Hisense also includes an adjustable Auto Light Sensor in the general picture settings, a feature most reviewers tend to turn off for solid performance but is essential for Maximum Brightness. It does a relatively good job of adjusting glare in low light, even if I don’t always like how it reacts to each environment.
However, Hisense’s decision to quietly set Maximum Brightness to High (usually without using the light sensor) in the typically more limited picture modes is puzzling, even to those who people who are used to learning about image settings. A colleague suggested that the TV’s default Energy Saver mode—a dimmer setting that includes the light sensor turned on for Maximum Brightness—is the mode Hisense expects most viewers will experience because most people don’t seem to change their image settings. By default, the light sensor is also usefully integrated in several other modes, like Dolby Vision Dark.
If you decide to use Maximum Brightness, which is necessary to get the TV’s highest brightness level, I recommend starting at Low and rotating the light sensor for night viewing. This works well for unraveling challenging SDR content like Harry Potter and the Deadly Hallows during the day, where the darkest scenes seemed even less prominent than the U8K without the maximum brightness setting enabled.
My brightest HDR test content often looked overcooked and oversaturated in this mode. That’s not surprising, since TVs can reach more than 3,000 nits, or triple the brightness that most videos currently use (although this baseline will vary depending on the situation). Latest mastering tools). I usually leave the setting for HDR turned off, but it can be useful in brighter rooms, especially for the always-murky Dolby Vision Dark mode. I couldn’t help but marvel at how bright and flashy some of the scenes looked with the background turned on, such as the monster scene in Moana, where the golden shell of the giant crab Tamatoa explodes in disco hallucination.
Slackjaw scene
No matter how you use the U8N’s picture settings, it’s capable of producing the signature beautiful images we’ve come to expect from this class, with deep black levels, light control Great backgrounds, very little “halo” around bright objects, and vibrant colors sparkle like jewelry in sunlight.
This is impressive performance, especially for high-quality 4K HDR productions like Netflix’s Our planet. Episode 4’s coral landscape looks incredible, with vibrant neon yellows, sapphire blues, and lifelike sunlight sparkling everywhere. Sometimes the TV tends to over-saturate reds, especially when using the Warm1 color temperature, but even so, it’s still stunningly beautiful. It’s the kind of image that makes you want to sit there, open-mouthed and transfixed as beautiful colors and sparkling lights dance before your eyes.
