It’s easy to think that OLED or MicroLED/DVLED is the future of TV technology, since that’s what most of the big manufacturers are focused on, but Hisense is going a different route to offer the best possible picture on its flagship screen. The 75U9DG uses what the company calls “dual cell” technology, which layers two LCDs on top of each other over an LED array backlight system to control how much light gets out much more precisely than a single LCD and LED array can. The results are impressive, with nearly OLED levels of contrast while offering a peak brightness far higher than an OLED panel can reach and maintaining plenty of detail across the board, with a much lower price than any MicroLED or DVLED TV. The Hisense 75U9DG is still pretty expensive at $2,999.99, and it’s only available in 75 inches, but there’s no denying its picture quality is fantastic, earning it our Editors’ Choice award for big-screen TVs and our TechX award for its innovative dual-panel technology.
A Big Beauty
The 75U9DG takes its stylish design cues from the Hisense U8G. The top and sides of the screen are framed by a barely there black band just like the U8G, and the screen sits on identical gray triangular metal feet. The big addition to the design of the 75U9DG is a beveled silver bar on the bottom of the screen. It’s splashier than the U8G’s narrower bezel, and it complements the TV’s appearance without looking distracting, though it doesn’t appear to have any purpose. While the bezel is covered in grille holes, no sound actually comes out of them; a tweeter and full-range speaker driver for each channel are mounted internally, near the front of the panel, while two subwoofer drivers sit exposed on the back. A narrow black strip below the silver bar holds the TV’s far-field microphones, along with a switch to disable them.
Aside from the right-facing port for the power cable, all connections on the 75U9DG sit on the left side of the back of the TV. Four HDMI ports (one eARC, two 4K120), two USB ports (one USB 3.0), a 3.5mm composite video input, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and an antenna/cable connector face left. An optical audio output, Ethernet port, and 3.5mm ports for serial and service face directly back. A four-way joystick for navigating menus, adjusting volume, and using the remote finder feature sits on the lower left corner.
The remote is identical to the one included with the U8G. Rather than using a bit of metal or a slimmer profile to give the remote a more premium feel, it’s a simple black plastic rectangle covered in rubber buttons. This is no big loss; it’s still thoughtfully laid out and easy to use without looking at it thanks to a prominent, easy-to-find circular navigation button near the top. Power, input, and Google Assistant buttons sit above the pad, while menu buttons, volume and channel rockers, and dedicated service buttons for Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, Netflix, Peacock, Tubi, and YouTube sit below it. The top of the remote features a pinhole that holds a microphone, a chime for the Remote Finder function, and an indicator LED. It connects to the TV via Bluetooth, so you don’t need to point it directly at the screen when using it.
Android TV With Hands-Free Google Assistant
The 75U9DG runs on Google’s powerful and feature-rich Android TV platform. It has a large app ecosystem with nearly all major streaming services including Amazon Prime TV, Disney+, HBO Max, Hulu, Netflix, Twitch, and of course YouTube. Among all the big names, only Apple TV is missing. Android TV also features Google Cast, so you can mirror your Android phone or tablet screen, or any Chrome tab to the TV.
In addition, Android TV includes Google Assistant, Google’s voice assistant. The 75U9DG’s far-field microphones let you summon Google Assistant just by saying, “Hey, Google,” and then a command, without touching the microphone (though you can disable the hands-free mic on the TV and access the voice assistant by pressing and holding the Google Assistant button and speaking into the remote if you’re concerned about privacy). Google Assistant lets you control the TV directly, search for content across multiple services, get general information like weather and sports scores, and control smart home devices. It’s a powerful and easy-to-use voice assistant, and the hands-free functionality on the 75U9DG lets you treat the TV like a smart display.
Android TV isn’t Google’s most recent smart TV platform, though. Google TV was introduced on the Chromecast With Google TV and is used on Sony’s current TVs. It provides a more streamlined, content-oriented experience, but Google has been regularly updating Android TV to make its own interface more intuitive as well. Regardless, Android TV and Google TV have the exact same features, and you aren’t really missing out on anything aside from slightly more attractive menus.
The Power of Dual-Cell Technology
The 75U9DG is an LED-backlit LCD TV with a 4K native resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. It supports high dynamic range (HDR) content in Dolby Vision, HDR10, HDR10+, and hybrid log gamma (HLG).
We test TVs using a Klein K-80 colorimeter, a Murideo SIX-G signal generator, and Portrait Displays’ Calman software using methodology based on Imaging Science Foundation’s calibration techniques.
As mentioned, the 75U9DG is unique and intriguing because of its panel technology. Instead of using a single LCD panel backlit by an LED array, it uses two LCD panels stacked on top of each other above the backlight. The top panel forms the 4K picture, focusing on pixel-level control of color, while the second layer serves as a filter to more precisely adjust contrast and light than LED array dimming can do alone. According to Hisense, this means the 75U9DG effectively has 2,000,000 local dimming zones, whereas single-LCD-panel TVs have hundreds or thousands.
The dual-panel design of the 75U9DG means it can get very bright while offering near-OLED black levels. Out of the box, with an SDR signal in Theater Day mode, the TV shows a peak brightness of 352.374cd/m^2 with a full-screen white field. This isn’t groundbreaking, but it explodes to 933.345cd/m^2 with an 18% white field, and displays a black level of just 0.007cd/m^2.
The numbers are even more impressive with an HDR signal in HDR Theater mode. Full-screen peak brightness is just 424.146cd/m^2, but with an 18% field the TV can reach a peak brightness of 1189.234cd/m^2. With a black level of 0.006cd/m^2, for an effective contrast ratio of 198,206:1. That’s one of the best contrast ratios we’ve seen on a non-OLED TV, bested only by the TCL 65R648 (600,000, but once you hit six digits you’re dealing with black levels so low and/or brights so high that effective differences in contrast become drastically harder to see). Also, there was no noticeable light bloom with my 18% fields or other white boxes on black backgrounds. This is a common issue for array-backlit LED TVs, and proves just how well the dual-cell concept works.
The 75U9DG impresses with color performance, as well. The above charts show the TV’s color levels with an SDR signal in Theater Day mode compared against the Rec.709 broadcast standard color space, and with an HDR signal in HDR Theater mode compared against the DCI-P3 digital cinema color space. While whites drift slightly toward yellow-green and magentas lean a little red, all primary colors, along with cyans and yellows, hit their targets almost perfectly in both cases. The TV almost flawlessly covers the DCI-P3 color space out of the box, only bested in accuracy by the better whites of the LG C1P.
BBC’s Planet Earth II looks fantastic on the 75U9DG. The greens of plants and blues of sky and water look rich and varied. Fine details like fur and scales can be clearly seen both brightly lit by the sun and in dark shade. The TV shows very strong contrast and a wide color range with this kind of 4K HDR nature content. I will note that the picture looked a bit dim at first in Theater Day mode because the Active Contrast mode is turned off by default; setting it to Medium or High results in a much brighter, more visually appealing (if potentially less accurate) picture.
Deadpool looks similarly striking on the 75U9DG. The red of Deadpool’s costume appears vibrant and accurate even under the relatively cool overcast lighting of the opening scenes. Later, in the burning lab fight, the flames look very bright while plenty of shadow detail can be seen in the same frame.
The excellent contrast of the 75U9DG especially comes through in The Great Gatsby. The dark blacks and whites of the party scenes really shine as well, with white balloons and jackets popping, while the cuts and textures of black suits are easily discerned without looking remotely washed out.
Good for Gaming
The 75U9DG is no slouch when it comes to gaming. The 120Hz TV features automatic low latency mode (ALLM), variable refresh rate (VRR), and AMD FreeSync.
Using an HDFury Diva HDMI matrix to measure input lag, the 75U9DG showed a lag of only 6 milliseconds in Game mode. That responsiveness is enough to consider the 75U9DG to be one of the best TVs for gaming. Just make sure you’re in the right mode when gaming, because lag jumps to 114.3ms in Theater Day mode.
The Best LED TV
The Hisense 75U9DG is a really impressive TV. It’s big and bright, but it can also produce deep blacks for extreme contrast and plenty of detail. Its color performance is equally impressive, and Android TV means it has plenty of features including hands-free Google Assistant. It’s the best LED TV we’ve tested, and worthy of our Editors’ Choice for its fantastic picture quality, while its dual-cell panel earns our TechX award for its innovative approach to display tech.
If you’re looking for screen options outside of 75 inches, the LG C1 and the Sony A90J are available in sizes from 48 to 83 inches, though they’re also more expensive, and while their OLED panels produce infinite contrast thanks to perfect black levels, they can’t get nearly as bright as the 75U9DG. The Hisense U8G series is also an excellent choice for a fraction of the price, though its color and contrast doesn’t reach the levels of the 75U9DG. TCL’s 4K 6-Series is another strong option for a reasonable price, while the 8K 6-Series features an even better picture and 8K resolution.
