Hisense's ULED Answer to OLED TV
Chinese TV brand Hisense, which will start selling Sharp-brand TVs for the U.S. market next year, is launching a line of sets under the moniker "ULED," targeting LG's OLED TVs as well as premium LCD sets from other brands.
The star of a recent press event was a 65-inch curved-screen model—the 65H10B—that will be priced at $3,000 when it becomes available in October. Amazon is now accepting pre-orders. There will also be a 55-inch set, which uses an earlier generation of Hisense's "ultimate" light emitting diode technology.
To put this news in context, Hisense's 65-inch model is less expensive than Samsung's cheapest 65-inch curved-screen SUHD-series UHD TV, which also uses quantum dots for a wider range of colors and supports high dynamic range (HDR), but appreciably more expensive than Samsung's similarly sized mid-tier UHD sets. The 60-inch UN60JU6500 set in our TV Ratings, for example, costs just $1,600 right now. On the other hand, LG's 65-inch OLED TVs will set you back $7,000.
The Hisense ULED TV is loaded with features, including the curved screen, the quantum dots, a 120Hz rate to reduce motion blur, support for the emerging standards for HDR, and a full-array LED backlight with local dimming, which, Hisense says, involves 240 individually controlled zones. The set's smart TV capability is powered by an eight-core processor. Included as part of the package is a sound system developed with dbx, which can not only produce better, more immersive sound, but also tame unwanted changes in volume, according to the manufacturer.
Given the background noise at the unveiling, we can't vouch for the sound quality, but the picture did look fairly impressive. Of course, we'll reserve final judgment until we get the set into our labs for a thorough evaluation.
For what it's worth, Hisense stands firmly behind its new ULED UHD TV. According to the info we received, the sets will be backed by a four-year warranty for parts and labor and in-home service—that's three years longer than almost all other TV manufacturers offer.
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